Selective sensitization of transformed cells to flavopiridol-induced apoptosis following recruitment to S-phase (original) (raw)
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Clinical Cancer Research
Flavopiridol, a synthetic flavone that inhibits tumor growth in vitro and in vivo, is a potent cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) inhibitor presently in clinical trials. In the present study, the effect of 100-500 nM flavopiridol on a panel of non-small cell lung cancer cell lines was examined. All express a wild-type retinoblastoma susceptibility protein and lack p16INK4A, and only A549 cells are known to express wild-type p53. During 72 h of treatment, flavopiridol was shown to be cytotoxic to all seven cell lines, as measured by trypan blue exclusion, regardless of whether cells were actively cycling. In most cycling cells, cytotoxicity was preceded or accompanied by cell cycle arrest. Cell death resulted in the appearance of cells with a sub-G1 DNA content, suggestive of apoptosis, which was confirmed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay and by demonstration of cleavage of caspase targets including poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, p21Waf1, and p2...
Cancer research, 2003
Transformed cells are selectively sensitized to apoptosis induced by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor flavopiridol after their recruitment to S phase. During S phase, cyclin A-dependent kinase activity neutralizes E2F-1 allowing orderly S phase progression. Inhibition of cyclin A-dependent kinase by flavopiridol could cause inappropriately persistent E2F-1 activity during S phase traversal and exit. Transformed cells, with high baseline levels of E2F-1 activity, may be particularly sensitive to cyclin A-dependent kinase inhibition, as the residual level of E2F-1 activity that persists may be sufficient to induce apoptosis. Here, we demonstrate that flavopiridol treatment during S phase traversal results in persistent expression of E2F-1. The phosphorylation of E2F-1 is markedly diminished, whereas that of the retinoblastoma protein is minimally affected, so that E2F-1/DP-1 heterodimers remain bound to DNA. In addition, manipulation of E2F-1 levels leads to predictable outcomes ...
2003
Transformed cells are selectively sensitized to apoptosis induced by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor flavopiridol after their recruitment to S phase. During S phase, cyclin A-dependent kinase activity neutralizes E2F-1 allowing orderly S phase progression. Inhibition of cyclin A-depen- dent kinase by flavopiridol could cause inappropriately persistent E2F-1 activity during S phase traversal and exit. Transformed cells, with high baseline levels
Early induction of apoptosis in hematopoietic cell lines after exposure to flavopiridol
Blood, 1998
Flavopiridol (NSC 649890; Behringwerke L86-8275, Marburg, Germany), is a potent inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) 1, 2, and 4. It has potent antiproliferative effects in vitro and is active in tumor models in vivo. While surveying the effect of flavopiridol on cell cycle progression in different cell types, we discovered that hematopoietic cell lines, including SUDHL4, SUDHL6 (B-cell lines), Jurkat, and MOLT4 (T-cell lines), and HL60 (myeloid), displayed notable sensitivity to flavopiridol-induced apoptosis. For example, after 100 nmol/L for 12 hours, SUDHL4 cells displayed a similar degree of DNA fragmentation to that shown by the apoptosis-resistant PC3 prostate carcinoma cells only after 3,000 nmol/L for 48 hours. After exposure to 1,000 nmol/L flavopiridol for 12 hours, typical apoptotic morphology was observed in SUDHL4 cells, but not in PC3 prostate carcinoma cells despite comparable potency (SUDHL4: 120 nmol/L; PC3: 203 nmol/L) in causing growth inhibition by 50% (...
Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 2002
Interactions between the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor flavopiridol (FP) and the histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate (SB) have been examined in human leukemia cells (U937) in relation to differentiation and apoptosis. Whereas 1 mM of SB or 100 nM of FP minimally induced apoptosis (4% and 10%, respectively) at 24 h, simultaneous exposure of U937 cells to these agents dramatically increased cell death (e.g., ϳ60%), reflected by both morphological and Annexin/propidium iodide-staining features, procaspase 3 activation, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage. Similar interactions were observed in human promyelocytic (HL-60), Blymphoblastic (Raji), and T-lymphoblastic (Jurkat) leukemia cells. Coadministration of FP opposed SB-mediated accumulation of cells in G 0 G 1 and differentiation, reflected by reduced CD11b expression, but instead dramatically increased procaspase-3, procaspase-8, Bid, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage, as well as mitochondrial damage (e.g., loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome c release). FP also blocked SB-related p21 WAF1-CIP1 induction through a caspase-independent mechanism and triggered the caspase-mediated cleavage of p27 KIP1 and retinoblastoma protein. The latter event was accompanied by a marked reduction in retinoblastoma protein/E2F1 complex formation. However, FP did not modify the extent of SBassociated acetylation of histones H3 and H4. Treatment of cells with FP/SB also resulted in the caspase-mediated cleavage of Bcl-2 and caspaseindependent down-regulation of Mcl-1. Levels of cyclins A, D 1 , and E, and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis also declined in SB/FP-treated cells. Finally, FP/SB coexposure potently induced apoptosis in two primary acute myelogenous leukemia samples. Together, these findings demonstrate that FP, when combined with SB, induces multiple perturbations in cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory proteins, which oppose leukemic cell differentiation but instead promote mitochondrial damage and apoptosis.
