Repositioning of amprenavir as a novel extracellular signal-regulated kinase-2 inhibitor and apoptosis inducer in MCF-7 human breast cancer.

Computational drug repositioning by virtually screening existing drugs for additional therapeutic usage could efficiently accelerate anticancer drug discovery. Herein, a library of 1447 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved small molecule drugs was screened in silico for inhibitors of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2). Then, in vitro kinase assay demonstrated amprenavir, a HIV-1 protease inhibitor, as a potential kinase inhibitor of ERK2. The in vivo kinase assay indicated that amprenavir could inhibit ERK2-mediated phosphorylation of BimEL at Ser69. Amprenavir could suppress this phosphorylation in MCF-7 cells, which may further facilitate the association of BimEL with several pro-survival molecules. Additionally, inhibition of ERK2-BimEL signaling pathway by amprenavir could contribute to its anti-proliferative and apoptosis-inducing activity in MCF-7 cells. Finally, in vivo tumor growth and immunohistochemical studies confirmed that amprenavir remarkably suppressed tumor proliferation and induce apoptosis in MCF-7 xenografts. Taken together, amprenavir can effectively inhibit the kinase activity of ERK2, and thus induces apoptosis and inhibits tumor growth in human MCF-7 cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo, making amprenavir a promising candidate for future anticancer therapeutics.

Citation

Wenchun Jiang, Xin Li, Tongyu Li, Hailian Wang, Wei Shi, Ping Qi, Chunyang Li, Jie Chen, Jinku Bao, Guodong Huang, Yi Wang. Repositioning of amprenavir as a novel extracellular signal-regulated kinase-2 inhibitor and apoptosis inducer in MCF-7 human breast cancer. International journal of oncology. 2017 Mar;50(3):823-834

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PMID: 28197631

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