l-744832 and Adenocarcinoma-of-Lung

Despite great efforts to develop efficacious curative treatments, the prognosis for lung cancer patients is poor. In the present study we compared the effects of cisplatin (CP), a strong DNA damaging compound, with those of roscovitine (ROSC), a selective inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), on wt p53-positive human A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells harboring a mutated K-RAS gene. Asynchronously growing A549 cells were relatively resistant to CP treatment for 24 h, but after exposure to CP at sufficiently high doses (> or = 20 microM) an accumulation of S-arrested cells was observed. However, after post-incubation of CP-treated cells in a drug-free medium for a further 48 h the number of living cells was markedly reduced. Combining CP with L-744,832, a small molecule FPTase inhibitor (FTI), slightly enhanced its anti-proliferative effect. Interestingly, FTI sensitized A549 cells to CP-induced apoptosis. ROSC inhibited A549 cells at the G/M transition, resulting in a marked decrease in the number of viable cells within 24 h, and prolonged treatment with ROSC for 48 h reduced the frequency of living cells by inducing apoptosis. The effects of ROSC (unlike those of CP) were more strongly enhanced by inhibition of the Ras protein processing pathway. Our preliminary results indicate that functional p53 contributes to the outcome of the therapy in human A549 cells by certain anti-cancer drugs.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Adenocarcinoma of Lung; Alkyl and Aryl Transferases; Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; Caspases; Cell Cycle; Cell Proliferation; Cisplatin; Drug Synergism; Drug Therapy, Combination; Flow Cytometry; Humans; Immunoblotting; Lung Neoplasms; Methionine; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); ras Proteins; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53