Ke Tang

The effect of Aurora kinases on cell proliferation, cell cycle regulation and metastasis in renal cell carcinoma

Aurora kinases have been shown to be involved in the regulation of the cell cycle and are related to tumor progression. This suggests the possibility that they can serve as new anticancer targets for tumor treatment. However, the important roles that Aurora kinases and their signaling pathway play in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are not fully understood and addressed to date. In this study, we aimed to address these questions. We observed that downregulation of Aurora kinases induced by AurAxa0miRNA, AurBxa0miRNA or VX680 could inhibit proliferation and metastasis, induce G2/M phase arrest in clear cell renal cell carcinoma cells and exert antitumor activity in an SN12C xenograft model. We also show that either silencing of Aurora kinases or treating the cells with VX680 could downregulate the expression of cdc25c and cyclin B/cdc2, upregulate the expression of p-cdc2 (Tyr15) via blocking the activity of ERK. All these changes may contribute to inhibition of proliferation, metastasis and G2/M arrest in ccRCC. In summary, we proved that both Aurora kinases A and B are key elements of tumor growth regulation, and inhibition of Aurora kinases may contribute to blocking ccRCC progression. We conclude that Aurora kinases could be potential therapeutic targets in the management of renal cell carcinoma.

Function of Aurora kinase A in Taxol--resistant breast cancer and its correlation with P--gp

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases among women. In early and metastatic breast cancer, Taxane (Taxol) is widely used as an adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies. Although breast cancer is initially responsive to Taxol, inherent or developed resistance to Taxol often limits the efficacy of the drug. The oncogene Aurora kinasexa0A is frequently up-regulated in human cancer, and is associated with sensitivity to chemotherapy in certain types of cancer. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the functional role of Aurora kinasexa0A in breast cancer resistance to Taxol, and to determine the means to overcome this resistance. The correlation between the expression levels of Aurora kinasexa0A and chemoresistance to Taxol in breast cancer cells, and resistance to Taxol in a xenograft model were demonstrated. MTT assay was performed to determine cell viability. Subsequently, the relationship of Aurora kinasexa0A with the expression and functional role of P-gp was clarified, as well as its relationship with p-ERK2, which regulates the expression of P-gp. The expression of Auroraxa0A was determined to be capable of enhancing the sensitivity of cells resistant to Taxol in vitro and in vivo using stable knockdown Aurora kinasexa0A cells. We propose that this kinase may be used as a target for overcoming chemoresistance and enhancing the chemosensitivity of breast cancer to Taxol.

Design, synthesis and evaluation of novel diaryl urea derivatives as potential antitumor agents

A novel series of diaryl ureas containing different linker groups were designed and synthesized. Their inxa0vitro antitumor activity against MX-1, A375, HepG2, Ketr3 and HT-29 was evaluated using the standard MTT assay. Compounds having a rigid linker group such as vinyl, ethynyl and phenyl showed significant inhibitory activity against a variety of cancer cell lines. Specifically, compound 23 with a phenyl linker group demonstrated broad-spectrum antitumor activity with IC50 values of 5.17-6.46xa0μM against five tested tumor cell lines. Compound 23 is more potent than reference drug sorafenib (8.27-15.2xa0μM), representing a promising lead for further optimization.

Design, synthesis and in vitro antitumor evaluation of novel diaryl urea derivatives bearing sulfonamide moiety

A novel series of diaryl urea derivatives bearing sulfonamide moiety have been designed and synthesized. Their in vitro antitumor effect against human cancer cell lines MX-1, A375, HepG2, Ketr3 and HT-29 was screened and evaluated by the standard MTT assay with sorafenib as the positive control. Some of the compounds showed significant inhibitory activity against multiple cell lines compared to sorafenib. In particular, 2,6-dimethyl-4-{6-[3-(4-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)urea]naphthalen-2-yl}sulfonyl morpholine (10d) was found to be the most potent against A375, HepG2 and Ketr3 with IC50 values of 0.65–0.97 μmol/L, which were 5–20-fold more potent than sorafenib. Compound 10d emerged as a valuable lead for further optimization.

The novel anti-neuroblastoma agent PF403, inhibits proliferation and invasion in vitro and in brain xenografts

Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in infants and the fourth most common cancer in children. Our previous study showed that PF403 had a potent antitumor ability. In the present study, we evaluated the anti-neuroblastoma property of PF403 and investigated the underlying mechanisms. MTT assay, colony formation assay and flow cytometry assay were used to assess cytotoxicity of PF403 on SH-SY5Y cells. Transwell assay was chosen to estimate the anti-invasion ability of PF403 on neuroblastoma cells. The protein expression was detected by western blot analysis. The SH-SY5Y brain xenograft model was used to assess in vivo antitumor activity of PF403. PF403-mediated SH-SY5Y cell death was found to be dose- and time-dependent, and PF403 was able to limit invasion and metastasis of neuroblastoma cells. MRI and pathology analysis proved that the pro-drug of PF403, CAT3, inhibited SH-SY5Y cells in vivo. PF403 decreased expression of phosphorylated FAK, MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins, and downregulated the activity of PI3K/AKT and Raf/ERK pathways, followed by regulation of the proteins expression of Bcl-2 family, activated caspase-3, -9 and PARP and initiation of apoptosis of neuroblastoma cells. PF403 exerted cytotoxicity against SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell both in vitro and in vivo, and inhibited its invasion ability, suggesting PF403 has potential as a new anticancer drug for the treatment of neuroblastoma.

