Cotreatment with a novel phosphoinositide analogue inhibitor and carmustine enhances chemotherapeutic efficacy by attenuating AKT activity in gliomas.

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Citation

Van Meter TE, Broaddus WC, Cash D, Fillmore H

Cotreatment with a novel phosphoinositide analogue inhibitor and carmustine enhances chemotherapeutic efficacy by attenuating AKT activity in gliomas.

Cancer. 2006 Nov 15;107(10):2446-54.

PubMed ID
17041888 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Heightened activity of the AKT signaling pathway is prominent in malignant gliomas and has been suggested to play a role in treatment resistance. Selective targeting of AKT, therefore, may increase chemosensitivity. Recently, a novel class of AKT-selective inhibitors has been described, including SH-6, a phosphatidylinositol analogue. METHODS: The effects of SH-6 on AKT signaling were tested in glioma cells, and the putative role of AKT signaling in chemoresistance was tested by attenuating AKT signaling pharmacologically and genetically. The initial characterization of SH-6 included treatment of glioma cells with increasing doses of SH-6 (0.30-30 microM) and examining the effects on AKT signaling proteins by Western blot analyses and in kinase assays with immunoprecipitated AKT1. Dose-response studies with SH-6 administered to glioma cell lines were performed using a luminescent cell-viability assay (0.1-30 microM). Studies examining the effect of carmustine, either alone or in combination with either the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002 or SH-6, were performed by cell viability assays and clonogenic survival assays. The effect of carmustine on AKT activity as a response to treatment also was examined. Caspase assays were used to examine the potential role of apoptosis in SH-6/ carmustine -elicited cell death. Finally, the induction of a dominant-negative AKT1 transgene was used in combination with carmustine to demonstrate the role of AKT1 in carmustine chemoresistance. RESULTS: Serum-stimulated phosphorylation of AKT1 was inhibited by SH-6 at doses > or =10 microM (>70% decrease in Threonine 308 and Serine 473 phosphorylation of AKT1). In adenosine triphosphate assays, 72 hours of treatment with SH-6 led to 50% lethal doses near 10 microM for 2 cell lines tested. SH-6 enhancement of carmustine-mediated cell death led to synergistic increases in Caspase 3/Capsase 7 activity, implicating apoptosis as the cell death mechanism. In clonogenic assays, SH-6 cotreatment with carmustine significantly decreased the number of colonies at 10 microM (P < .05) compared with carmustine alone. No decrease was observed in cells that were treated with SH-6 alone (10 microM). LY294002 (10 microM) was also able to enhance the effects of carmustine significantly in both cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: In the current study, the authors characterized the efficacy of a new class of adjuvant chemotherapeutics that show promise in enhancing the efficacy of standard chemotherapy regimens in gliomas.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Targets
DrugTargetKindOrganismPharmacological ActionActions
ATPRAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinaseProteinHumans
Unknown
Not AvailableDetails