Abstract
c-Myc plays a decisive role in the proliferation of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells. In the present study, we demonstrated that an inhibitor of c-Myc/Max/DNA complex formation has a high potentiality as a suppressor of c-Myc-involved cell signaling. We prepared recombinant c-Myc and Max proteins encompassing the human-origin DNA binding and dimerization domains, and tested a chemical library of 6480 small molecules for their inhibitory effect on the in vitro formation of the c-Myc/Max/DNA complex as well as their influence on DMSO-differentiated HL-60 cells. We found several hit compounds through in vitro and cell-based screening tests, and also confirmed these compounds significantly inhibited the formation of the recombinant c-Myc/Max/DNA complex in the low micromolar range. Indeed, these inhibitors effectively blocked c-Myc-associated gene expression in cancer cell line, suppressed the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells via cell cycle arrest without altering the expression level of c-Myc in the DMSO-differentiated HL-60 cells. These successive results suggest that our c-Myc/Max/DNA complex inhibitors potently contribute to the suppression of the Myc-dependent proliferation of leukemia cells and to the induction of apoptosis. Accordingly, we would expect that these compounds could serve as lead compounds in the development of novel anticancer drugs.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call