Qiuzhi Cindy Cui

Disulfiram, a Clinically Used Anti-Alcoholism Drug and Copper-Binding Agent, Induces Apoptotic Cell Death in Breast Cancer Cultures and Xenografts via Inhibition of the Proteasome Activity

Disulfiram (DSF), a member of the dithiocarbamate family capable of binding copper and an inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenase, is currently being used clinically for the treatment of alcoholism. Recent studies have suggested that DSF may have antitumor and chemosensitizing activities, although the detailed molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Copper has been shown to be essential for tumor angiogenesis processes. Consistently, high serum and tissue levels of copper have been found in many types of human cancers, including breast, prostate, and brain, supporting the idea that copper could be used as a potential tumor-specific target. Here we report that the DSF-copper complex potently inhibits the proteasomal activity in cultured breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MCF10DCIS.com cells, but not normal, immortalized MCF-10A cells, before induction of apoptotic cancer cell death. Furthermore, MDA-MB-231 cells that contain copper at concentrations similar to those found in patients, when treated with just DSF, undergo proteasome inhibition and apoptosis. In addition, when administered to mice bearing MDA-MB-231 tumor xenografts, DSF significantly inhibited the tumor growth (by 74%), associated with in vivo proteasome inhibition (as measured by decreased levels of tumor tissue proteasome activity and accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and natural proteasome substrates p27 and Bax) and apoptosis induction (as shown by caspase activation and apoptotic nuclei formation). Our study shows that inhibition of the proteasomal activity can be achieved by targeting tumor cellular copper with the nontoxic compound DSF, resulting in selective apoptosis induction within tumor cells.

Clioquinol, a therapeutic agent for alzheimer's disease, has proteasome-inhibitory, androgen receptor-suppressing, apoptosis-inducing, and antitumor activities in human prostate cancer cells and xenografts

Tumor growth and metastasis depend on angiogenesis that requires the cofactor copper. Consistently, high levels of copper have been found in many types of human cancers, including prostate, breast, colon, and lung. Recent studies suggest that copper could be used as a novel selective target for cancer therapies. Clioquinol is capable of forming stable complexes with copper and currently used in clinics for treatment of Alzheimers disease. Most recently, it has been reported that clioquinol possesses antitumor effects. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is unclear. We report here that after binding to copper, clioquinol can inhibit the proteasomal chymotrypsin-like activity, repress androgen receptor (AR) protein expression, and induce apoptotic cell death in human prostate cancer LNCaP and C4-2B cells. In addition, clioquinol alone exhibits similar effects in prostate cancer cell lines with elevated copper at concentrations similar to those found in patients. Addition of dihydrotestosterone did not affect clioquinol-mediated proteasome inhibition in both prostate cancer cell lines. However, dihydrotestosterone partially inhibited clioquinol-induced AR suppression and apoptosis only in androgen-dependent LNCaP cells. Animal studies show that clioquinol treatment significantly inhibits the growth of human prostate tumor C4-2B xenografts (by 66%), associated with in vivo proteasome inhibition, AR protein repression, angiogenesis suppression, and apoptosis induction. Our study provides strong evidence that clioquinol is able to target tumor proteasome in vivo in a copper-dependent manner, resulting in formation of an active AR inhibitor and apoptosis inducer that is responsible for its observed antiprostate tumor effect.

Shikonin Exerts Antitumor Activity via Proteasome Inhibition and Cell Death Induction in vitro and in vivo

Dysregulation of the ubiquitin‐proteasome pathway plays an essential role in tumor growth and development. Shikonin, a natural naphthoquinone isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Zi Cao (gromwell), has been reported to possess tumor cell‐killing activity, and results from a clinical study using a shikonin‐containing mixture demonstrated its safety and efficacy for the treatment of late‐stage lung cancer. In this study, we reported that shikonin is an inhibitor of tumor proteasome activity in vitro and in vivo. Our computational modeling predicts that the carbonyl carbons C1 and C4 of shikonin potentially interact with the catalytic site of β5 chymotryptic subunit of the proteasome. Indeed, shikonin potently inhibits the chymotrypsin‐like activity of purified 20S proteasome (IC50 12.5 μmol/L) and tumor cellular 26S proteasome (IC50 between 2–16 μmol/L). Inhibition of the proteasome by shikonin in murine hepatoma H22, leukemia P388 and human prostate cancer PC‐3 cultures resulted in accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and several proteasome target proapoptotic proteins (IκB‐α, Bax and p27), followed by induction of cell death. Shikonin treatment resulted in tumor growth inhibition in both H22 allografts and PC‐3 xenografts, associated with suppression of the proteasomal activity and induction of cell death in vivo. Finally, shikonin treatment significantly prolonged the survival period of mice bearing P388 leukemia. Our results indicate that the tumor proteasome is one of the cellular targets of shikonin and inhibition of the proteasome activity by shikonin contributes to its antitumor property.

