New histone deacetylase inhibitors improve cisplatin antitumor properties against thoracic cancer cells

Synergistic effects of sodium butyrate and cisplatin against cervical carcinoma in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUNDS

Cisplatin-based chemotherapy has been considered as the pivotal option for treating cervical cancer. However, some patients may present a poor prognosis due to resistance to chemotherapy. As a metabolite of natural products, sodium butyrate (NaB) could inhibit the proliferation of several malignant cells, but little is known about its combination with cisplatin in the treatment of cervical cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Flow cytometry, CCK-8 assay, and Transwell assay were utilized to analyze the cellular apoptosis, viability, cellular migration and invasion upon treating with NaB and/or cisplatin. The allograft mice model was established, followed by evaluating the tumor volume and necrotic area in mice treated with NaB and/or cisplatin. Western blot was performed for detecting protein expression involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the expression of MMPs. Immunohistochemical staining was conducted with the tumor sections. The transcription, expression, and cellular translocation of β-catenin were determined using luciferase reporter gene assay, Real-Time PCR, Western blot, and confocal laser scanning microscope, respectively.

RESULTS

NaB combined with cisplatin inhibited cell viability by promoting apoptosis of cervical cancer cells. In vivo experiments indicated that NaB combined with cisplatin could inhibit tumor growth and induce cancer cell necrosis. Single application of NaB activated the Wnt signaling pathway and induced partial EMT. NaB alone up-regulated MMP2, MMP7 and MMP9 expression, and promoted the migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells. The combination of cisplatin and NaB inhibited cellular migration and invasion by abrogating the nuclear transition of β-catenin, reverse EMT and down-regulate MMP2, MMP7 and MMP9. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that NaB combined with cisplatin up-regulated the expression of E-cadherin and reverse the EMT phenotype in the mice model.

CONCLUSIONS

NaB serves as a sensitizer for cisplatin, which may be a promising treatment regimen for cervical cancer when combined both. NaB alone should be utilized with caution for treating cervical cancer as it may promote the invasion and migration of cervical cancer cells.

Epigenetic polypharmacology: A new frontier for epi-drug discovery

Recently, despite the great success achieved by the so-called "magic bullets" in the treatment of different diseases through a marked and specific interaction with the target of interest, the pharmacological research is moving toward the development of "molecular network active compounds," embracing the related polypharmacology approach. This strategy was born to overcome the main limitations of the single target therapy leading to a superior therapeutic effect, a decrease of adverse reactions, and a reduction of potential mechanism(s) of drug resistance caused by robustness and redundancy of biological pathways. It has become clear that multifactorial diseases such as cancer, neurological, and inflammatory disorders, may require more complex therapeutic approaches hitting a certain biological system as a whole. Concerning epigenetics, the goal of the multi-epi-target approach consists in the development of small molecules able to simultaneously and (often) reversibly bind different specific epi-targets. To date, two dual histone deacetylase/kinase inhibitors (CUDC-101 and CUDC-907) are in an advanced stage of clinical trials. In the last years, the growing interest in polypharmacology encouraged the publication of high-quality reviews on combination therapy and hybrid molecules. Hence, to update the state-of-the-art of these therapeutic approaches avoiding redundancy, herein we focused only on multiple medication therapies and multitargeting compounds exploiting epigenetic plus nonepigenetic drugs reported in the literature in 2018. In addition, all the multi-epi-target inhibitors known in literature so far, hitting two or more epigenetic targets, have been included.

Mechanistic interpretation of non-coding variants for discovering transcriptional regulators of drug response

BACKGROUND

Identification of functional non-coding variants and their mechanistic interpretation is a major challenge of modern genomics, especially for precision medicine. Transcription factor (TF) binding profiles and epigenomic landscapes in reference samples allow functional annotation of the genome, but do not provide ready answers regarding the effects of non-coding variants on phenotypes. A promising computational approach is to build models that predict TF-DNA binding from sequence, and use such models to score a variant's impact on TF binding strength. Here, we asked if this mechanistic approach to variant interpretation can be combined with information on genotype-phenotype associations to discover transcription factors regulating phenotypic variation among individuals.

