There is an ongoing need for the development of new cancer therapeutics that combine high cytotoxic efficiency with low side effects, and also override resistance to the first-line chemotherapeutics. Copper(ii)-phenanthroline complexes are promising compounds that were shown previously to induce an immediate cytotoxic response over a panel of tumor cell lines in vitro. The molecular mechanism, however, remained unresolved. In this work we performed a thorough study of the copper(ii)-phenanthroline complexes containing different imidazolidine-2-thione ligands in ovarian cancer cells, and revealed that these complexes induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and subsequently cell death mediated by the unfolded protein response. Alleviation of the ER-stress by tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) attenuated the cytotoxic effects. In summary, we have identified a novel, ER-dependent, molecular mechanism mediating cytotoxic effects of copper(ii)-phenanthroline complexes.
- MeSH
- fenantroliny chemie farmakologie MeSH
- komplexní sloučeniny chemie farmakologie MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- měď chemie farmakologie MeSH
- nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
- nádory vaječníků farmakoterapie metabolismus MeSH
- protinádorové látky chemie farmakologie MeSH
- signální dráha UPR účinky léků MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