New Difluoro Knoevenagel Condensates of Curcumin, Their Schiff Bases and Copper Complexes as Proteasome Inhibitors and Apoptosis Inducers in Cancer Cells

PurposeEmerging evidence clearly suggests the potential chemopreventive and anti-tumor activity of a well known “natural agent” curcumin. However, studies have shown that curcumin is not readily bioavailable, and thus the tissue bioavailability of curcumin is also poor except for gastrointestinal track. Because of the potential biological activity of curcumin, many studies have attempted for making a better analog of cucumin that is equally effective or better with increased bioavailability, which was the purpose of our current study.MethodsWe have designed and synthesized new difluoro Knoevenagel condensates of curcumin and Schiff bases along with their copper (II) complexes and evaluated their biological activities with respect to the inhibitory effects on purified rabbit 26S proteasome, and growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis in colon and pancreatic cancer cell lines.ResultsAll copper complexes possess distorted square planar geometries with 1:1 metal to ligand stoichiometry with reversible copper redox couple. The difluoro compound CDF exhibited inhibitory effects on purified rabbit 20S proteasome or cellular 26S proteasome, and caused both growth inhibition of cancer cell lines and induced apoptotic cell death in our preliminary assessment.ConclusionOur results suggest that our newly synthesized classes of curcumin analogs could be useful as chemopreventive and/or therapeutic agents against cancers.

Tumor Cellular Proteasome Inhibition and Growth Suppression by 8-Hydroxyquinoline and Clioquinol Requires Their Capabilities to Bind Copper and Transport Copper into Cells

We have previously reported that when mixed with copper, 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-OHQ) and its analog clioquinol (CQ) inhibited the proteasomal activity and proliferation in cultured human cancer cells. CQ treatment of high-copper-containing human tumor xenografts also caused cancer suppression, associated with proteasome inhibition in vivo. However, the nature of the copper dependence of these events has not been elucidated experimentally. In the current study, using chemical probe molecules that mimic the structures of 8-OHQ and CQ, but have no copper-binding capability, we dissected the complex cellular processes elicited by 8-OHQ–Cu and CQ–Cu mixtures and revealed that copper binding to 8-OHQ or CQ is required for transportation of the copper complex into human breast cancer cells and the consequent proteasome-inhibitory, growth-suppressive, and apoptosis-inducing activities. In contrast, the non-copper-binding analogs of 8-OHQ or CQ blocked the very first step—copper binding—in this chain of events mediated by 8-OHQ–Cu or CQ–Cu.

Structure-proteasome-inhibitory activity relationships of dietary flavonoids in human cancer cells.

Diet high in vegetables and fruits has been associated with reduced cancer risk. However, the involved mechanisms are unknown. Previously, we reported that the dietary flavonoid apigenin could inhibit the proteasome activity and induce apoptosis in tumor cells. To further investigate the structure-proteasome-inhibitory activity relationships, we chose and tested five dietary flavonoids, including luteolin, apigenin, chrysin, naringenin and eriodictyol. We found that the order of inhibitory potencies and apoptosis-inducing potencies of these five compounds in 20S purified proteasome and tumor cells was: (1) luteolin > apigenin > chrysin, and (2) apigenin >> naringenin, and luteolin >> eriodictyol. Therefore, flavonoids with hydroxylized B ring and/or unsaturated C ring are natural potent proteasome inhibitors and tumor cell apoptosis inducers. Furthermore, neither apigenin nor luteolin could inhibit the proteasome and induce apoptosis in non-transformed human natural killer cells. This finding may provide a molecular basis for the clinically observed cancer-preventive effects of fruits and vegetables.

Inhibition of prostate cancer cellular proteasome activity by a pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate-copper complex is associated with suppression of proliferation and induction of apoptosis.

Recent research suggests that copper could be used as a novel selective target for cancer therapies. Copper is a co-factor essential for tumor angiogenesis processes and high levels of copper have been found in many types of human cancers, including prostate, breast and brain. We have reported that organic copper-containing compounds, such as 8-hydroxyquinoline-copper(II), are a novel class of proteasome inhibitors and tumor cell apoptosis inducers (Daniel et al., Biochem Pharmacol. 2004;67:1139-51). Most recently, we have found that when complexed with copper, the known antioxidant pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) forms a potent proteasome inhibitor in human breast cancer, but not normal cells (Daniel, Chen, et al., submitted). In the current study, we investigate whether the PDTC-copper complex can play similar roles in inhibiting the proteasomal activity and consequently inducing apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells. We used tetrathiomolybdate (TM), a strong copper chelator currently being tested in clinical trials, as a control. We report here that after binding to copper, PDTC, but not TM, can inhibit the proteasomal chymotrypsin-like activity, suppress proliferation, induce apoptotic cell death, and inhibit uptake of radiopharmaceutical 2-[18F]Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose in cultured human prostate cancer cells. In contrast, PDTC, TM or copper alone or a TM-copper mixture had no such effects. Our study suggests that high copper levels in human prostate cancer in vivo can be targeted by a ligand such as PDTC, resulting in formation of an active proteasome inhibitor and apoptosis inducer specifically in prostate tumor, but not normal cells.

