Targeting melanoma stem cells with the Vitamin E derivative δ-tocotrienol

Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 12;8(1):587. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-19057-4.

Abstract

The prognosis of metastatic melanoma is very poor, due to the development of drug resistance. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) may play a crucial role in this mechanism, contributing to disease relapse. We first characterized CSCs in melanoma cell lines. We observed that A375 (but not BLM) cells are able to form melanospheres and show CSCs traits: expression of the pluripotency markers SOX2 and KLF4, higher invasiveness and tumor formation capability in vivo with respect to parental adherent cells. We also showed that a subpopulation of autofluorescent cells expressing the ABCG2 stem cell marker is present in the A375 spheroid culture. Based on these data, we investigated whether δ-TT might target melanoma CSCs. We demonstrated that melanoma cells escaping the antitumor activity of δ-TT are completely devoid of the ability to form melanospheres. In contrast, cells that escaped vemurafenib treatment show a higher ability to form melanospheres than control cells. δ-TT also induced disaggregation of A375 melanospheres and reduced the spheroidogenic ability of sphere-derived cells, reducing the expression of the ABCG2 marker. These data demonstrate that δ-TT exerts its antitumor activity by targeting the CSC subpopulation of A375 melanoma cells and might represent a novel chemopreventive/therapeutic strategy against melanoma.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily G, Member 2 / metabolism
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
  • Cell Adhesion
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Indoles / pharmacology
  • Kruppel-Like Factor 4
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Melanoma / drug therapy
  • Melanoma / metabolism*
  • Neoplasm Proteins / metabolism
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / drug effects*
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / metabolism
  • SOXB1 Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Spheroids, Cellular / drug effects
  • Sulfonamides / pharmacology
  • Vemurafenib
  • Vitamin E / analogs & derivatives*
  • Vitamin E / pharmacology

Substances

  • ABCG2 protein, human
  • ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily G, Member 2
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Indoles
  • KLF4 protein, human
  • Kruppel-Like Factor 4
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • SOX2 protein, human
  • SOXB1 Transcription Factors
  • Sulfonamides
  • Vitamin E
  • tocotrienol, delta
  • Vemurafenib