Natural product derivative Bis(4-fluorobenzyl)trisulfide inhibits tumor growth by modification of beta-tubulin at Cys 12 and suppression of microtubule dynamics.

Bis(4-fluorobenzyl)trisulfide (BFBTS) is a synthetic molecule derived from a bioactive natural product, dibenzyltrisulfide, found in a subtropical shrub, Petiveria allieacea. BFBTS has potent anticancer activities to a broad spectrum of tumor cell lines with IC50 values from high nanomolar to low micromolar and showed equal anticancer potency between tumor cell lines overexpressing multidrug-resistant gene, MDR1 (MCF7/adr line and KBv200 line), and their parental MCF7 line and KB lines. BFBTS inhibited microtubule polymerization dynamics in MCF7 cells, at a low nanomolar concentration of 54 nmol/L, while disrupting microtubule filaments in cells at low micromolar concentration of 1 micromol/L. Tumor cells treated with BFBTS were arrested at G2-M phase, conceivably resulting from BFBTS-mediated antimicrotubule activities. Mass spectrometry studies revealed that BFBTS bound and modified beta-tubulin at residue Cys12, forming beta-tubulin-SS-fluorobenzyl. The binding site differs from known antimicrotubule agents, suggesting that BFBTS functions as a novel antimicrotubule agent. BFBTS at a dose of 25 mg/kg inhibited tumor growth with relative tumor growth rates of 19.91%, 18.5%, and 23.42% in A549 lung cancer, Bcap-37 breast cancer, and SKOV3 ovarian cancer xenografts, respectively. Notably, BFBTS was more potent against MDR1-overexpressing MCF7/adr breast cancer xenografts with a relative tumor growth rate of 12.3% than paclitaxel with a rate of 43.0%. BFBTS displays a novel antimicrotubule agent with potentials for cancer therapeutics.