RESULTS

We developed a statistical approach that integrates phenotype, genotype, gene expression, TF ChIP-seq, and Hi-C chromatin interaction data to answer this question. Using drug sensitivity of lymphoblastoid cell lines as the phenotype of interest, we tested if non-coding variants statistically linked to the phenotype are enriched for strong predicted impact on DNA binding strength of a TF and thus identified TFs regulating individual differences in the phenotype. Our approach relies on a new method for predicting variant impact on TF-DNA binding that uses a combination of biophysical modeling and machine learning. We report statistical and literature-based support for many of the TFs discovered here as regulators of drug response variation. We show that the use of mechanistically driven variant impact predictors can identify TF-drug associations that would otherwise be missed. We examined in depth one reported association-that of the transcription factor ELF1 with the drug doxorubicin-and identified several genes that may mediate this regulatory relationship.

CONCLUSION

Our work represents initial steps in utilizing predictions of variant impact on TF binding sites for discovery of regulatory mechanisms underlying phenotypic variation. Future advances on this topic will be greatly beneficial to the reconstruction of phenotype-associated gene regulatory networks.

The Combination of the CIGB-300 Anticancer Peptide and Cisplatin Modulates Proteins Related to Cell Survival, DNA Repair and Metastasis in a Lung Cancer Cell Line Model

Background:

CIGB-300 is a pro-apoptotic peptide that abrogates CK2-mediated phosphorylation, and can elicit synergistic interaction in vitro and in vivo when combined with certain anticancer drugs.

Objective:

The combination of CIGB-300 with cisplatin is studied through data mining and expressionbased proteomics to reveal the molecular basis of this interaction. Cisplatin resistance-associated proteins, which have also been reported as CK2 substrates, were first identified by bioinformatic analyses.

Methods:

Data from these analyses suggested that the cisplatin resistance phenotype could be directly improved by inhibiting CK2 phosphorylation on specific substrates. Furthermore, 157 proteins were differentially modulated on the NCI-H125 lung cancer cell line in response to CIGB-300, cisplatin or both drugs as determined by LC-MS/MS.

Results:

The expression of 28 cisplatin resistance-associated proteins was changed when cisplatin was combined with CIGB-300. Overall, the proteins identified are also related to cell survival, cell proliferation and metastasis. Furthermore, the CIGB-300 regulated proteome revealed proteins that were initially involved in the mechanism of action of CIGB-300 and cisplatin as single agents.

Conclusion:

This is the first report describing the protein array modulated by combining CIGB-300 and cisplatin that will support the rationale for future clinical settings based on a multi-target cancer therapy.

The ROMP: A Powerful Approach to Synthesize Novel pH-Sensitive Nanoparticles for Tumor Therapy

Fast clearance, metabolism, and systemic toxicity are major limits for the clinical use of anti-cancer drugs. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) present these defects, despite displaying promising anti-tumor properties on tumor cells in vitro and in in vivo models of cancer. The specific delivery of anti-cancer drugs into the tumor should improve their clinical benefit by limiting systemic toxicity and by increasing the anti-tumor effect. This paper deals with the synthesis of the polymeric nanoparticle platform, which was produced by Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP), able to release anti-cancer drugs in dispersion, such as histone deacetylase inhibitors, into mesothelioma tumors. The core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) have stealth properties due to their poly(ethylene oxide) shell and can be viewed as universal nano-carriers on which any alkyne-modified anti-cancer molecule can be grafted by click chemistry. A cleavage reaction of the chemical bond between NPs and drugs through the contact of NPs with a medium presenting an acidic pH, which is typically a cancer tumor environment or an acidic intracellular compartment, induces a controlled release of the bioactive molecule in its native form. In our in vivo syngeneic model of mesothelioma, a highly selective accumulation of the particles in the tumor was obtained. The release of the drugs led to an 80% reduction of tumor weight for the best compound without toxicity. Our work demonstrates that the use of theranostic nanovectors leads to an optimized delivery of epigenetic inhibitors in tumors, which improves their anti-tumor properties in vivo.

