This report demonstrates that Gadd45, a p53-responsive stress protein, can facilitate topoisomerase relaxing and cleavage activity in the presence of core histones. A correlation between reduced expression of Gadd45 and increased resistance to topoisomerase I and topoisomerase II inhibitors in a variety of human cell lines was also found. Gadd45 could potentially mediate this effect by destabilizing histone-DNA interactions since it was found to interact directly with the four core histones. To evaluate this possibility, we investigated the effect of Gadd45 on preassembled mononucleosomes. Our data indicate that Gadd45 directly associates with mononucleosomes that have been altered by histone acetylation or UV radiation. This interaction resulted in increased DNase I accessibility on hyperacetylated mononucleosomes and substantial reduction of T4 endonuclease V accessibility to cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers on UV-irradiated mononucleosomes but not on naked DNA. Both histone acetylation and UV radiation are thought to destabilize the nucleosomal structure. Hence, these results imply that Gadd45 can recognize an altered chromatin state and modulate DNA accessibility to cellular proteins.

The in vitro antiproliferative activity of the title compound on five tumor cell lines shows preference for the colon-rectal tumor HCT116, IC(50) = 13.98 μM, followed by breast MCF7 (19.58 μM) and ovarian A2780 (23.38 μM) cell lines; human glioblastoma U-87 and lung carcinoma A549 are less sensitive. A commercial curcumin reagent, also containing demethoxy and bis-demethoxy curcumin, was used to synthesize the title compound, and so (p-cymene)Ru(demethoxy-curcuminato)chloro was also isolated and chemically characterized. The crystal structure of the title compound shows (1) the chlorine atom linking two neighboring complexes through H-bonds with two O(hydroxyl), forming an infinite two-step network; (2) significant twist in the curcuminato, 20° between the planes of the two phenyl rings. This was also seen in the docking of the Ru-complex onto a rich guanine B-DNA decamer, where a Ru-N7(guanine) interaction is detected. This Ru-N7(guanine) interaction is also seen with ESI-MS on a Ru-complex-guanosine derivative.

In the present study, we found that CBD inhibited U87-MG and T98G cell proliferation and invasiveness in vitro and caused a decrease in the expression of a set of proteins specifically involved in growth, invasion and angiogenesis. In addition, CBD treatment caused a dose-related down-regulation of ERK and Akt prosurvival signaling pathways in U87-MG and T98G cells and decreased hypoxia inducible factor HIF-1α expression in U87-MG cells. Taken together, these results provide new insights into the antitumor action of CBD, showing that this cannabinoid affects multiple tumoral features and molecular pathways. As CBD is a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid that appears to be devoid of side effects, our results support its exploitation as an effective anti-cancer drug in the management of gliomas.

Several Pt(IV) complexes of the general formula [Pt(L)2(L')2(L'')2] [axial ligands L are Cl-, RCOO-, or OH-; equatorial ligands L' are two am(m)ine or one diamine; and equatorial ligands L'' are Cl- or glycolato] were rationally designed and synthesized in the attempt to develop a predictive quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model. Numerous theoretical molecular descriptors were used alongside physicochemical data (i.e., reduction peak potential, Ep, and partition coefficient, log Po/w) to obtain a validated QSAR between in vitro cytotoxicity (half maximal inhibitory concentrations, IC50, on A2780 ovarian and HCT116 colon carcinoma cell lines) and some features of Pt(IV) complexes. In the resulting best models, a lipophilic descriptor (log Po/w or the number of secondary sp3 carbon atoms) plus an electronic descriptor (Ep, the number of oxygen atoms, or the topological polar surface area expressed as the N,O polar contribution) is necessary for modeling, supporting the general finding that the biological behavior of Pt(IV) complexes can be rationalized on the basis of their cellular uptake, the Pt(IV)-->Pt(II) reduction, and the structure of the corresponding Pt(II) metabolites. Novel compounds were synthesized on the basis of their predicted cytotoxicity in the preliminary QSAR model, and were experimentally tested. A final QSAR model, based solely on theoretical molecular descriptors to ensure its general applicability, is proposed.