Effects of a naphthoquinone analog on tumor growth and apoptosis induction.

Vitamin K-related analogs induce growth inhibition in various cancer cell lines. A naphthoquinone analog, termed 2,3-dichloro-5, 8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DDN), induces apoptosis in human promyeloid leukemic HL-60 cells, and shows antitumor activity in vivo. Following treatment with DDN, evidence of apoptosis, including DNA fragmentation and cleavage of poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), was observed. DDN induced an upregulation of proapoptotic Bax protein, and Bid cleavage. Antiapoptotic Bcl-2 protein levels were not changed by DDN, but the expression of Bcl-xL was decreased. In addition, DDN reduced the mass of solid tumor in the Sarcoma 180 tumor-bearing mouse model. These results indicate that DDN exerts antitumor activity, which appears to be related to the induction of apoptosis by regulating Bcl-2 family proteins.