Assessment of new HDAC inhibitors for immunotherapy of malignant pleural mesothelioma

Background

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a very rare and highly aggressive cancer of the pleura associated in most cases with asbestos exposure. To date, no really efficient treatments are available for this pathology. Recently, it has been shown that epigenetic drugs, particularly DNA methylation or histone acetylation modulating agents, could be very efficient in terms of cytotoxicity for several types of cancer cells. We previously showed that a hypomethylating agent (decitabine) and a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) (valproic acid (VPA)) combination was immunogenic and led to the induction of an anti-tumor immune response in a mice model of mesothelioma. However, VPA is not very specific, is active at millimolar concentrations and is responsible for side effects in clinic. To improve this approach, we studied four newly synthetized HDACi, two hydroxamates (ODH and NODH) and two benzamides (ODB and NODB), in comparison with VPA and SAHA. We evaluated their toxicity on immune cells and their immunogenicity on MPM cells in combination with decitabine.

Results

All the tested HDACi were toxic for immune cells at high concentrations. Combination with decitabine increased toxicity of HDACi only towards T-cell clone. A decrease in the proportion of regulatory T cells and natural killer cells was observed in particular with VPA and ODH. In MPM cells, all HDACi combinations induced NY-ESO-1 cancer testis antigen (CTA) expression and the recognition of the treated cells by a NY-ESO-1 specific T-CD8 clone. However, for MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3 and XAGE-1b mRNA expression, the results obtained depended on the HDACi used and on the CTA studied. Depending on the MPM cell line studied, molecules alone increased moderately PD-L1 expression. When combined, a higher stimulation of this immune check point inhibitor expression was observed. Decitabine-induced anti-viral response seemed to be inhibited in the presence of HDACi.

Conclusions

This work shows that the combination of decitabine and HDACi could be of interest for MPM immunotherapy. However, this combination induced PD-L1 expression which suggests that an association with anti-PD-L1 therapy should be performed to induce an efficient anti-tumor immune response.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13148-018-0517-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A Succinate Ether Derivative of Tocotrienol Enhances Dickkopf-1 Gene Expression through Epigenetic Alterations in Malignant Mesothelioma Cells

BACKGROUND

Wnt signaling plays an essential role in tumor cell growth, including the development of malignant mesothelioma (MM). Epigenetic silencing of negative Wnt regulators leading to constitutive Wnt signaling has been observed in various cancers and warrants further attention. We have reported that a succinate ether derivative of α-tocotrienol (T3E) has potent cytotoxic effects in MM cells. Thus, in this study, we investigated whether the anti-MM effect of T3E could be mediated via the epigenetic alteration of the Wnt antagonist gene, Dickkopf-1 (DKK1).

METHODS

WST-1 and cell analyzers were employed to analyze the effects of T3E on cell viability and apoptosis of human MM cell lines (H2452, H28). Real-time PCR and Western blot were performed to evaluate the expression at mRNA and protein levels. Methylation status and epigenetic modifications of DKK1's promoter regions after T3E treatment in MM cells were studied using methylation-specific PCR and Chromatin immunoprecipitation. Small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown -(siRNA), and specific inhibitors, were used to validate DKK1 as a target of T3E.

RESULTS

T3E markedly impaired MM cell viability, increased the expression of phosphorylated-JNK and DKK1 and suppressed cyclin D, a downstream target gene of Wnt signaling. Knockdown of DKK1 expression by siRNA or a specific JNK inhibitor confirmed the contribution of DKK1 and JNK to T3E-induced cytotoxicity in MM cells. On the other hand, cytoskeleton-associated protein 4 (CKAP4) expression, which promotes cell proliferation as a Wnt-independent DKK1 receptor was inhibited by T3E. Silencing CKAP4 by -siRNA did not appear to directly affect MM cell viability, thereby indicating that expression of both DKK1 and CKAP4 is required. Furthermore, T3E-mediated inhibition of both DNA methyltransferases (DNMT1, 3A, and 3B) and histone deacetylases (HDAC1, 2, 3, and 8) in MM cells leads to increased DKK1 expression, thereby promoting tumor growth inhibition. MM cells treated with Zebularine (a DNMT inhibitor) and sodium butyrate (an HDAC inhibitor) exhibited cytotoxic effects, which may explain the inhibitory action of T3E on MM cells. In addition, an enhanced expression of DKK1 in MM cells following T3E treatment is positively correlated with the methylation status of its promoter; T3E decreased DNA methylation and increased histone acetylation. Moreover, T3E specifically increased histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation activity, whereas no effects were observed on histone H3K9 and H3K27.

