Key Points The synthetic retinoid ST1926 induces apoptosis of ATL cells and prolongs survival of ATL mice. At the molecular level, ST1926 causes early DNA damage, upregulates p53, and downregulates Tax expression.

Inherited and acquired changes in pre-mRNA processing have significant roles in human diseases, especially cancer. Characterization of aberrantly spliced mRNAs may thus contribute to understand malignant transformation. We recently reported an anti-oncogenic potential for the SOX9 transcription factor in the colon. For instance, the Sox9 gene knock out in the mouse intestine results in an excess of proliferation with appearance of hyperplasia. SOX9 is expressed in colon cancer cells but its endogenous activity is weak. We looked for SOX9 variants that may impair SOX9 activity in colon cancer cells and we discovered MiniSOX9, a truncated version of SOX9 devoid of transactivation domain as a result of retention of the second intron. A significant overexpression of MiniSOX9 mRNA in human tumor samples compared with their matched normal tissues was observed by realtime reverse transcriptase-PCR. Immunohistochemistry revealed that MiniSOX9 is expressed at high levels in human colon cancer samples whereas it is undetectable in the surrounding healthy tissues. Finally, we discovered that MiniSOX9 behaves as a SOX9 inhibitor, inhibits protein kinase Ca promoter activity and stimulates the canonical Wnt pathway. This potential oncogenic activity of the SOX9 locus gives new insights on its role in colon cancer.

Despite recent advances in chemotherapy, aggressive and metastatic breast cancers remain refractory to targeted therapy and the development of novel drugs is urgently needed. Retinoids are crucial regulators of cellular proliferation, differentiation, and cell death, and have shown potent chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive properties. The major drawback of the use of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in cancer therapy is disease relapse. Therefore, synthetic retinoids, specifically ST1926, have emerged as potent anticancer agents. Given the importance of the microenvironment in modulating the response of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs, we investigated the antitumor activities of ST1926 in two-dimensional (2D) and different three-dimensional (3D) human breast cancer models and compared them with ATRA. We have shown that in 2D cell culture models, ATRA-resistant MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were sensitive to ST1926 at submicromolar concentrations that spared the 'normal-like' breast epithelial cells. ST1926 induced apoptosis and S-phase arrest, caused DNA damage, and downregulated the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in breast cancer cells in 2D and 3D cell culture models. ST1926-mediated growth inhibition was independent of the retinoid receptor-signaling pathway. Long-term treatments with low submicromolar ST1926 concentrations reduced the anchorage-independent growth and decreased the sphere-forming ability of breast cancer progenitor cells in the sphere formation assay. Furthermore, ST1926 potently induced cell death of breast cancer cells under 3D conditions and spared the lumen-forming ability of normal-like breast epithelial cells. In tested 3D models, ATRA had minimal effects on the growth of breast cancer cells compared with ST1926. In summary, our results highlight the therapeutic potential of ST1926 in breast cancer and warrant its further clinical development.

The high recurrence rates of colorectal cancer have been associated with a small population of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that are resistant to the standard chemotherapeutic drug, 5-fluorouracil (5FU). Thymoquinone (TQ) has shown promising antitumor properties on numerous cancer systems both in vitro and in vivo ; however, its effect on colorectal CSCs is poorly established. Here, we investigated TQ’s potential to target CSCs in a three-dimensional (3D) sphere-formation assay enriched for a population of colorectal cancer stem/progenitor cells. Our results showed a significant decrease in self-renewal potential of CSC populations enriched from 5FU-sensitive and resistant HCT116 cells at 10-fold lower concentrations when compared to 2D monolayers. TQ decreased the expression levels of colorectal stem cell markers CD44 and Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule EpCAM and proliferation marker Ki67 in colonospheres derived from both cell lines and reduced cellular migration and invasion. Further investigation revealed that TQ treatment led to increased TUNEL positivity and a dramatic increase in the amount of the DNA damage marker gamma H2AX particularly in 5FU-resistant colonospheres, suggesting that the diminished sphere forming ability in TQ-treated colonospheres is due to induction of DNA damage and apoptotic cell death. The intraperitoneal injection of TQ in mice inhibited tumor growth of spheres derived from 5FU-sensitive and 5FU-resistant HCT116 cells. Furthermore, TQ induced apoptosis and inhibited NF-κB and MEK signaling in mouse tumors. Altogether, our findings document TQ’s effect on colorectal cancer stem-like cells and provide insights into its underlying mechanism of action.

