The identification of the essential role of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) in the control of cell division has prompted the development of small-molecule CDK inhibitors as anticancer drugs. For many of these compounds, the precise mechanism of action in individual tumor types remains unclear as they simultaneously target different classes of CDKs - enzymes controlling the cell cycle progression as well as CDKs involved in the regulation of transcription. CDK inhibitors are also capable of activating p53 tumor suppressor in tumor cells retaining wild-type p53 gene by modulating MDM2 levels and activity. In the current study, we link, for the first time, CDK activity to the overexpression of the MDM4 (MDMX) oncogene in cancer cells. Small-molecule drugs targeting the CDK9 kinase, dinaciclib, flavopiridol, roscovitine, AT-7519, SNS-032, and DRB, diminished MDM4 levels and activated p53 in A375 melanoma and MCF7 breast carcinoma cells with only a limited effect on MDM2. These results suggest that MDM4, rather than MDM2, could be the primary transcriptional target of pharmacological CDK inhibitors in the p53 pathway. CDK9 inhibitor atuveciclib downregulated MDM4 and enhanced p53 activity induced by nutlin-3a, an inhibitor of p53-MDM2 interaction, and synergized with nutlin-3a in killing A375 melanoma cells. Furthermore, we found that human pluripotent stem cell lines express significant levels of MDM4, which are also maintained by CDK9 activity. In summary, we show that CDK9 activity is essential for the maintenance of high levels of MDM4 in human cells, and drugs targeting CDK9 might restore p53 tumor suppressor function in malignancies overexpressing MDM4.

• MeSH
• cyklin-dependentní kinasa 9 antagonisté a inhibitory   metabolismus   MeSH
• genetická transkripce MeSH
• imidazoly farmakologie   MeSH
• inhibitory proteinkinas farmakologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• melanom genetika   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• MFC-7 buňky MeSH
• myši MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• nádory prsu genetika   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• piperaziny farmakologie   MeSH
• pluripotentní kmenové buňky metabolismus   MeSH
• proteiny buněčného cyklu biosyntéza   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny c-mdm2 biosyntéza   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny biosyntéza   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• roskovitin farmakologie   MeSH
• sulfonamidy farmakologie   MeSH
• synergismus léků MeSH
• transfekce MeSH
• triaziny farmakologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• myši MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

MdmX overexpression contributes to the development of cancer by inhibiting tumor suppressor p53. A switch in the alternative splicing of MdmX transcript, leading to the inclusion of exon 6, has been identified as the primary mechanism responsible for increased MdmX protein levels in human cancers, including melanoma. However, there are no approved drugs, which could translate these new findings into clinical applications. We analyzed the anti-melanoma activity of enoxacin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic inhibiting the growth of some human cancers in vitro and in vivo by promoting miRNA maturation. We found that enoxacin inhibited the growth and viability of human melanoma cell lines much stronger than a structurally related fluoroquinolone ofloxacin, which only weakly modulates miRNA processing. A microarray analysis identified a set of miRNAs significantly dysregulated in enoxacin-treated A375 melanoma cells. They had the potential to target multiple signaling pathways required for cancer cell growth, among them the RNA splicing. Recent studies showed that interfering with cellular splicing machinery can result in MdmX downregulation in cancer cells. We, therefore, hypothesized that enoxacin could, by modulating miRNAs targeting splicing machinery, activate p53 in melanoma cells overexpressing MdmX. We found that enoxacin and ciprofloxacin, a related fluoroquinolone capable of promoting microRNA processing, but not ofloxacin, strongly activated wild type p53-dependent transcription in A375 melanoma without causing significant DNA damage. On the molecular level, the drugs promoted MdmX exon 6 skipping, leading to a dose-dependent downregulation of MdmX. Not only in melanoma, but also in MCF7 breast carcinoma and A2780 ovarian carcinoma cells overexpressing MdmX. Together, our results suggest that some clinically approved fluoroquinolones could potentially be repurposed as activators of p53 tumor suppressor in cancers overexpressing MdmX oncoprotein and that p53 activation might contribute to the previously reported activity of enoxacin towards human cancer cells.

• MeSH
• alternativní sestřih účinky léků   MeSH
• apoptóza účinky léků   MeSH
• down regulace účinky léků   MeSH
• enoxacin farmakologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• melanom genetika   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• nádory prsu genetika   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• nádory vaječníků genetika   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• ofloxacin farmakologie   MeSH
• poškození DNA účinky léků   MeSH
• proliferace buněk účinky léků   MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny c-mdm2 genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• signální transdukce účinky léků   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH