Abstract 1222: Fluorinated N, N-diarylureas treatment as effective strategy to target colorectal cancer stem cells
Authors: Piotr Rychahou, Dasha Kenlan, Vitaliy M. Sviripa, David S. Watt, B. Mark Evers
Journal: Cancer Research (2016)

Abstract Colorectal (CRC) cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the US; treatment of metastatic CRCs is limited due to drug resistance and eventual relapse. Cancer stem cells and PI3K mutation (i.e., pik3ca mutation) have been implicated in the relapse and lack of treatment response for many cancers including CRCs; therefore, it is critical to develop a therapeutic strategy that eliminates both the fast-growing cancer cells and the more resistant cancer stem cells. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the anticancer activity of recently-described, novel AMPK activators, fluorinated N, N-diarylureas (FNDs), against CRC metastatic cell lines, pik3ca mutant cell lines, and CRC stem cells. METHODS. i) First, to assess AMPK activation, metastatic CRC cell lines (HT29 and KM20 cells), HCT116 pik3ca wild-type (WT) and mutant (MUT) cell lines, and CRC stem cell lines (from Celprogen) were treated with varying concentrations of 8 FNDs (4a, 4b, 4h, 4j, 4k, 4z, 4aa, 4bb). AMPK activation and activation of the upstream regulator, LKB1, was assessed by western blot. ii) Next, we determined the effect of the FNDs and, for comparison, metformin (an AMPK activator) on induction of cell cycle suppression and induction of apoptosis as assessed by cyclin D1 expression and PARP cleavage, respectively; β-actin antibody was used as a loading control. RESULTS. i) Treatment with the FNDs resulted in AMPK activation in HT29 and KM20 cells and CRC stem cells at concentrations as low as 10 μM with a peak activation at 12 h. We observed LKB1-independent AMPK kinase activation. Decreased LKB1 phosphorylation after FND treatment was dose dependent (i.e., decreased by ∼50% at 10 μM and undetectable at 50 μM). ii) All 8 FNDs (at a 25 μM dosage) completely suppressed cyclin D1 expression in HT29 and KM20 cells; a similar cyclin D1 suppression was noted with metformin at a 500x higher dosage (i.e., 10mM). Five of the 8 FNDs (4b, 4j, 4z, 4aa, 4bb) increased PARP cleavage in HT29 and KM20 cells. We used these 5 FNDs (at a dosage of 50 μM each) to treat the CRC stem cell lines; cyclin D1 suppression was noted for all 5 FNDs but strong induction of apoptosis was only identified using the 4b FND. Finally, we treated HCT116 pik3ca WT and MUT cell lines with 4b FND and found that cyclin D1 expression was completely suppressed at 40 μM and induction of apoptosis was noted at a dosage of 20 μM. CONCLUSIONS. We demonstrate cell cycle suppression and apoptosis in CRC cells and stem cells using the recently-developed FND compounds with the 4b compound as the most effective. These compounds appear to have considerable promise as a targeted cancer stem cell-specific agents and offer a potentially novel strategy for the treatment of CRC metastases. Citation Format: Piotr Rychahou, Dasha Kenlan, Vitaliy M. Sviripa, David S. Watt, B. Mark Evers. Fluorinated N, N-diarylureas treatment as effective strategy to target colorectal cancer stem cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1222.