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Cancers are the major cause of death worldwide. Chemotherapy using cytotoxic drugs and targeted therapy is required when surgery is difficult, ineffective, or impossible. We previously synthesized the novel synthetic 1-benzylindole derivative 21-900 and found that it inhibits histone deacetylase (HDAC) activities and tubulin assembly. Here we tested its effects on the human leukaemia cell lines HL-60 and MOLT-4 in vitro and in vivo. We found that its potent cytotoxic effects were mediated through cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase, which increased the population of sub-G1 cells, leading to apoptosis. Further, tubulin was depolymerized by 21-900 in a manner similar to that of vincristine, leading to disruption of microtubule dynamics and increased levels of the mitotic marker MPM-2. Further, 21-900 increased the expression of cleavage form of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), caspase 3, 7 (cleavage form), and pro-apoptotic protein BAK and decreased the expression of pro-survival BCL-2-family proteins BCL-2, MCL-1, and BID pro-form, leading to the induction of apoptosis. The growth of tumours in nude mice formed by xenografts of HL-60 and MOLT-4 cells was significantly inhibited by 21-900 without causing the mice to lose body weight. These findings indicate that 21-900 may serve as a potent anti-leukaemia drug., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Developing new anticancer agents against ovarian cancer is an urgent medical need. MPT0G066, a novel synthetic arylsulfonamide compound, was shown to inhibit cell growth and decrease viability in human ovarian cancer cells. MPT0G066 induced arrest of the cell cycle at the multipolyploidy (MP) phase in SKOV3 and at the G2/M phase in A2780 cells, while increasing the proportion of cells in the subG1. Additionally, MPT0G066 induced c-Jun-NH2 terminal kinase (JNK) activation, influenced cell cycle regulatory and Bcl-2 family proteins, which triggered intrinsic apoptotic pathways through cleavage of caspase-3, -7, -9, and poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Flow cytometry analysis of p-glycoprotein (p-gp) function showed that MPT0G066 was not a substrate of p-gp. Additionally, it was shown that MPT0G066 could decrease cell viability in multiple-drug-resistant human ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, the combination of MPT0G066 and cisplatin presented a synergistic cytotoxic effect against ovarian cancer cell lines in vitro. MPT0G066 also significantly suppressed the growth of ovarian carcinoma and potentiated the antineoplastic effects of cisplatin in vivo. In conclusion, these findings indicate that MPT0G066 can be a potential anticancer agent against ovarian cancer that worthy of further development.

Pancreatic cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide with a poor survival rate. The objective of this study was to determine the mechanism of action of a novel antimitotic and Stat3 inhibitor, LTP-1, on human pancreatic cancer in vitro and in vivo. We found that LTP-1 inhibited pancreatic cancer cell growth and viability with significant G2/M arrest and disruption of microtubule dynamics. LTP-1 also caused G2/M arrest-independent Stat3 dephosphorylation along with ERK activation, which indicated the possible dual function of LTP-1. Long-term treatment of LTP-1 also induced polyploidy, activated caspases, induced subG1 cell population, and therefore, triggered pancreatic cancer cell apoptosis. Finally, we used an in vivo xenograft model to demonstrate that LTP-1 suppressed the growth of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In summary, our data suggest that LTP-1 may alter microtubule dynamics, which ultimately causes polyploidy and apoptosis, thereby inhibiting pancreatic cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. This study provides evidence that LTP-1 could be a potential therapeutic agent for further development of pancreatic cancer treatment.

Chemotherapy (CTx)-induced premature ovarian failure (POF) in woman remains clinically irreversible. Amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSCs) have shown the potential to treat CTx-induced POF; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here we demonstrate that AFSC-derived exosomes recapitulate the anti-apoptotic effect of AFSCs on CTx-damaged granulosa cells (GCs), which are vital for the growth of ovarian follicles. AFSC-derived exosomes prevent ovarian follicular atresia in CTx-treated mice via the delivery of microRNAs in which both miR-146a and miR-10a are highly enriched and their potential target genes are critical to apoptosis. The down-regulation of these two miRNAs in AFSC-derived exosomes attenuates the anti-apoptotic effect on CTx-damaged GCs in vitro. Further, the administration of these miRNAs recapitulates the effects both in vitro and in vivo, in which miR-10a contributes a dominant influence. Our findings illustrate that miR-10a has potential as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of POF.