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Ethoxyfagaronine, a synthetic analogue of fagaronine that inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor-1, as a new anti-angiogeneic agent

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Summary

Angiogenesis plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis and also contributes to the pathogenesis of hematologic malignancies. A number of plant compounds have shown efficacy in preclinical and clinical studies and some of them possess an anti-angiogenic activity. Our present findings report anti-angiogenic activities of ethoxyfagaronine (etxfag), a synthetic derivative of fagaronine. Once determined the non-cytotoxic concentration of etxfag, we showed that the drug inhibits VEGF-induced angiogenesis in a Matrigel™ plug assay and suppresses ex vivo sprouting from VEGF-treated aortic rings. Each feature leading to neovascularization was then investigated and results demonstrate that etxfag prevents VEGF-induced migration and tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Moreover, etxfag also suppresses VEGF-induced VEGFR-2 phosphorylation and inhibits FAK phosphorylation at Y-861 as well as focal adhesion complex turnover. Beside these effects, etxfag modifies MT1-MMP localization at the endothelial cell membrane. Finally, immunoprecipitation assay revealed that etxfag decreases VEGF binding to VEGFR-2. As we previously reported that etxfag is able to prevent leukemic cell invasiveness and adhesion to fibronectin, all together our data collectively support the anti-angiogenic activities of etxfag which could represent an additional approach to current anti-cancer therapies.

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Acknowledgments

Plateforme IBiSA PICT “Imagerie Cellulaire et Tissulaire” This work was supported by grants from CNRS and Ligue Contre le Cancer Grand Est. We would like to thank J.L. Breda for animal care. The authors acknowledge Dr Laetitia Devy Dimanche for editorial assistance.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS UMR7369 MEDyC, Laboratoire SiRMa, SFR CAP-Santé, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Moulin de la Housse, BP 1039, 51687, Reims cedex 2, France

    Farid Ouchani, Albin Jeanne, Jessica Thevenard, Amandine Wahart, Isabelle Letinois, Laurent Martiny, Emmanuelle Charpentier & Jérôme Devy

  2. SONAS, UFR Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Ingénierie de la Santé, Université d’Angers, SFR QUASAV 4207, 16 bd Daviers, 49100, Angers, France

    Jean-Jacques Helesbeux & Olivier Duval

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  1. Farid Ouchani
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  2. Albin Jeanne
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  3. Jessica Thevenard
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  4. Jean-Jacques Helesbeux
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  10. Jérôme Devy
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Correspondence to Jérôme Devy.

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Ouchani, F., Jeanne, A., Thevenard, J. et al. Ethoxyfagaronine, a synthetic analogue of fagaronine that inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor-1, as a new anti-angiogeneic agent. Invest New Drugs 33, 75–85 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-014-0184-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-014-0184-4

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