Targets of 3-bromopyruvate, a new, energy depleting, anticancer agent.

3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA), a pyruvate analog recently proposed as a possible anticancer drug, was investigated in relation to its capacity to inhibit energy production in fractions obtained from normal cells (rat hepatocytes) and in isolated rat thymocytes . Findings were that main targets of the drug were glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and not hexokinase as suggested for hepatoma cells, and succinate -driven ATP synthesis. Consistently with the above findings, in the normal cells studied (thymocytes ) the drug elicited an important fall in ATP levels. The significance of the present findings in concern with a possible therapeutic usefulness of the drug is discussed.