CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O esqueleto quinona foi identificado como um importante grupo farmacofÃrico para atividade citotÃxica de vÃrios compostos utilizados na clÃnica, constituindo ainda uma das maiores classes de agentes anticÃncer. A β-lapachona à uma das quinonas mais estudadas nos Ãltimos anos. Suas aplicaÃÃes mais importantes estÃo relacionadas Ãs aÃÃes contra vÃrias cÃlulas tumorais. Seu derivado, nor-β-lapachona (composto 1), tem atividade anticÃncer similar. Assim, o objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar o mecanismo de aÃÃo envolvido na citotoxicidade do composto 1 e de seu derivado nitrofenilamino (composto 2) em cÃlulas leucÃmicas HL-60. Inicialmente foi investigado o efeito desses compostos na viabilidade de cÃlulas HL-60 apÃs 24 horas de incubaÃÃo, mostrando CI50 de 2,92 e 0,48 μM para os compostos 1 e 2, respectivamente. Acerca da seletividade celular, o composto 1 mostrou forte seletividade para cÃlulas tumorais, enquanto que o seu derivado foi apenas parcialmente seletivo. Estudos feitos em cÃlulas HL-60 indicaram que o composto 2 induz morte celular por apoptose como mostrado pelas mudanÃas morfolÃgicas, fragmentaÃÃo do DNA, despolarizaÃÃo da membrana mitocondrial e externalizaÃÃo da fosfatidilserina. Ambos compostos aumentaram a geraÃÃo de espÃcies reativas de oxigÃnio (EROs). Nossos resultados sugerem que a introduÃÃo do radical nitrofenilamino na posiÃÃo 3 do anel furano aumenta a citotoxicidade da nor--lapachona em cÃlulas HL-60. Esses achados apontam para o potencial dessas quinonas sintÃticas como modelo para a produÃÃo de novos compostos com propriedades anticÃncer. / The quinone moiety has been identified as an important pharmacophoric group for cytotoxic activity of several compounds clinically used, constituting just one of the major classes of anticancer agents. β-lapachone is one of the most studied quinones in the last years. Its most important applications are related to its action against several cancer cells. Its derivative, nor-β-lapachone (compound 1), has similar anticancer activity. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the mechanism of action involved in nor--lapachone and its nitrophenylamino derivative (compound 2) cytotoxicity in a leukemia cells model of HL-60 cell line. Initially it was investigated the effect of both the compounds on HL-60 cells viability after 24 hours of incubation, showing IC50 values of 2.92 and 0.48 μM to compounds 1 and 2, respectively. Considering the selectivity, compound 1 showed strong selectivity to cancer cells, while its derivative was only partially selective. Studies performed in HL-60 cells, after 24 hours, indicated that compound 2 induces cell death by apoptosis as showed by morphological changes, DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial membrane depolarization and phosphatidylserine externalization. Both tested compounds increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Our results suggest that a nitrophenylamino radical introduction at position 3 of the furane ring enhances the cytotoxicity of nor--lapachone in HL-60 cell line. These findings highlight the potential of these synthetic quinones as prototypes molecules to produce new compounds with anticancer properties.

Ping Zhang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-144). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Faculty of Medicine, Division of Experimental Medicine. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/05/14). Includes bibliographical references.

Interactions between the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARalpha) and coregulators play a key role in coordinating gene transcription and myeloid differentiation. In acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), RARalpha is fused with the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) gene, resulting in the expression of the fusion protein PML/RARalpha. Here, I report that topoisomerase II beta (topoIIbeta) associates with and negatively modulates PML/RARalpha and RARalpha transcriptional activity, and increased levels and association of topoIIbeta cause resistance to retinoic acid (RA) in APL cell lines. Knock down of topoIIbeta was able to overcome resistance by permitting RA-induced differentiation and increased RA-gene expression. Overexpression of topoIIbeta, in clones from an RA-sensitive cell line, conferred resistance by a reduction in RA-induced expression of target genes and differentiation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicate that topoIIbeta is bound to an RA-response element, and inhibition of topoIIbeta causes hyper-acetylation of histone 3 at lysine 9 and activation of transcription. These results identify a novel mechanism of resistance in APL and provide further insights to the role of topoIIbeta in gene regulation and differentiation. / Studies to determine the mechanism by which topoIIbeta protein is regulated found that levels of protein kinase C delta (PKCdelta) correlated with topoIIbeta protein expression. Moreover, activation of PKCdelta, by RA or PMA, led to an increase of topoIIbeta protein levels. Most notably, in NB4-MR2 cells, we observed increased phosphorylation levels of threonine 505 on PKCdelta, a marker of activation. Inhibition of PKCdelta was able to overcome the topoIIbeta repressive effects on RA-target genes. In addition, the combination of RA and PKCdelta inhibition led to increased expression of the granulocytic marker, CD11c, in NB4 and NB4-MR2 cells. These results suggest that PKCdelta regulates topoIIbeta expression, and a constitutively active PKCdelta in the NB4-MR2 cell line leads to overexpression of topoIIbeta. / In conclusion, these studies demonstrate that topoIIbeta associates with RARalpha, binds to RAREs and plays a critical role in RA dependent transcriptional regulation and granulocytic differentiation. In addition, I show that topoIIbeta overexpression leads to RA resistance and provide evidence that topoIIbeta protein levels are regulated via a mechanism involving the PKCdelta pathway. This work has contributed to an enhanced understanding of the role of topoIIbeta in gene regulation and brings novel perspectives in the treatment of RA-resistance in APL.

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