CONCLUSIONS

Targeting the epigenetic induction of DKK1 may lead to effective treatment of MM, and T3E has great potential to induce anti-MM activity.

Epigenetic agents in combined anticancer therapy

In the last decade, epigenetic drugs (such as inhibitors of DNA methyltransferases and histone deacetylases) have been intensively used for cancer treatment. Their applications have shown high anticancer effectivity and tolerable side effects. However, they are unfortunately not effective in the treatment of some types and phenotypes of cancers. Nevertheless, several studies have demonstrated that problems of drug efficacy can be overcome through the combined application of therapeutic modulates. Therefore, combined applications of epigenetic agents with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, oncolytic virotherapy and hyperthermia have been presented. This review summarizes and discusses the general principles of this approach, as introduced and supported by numerous examples. In addition, predictions of the future potential applications of this methodology are included.

The histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA induces HSP60 nitration and its extracellular release by exosomal vesicles in human lung-derived carcinoma cells

HSP60 undergoes changes in quantity and distribution in some types of tumors suggesting a participation of the chaperonin in the mechanism of transformation and cancer progression. Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), a member of a family of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), has anti-cancer potential but its interaction, if any, with HSP60 has not been elucidated. We investigated the effects of SAHA in a human lung-derived carcinoma cell line (H292). We analysed cell viability and cycle; oxidative stress markers; mitochondrial integrity; HSP60 protein and mRNA levels; and HSP60 post-translational modifications, and its secretion. We found that SAHA is cytotoxic for H292 cells, interrupting the cycle at the G2/M phase, which is followed by death; cytotoxicity is associated with oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, and diminution of intracellular levels of HSP60; HSP60 undergoes a post-translational modification and becomes nitrated; and nitrated HSP60 is exported via exosomes. We propose that SAHA causes ROS overproduction and mitochondrial dysfunction, which leads to HSP60 nitration and release into the intercellular space and circulation to interact with the immune system. These successive steps might constitute the mechanism of the anti-tumor action of SAHA and provide a basis to design supplementary therapeutic strategies targeting HSP60, which would be more efficacious than the compound alone.

Time dependent modulation of tumor radiosensitivity by a pan HDAC inhibitor: abexinostat

Despite prominent role of radiotherapy in lung cancer management, there is an urgent need for strategies increasing therapeutic efficacy. Reversible epigenetic changes are promising targets for combination strategies using HDAC inhibitors (HDACi).

Here we evaluated on two NSCLC cell lines, the antitumor effect of abexinostat, a novel pan HDACi combined with irradiation in vitro in normoxia and hypoxia, by clonogenic assays, demonstrating that abexinostat enhances radiosensitivity in a time dependent way with mean SER10 between 1.6 and 2.5 for A549 and H460. We found, by immunofluorescence staining, flow cytometry assays and western blotting, in abexinostat treated cells, increasing radio-induced caspase dependent apoptosis and persistent DNA double-strand breaks associated with decreased DNA damage signalling and repair. Interestingly, we demonstrated on nude mice xenografts that abexinostat potentiates tumor growth delay in combined modality treatments associating not only abexinostat and irradiation but also when adding cisplatin.

Altogether, our data demonstrate in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor effect potentiation by abexinostat combined with irradiation in NSCLC. Moreover, our work suggests for the first time to our knowledge promising triple combination opportunities with HDACi, irradiation and cisplatin which deserves further investigations and could be of major interest in the treatment of NSCLC.

