(+)-Apogossypol

Cell experiment:

The cytotoxic effect of (+)-Apogossypol and Gossypol on prostate cancer cell lines is measured by the MTT assay. LNCaP cells are seeded onto sterile 96 well flat bottomed plates and incubated overnight. Then diluted (+)-Apogossypol (1 and 10 μM) and Gossypol are added into each well with gradient concentrations (2-20 μM). For the cell viability test, tumor cells are suspended in a mixed solution of 200 μL complete medium and 0.2 μL DMSO, and wells with 200 μL complete medium are used as blank controls. The plates are incubated at 37°C with 5% CO2 for 72 h. The medium is then removed, and 0.5 μM MTT is added into the wells. After another 4 h, 150 μL DMSO is added into each well. The absorbance is read at 570 nm on a microplate reader. The drug concentration yielding 50% cell inhibition (IC50) is determined. All experiments are performed in triplicate[2].

Animal experiment:

Mice[2]Female athymic nude (nu/nu) mice (4-6 weeks of age, weighing 20-25 g) are used. LNCaP cells (2×106) are injected subcutaneously into each mouse. The tumor volume is measured every two days using a caliper and calculated. When subcutaneous tumor sizes reach 150-200 mm3, these mice are randomly divided into three groups, each group consisting of 10 mice. Next, they are treated with (+)-Apogossypol and Gossypol, respectively, at 20 mg/kg intraperitoneally, q.d. every 7 d for 28 d. The vehicle control group receive the same amount of DMSO as in the treatment groups. The tumor volume is detected every day. The tumor tissues are fixed in 10% formalin solution. The tissues are embedded with paraffin, and the sections are prepared. Samples are stained with hematoxylin and eosin and microscopically examined.

References:

[1]. Wei J, et al. Apogossypol derivatives as antagonists of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins. Mol Cancer Ther. 2009 Apr;8(4):904-13.
[2]. Zhan W, et al. Inhibitory activity of apogossypol in human prostate cancer in vitro and in vivo. Mol Med Rep. 2015 Jun;11(6):4142-8.