Solitomab, an epithelial cell adhesion molecule/CD3 bispecific antibody (BiTE), is highly active against primary chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines in vitro and fresh tumor cells ex vivo

Background: Ovarian cancer (OvCa) constitutes a rare and highly aggressive malignancy and is one of the most lethal of all gynaecologic neoplasms. Due to chemotherapy resistance and treatment limitations because of side effects, OvCa is still not sufficiently treatable. Hence, new drugs for OvCa therapy such as P8-D6 with promising antitumour properties have a high clinical need. The benzo[ c]phenanthridine P8-D6 is an effective inductor of apoptosis by acting as a dual topoisomerase I/II inhibitor. Methods: In the present study, the effectiveness of P8-D6 on OvCa was investigated in vitro. In various OvCa cell lines and ex vivo primary cells, the apoptosis induction compared with standard therapeutic agents was determined in two-dimensional monolayers. Expanded by three-dimensional and co-culture, the P8-D6 treated cells were examined for changes in cytotoxicity, apoptosis rate and membrane integrity via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Likewise, the effects of P8-D6 on non-cancer human ovarian surface epithelial cells and primary human hepatocytes were determined. Results: This study shows a significant P8-D6-induced increase in apoptosis and cytotoxicity in OvCa cells which surpasses the efficacy of well-established drugs like cisplatin or the topoisomerase inhibitors etoposide and topotecan. Non-cancer cells were affected only slightly by P8-D6. Moreover, no hepatotoxic effect in in vitro studies was detected. Conclusion: P8-D6 is a strong and rapid inductor of apoptosis and might be a novel treatment option for OvCa therapy.

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Synthesis and Properties of CurNQ for the Theranostic Application in Ovarian Cancer Intervention

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules25194471 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (19) ◽

pp. 4471

Author(s):

Lara G. Freidus ◽

Pradeep Kumar ◽

Thashree Marimuthu ◽

Priyamvada Pradeep ◽

Viness Pillay ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Cancer Detection ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cell ◽

In Vitro Cytotoxicity ◽

Cancer Targeting ◽

The Novel ◽

Cytotoxicity Assays ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines ◽

Cancer Intervention

Synthesis of a novel theranostic molecule for targeted cancer intervention. A reaction between curcumin and lawsone was carried out to yield the novel curcumin naphthoquinone (CurNQ) molecule (2,2′-((((1E,3Z,6E)-3-hydroxy-5-oxohepta-1,3,6-triene-1,7-diyl) bis(2-methoxy-4,1-phenylene))bis(oxy))bis(naphthalene-1,4-dione). CurNQ’s structure was elucidated and was fully characterized. CurNQ was demonstrated to have pH specific solubility, its saturation solubility increased from 11.15 µM at pH 7.4 to 20.7 µM at pH 6.8. This pH responsivity allows for cancer targeting (Warburg effect). Moreover, CurNQ displayed intrinsic fluorescence, thus enabling imaging and detection applications. In vitro cytotoxicity assays demonstrated the chemotherapeutic properties of CurNQ as CurNQ reduced cell viability to below 50% in OVCAR-5 and SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell lines. CurNQ is a novel theranostic molecule for potential targeted cancer detection and treatment.

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