Isobolographic analysis demonstrates additive effect of cisplatin and HDIs combined treatment augmenting their anti-cancer activity in lung cancer cell lines

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs) are a new class of drugs which affect the activity of HDACs resulting in changed of acetylation in many proteins. HDIs can induce differentiation, cell growth arrest, apoptosis, inhibit proliferation and angiogenesis in cancer, whereas normal cells are comparatively resistant to the action of HDIs. The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of a well-known cytostatic agent-cisplatin (CDDP) and a histone deacetylase inhibitors-either suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA, vorinostat) or valproic acid (VPA), on the proliferation of lung cancer cells, as well as induction of apoptosis and inhibition of the cell cycle progression. The anti-proliferative activity of VPA or SAHA used alone, or in combination with CDDP were determined by means of MTT test. The type of pharmacologic interactions between HDAC inhibitors and CDDP was assessed using isobolographic analysis. We observed additive interactions for the CCDP with SAHA, as well as for the CDDP with VPA combinations with respect to their anti-proliferative effects on three different lung cancer cell lines (A549, NCI-H1563 and NCI-H2170). Such additive effects were observed regardless of the histologic type (adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma) and sensitivity for the drugs applied. Combination treatment also augmented the induction of apoptosis and cell cycle perturbation mediated by CDDP alone, thereby enhancing anti-cancer effect of tested drugs. In conclusion, the combined therapy of HDIs and CDDP may be a promising therapeutic tool in the treatment of lung cancer.

The BH3-mimetic gossypol and noncytotoxic doses of valproic acid induce apoptosis by suppressing cyclin-A2/Akt/FOXO3a signaling

Previously we reported that valproic acid (VPA) acts in synergy with GOS to enhance cell death in human DU145 cells. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we observed that such synergistic cytotoxicity of GOS and VPA could be extended to human A375, HeLa, and PC-3 cancer cells. GOS and VPA co-treatment induced robust apoptosis as evidenced by caspase-8/-9/-3 activation, PARP cleavage, and nuclear fragmentation. GOS and VPA also markedly decreased cyclin A2 protein expression. Owing to the reduction of cyclin A2, Akt signaling was suppressed, leading to dephosphorylation of FOXO3a. Consequently, FOXO3a was activated and the expression of its target genes, including pro-apoptotic FasL and Bim, was upregulated. Supporting this, FOXO3a knockdown attenuated FasL and Bim upregulation and apoptosis induction in GOS+VPA-treated cells. Furthermore, blocking proteasome activity by MG132 prevented the downregulation of cyclin A2, dephosphorylation of Akt and FOXO3a, and induction of apoptosis in cells co-treated with GOS and VPA. In mouse model, GOS and VPA combination significantly inhibited the growth of A375 melanoma xenografts. Our findings indicate that GOS and VPA co-treatment induces apoptosis in human cancer cells by suppressing the cyclin-A2/Akt/FOXO3a pathway.

The predictive value of ERCC1 and p53 for the effect of panobinostat and cisplatin combination treatment in NSCLC

Cisplatin is one of the most common chemotherapeutic drugs for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the response rate is limited because of drug resistance. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis), which can alter DNA accessibility by regulating chromatin structure and inducing apoptosis, exhibit a synergistic action with cisplatin. However, no biomarkers that can predict the efficacy of the combination of HDACis and cisplatin have been reported. Our study found that panobinostat, an HDAC inhibitor, increased the cisplatin sensitivity of several NSCLC cell lines with low ERCC1 expression but not those with high ERCC1 expression or gain-of-function (GOF) p53 mutation despite of ERCC1 expression level. ERCC1 knockdown increased the cisplatin sensitivity of NSCLC cell lines with high ERCC1 expression without GOF p53 mutations. In addition, in low ERCC1 expression NSCLC cell lines, knockdown of GOF mutant p53 enhanced cisplatin sensitivity. Further double knockdown of ERCC1 and GOF mutant p53 but not ERCC1 knockdown alone increased the cisplatin sensitivity of cells with both high ERCC1 expression and GOF p53 mutations. Therefore, this study demonstrated that ERCC1 expression combined with p53 mutation status may determine the efficacy of cisplatin and HDACi combined therapy and guide the development of future NSCLC therapies.

