Background: Migration and invasion are hallmarks of cancer cells that allow their dissemination to other tissues. Studying the cellular and molecular basis of cancer cell migration can help us to understand and control cancer metastasis. Many membrane molecules have been described as being involved in tumor cell migration, and among them is cholesterol. Method: In the present study we investigated the role of membrane cholesterol in the migration of breast tumor cells. The human mammary gland/breast epithelial cell line MDA-MB 231 was used and membrane cholesterol was depleted with methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MbCD). Cell migration was measured in a cell-based scratch assay and the involvement of the Wnt signaling was tested using Lef-1/TCF reporter activation in permanently transfected MDA-MB 231 cells. Cell morphology was analyzed using fluorescent phalloidin to label F-actin structures.

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Targeting histone deacetylases (HDACs) and phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinases (PI3Ks) is a very promising approach for cancer treatment. This manuscript describes the design, synthesis, in vitro pharmacological profile, and molecular modeling of a novel class of N‐acylhydrazone (NAH) derivatives that act as HDAC6/8 and PI3Kα dual inhibitors. The surprising selectivity for PI3Kα may be related to differences in the conformation in the active site. Cellular studies showed that these compounds act in HDAC6 inhibition and the PI3/K/AKT/mTOR pathway. The compounds that are selective for inhibition of HDAC6/8 and inhibit PI3Kα show potential for the treatment of cancer.

Tumor aggressiveness is usually associated with metastasis. MDA-MB 231, a triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), is an aggressive type of breast cancer and associated with early metastasis. The Rho/ROCK pathway is a key regulator of cell motility involving cytoskeleton regulation through stabilization of actin filaments and stress fiber formation. In this study we show that Fasudil, a ROCK inhibitor, inhibited the migration of MDA-MB 231 and A549 cells, without altering the viability of these cells at the concentration of 10 μM, modified tumor cell morphology, with disorganization of stress fibers and promotes activation of the canonical-Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. Therefore, Fasudil present a promising approach to the prevention of breast cancer metastasis through a different mechanism of action from the well-known one.

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Background: Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed malignancy worldwide. Here, the cytotoxic and antimetastatic effects of a new HDAC6/8 inhibitor, LASSBio-1911, and a new dual-PI3K/HDAC6 inhibitor, LASSBio-2208, were evaluated against PC3 prostate cancer cell line. Methods: A MTT assay was used to assess the cell viability. Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) was used to detect apoptotic cell death and to analyze the cell cycle distribution. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels were measured by ELISA. A cell scratch assay was performed to assess cell migration, and the expression of proteins was estimated by Western blotting. Results: LASSBio-1911 and LASSBio-2208 exert cytotoxic effects against PC3 cells. However, LASSBio-2208 was demonstrated to be more potent than LASSBio-1911. The apoptosis assays showed that both compounds trigger apoptotic processes and cause the arrest of cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. The Western blot analysis revealed that LASSBio-2208 significantly decreased the expression of p-JNK and JAK2. However, both compounds reduced the expression of p-STAT3, IL-6 secretion, and cell migration. Conclusions: LASSBio-1911 and LASSBio-2208 demonstrated significant activity in reducing cell viability and migration. These compounds can be further used as prototypes for the development of new potential anticancer alternative treatments.

In this study, we synthesized a new congener series of N-sulphonylhydrazones designed as candidate ROCK inhibitors using the molecular hybridization of the clinically approved drug fasudil (1) and the IKK-β inhibitor LASSBio-1524 (2). Among the synthesized compounds, the N-methylated derivative 11 (LASSBio-2065) showed the best inhibitory profile for both ROCK isoforms, with IC50 values of 3.1 and 3.8 µM for ROCK1 and ROCK2, respectively. Moreover, these compounds were also active in the scratch assay performed in human breast cancer MDA-MB 231 cells and did not display toxicity in MTT and LDH assays. Molecular modelling studies provided insights into the possible binding modes of these N-sulphonylhydrazones, which present a new molecular architecture capable of being optimized and developed as therapeutically useful ROCK inhibitors.

Novel isatinspirooxazine derivatives were designed and synthesized as potential anti-proliferative agents. The new compounds were obtained from aldol condensation reactions between isatin and 3-(hydroxyimino)butan-2-one in the presence of an organic base in order to generate an aldol adduct, followed by cyclization in trifluoroacetic acid, providing the desired isatinspirooxazines in 30 to 80% yield. All the synthesized compounds, including the starting material and the synthetic intermediates, were tested for in vitro anti-proliferative activity against cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB231 (breast cancer) and A549 (lung cancer), highlighting the compound 4-methyl,5'-methyl-spiro[(5-aza-4-eno-3-one-cyclohexane)-1,3'-(1H-indol-one)] with an IC 50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) = 0.34 μM, more potent than the reference drug, doxorubicin (IC 50 = 1.88 μM), in breast cancer line MDA-MB231.