Abstract

Abstract Background: BPR0L075 [6-methoxy-3-(3',4',5'-trimethoxy-benzoyl)-1H-indole] is a novel anti-cancer compound. It inhibits tubulin polymerization and induces mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in various human cancer cells with different multi-drug resistance (MDR) status. Over-expression of an anti-apoptotic molecule, survivin, causes drug-resistance in various cancers. Survivin inhibits apoptosis by interfering caspase-3 and promotes cell growth by stabilizing microtubule networks. Here, we determined the effects of down-regulation of survivin in BPR0L075 (L075) treatment. Methods: Western blot analysis was used to determine the expression level of survivin in L075-untreated/-treated human oral carcinoma KB and nasopharyngeal carcinoma HONE-1 cancer cells. siRNA was used to down-regulate endogenous survivin. MTT cell viability assay, real-time caspase-3 activity assay and immuno-fluorescence microscopy were used to analyze downstream effects. Results: Survivin expression was up-regulated in both KB and HONE-1 cells in response to L075 treatment. Down-regulation of survivin induced hyper-sensitivity to L075 in KB and re-stored sensitivity to L075 in KB-derived L075-resistant KB-L30 cancer cells. At the molecular level, down-regulation of survivin induced changes in microtubule dynamics in both KB and KB-L30 cells. Surprisingly, down-regulation of survivin did not enhance the activity of caspase-3 in L075 therapy. Instead, down-regulation of survivin induced translocation of the apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from cytoplasm to nucleus. Conclusion: Down-regulation of survivin improved drug sensitivity to L075 in both KB and L075-resistant KB-L30 cancer cells, possibly through a tubulin-dependent and caspase-independent mechanism. We suggest that combining BPR0L075 and survivin inhibitor may give better clinical outcome than the use of BPR0L075 monotherapy in future clinical trials.

Highlights

  • BPR0L075 [6-methoxy-3-(3',4',5'-trimethoxy-benzoyl)-1H-indole] is a novel anti-cancer compound

  • BPR0L075 induces up-regulation of survivin protein expression Human p53-wildtype KB and p53-mutated HONE-1 cancer cell lines were used in this study

  • Expression of p53 was increased in L075-treated KB cells in a time-dependent manner where an increase of p53 in L075-treated HONE-1 cells was observed at 24 h post-treatment (Figure 1A)

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Summary

Introduction

BPR0L075 [6-methoxy-3-(3',4',5'-trimethoxy-benzoyl)-1H-indole] is a novel anti-cancer compound. It inhibits tubulin polymerization and induces mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in various human cancer cells with different multidrug resistance (MDR) status. Over-expression of an anti-apoptotic molecule, survivin, causes drug-resistance in various cancers. We determined the effects of down-regulation of survivin in BPR0L075 (L075) treatment. Methods: Western blot analysis was used to determine the expression level of survivin in L075-untreated/-treated human oral carcinoma KB and nasopharyngeal carcinoma HONE-1 cancer cells. Down-regulation of survivin induced hyper-sensitivity to L075 in KB and re-stored sensitivity to L075 in KBderived L075-resistant KB-L30 cancer cells. Conclusion: Downregulation of survivin improved drug sensitivity to L075 in both KB and L075-resistant KB-L30 cancer cells, possibly through a tubulin-dependent and caspase-independent mechanism.

Methods
Results
Conclusion

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