Indole Family and Neomycin Sulfate: Inductors of Differentiation in C2C12 and RD cell Lines

Abstract

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a highly aggressive tumor primarily affecting the pediatric population, that generally originates from a failure in the embryonic differentiation of myogenic precursor cells. Standard treatment involves surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, with a poor prognosis, especially when it spreads to other parts of the body, highlighting the need for new treatment approaches. In this study, cellular differentiation was investigated as a potential therapeutic approach for an embryonal subtype of RMS (eRMS) employing a human eRMS cell line, RD; and comparing it with a normal murine myoblast cell line, C2C12. We observed that not only a serum free or a low serum concentration in the cultured medium induce morphological changes towards differentiations, but also staurosporine, bisindolylmaleimide, and neomycin sulfate (direct or indirect protein kinase inhibitors) induces differentiation in RD and C2C12 cell lines, suggesting a crucial role of PKC, PLC and its signaling pathways in a proliferation/differentiation switch. These findings underscore the importance of exploring cellular differentiation as a therapeutic strategy against RMS and highlight the need for further research into the underlying mechanisms of kinase inhibitor-induced cellular differentiation as a potential cancer treatment.