Variations of protein kinase C (PKC) expression greatly influence the proliferation-to-differentiation transition (PDT) of intestinal epithelial cells and might have an important impact on intestinal tumorigenesis. We demonstrate here that the expression of PKCα in proliferating intestinal epithelial cells is repressed both in vitro and in vivo by the SOX9 transcription factor. This repression does not require DNA binding of the SOX9 high-mobility group (HMG) domain but is mediated through a new mechanism of SOX9 action requiring the central and highly conserved region of SOXE members. Because SOX9 expression is itself upregulated by Wnt-APC signaling in intestinal epithelial cells, the present study points out this transcription factor as a molecular link between the Wnt-APC pathway and PKCα. These results provide a potential explanation for the decrease of PKCα expression in colorectal cancers with constitutive activation of the Wnt-APC pathway.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the most frequent types of blood malignancies. It is a complex disorder of undifferentiated hematopoietic progenitor cells. The majority of patients generally respond to intensive therapy. Nevertheless, relapse is the major cause of death in AML, warranting the need for novel treatment strategies. Retinoids have demonstrated potent differentiation and growth regulatory effects in normal, transformed, and hematopoietic progenitor cells. All- retinoic acid (ATRA) is the paradigm of treatment in acute promyelocytic leukemia, an AML subtype. The majority of AML subtypes are, however, resistant to ATRA. Multiple synthetic retinoids such as ST1926 recently emerged as potent anticancer agents to overcome such resistance. Despite its lack of toxicity, ST1926 clinical development was restricted due to its limited bioavailability and rapid excretion. Here, we investigate the preclinical efficacy of ST1926 and polymer-stabilized ST1926 nanoparticles (ST1926-NP) in AML models. We show that sub-μmol/L concentrations of ST1926 potently and selectively inhibited the growth of ATRA-resistant AML cell lines and primary blasts. ST1926 induced-growth arrest was due to early DNA damage and massive apoptosis in AML cells. To enhance the drug's bioavailability, ST1926-NP were developed using Flash NanoPrecipitation, and displayed comparable anti-growth activities to the naked drug in AML cells. In a murine AML xenograft model, ST1926 and ST1926-NP significantly prolonged survival and reduced tumor burden. Strikingly, ST1926-NP antitumor effects were achieved at four fold lower concentrations than the naked drug. These results highlight the promising use of ST1926 in AML therapy and encourage its further development..

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a rare B-cell neoplasm, associated with Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus/human herpes virus-8 (KSHV/HHV-8), arising as malignant effusions in body cavities. PEL cells do not harbor conventional genetic cancer mutations; however, their oncogenesis is mainly attributed to HHV-8 latent genes. Treatment strategies are inefficient resulting in poor prognosis of PEL patients, stressing the need for new effective therapy. ST1926 is a synthetic retinoid with favorable antitumor properties and no cross-resistance with the natural retinoid, all-trans retinoic acid. ST1926 has shown potent apoptotic activities on a variety of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies in in vitro and in vivo models. In the present study we elucidated the antitumor activities and underlying molecular mechanism of ST1926 using in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo PEL preclinical models. ST1926, at sub‑micromolar concentrations, displayed potent antiproliferative effects on PEL cell lines and malignant ascites. Furthermore, ST1926 treatment of PEL cells and ascites resulted in their accumulation in the sub-G1 region, S phase cell cycle arrest, early DNA damage, PARP cleavage and p53 activation including the upregulation of its target genes p21 and Bax. However, ST1926 did not significantly modulate HHV-8 latent viral transcripts. Importantly, ST1926 delayed formation of ascites and enhanced survival of PEL mice. These results highlight the therapeutic potential of ST1926 in combination with drugs that target HHV-8 in PEL patients.

Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives that regulate crucial biological processes such as cellular proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. The use of natural retinoids in cancer therapy is limited due to their toxicity and the acquired resistance by cancer cells. Therefore, synthetic retinoids were developed, such as the atypical adamantyl retinoid ST1926 that provides enhanced bioavailability and reduced toxicity. We have assessed the in vitro and in vivo antitumor properties and mechanism of action of ST1926 in targeting cancer stem‐like cells population of human prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines, DU145 and PC3, and mouse PCa cell lines, PLum‐AD and PLum‐AI. We demonstrated that ST1926 substantially reduced proliferation of PCa cells and induced cell cycle arrest, p53‐independent apoptosis, and early DNA damage. It also decreased migration and invasion of PCa cells and significantly reduced prostate spheres formation ability in vitro denoting sufficient eradication of the self‐renewal ability of the highly androgen‐resistant cancer stem cells. Importantly, ST1926 potently inhibited PCa tumor growth and progression in vivo. Our results highlight the potential of ST1926 in PCa therapy and warrant its clinical development.