Anti-cancer characteristics of mevinolin against three different solid tumor cell lines was not solely p53-dependent

Abstract

Mevinolin (MVN) has been used clinically for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia with very good tolerance by patients. Based on epidemiological evidences, MVN was suggested strongly for the treatment of neoplasia. Early experimental trials suggested the mixed apoptotic/necrotic cell death pathway was activated in response to MVN exposure. Herein, the cytotoxic profile of MVN was evaluated, compared to the robust and frequently used anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (DOX), against breast (MCF-7), cervical (HeLa) and liver (HepG₂) transformed cell lines. MVN was showed comparable results in cytotoxic profile with DOX in all tested solid tumor cell lines. In addition, the MVN-induced cytotoxicity was inferred to be multi-factorial and not solely dependent on p53 expression. It was concluded that molecular and genetic assessment of MVN-induced cell death would be useful for developing cancer therapeutic treatments.

Keywords::

• Mevinolin
• Doxorubicin
• Solid tumors
• natural products
• p53

Acknowledgement

This research was fully funded by grants from the National CFIDS Foundations Inc, Needham, MA 02492–3931, USA. We would like to thank Mr. Abdel-Hay G. Abu-Hussein, Department of biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture Research Park, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, for his technical support.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Notes

¹Cancer remains the leading cause of death over 50 years (Source: 1950 mortality data - CDC/NCHS, NVSS, mortality Revised. 2002 mortality Data-NVSR-Death final Data 2002- Volume 53, No. 5. Cost data from american cancer Society Cancer & Figures 2005).