N-(1-Pyrenyl) maleimide inhibits telomerase activity in a cell free system and induces apoptosis in Jurkat cells

• Published in: Molecular biology reports 2012-09, Vol.39 (9), p.8899-8905
• Main Authors: Huang, Pei-Rong, Yeh, Yuan-Ming, Pao, Chia-Chu, Chen, Chi-Yuan, Wang, Tzu-Chien V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Anatomy; Animal Biochemistry; Apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cancer; Cell-Free System; Cells; Cytotoxicity; Enzyme Activation - drug effects; Enzyme Inhibitors - chemistry; Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; Enzyme Inhibitors - toxicity; Hemopoiesis; Histology; Humans; Inhibitory Concentration 50; Jurkat Cells; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - drug effects; Life Sciences; Lymphocytes T; Maleimides - chemistry; Maleimides - pharmacology; Maleimides - toxicity; Morphology; Somatic cells; Telomerase; Telomerase - antagonists & inhibitors
• ISSN: 0301-4851; 1573-4978
• DOI: 10.1007/s11033-012-1757-y

Telomerase activity is repressed in normal human somatic cells, but is activated in most cancers, suggesting that telomerase may be an important target for cancer therapy. Agents that interact selectively with telomerase are anticipated to exert specific action on cancer cells. In this study, we evaluated maleimide derivatives for their potency and selectivity of telomerase inhibition. Among the several N -substituted derivatives of maleimide tested, N -(1-Pyrenyl) maleimide was shown to exert the greatest inhibition of telomerase in a cell free system, with an IC50 value of 0.25 μM. Importantly, we demonstrated that N -(1-pyrenyl) maleimide induces apoptosis in Jurkat T cells and displays the greatest differential cytotoxicity against hematopoietic cancer cells. These results suggest that N -(1-pyrenyl) maleimide is an attractive maleimide to be tested and developed as anti-cancer drug.