Abstract 3659: Next generation sulindac

Sulindac displays promising antineoplastic activity, but toxicity from cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition limits its long-term use for chemoprevention. Previous studies have concluded that the tumor cell growth inhibitory activity of sulindac is COX-independent and suggest that safer and more efficacious drugs can be developed by targeting the underlying mechanism. Here we report that sulindac sulfide (SS) inhibits cyclic guanosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase (cGMP PDE) activity, increases intracellular cGMP levels and activates protein kinase G at concentrations that suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis of colon tumor cells. Normal colonocytes were refractory to the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of SS as well as its ability to induce cGMP signaling. PDE5-specific inhibitors such as tadalafil also inhibited the growth of colon tumor cells that expressed high levels of the cGMP-specific PDE5 isozyme compared with colonocytes. RNAi knockdown of PDE5 selectively inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of colon tumor cells as did SS. SS, 8-bromo-cGMP, and PDE5 siRNA reduced β-catenin levels, as well as the expression of cyclin D and survivin that are regulated by β-catenin-dependent TCF transcriptional activity by a mechanism involving the transcriptional repression of β-catenin. The significance of these findings are highlighted by studies in the FCCC Min mouse model of intestinal tumorigenesis showing that a novel non-COX inhibitory derivative of SS can strongly inhibit colon tumor formation by a mechanism that appears to involve cGMP PDE inhibition. These observations suggest that safer and more efficacious drugs can be developed for colorectal cancer chemoprevention by targeting PDE5 and possibly other cGMP degrading isozymes. Citation Format: Nan Li, Yaguang Xi, Heather N. Tinsley, Evrim Gurpinar, Bernard D. Gary, Bing Zhu, Yonghe Li, Adam B. Keeton, William E. Grizzle, Gary A. Piazza. Next generation sulindac. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3659. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3659