Comparative Activities of Nickel(II) and Zinc(II) Complexes of Asymmetric [NN'O] Ligands as 26S Proteasome Inhibitors

In this study, we compare the proteasome inhibition capabilities of two anticancer candidates, [Ni(L(IA))(2)] (1) and [Zn(L(IA))(2)] (2), where L(IA-) is the deprotonated form of the ligand 2,4-diiodo-6-(((2-pyridinylmethyl)amino)methyl)phenol. Species 1 contains nickel(II), a considerably inert ion that favors covalency, whereas 2 contains zinc(II), a labile transition metal ion that favors predominantly ionic bonds. We report on the synthesis and characterization of 1 and 2 using various spectroscopic, spectrometric, and structural methods. Furthermore, the pharmacological effects of 1 and 2, along with those of the salts NiCl(2) and ZnCl(2), were evaluated in vitro and in cultured human cancer cells in terms of their proteasome-inhibitory and apoptotic cell-death-inducing capabilities. It is shown that neither NiCl(2) nor 1 have the ability to inhibit the proteasome activity at any sustained levels. However, ZnCl(2) and 2 showed superior inhibitory activity versus the chymotrypsin-like activity of both the 26S proteasome (IC(50) = 5.7 and 4.4 micromol/L, respectively) and the purified 20S proteasome (IC(50) = 16.6 and 11.7 micromol/L, respectively) under cell-free conditions. Additionally, inhibition of proteasomal activity in cultured prostate cancer cells by 2 was associated with higher levels of ubiquitinated proteins and apoptosis. Treatment with either the metal complex or the salt was relatively nontoxic toward human normal cells. These results strengthen the current working hypothesis that fast ligand dissociation is required to generate an [ML(IA)](+) pharmacophore, capable of interaction with the proteasome. This interaction, possibly via N-terminal threonine amino acids present in the active sites, renders the proteasome inactive. Our results present a compelling rationale for 2 along with its gallium(III) and copper(II) congeners to be further investigated as potential anticancer drugs that act as proteasome inhibitiors.

Disulfiram Treatment Facilitates Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Inhibition in Human Breast Cancer Cells In vitro and In vivo

Frequent genetic alterations of the components in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/PTEN/AKT signaling pathway contribute greatly to breast cancer initiation and progression, which makes targeting this signaling pathway a promising therapeutic strategy for breast cancer treatment. In this study, we showed that in the presence of copper (Cu), disulfiram (DSF), a clinically used antialcoholism drug, could potently inhibit breast cancer cell growth regardless of the PIK3CA status. Surprisingly, the treatment with a mixture of DSF and copper (DSF-Cu) led to the decreased expression of PTEN protein and the activation of AKT in a dose- and time-dependent manner in different cell lines with or without PIK3CA mutations. Treatment of breast cancer cell lines with a combination of DSF-Cu and LY294002, a pan-PI3K inhibitor, resulted in the significant inhibition of cell growth when compared with either drug alone. In addition, the combined treatment of DSF and LY294002 significantly inhibited the growth of the breast tumor xenograft in nude mice induced by MDA-MB-231 cells expressing mutant PIK3CA-H1047R and PIK3CA-E545K, whereas neither DSF nor LY294002 alone could significantly retard tumor growth. Finally, the observed in vivo inhibitory effects are found associated with aberrant signaling alterations and apoptosis-inducing activities in tumor samples. Thus, our finding shows for the first time that treatment of breast cancer with DSF results in a novel feedback mechanism that activates AKT signaling. Our study also suggests that the combination of DSF and a PI3K inhibitor may offer a new combinational treatment model for breast cancer, particularly for those with PIK3CA mutations.

Proteasome Inhibition in Human Breast Cancer Cells with High Catechol-O-methyltransferase Activity by Green tea polyphenol EGCG analogs

A pro-drug 8 of a synthetic analog 7 is more active in its antiproliferative activity against human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells possessing high catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity than the pro-drugs of EGCG and the analog 5. The higher activity of 8 is attributed to it not being a substrate of COMT.