The study of a novel sorafenib derivative HLC-080 as an antitumor agent.

In this study, our objective is to evaluate the potential of a novel Sorafenib derivative, named HLC-080, as a new anticancer agent for colon cancer. We firstly carried out MTT assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry analysis and transwell invasion assay to determine effect of our compound HLC-080 on cell viability, anti-proliferation activity, cell cycle arrest and the intervention on cell invasion, respectively. On the other hand, in vivo antitumor activity of HLC-080 was also tested using H22 xenograft model and the angiogenesis effect of HLC-080 was measured by EA.hy926 tube formation assay. The expression levels of various proteins in HLC-080 treated with HT-29 cell lines were examined using Western blot and ELISA experiments. The results showed that HLC-080 could dramatically inhibit the growth and colony formation of various tumor cells, therefore exhibited remarkable antitumor activity. HLC-080 can induce cell cycle arrest at G1 phase in HT-29 cells and subsequently inhibit the invasive potential of colon cancer cells. HLC-080 also exhibits anti-angiogenesis effect in EA.hy926 model. Additionally, the in vivo study showed that HLC-080 was able to reduced the tumor weight with the rate of 35.81%. And at the concentration of 0.352±0.034 µM, HLC-080 is able to reduce half of the regular protein level of p-c-Raf (Ser259), consequently block Raf/MEK/ERK signaling in HT-29 cell lines. In conclusion, our study suggests that Sorafenib derivative HLC-080 has the potential to inhibit cell proliferation and angiogenesis, Since, HLC-080 is particularly active against human colon cancer cells, our study highlights that HLC-080 and its related analogues may serve as a new anti-cancer drug, particularly against colon cancer.

Silencing Aurora A leads to re-sensitization of breast cancer cells to Taxol through downregulation of SRC-mediated ERK and mTOR pathways

While Taxol has been reported to improve the clinical survival of breast cancer patients, subsequently developed drug-resistance of the cancer cells limits its final efficacy and applications. Previous studies suggested that Aurora A is involved in the development of the Taxol-resistance of breast cancer. We established Taxol-resistant breast cancer MCF-7/T cells and xenograft models to explore the role of Aurora A in Taxol resistant ER-positive breast cancer. Compared with their parental MCF-7/C cells, the Taxol-resistant MCF-7/T cells exhibited enhanced colony formation, less cell death and higher invasive ability. The resistant cells presented overexpressed Aurora A, elevated phosphorylated SRC and upregulated Ras/Raf/ERK and Akt/mTOR pathways. Silencing of Aurora A reduced the activity of SRC and downregulated the ERK and Akt/mTOR pathways, which led to re-sensitization of the resistant MCF-7/T cells to Taxol in vitro. These results suggested that the activation of Aurora A and the subsequent upregulation of ERK and Akt through SRC induced Taxol-resistance in breast cancer cells, and inhibiting Aurora A and the related SRC/EKT/Akt pathway could restore the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to Taxol. These results might shed light on the development of strategies to circumvent Taxol-related chemoresistance in breast cancer clinical practice.

The molecular mechanisms of a novel multi-kinase inhibitor ZLJ33 in suppressing pancreatic cancer growth.

ZLJ33, an oral active multi-kinase inhibitor, was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo against human pancreatic cancer. It could effectively inhibit cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, and cause inhibition of invasion in pancreatic cancer cells. At a dose of 15.0u2009mg/kg, ZLJ33 induced tumor shrink in Mia-PaCa2, Capan2, and AsPC-1 xenografts models by 60.59%, 74.19%, and 71.54% according to the tumor weight, respectively. The effect of ZLJ33 on pancreatic cancer was mainly mediated by inactivation of p-PDGFRβ, p-c-Raf, and p-RET. Treatment with ZLJ33 did not cause side effect of hematology indexes in the pancreatic cancer xenograft model. ZLJ33 could be a potential therapeutic agent against pancreatic cancer.

Novel multi‑kinase inhibitor, T03 inhibits Taxol‑resistant breast cancer

Activation of kinase-associated signaling pathways is one of the leading causes of various malignant phenotypes in breast tumors. Strategies of drug discovery and development have investigated approaches to target the inhibition of protein kinase signaling. In the current study, the anti-tumor activities of a novel multi-kinase inhibitor, T03 were evaluated in breast cancer. T03 inhibited Taxol-resistant breast cancer cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. The current results demonstrated that T03 downregulated c-Raf, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β and other kinases, thus inhibited Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase and Akt/mechanistic target of rapamycin survival pathways in MCF-7 and MCF-7/Taxol xenograft tumors. At a dose of 100 mg/kg, T03 inhibited tumor growth by 62.90 and 59.98% in tumor weight in MX-1 and MX-1/T xenograft models, respectively and by 62.60 and 60.22% in MCF-7 and MCF-7/T tumors, respectively. These data indicate that the novel multi-kinase inhibitor, T03, may present as a potential compound to develop novel treatments against breast cancer and Taxol-resistant breast tumors.