The oncogenic transcription factor STAT3 is aberrantly activated in over 70% of human tumours, including Multiple myeloma (MM). The present studies use both genetic and chemical tools to validate STAT3 as a therapeutic target, and demonstrate the anti-MM activity of a novel small molecule STAT3 inhibitor, BP-4-018. We show that shRNA-mediated STAT3 knockdown induces apoptosis in human myeloma cell lines (HMCLs). We translate these findings to a therapeutically relevant setting by demonstrating the broad anti-MM activity of BP-4-018 against HCMLs and primary patient samples, and demonstrate that BP-4-018 remains active against HMCLs co-cultured with bone marrow stroma. Inhibiting STAT3 via shRNA knockdown and BP-4-018 suppresses STAT3 transcriptional activity and down-regulates anti-apoptotic and proliferative STAT3 target genes. Finally, we show that BP-4-018 has activity in vivo, both alone and combined with subtherapeutic doses of bortezomib, without significant toxicities. Taken together, these data support the utility of STAT3 inhibitors for MM treatment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/35594 |
| Date | 11 July 2013 |
| Creators | Croucher, Danielle |
| Contributors | Trudel, Suzanne |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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