Troglitazone Derivatives Induce Early Modifications of the Cytoskeleton and Inhibition of Migration in Breast Cancer Cells

Background The 5-years survival rate of breast cancer patients is around 90%. Unfortunately, some types of tumors, especially the triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), present chemo-resistance and have a higher relapse 5 years post-treatment due to metastasis. These challenges highlight the need for the development of new drugs for these tumors. In this context, we developed new troglitazone derivatives as support for such potential new treatment.Methods The kinetic of early cellular events was investigated after Δ2-TGZ and AB186 treatment by real-time cell analysis system (RTCA) in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, followed by cell morphology analysis by immuno-localization. Then, we characterized the action of both compounds on the cell migration by wound healing and transwell assays in TNBC MDA-MB-231 and Hs578T cell lines. Finally, we performed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis and pull-down assay using biotinylated AB186 to identify cytoplasmic targets.Results Δ2-TGZ and AB186 induced a rapid modification of impedance-based signals and morphology in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. This process was associated with an inhibition of cell migration in MDA-MB-231 and Hs578T cell lines. Subsequently, 6 cytoskeleton components have been identified as potential targets of AB186 in MDA-MB-231 cytoplasmic fraction. We further validated α-tubulin as one of the direct targets of AB186.Conclusion New troglitazone derivatives, Δ2-TGZ and AB186, induced early cell morphological changes and showed anti-migratory effects on TNBC cells suggesting that these drugs could be proposed as novel candidates to treat TNBC patients.