Inhibition of IκB kinase by a new class of retinoid-related anticancer agents that induce apoptosis

Abstract

The transcription factor NF- B is overexpressed or constitutively activated in many cancer cells, where it induces expression of antiapoptotic genes correlating with resistance to anticancer therapies. Small molecules that inhibit the NF- B signaling pathway could therefore be used to induce apoptosis in NF- B-overexpressing tumors and potentially serve as anticancer agents. We found that retinoid antagonist MX781 inhibited the activation of NF- B-dependent transcriptional activity in different tumor cell lines. MX781 was able to completely inhibit tumor necrosis factor alpha-mediated activation of I B kinase (IKK), the upstream regulator of NF- B. Inhibition of IKK activity resulted from direct binding of MX781 to the kinase, as demonstrated by in vitro inhibition studies. Two other molecules, MX3350-1 and CD2325, which are retinoic acid receptor gamma-selective agonists, were capable of inhibiting IKK in vitro, although they exerted variable inhibition of IKK and NF- B activities in intact cells in a cell type-specific manner. However, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)- retinamide, another apoptosis-inducing retinoid, and retinoic acid as well as other nonapoptotic retinoids did not inhibit IKK. Inhibition of IKK by the retinoid-related compounds and other small molecules correlated with reduced cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. Reduced cell viability was also observed after overexpression of an IKK kinase-dead mutant or the I B superrepressor. The induction of apoptosis by the retinoid-related molecules that inhibited IKK was dependent on caspase activity but independent of the retinoid receptors. Thus, the presence of an excess of retinoic acid or a retinoid antagonist did not prevent the inhibition of IKK activation by MX781 and CD2325, indicating a retinoid receptor-independent mechanism of action.