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Zhang F, Li Y, Zhang H, Huang E, Gao L, Luo W, Wei Q, Fan J, Song D, Liao J, Zou Y, Liu F, Liu J, Huang J, Guo D, Ma C, Hu X, Li L, Qu X, Chen L, Yu X, Zhang Z, Wu T, Luu HH, Haydon RC, Song J, He TC, Ji P. Anthelmintic mebendazole enhances cisplatin's effect on suppressing cell proliferation and promotes differentiation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Oncotarget 2017; 8:12968-12982. [PMID: 28099902 PMCID: PMC5355070 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.14673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2016] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common and aggressive types of human cancers worldwide. Nearly a half of HNSCC patients experience recurrence within five years of treatment and develop resistance to chemotherapy. Thus, there is an urgent clinical need to develop safe and novel anticancer therapies for HNSCC. Here, we investigate the possibility of repurposing the anthelmintic drug mebendazole (MBZ) as an anti-HNSCC agent. Using the two commonly-used human HNSCC lines CAL27 and SCC15, we demonstrate MBZ exerts more potent anti-proliferation activity than cisplatin in human HNSCC cells. MBZ effectively inhibits cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and cell migration, and induces apoptosis of HNSCC cells. Mechanistically, MBZ can modulate the cancer-associated pathways including ELK1/SRF, AP1, STAT1/2, MYC/MAX, although the regulatory outcomes are context-dependent. MBZ also synergizes with cisplatin in suppressing cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis of human HNSCC cells. Furthermore, MBZ is shown to promote the terminal differentiation of CAL27 cells and keratinization of CAL27-derived xenograft tumors. Our results are the first to demonstrate that MBZ may exert its anticancer activity by inhibiting proliferation while promoting differentiation of certain HNSCC cancer cells. It's conceivable the anthelmintic drug MBZ can be repurposed as a safe and effective agent used in combination with other frontline chemotherapy drugs such as cisplatin in HNSCC treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fugui Zhang
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.,Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Yong Li
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Hongmei Zhang
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.,Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Enyi Huang
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.,Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Lina Gao
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Wenping Luo
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.,Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Qiang Wei
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jiaming Fan
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Dongzhe Song
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, West China Hospital and West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Junyi Liao
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yulong Zou
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Feng Liu
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jianxiang Liu
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jiayi Huang
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Dan Guo
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Chao Ma
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Department of General Surgery, The Affiliated Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Xue Hu
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Li Li
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xiangyang Qu
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Liqun Chen
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xinyi Yu
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Zhicai Zhang
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Tingting Wu
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Department of Neurosurgery, The Affiliated Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Hue H Luu
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Rex C Haydon
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jinlin Song
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Tong-Chuan He
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.,Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine, and the Affiliated Hospitals of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Ping Ji
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, and the Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
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