Salinomycin treatment reduces metastatic tumor burden by hampering cancer cell migration

Florian Kopp,Prajakta Shirish Oak,Annika Herrmann,Andreas Roidl,Ernst Wagner,Adam Hermawan

doi:10.1186/1476-4598-13-16

Florian Kopp, Prajakta Shirish Oak + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-4598-13-16

Copy DOI

Journal: Molecular Cancer	Publication Date: Jan 27, 2014
Citations: 67	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Abstract

BackgroundTumor spreading is the major threat for cancer patients. The recently published anti-cancer drug salinomycin raised hope for an improved treatment by targeting therapy-refractory cancer stem cells. However, an unambiguous role of salinomycin against cancer cell migration and metastasis formation remains elusive.FindingsWe report that salinomycin effectively inhibits cancer cell migration in a variety of cancer types as determined by Boyden chamber assays. Additionally, cells were treated with doxorubicin at a concentration causing a comparable low cytotoxicity, emphasizing the anti-migratory potential of salinomycin. Moreover, single-cell tracking by time-lapse microscopy demonstrated a remarkable effect of salinomycin on breast cancer cell motility. Ultimately, salinomycin treatment significantly reduced the metastatic tumor burden in a syngenic mouse tumor model.ConclusionsOur findings clearly show that salinomycin can strongly inhibit cancer cell migration independent of the induction of cell death. We furthermore demonstrate for the first time that salinomycin treatment reduces metastasis formation in vivo, strengthening its role as promising anti-cancer therapeutic.

Highlights

Tumor spreading is the major threat for cancer patients
Our findings clearly show that salinomycin can strongly inhibit cancer cell migration independent of the induction of cell death
We demonstrate for the first time that salinomycin treatment reduces metastasis formation in vivo, strengthening its role as promising anti-cancer therapeutic

Summary

Introduction

Tumor spreading is the major threat for cancer patients. The recently published anti-cancer drug salinomycin raised hope for an improved treatment by targeting therapy-refractory cancer stem cells. Subsequent studies in a variety of different cancer types including breast, blood, lung, pancreas and colon have revealed diverse mechanisms of salinomycin action against CSC resulting in an inhibition of proliferation or an induction of apoptosis and cell death [2]. In all salinomycin-treated cells migration was significantly reduced as compared to mock- or doxorubicin-treated cells (Figure 1A), indicating that the inhibitory effect of salinomycin on migration is not due to unspecific cytotoxicity.

Results

Conclusion