cp-31398 and Cell-Transformation--Neoplastic

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Expression of the p53 tumor suppressor protein is frequently altered in tobacco-associated lung cancers. We studied chemopreventive effects of p53-modulating agents, namely, CP-31398 and Prima-1, on 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-induced lung adenoma and adenocarcinoma formation in female A/J mice. Seven-week-old mice were treated with a single dose of NNK (10 µmol/mouse) by intraperitoneal injection and, 3 weeks later, were randomized to mice fed a control diet or experimental diets containing 50 or 100 ppm CP-31398 or 150 or 300 ppm Prima-1 for either 17 weeks (10 mice/group) or 34 weeks (15 mice/group) to assess the efficacy against lung adenoma and adenocarcinoma. Dietary feeding of 50 or 100 ppm CP-31398 significantly suppressed (P < .0001) lung adenocarcinoma by 64% and 73%, respectively, after 17 weeks and by 47% and 56%, respectively, after 34 weeks. Similarly, 150 or 300 ppm Prima-1 significantly suppressed (P < .0001) lung adenocarcinoma formation by 56% and 62%, respectively, after 17 weeks and 39% and 56%, respectively, after 34 weeks. Importantly, these results suggest that both p53 modulators cause a delay in the progression of adenoma to adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical analysis of lung tumors from mice exposed to p53-modulating agents showed a significantly reduced tumor cell proliferation and increased accumulation of wild-type p53 in the nucleus. An increase in p21- and apoptotic-positive cells was also observed in lung tumors of mice exposed to p53-modulating agents. These results support a chemopreventive role of p53-modulating agents in tobacco carcinogen-induced lung adenocarcinoma formation.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Animals; Anticarcinogenic Agents; Apoptosis; Aza Compounds; Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Chemoprevention; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; Female; Lung Neoplasms; Mice; Mice, Inbred A; Nicotiana; Nitrosamines; Pyrimidines; Random Allocation; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53

Chronic exposure to UV light is a risk factor for skin cancer in which signature mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene occur due to DNA damage and contribute to cancer development. In this issue of the JCI, Tang et al. report on their study of a nonimmunodeficient mouse model of UVB-induced skin cancer and human skin carcinoma cells and show that the mutant p53 conformation-modifying drug CP-31398 not only treats these tumors but also prevents them (see the related article beginning on page 3753). These studies have important implications for chemoprevention as well as therapy of common, mutant p53-driven tumors.

Topics: Animals; Apoptosis; bcl-X Protein; Caspase 3; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Cyclin D; Cyclins; Cytochromes c; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; Male; Mice; Mice, Hairless; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore; Mutation; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; Protein Transport; Pyrimidines; Skin Neoplasms; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; Ultraviolet Rays

Mutations in the tumor suppressor p53 are detectable in over 50% of all human malignancies. Mutant p53 protein is incapable of transactivating its downstream target genes that are required for DNA repair and apoptosis. Chronic exposure to UVB induces p53 mutations and is carcinogenic in both murine and human skin. CP-31398, a styrylquinazoline compound, restores the tumor suppressor functions of mutant forms of p53 in tumor cells. However, its effectiveness in vivo remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that CP-31398 blocked UVB-induced skin carcinogenesis and was associated with increases in p53, p21, and BclXs. CP-31398 downregulated Bcl2, proliferating nuclear cell antigen, and cyclin D1. Activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase also occurred in both tumor and perilesional skin following treatment. CP-31398 induced the expression of p53-dependent target proteins, and this was followed by apoptosis in UVB-irradiated wild-type mice but not in their p53-deficient littermates. Similar effects were observed in human skin carcinoma A431 cells expressing mutant p53. In addition, CP-31398 induced mitochondrial translocation of p53, leading to changes in mitochondrial membrane permeability pore transition (MPT) and consequent cytochrome c release in these cells. Blocking MPT diminished p53 translocation and apoptosis. These studies indicate that reconstituting p53 tumor suppressor functions in vivo by small molecular weight compounds may block the pathogenesis and progression of skin cancer.

Topics: Animals; Apoptosis; bcl-X Protein; Caspase 3; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Cyclin D; Cyclins; Cytochromes c; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; Male; Mice; Mice, Hairless; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore; Mutation; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; Protein Transport; Pyrimidines; Skin Neoplasms; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; Ultraviolet Rays

Cell immortalization is a critical and rate-limiting step in cancer progression. Agents that inhibit cell immortalization may have utility for novel molecular chemopreventive strategies. Preimmortal breast epithelial cells derived from a patient with the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS) can spontaneously immortalize in vitro at a measurable and reproducible frequency. In the present study, these cells were treated in vitro with low (nM) concentrations of potential and otherwise clinically validated chemopreventive agents, including several nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, rosiglitazone maleate, and the p53 rescue drug CP-31398. Rosiglitazone maleate (P < 0.05) and CP-31398 (P < 0.05) significantly inhibited the frequency of spontaneous immortalization of LFS breast epithelial cells compared with untreated controls. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including specific cyclooxengenase-2 inhibitors, only moderately inhibited the spontaneous immortalization of preimmortal LFS breast epithelial cells. The significant effects of the p53 rescue drug CP-31398 correlated with the increase in cellular death induced by telomere shortening-induced DNA damage signals, including increases in p53 and p21 protein levels. Because immortalization is one step in cancer progression, these studies show the potential usefulness of a cell-based model system to screen the effects of known and potentially novel chemopreventive agents, using cell immortalization as an end point.

Topics: Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Anticarcinogenic Agents; Breast; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; DNA Damage; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Epithelial Cells; Humans; Li-Fraumeni Syndrome; Pyrimidines; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; Rosiglitazone; Telomere; Thiazoles; Thiazolidinediones; Transcription Factors

p53 is considered the guardian of the genome and has a number of biological functions, including cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and apoptosis. In a recent study by Foster and colleagues, the pharmacological compound CP-31398 was found to stabilize wild-type p53 to enhance its transcriptional activity and inhibit tumor growth in mice. We hypothesize that CP-31398 induces apoptosis by stabilizing the p53 protein and activating the mitochondrial-mediated pathway. Using the wild-type p53 HCT116+/+ and the p53-deficient HCT116-/- colon carcinoma cell lines, we demonstrate here that CP-31398 induces apoptosis in a dose-, time-, and p53-dependent manner. CP-31398 dramatically elevated p53 and p21(Waf1) protein levels in HCT116+/+, while a smaller p53-independent p21(Waf1) induction by CP-31398 in HCT116-/- cells was also observed. Moreover, we also found that CP-31398 increased Bax expression, altered mitochondrial membrane potential causing the release of cytochrome c, and induced the cleavage of caspases-9 and -3. Taken together, our results indicate that CP-31398 induces p53-dependent apoptosis by activating the Bax/mitochondrial/caspase-9 pathway. Elucidating the mechanism by which CP-31398 induces cell death may establish it as an anticancer agent.

Topics: Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; bcl-2-Associated X Protein; Carcinoma; Caspase 3; Caspase 9; Caspases; Cell Division; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Colonic Neoplasms; Cytochrome c Group; Eukaryotic Cells; Humans; Membrane Potentials; Mitochondria; Neoplasms; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; Pyrimidines; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53