Synergism of a novel MCL­1 downregulator, acriflavine, with navitoclax (ABT­263) in triple­negative breast cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and glioblastoma multiforme.

Myeloid cell leukemia sequence 1 (MCL­1), an anti­apoptotic B­cell lymphoma 2 (BCL­2) family molecule frequently amplified in various human cancer cells, is known to be critical for cancer cell survival. MCL­1 has been recognized as a target molecule for cancer treatment. While various agents have emerged as potential MCL­1 blockers, the present study presented acriflavine (ACF) as a novel MCL­1 inhibitor in triple­negative breast cancer (TNBC). Further evaluation of its treatment potential on lung adenocarcinoma and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) was also investigated. The anticancer effect of ACF on TNBC cells was demonstrated when MDA­MB­231 and HS578T cells were treated with ACF. ACF significantly induced typical intrinsic apoptosis in TNBCs in a dose­ and time­dependent manner via MCL­1 downregulation. MCL­1 downregulation by ACF treatment was revealed at each phase of protein expression. Initially, transcriptional regulation via reverse transcription­quantitative PCR was validated. Then, post­translational regulation was explained by utilizing an inhibitor against protein biosynthesis and proteasome. Lastly, immunoprecipitation of ubiquitinated MCL­1 confirmed the post­translational downregulation of MCL­1. In addition, the synergistic treatment efficacy of ACF with the well­known MCL­1 inhibitor ABT­263 against the TNBC cells was explored [combination index (CI)<1]. Conjointly, the anticancer effect of ACF was assessed in GBM (U87, U251 and U343), and lung cancer (A549 and NCI­H69) cell lines as well, using immunoblotting, cytotoxicity assay and FACS. The effect of the combination treatment using ACF and ABT­263 was estimated in GBM (U87, U343 and U251), and non­small cell lung cancer (A549) cells likewise. The present study suggested a novel MCL­1 inhibitory function of ACF and the synergistic antitumor effect with ABT­263.

The role of thermal annealing on the microstructures of (Ti, Fe)-alloyed Si thin-film anodes for high-performance Li-ion batteries.

Here, we studied the effect of thermal annealing on the microstructure and cyclic stability of a (Ti, Fe)-alloyed Si thin-film fabricated by a simple sputtering deposition method for Li-ion battery (LIB) anodes. The anode samples annealed at different temperatures (300-600 °C) were subjected to microstructure analysis and LIB performance test. The (Ti, Fe)-alloyed Si thin-film anode delivered a high capacity of 1563 mA h g-1 for 100 cycles at 0.1 A g-1 with nearly 100% capacity retention. Post-mortem analysis using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) disclosed the microstructural changes of the cycled anodes, revealing that (Ti, Fe) silicides served as a structural buffer against the large volume change of active Si during cycling for enhanced LIB performance.

Importance of sulfonylimidazolidinone motif of 4-phenyl-1-arylsulfonylimidazolidinones for their cytotoxicity: synthesis of 2-benzoyl-4-phenyl[1,2,5]thiazolidine-1,1-dioxides and their cytotoxcity.

For probing the importance of planarity of imidazolidinone motif of 4-phenyl-1-(benzenesulfonyl)imidazolidinones 1 for their cytotoxicity, 4-phenyl-2-(benzoyl)[1,2,5]thiadiazolidine-1,1-dioxide (2a), 4-phenyl-2-(p-toluoyl)[1,2,5]thiadiazolidine-1,1-dioxide (2b), 4-phenyl-2-(phenylcarbamoyl)[1,2,5]thiadiazolidine-1,1-dioxide (3a), and 4-phenyl-2-(p-tolylcarbamoyl)[1,2,5]thiadiazolidine-1,1-dioxide (3b) were prepared along with their regioisomers (5a, 5b, 9a, 9b) and their cytotoxicity were measured against human lung carcinoma (A549), human colon carcinoma (COL0205), human ovarian cancer (SK-OV-3), human leukemic cancer (K562), and murine colon adenocarcinoma (Colon26) cell lines in vitro. All compounds prepared do not show any activity against all five cancer cell lines unlike 1. Compounds 1 possess planarity of imidazolidinone, especially in sulfonylurea moiety (-SO2NHCONH-). However compounds 2 and 3 have nonplanar 5-membered ring, [1,2,5]thiadiazolidine-1,1-dioxides. Such structural differentiation might result in the loss of activity. Therefore the inactivity of 2 and 3 could also be an indication for the necessity of planarity of imidazolidinone ring of 1 for their cytotoxic activity.

Recognition of the importance of imidazolidinone motif for cytotoxicity of 4-phenyl-1-arylsulfonylimidazolidinones using thiadiazolidine-1,1-dioxide analogs.

For probing the importance of planarity of imidazolidinone motif of 4-phenyl-1-(N-acylindoline-5-sulfonyl)imidazolidinones for their cytotoxicity, 4-phenyl-1-(N-acylindoline-5-sulfonyl)[1,2,5]thiadiazolidine-1,1-dioxides 2 were prepared and their cytotoxicity were measured against human lung carcinoma (A549), human colon carcinoma (COL0205), human ovarian cancer (SK-OV-3), human leukemic cancer (K562), and murine colon adenocarcinoma (Colon26) cell lines in vitro. Although only carbonyl moiety of imidazolidinone ring was replaced with sulfonyl group, compounds 2 do not show any activity against all five cancer cell lines unlike 1. Therefore the planarity of imidazolidinone ring of 1 should be an important factor for their cytotoxic activity.