Open AccessCyclin‐dependent kinase 1 inhibitor RO‐3306 enhances p53‐mediated Bax activation and mitochondrial apoptosis in AML
Author(s) -
Kojima Kensuke,
Shimanuki Masaya,
Shikami Masato,
Andreeff Michael,
Nakakuma Hideki
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
cancer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1349-7006
pISSN - 1347-9032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1349-7006.2009.01150.x
Subject(s) - survivin , cyclin dependent kinase 1 , cancer research , cell cycle , apoptosis , cyclin b1 , chemistry , cyclin dependent kinase , transactivation , inhibitor of apoptosis domain , microbiology and biotechnology , kinase , biology , biochemistry , programmed cell death , caspase , transcription factor , gene
Cyclin‐dependent kinase (CDK) 1 and the murine double minute 2 homolog (MDM2)–p53 interaction are potential therapeutic targets in cancer, and their inhibition has been reported to be more proapoptotic in malignant cells compared to normal cells. We investigated the effect of CDK1 inhibition on p53 signaling after simultaneous dual blockade using the CDK1 inhibitor RO‐3306 and the MDM2 inhibitor Nutlin‐3 in AML. Treatment of growing AML cells with RO‐3306 induced G 2 /M‐phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner. We found that RO‐3306 acts cooperatively with Nutlin‐3 to induce mitochondrial apoptosis in a cell cycle‐independent fashion. RO‐3306 downregulated expression of the antiapoptotic proteins Bcl‐2 and survivin and blocked p53‐mediated induction of p21 and MDM2. CDK1 siRNA experiments showed that reduced CDK1 expression affects p53‐induced p21 transactivation. We suggest that RO‐3306 actively enhances downstream p53 signaling to promote apoptosis and that a combination strategy aimed at both inhibiting CDK1 and activating p53 signaling is potentially effective in AML, where TP53 mutations are rare and downstream p53 signaling is intact. ( Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 1128–1136)