Cell-Cycle Inhibitors as Novel Therapies for Lung Cancer
Clinical Lung Cancer, 2002
• Progression through the cell cycle relies on a series of checkpoints during phases G 1 and G 2 to ensure the accuracy of the replication process ). At the G 1 checkpoint, the cell can either exit to G 0 , becoming quiescent, or commit to entering the cell cycle. The G 2 checkpoint allows the cell to repair any DNA damage before mitosis begins. Movement through the cell cycle is regulated by a family of serine/threonine kinases called cyclin-dependent kinases. These cyclin-dependent kinases are responsible for the phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein during G 1 . Upon phosphorylation, retinoblastoma is inactivated, releasing E2F family transcription factors, which ultimately results in the transcription of genes needed for entry into S phase. The cyclin-dependent kinases themselves are regulated by cyclins, with which they form holoenzymes. Negative regulators of the cyclin-dependent kinases include the INK and Cip/Kip families of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors.
Biochemical Pharmacology, 2010
The Bcr-Abl kinase inhibitor, imatinib mesylate, is the front line treatment for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), but the emergence of imatinib resistance has led to the search for alternative drug treatments and the examination of combination therapies to overcome imatinib resistance. The proapoptotic PBOX compounds are a recently developed novel series of microtubule targeting agents (MTAs) that depolymerise tubulin. Recent data demonstrating enhanced MTA-induced tumour cell apoptosis upon combination with the cyclin dependent kinase (CDK)-1 inhibitor flavopiridol prompted us to examine whether this compound could similarly enhance the effect of the PBOX compounds. We thus characterised the apoptotic and cell cycle events associated with combination therapy of the PBOX compounds and flavopiridol and results showed a sequence dependent, synergistic enhancement of apoptosis in CML cells including those expressing the imatinib-resistant T315I mutant. Flavopiridol reduced the number of polyploid cells formed in response to PBOX treatment but only to a small extent, suggesting that inhibition of endoreplication was unlikely to play a major role in the mechanism by which flavopiridol synergistically enhanced PBOX-induced apoptosis. The addition of flavopiridol following PBOX-6 treatment did however result in an accelerated exit from the G2/M transition accompanied by an enhanced downregulation and deactivation of the CDK1/cyclin B1 complex and an enhanced degradation of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) survivin. In conclusion, results from this study highlight the potential of these novel series of PBOX compounds, alone or in sequential combination with flavopiridol, as an effective therapy against CML. ß
Journal of Clinical Investigation, 1998
Flavopiridol (HMR 1275) has been identified recently as a novel antineoplastic agent in the primary screen conducted by the Developmental Therapeutics Program, National Cancer Institute. Flavopiridol inhibits most cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) and displays unique anticancer properties. Here, we investigated whether this compound was effective against head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Exposure of HNSCC cells to flavopiridol diminished cdc2 and cdk2 activity and potently inhibited cell proliferation (IC 50 43-83 nM), which was concomitant with the appearance of cells with a sub-G 1 DNA content. Moreover,
Cancer Research, 2001
Interactions between the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CDKI) flavopiridol (FP) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) were examined in U937 human leukemia cells in relation to differentiation and apoptosis. Simultaneous, but not sequential, exposure of U937 cells to 100 nM FP and 10 nM PMA significantly increased apoptosis manifested by characteristic morphological features, mitochondrial dysfunction, caspase activation, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage while markedly inhibiting cellular differentiation, as reflected by diminished plastic adherence and CD11b expression. Enhanced apoptosis in U937 cells was associated with an early caspase-independent increase in cytochrome c release and accompanied by a substantial decline in leukemic cell clonogenicity. Moreover, PMA/FP cotreatment significantly increased apoptosis in HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells and in U937 cells ectopically expressing the Bcl-2 protein. In U937 cells, coadministration of FP blocked PMA-induced expression and reporter activity of the CDKI p21 WAF1/CIP1 and triggered caspase-mediated cleavage of the CDKI p27 KIP1. Coexposure to FP also resulted in a more pronounced and sustained activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase cascade after PMA treatment, although disruption of this pathway by the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 inhibitor U0126 did not prevent potentiation of apoptosis. FP accelerated PMA-mediated dephosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (pRb), an event followed by pRb cleavage culminating in the complete loss of underphosphorylated pRb (ϷM r 110,000) by 24 h. Finally, gel shift analysis revealed that coadministration of FP with PMA for 8 h led to diminished E2F/pRb binding compared to the effects of PMA alone. Collectively, these findings indicate that FP modulates the expression/activity of multiple signaling and cell cycle regulatory proteins in PMA-treated leukemia cells and that such alterations are associated with mitochondrial damage and apoptosis rather than maturation. These observations also raise the possibility that combining CDKIs and differentiation-inducing agents may represent a novel antileukemic strategy.