Dykellic Acid Inhibits Cell Migration and Tube Formation by RhoA-GTP Expression

Indatraline inhibits Rho- and calcium-mediated glioblastoma cell motility and angiogenesis

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary brain tumor of the central nervous system (CNS). As an attempt to identify drugs for GBM therapeutics, phenotypic assays were used to screen 1000 chemicals from a clinical compound library. GBM subtypes exhibited different capabilities to induce angiogenesis when cultured on Matrigel; proneural cells migrated and formed a tube-like structure without endothelial cells. Among the compounds screened, indatraline, a nonselective monoamine transporter inhibitor, suppressed these morphological changes; it dose dependently inhibited cell spreading, migration, and in vitro/in vivo tube formation. In addition to intracellular calcium concentration, indatraline increased the level of Rho GTPase and its activity. Moreover, indatraline downregulated angiogenesis-related genes such as IGFBP2, PTN, VEGFA, PDGFRA, and VEGFR as well as nestin, a stem cell marker. These findings collectively suggest that the activation of Rho GTPase and the suppression of angiogenesis-related factors mediate the antiangiogenic activity of indatraline in proneural GBM culture.

Rhein inhibits invasion and migration of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells in vitro by down-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases-9 and vascular endothelial growth factor

Progression of cancer invasion is believed to be dependent on the remodeling of extracellular matrix induced by tumor cells. Rhein has been shown to inhibit the growth and proliferation of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells. However, the molecular mechanism underlying rhein-induced inhibition of cancer invasion has not been explored. Herein, we show that rhein could inhibit the invasion and migration of NPC cells in vitro. Rhein inhibits invasion by reducing the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Moreover, we demonstrate that the pathway involved in rhein-inhibited invasion is presumably through the growth factor receptor bound protein 2/son of sevenless-Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase (GRB2/SOS-Ras-MAPK) pathway, as shown by an decrease in the expression levels of GRB2, SOS-1 and Ras as well as led to suppression of the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 MAPK. Further study has shown that rhein also inhibited activation of transcription factor nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), which is known to implicate the regulation of MMP-9 and VEGF gene expression in cancer invasion. Our findings suggest that rhein inhibits the invasion of NPC cells may be mediated in part through the suppression of MMP-9 and VEGF expression via the modulation of NF-kappaB signaling pathway.

Pentoxifylline impedes migration in B16F10 melanoma by modulating Rho GTPase activity and actin organisation

Cancer cell migration is a hallmark of metastatic cascade and compounds that can intervene in this process are clinically important. Pentoxifylline (PTX), a methyl xanthine derivative, inhibits B16F10 melanoma lung homing by inhibiting F10 invasion, MMP secretion and adhesion to matrix components. However, its effect on B16F10 migration remained unexamined, which we investigated in the present study. PTX significantly inhibits F10 migration in scratch wound assay. Elevation in cAMP levels inhibits F10 migration and PTX mediated inhibition of the process was found to be, in part, due to an increase in cellular cAMP levels. PTX induces Protein Kinase A (PKA) activity and PKA inhibitor partly reversed its effects on F10 motility. RhoA and Rac1 GTPases induce B16F10 motility and PTX was found to inhibit migration by affecting these molecules. Stress fibres and lamellipodial protrusions reduced significantly. This was accompanied with inhibition in RhoA and Rac1 membrane localisation. A stark inhibition in RhoA-GTP bound form was also observed. Taken together, the results indicate that PTX, through its phosphodiesterase action, inhibits RhoGTPases and associated actin organisation in B16F10 melanoma, thereby inhibiting cell motility.