PUBLICATION

The strigolactone analog GR-24 inhibits angiogenesis in vivo and in vitro by a mechanism involving cytoskeletal reorganization and VEGFR2 signalling

Authors
Carrillo, P., Martínez-Poveda, B., Ángel Medina, M., Quesada, A.R.
ID
ZDB-PUB-190729-15
Date
2019
Source
Biochemical pharmacology   168: 366-383 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
Angiogenesis, Cytoskeleton, FAK, GR-24, VEGFR2
MeSH Terms
  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors/pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Cattle
  • Chick Embryo
  • Cytoskeleton/drug effects*
  • Cytoskeleton/metabolism
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Heterocyclic Compounds, 3-Ring/pharmacology*
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/drug effects
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/metabolism
  • Humans
  • Lactones/pharmacology*
  • Signal Transduction/drug effects*
  • Signal Transduction/physiology
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2/antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2/metabolism
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
31351052 Full text @ Biochem. Pharmacol.
Abstract
Phytohormones have shown great potential as natural anticancer compounds, being interesting in cancer prevention and therapy. Strigolactones are a class of plant hormones involved in the inhibition of root branching and sprouting. The antiproliferative capacity of the synthetic strigolactone analog GR-24 has been described against breast cancer cell lines in vitro. In this study, we show for the fist time that GR-24 is a potent antiangiogenic compound in vivo and in vitro. In the in vivo tests, GR-24 shows a great inhibitory effect on vasculature formation in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane and in two different zebrafish models. Our in vitro results show that GR-24 inhibits the growth of endothelial cells and different cancer cell lines with a micromolar range of half inhibitory concentration (IC50) values. In addition, GR-24 inhibits key steps of the angiogenic process in vitro, such as tubulogenesis, invasion, extracellular matrix remodeling capacity, migration and adhesion of endothelial cells at non-cytotoxic concentrations. Our data point to an effect of GR-24 on cytoskeleton organization in endothelial cells, in addition to a decrease in focal adhesion kinase (FAK) presence in these cells. All these data, together with the observed increase in surface expression of vascular endothelial-cadherin (VE-cadherin) and platelet and endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM-1), suggest that GR-24 prevents angiogenesis by maintaining the quiescent phenotype in endothelial cells. The proposed mechanism of action underlying the antiangiogenic activity of GR-24 involves the inhibition of VEGFR2 phosphorylation, and the downstream reduction in activation of FAK, a key regulator protein implicated in angiogenesis. Our results suggest that GR-24 may be a promising new compound for antiangiogenic therapy of cancer and other angiogenesis-dependent diseases.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping