Suprafenacine, an indazole-hydrazide agent, targets cancer cells through microtubule destabilization

PLoS One. 2014 Oct 29;9(10):e110955. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110955. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Microtubules are a highly validated target in cancer therapy. However, the clinical development of tubulin binding agents (TBA) has been hampered by toxicity and chemoresistance issues and has necessitated the search for new TBAs. Here, we report the identification of a novel cell permeable, tubulin-destabilizing molecule--4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-indazole-3-carboxylic acid [1p-tolyl-meth-(E)-ylidene]-hydrazide (termed as Suprafenacine, SRF). SRF, identified by in silico screening of annotated chemical libraries, was shown to bind microtubules at the colchicine-binding site and inhibit polymerization. This led to G2/M cell cycle arrest and cell death via a mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway. Cell death was preceded by loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, JNK-mediated phosphorylation of Bcl-2 and Bad, and activation of caspase-3. Intriguingly, SRF was found to selectively inhibit cancer cell proliferation and was effective against drug-resistant cancer cells by virtue of its ability to bypass the multidrug resistance transporter P-glycoprotein. Taken together, our results suggest that SRF has potential as a chemotherapeutic agent for cancer treatment and provides an alternate scaffold for the development of improved anti-cancer agents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / isolation & purification
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Apoptosis
  • Binding Sites
  • Colchicine / pharmacology
  • G2 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Hydrazines / chemistry
  • Hydrazines / isolation & purification
  • Hydrazines / pharmacology*
  • Indazoles / chemistry
  • Indazoles / isolation & purification
  • Indazoles / pharmacology*
  • Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial
  • Mice
  • Microtubules / chemistry
  • Microtubules / drug effects*
  • Microtubules / metabolism
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • PC12 Cells
  • Protein Binding
  • Rats
  • Small Molecule Libraries / chemistry
  • Small Molecule Libraries / pharmacology

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Hydrazines
  • Indazoles
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • suprafenacine
  • Colchicine

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Health Singapore Grant NMRC1177/2008. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.