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Delivery using Nanoparticles with Intrinsic Passive Tumor Targeting Properties for Tumor Therapy

Fast clearance, metabolism and systemic toxicity are major limits for the clinical use of anti-cancer drugs. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) present these defects despite displaying promising anti-tumor properties on tumor cells in vitro and in in vivo model of cancers. Specific delivery of anti-cancer drugs into the tumor should improve their clinical benefit by limiting systemic toxicity and by increasing the anti-tumor effect. In this work, we describe a simple and flexible polymeric nanoparticle platform highly targeting the tumor in vivo and triggering impressive tumor weight reduction when functionalized with HDACi. Our nanoparticles were produced by Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization of azido-polyethylene oxide-norbornene macromonomers and functionalized using click chemistry. Using an orthotopic model of peritoneal invasive cancer, a highly selective accumulation of the particles in the tumor was obtained. A combination of epigenetic drugs involving a pH-responsive histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) polymer conjugated to these particles gave 80% reduction of tumor weight without toxicity whereas the free HDACi has no effect. Our work demonstrates that the use of a nanovector with theranostic properties leads to an optimized delivery of potent HDACi in tumor and then, to an improvement of their anti-tumor properties in vivo.

DUSP1 expression induced by HDAC1 inhibition mediates gefitinib sensitivity in non-small cell lung cancers

PURPOSE

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Patients with NSCLC with EGFR-activating mutation benefit greatly by gefitinib, an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor. However, acquired resistance limits its clinical use. Histone deacetylases (HDAC) are oncoproteins associated with cancer progression and drug resistance. Here, we disclosed that inhibition of HDAC1 induced protein phosphatase DUSP1 upregulation to overcome gefitinib-acquired resistance.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

The effect of HDAC1 inhibition restored gefitinib sensitivity was assessed by in vitro MTT and apoptotic assays, and in vivo xenograft and orthotopic lung cancer mouse models. Protein phosphatase array was used to detect DUSP1 expression. Immunohistochemical staining and quantitative PCR were used to analyze DUSP1 expression in clinical NSCLC specimens.

RESULTS

Gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cells showed HDAC1 overexpression, and its knockdown sensitized resistant cells to gefitinib in vitro and in preclinical models through DUSP1 expression. Overexpression of DUSP1 in resistant cells restored gefitinib sensitivity by inhibiting EGFR signaling and inducing apoptosis, whereas its knockdown in sensitive cells conferred gefitinib resistance. A novel HDAC inhibitor, WJ-26210-2, in combination with gefitinib upregulated DUSP1 expression to exert in vitro and in vivo synergistic effect on inactivation of EGFR signaling, growth inhibition, and apoptosis. Clinically, high DUSP1 level was correlated with delayed emergence of gefitinib-acquired resistance.

CONCLUSIONS

Decreased DUSP1 might be a mechanism responsible for gefitinib resistance, and DUSP1 might be a biomarker for gefitinib efficacy. HDAC1 inhibition-induced DUSP1 upregulation could be a promising strategy to overcome gefitinib-acquired resistance. Clin Cancer Res; 21(2); 428-38. ©2015 AACR.

Novel oral histone deacetylase inhibitor, MPT0E028, displays potent growth-inhibitory activity against human B-cell lymphoma in vitro and in vivo

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor has been a promising therapeutic option in cancer therapy due to its ability to induce growth arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis. In this study, we demonstrated that MPT0E028, a novel HDAC inhibitor, reduces the viability of B-cell lymphomas by inducing apoptosis and shows a more potent HDAC inhibitory effect compared to SAHA, the first HDAC inhibitor approved by the FDA. In addition to HDACs inhibition, MPT0E028 also possesses potent direct Akt targeting ability as measured by the kinome diversity screening assay. Also, MPT0E028 reduces Akt phosphorylation in B-cell lymphoma with an IC50 value lower than SAHA. Transient transfection assay revealed that both targeting HDACs and Akt contribute to the apoptosis induced by MPT0E028, with both mechanisms functioning independently. Microarray analysis also shows that MPT0E028 may regulate many oncogenes expression (e.g., TP53, MYC, STAT family). Furthermore, in vivo animal model experiments demonstrated that MPT0E028 (50-200 mg/kg, po, qd) prolongs the survival rate of mice bearing human B-cell lymphoma Ramos cells and inhibits tumor growth in BJAB xenograft model. In summary, MPT0E028 possesses strong in vitro and in vivo activity against malignant cells, representing a potential therapeutic approach for cancer therapy.