Synthesis and characterization of a new retinoic acid ECPIRM as potential chemotherapeutic agent for human cutaneous squamous carcinoma

Title:Synthesis and characterization of a new retinoic acid ECPIRM as potential chemotherapeutic agent for human cutaneous squamous carcinoma

Volume: 15 Issue: 9

Author(s): Mengli Zhang, Yue Tao, Pengcheng Ma, Dechuan Wang, Chundi He, Yuping Cao, Jun Wei, Lingjun Li and Lei Tao

Affiliation:

Keywords: AP-1, cell cycle arrest, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, ECPIRM, MAPK, N-(4-ethoxycarbonylphenyl) isoretinamide.

Abstract: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide, requiring effective therapeutic interventions. Retinoids are important chemopreventive and therapeutic agents for a variety of human cancers including CSCC. In this study we synthesized a novel retinoic derivative N-(4-ethoxycarbonylphenyl) isoretinamide (ECPIRM) and evaluated its biological activities and possible mechanisms in human cutaneous squamous cell lines. ECPIRM had better inhibitory effect on the proliferation of squamous carcinoma cells SCL-1 and colo-16, compared with All-trans retinoic acid and 13-cis retinoic acid. ECPIRM had less toxicity to normal keratinocyte cell line HaCaT. Mechanistically, ECPIRM induced G1 cell cycle arrest in SCL-1 cells, via the downregulation of CDK2, CDK4, cycling D1 and cyclin E expression and upregulation of p21. In addition, these effects were at least partially due to the inhibition of JNK/ ERK-AP-1 signaling pathway by ECPIRM. Importantly, these effects of ECPIRM are independent of the classical retinoid receptor pathway, suggesting that the novel compound will have less side-effects in chemotherapy. These findings demonstrate that ECPIRM is a potential inhibitor of MPAK-AP-1 pathway, and is a potential therapeutic agent against CSCC.

Cite this article as:

Zhang Mengli, Tao Yue, Ma Pengcheng, Wang Dechuan, He Chundi, Cao Yuping, Wei Jun, Li Lingjun and Tao Lei, Synthesis and characterization of a new retinoic acid ECPIRM as potential chemotherapeutic agent for human cutaneous squamous carcinoma , Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry 2015; 15 (9) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1871520615666150520142719