| Literature DB >> 26147105 |
William N Pappano1, Jun Guo1, Yupeng He1, Debra Ferguson1, Sujatha Jagadeeswaran1, Donald J Osterling1, Wenqing Gao1, Julie K Spence1, Marina Pliushchev1, Ramzi F Sweis1, Fritz G Buchanan1, Michael R Michaelides1, Alexander R Shoemaker1, Chris Tse1, Gary G Chiang1.
Abstract
Histone methyltransferases are epigenetic regulators that modify key lysine and arginine residues on histones and are believed to play an important role in cancer development and maintenance. These epigenetic modifications are potentially reversible and as a result this class of enzymes has drawn great interest as potential therapeutic targets of small molecule inhibitors. Previous studies have suggested that the histone lysine methyltransferase G9a (EHMT2) is required to perpetuate malignant phenotypes through multiple mechanisms in a variety of cancer types. To further elucidate the enzymatic role of G9a in cancer, we describe herein the biological activities of a novel peptide-competitive histone methyltransferase inhibitor, A-366, that selectively inhibits G9a and the closely related GLP (EHMT1), but not other histone methyltransferases. A-366 has significantly less cytotoxic effects on the growth of tumor cell lines compared to other known G9a/GLP small molecule inhibitors despite equivalent cellular activity on methylation of H3K9me2. Additionally, the selectivity profile of A-366 has aided in the discovery of a potentially important role for G9a/GLP in maintenance of leukemia. Treatment of various leukemia cell lines in vitro resulted in marked differentiation and morphological changes of these tumor cell lines. Furthermore, treatment of a flank xenograft leukemia model with A-366 resulted in growth inhibition in vivo consistent with the profile of H3K9me2 reduction observed. In summary, A-366 is a novel and highly selective inhibitor of G9a/GLP that has enabled the discovery of a role for G9a/GLP enzymatic activity in the growth and differentiation status of leukemia cells.Entities:
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Year: 2015 PMID: 26147105 PMCID: PMC4492996 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131716
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
Fig 1A-366 has cellular activity comparable to known G9a/GLP inhibitors.
(A) The chemical structure of A-366. (B) PC-3 prostate adenocarcinoma cells were incubated in triplicate with DMSO or the indicated concentrations of A-366 or UNC0638 for 72 hours. H3K9me2 levels were assessed by In-Cell Western assay. (C) In-Cell Western assay for total histone H3 levels from the same plate as shown in (B).
Fig 2A-366 does not impact the proliferation of MCF-7 cells despite inhibition of H3K9me2.
(A) MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines were treated with the indicated concentrations of A-366 or UNC0638 for 14 days before assessing colony formation. (B) MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were treated with the indicated concentrations of A-366 or UNC0638 for 3 days and subjected to western blot analysis of global H3K9me2 and total histone H3.
Fig 3A-366 inhibits H3K9me2 similar to UNC0638, but does not inhibit cell growth of MOLT-16 and HT-1080 cells.
(A) The T-cell ALL cell line MOLT-16 was treated for 5 days with A-366 or UNC0638 before assessing their proliferation. (B) MOLT-16 cells were treated for 3 days with compounds and lysed. Lysates were normalized and western blot analysis was performed for H3K9me2, total H3 and G9a. (C) HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells were treated for 2 or 5 days with A-366 or UNC0638 before assessing their proliferation. (D) H3K9me2 AlphaLISA was performed on HT-1080 cells treated for 2 days with compounds and % inhibition of H3K9me2 was calculated compared to untreated control cells.
Fig 4A-366 induces differentiation and affects viability in MV4;11 cells.
(A) MV4;11 cells were incubated with A-366 for 14 days. Cells were fixed, stained with an anti-CD11b antibody and analyzed by flow cytometry. (B) MV4;11 cells from (A) additionally assayed for cellular proliferation (Cell Titer-Glo) and viability (trypan blue exclusion) following A-366 treatment for 14 days. (C) Cell cycle DNA content analysis was performed by propidium iodide staining in MV4;11 cells treated for 14 days with A-366. (D) Wright-Giemsa staining of MV4;11 cells treated with DMSO or 5 μM A-366 for 10 days.
Fig 5In vivo efficacy study of A-366 in MV4;11 flank xenografts.
(A) MV4;11 cells were implanted subcutaneously in SCID/bg mice and allowed to establish tumors of ~200 mm3. A-366 was administered to tumor-bearing mice at 30 mg/kg/day by osmotic mini-pump for 14 days. Tumors were measured at the indicated time points and tumor growth was plotted as a function of time. (B) In a parallel PK/PD arm carried out in MV4;11 tumor-bearing animals, plasma and tissues were collected at the indicated time points and analyzed for A-366 levels. (C) A-366-treated tumors from the indicated time points were harvested and analyzed by AlphaLISA for reductions in H3K9me2 relative to vehicle.