Abstract
Aim:
To investigate the in vitro and in vivo activities and related mechanism of apogossypolone (ApoG2) alone or in combination with adriamycin (ADM) against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods:
The IC50 of ApoG2 in vitro was tested by WST assay, and the synergistic effect was analyzed using the CalcuSyn method. Cell apoptosis was determined using 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining and flow cytometric analysis. Western blotting was used to determine the expression of apoptosis-related proteins. In vivo activity was evaluated in the xenograft model in nude mice, and apoptosis in tumor tissues was determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated digoxigenin-dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay.
Results:
The IC50 of ApoG2 in HCC cells was 17.28–30.63 μmol/L. When ApoG2 was combined with ADM, increased cytotoxicity and apoptosis were observed in SMMC-7721 cells compared to treatment with ApoG2 alone. The Western blotting results indicated that the ApoG2 induced apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cells by downregulating anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, Mcl-1, and Bcl-XL, up-regulating pro-apoptotic protein Noxa, and promoting the activities of caspases-9 and -3. The tumor growth of xenograft SMMC-7721 was inhibited in nude mice when ApoG2 was administered orally without causing damage to the normal tissues. The in vivo study also indicated an increasing anti-tumoral effect when ApoG2 at 100 or 200 mg/kg dosages were used together with ADM at 5.5 mg/kg, with relative tumor proliferation rate (T/C) values of 0.456 and 0.323, respectively. Apoptosis induced in vivo by ApoG2 alone or combined with ADM was confirmed by TUNEL assay in tumor tissues.
Conclusion:
ApoG2 is a potential non-toxic target agent that induces apoptosis by upregulating Noxa, while inhibiting anti-apoptotic proteins and promoting the effect of chemotherapy agent ADM in HCC.
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Mi, Jx., Wang, Gf., Wang, Hb. et al. Synergistic antitumoral activity and induction of apoptosis by novel pan Bcl-2 proteins inhibitor apogossypolone with adriamycin in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Acta Pharmacol Sin 29, 1467–1477 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7254.2008.00901.x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7254.2008.00901.x
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