American Chemical Society, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 11(57), p. 4606-4614, 2014
DOI: 10.1021/jm5000535
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We recently demonstrated that Magmas overexpression protects GH-secreting rat pitutitary adenoma cell lines from apoptosis by inhibiting cytochrome c release from mitochondria after treatment whit Staurosporine, strongly suggesting a role of Magmas in preventing apoptosis. The aim of this study was to produce a drug that, by inhibiting Tim16, may sensitize chemoresistant tumor cell to pro-apoptotic stimuli. We synthesized six compounds and challenged their sensitizing effects towards the pro-apoptotic effects of Staurosporine in the TT cell line, derived from a human Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma. We found that compound 5, devoid of the planarity in the aliphatic part of the lead 1, is not cytotoxic but enhances the pro-apoptotic effects of Staurosporine by reducing MMP activation. Compound 5 may be useful for cancer treatment in association with chemotherapeutic drugs, possibly allowing a reduction of the chemotherapeutic agent effective dose.