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Alcolea V, Karelia DN, Pandey MK, Plano D, Singh P, Palop JA, Amin S, Sanmartín C, Sharma AK. Identification of a Novel Quinoxaline- Isoselenourea Targeting the STAT3 Pathway as a Potential Melanoma Therapeutic. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20030521. [PMID: 30691132 PMCID: PMC6386884 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20030521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2019] [Revised: 01/22/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The prognosis for patients with metastatic melanoma remains very poor. Constitutive signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) activation has been correlated to metastasis, poor patient survival, larger tumor size, and acquired resistance against vemurafenib (PLX-4032), suggesting its potential as a molecular target. We recently designed a series of isoseleno- and isothio-urea derivatives of several biologically active heterocyclic scaffolds. The cytotoxic effects of lead isoseleno- and isothio-urea derivatives (compounds 1 and 3) were studied in a panel of five melanoma cell lines, including B-RAFV600E-mutant and wild-type (WT) cells. Compound 1 (IC50 range 0.8–3.8 µM) showed lower IC50 values than compound 3 (IC50 range 8.1–38.7 µM) and the mutant B-RAF specific inhibitor PLX-4032 (IC50 ranging from 0.4 to >50 µM), especially at a short treatment time (24 h). These effects were long-lasting, since melanoma cells did not recover their proliferative potential after 14 days of treatment. In addition, we confirmed that compound 1 induced cell death by apoptosis using Live-and-Dead, Annexin V, and Caspase3/7 apoptosis assays. Furthermore, compound 1 reduced the protein levels of STAT3 and its phosphorylation, as well as decreased the expression of STAT3-regulated genes involved in metastasis and survival, such as survivin and c-myc. Compound 1 also upregulated the cell cycle inhibitor p21. Docking studies further revealed the favorable binding of compound 1 with the SH2 domain of STAT3, suggesting it acts through STAT3 inhibition. Taken together, our results suggest that compound 1 induces apoptosis by means of the inhibition of the STAT3 pathway, non-specifically targeting both B-RAF-mutant and WT melanoma cells, with much higher cytotoxicity than the current therapeutic drug PLX-4032.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica Alcolea
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, School of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea 1, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain.
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Irunlarrea 3, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain.
| | - Deepkamal N Karelia
- Department of Pharmacology, Penn State Cancer Institute, CH72, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA.
| | - Manoj K Pandey
- Department of Pharmacology, Penn State Cancer Institute, CH72, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA.
| | - Daniel Plano
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, School of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea 1, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain.
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Irunlarrea 3, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain.
| | - Parvesh Singh
- School of Chemistry and Physics, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN), Westville Campus, Durban 4000, South Africa.
| | - Juan Antonio Palop
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, School of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea 1, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain.
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Irunlarrea 3, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain.
| | - Shantu Amin
- Department of Pharmacology, Penn State Cancer Institute, CH72, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA.
| | - Carmen Sanmartín
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, School of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea 1, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain.
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Irunlarrea 3, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain.
| | - Arun K Sharma
- Department of Pharmacology, Penn State Cancer Institute, CH72, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA.
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