Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential biological activity of N-(6-oxo-5,6-dihydrophenanthridin-2-yl)-(N,N-dimethylamino)acetamide hydrochloride (PJ34) on the genotoxicity induced by melphalan in human multiple myeloma cells.
Material and methods: The inhibitory effects of the drugs on the growth of RPMI8226 cells were determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. The expression of Fanconi anemia/breast cancer (FA/BRCA) pathway related genes was determined by western blot analysis. Cell cycle phase and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. Coadministration of PJ34 and melphalan had additional effects on cell cycle distribution and enhanced apoptosis of RPMI8226 cells. PJ34 plus melphalan inhibited cell-cycle progression, as evidenced by the increased proportion of cells in the G2/M phase with the decreasing proportion of cells in the G0/1 and S phases.
Results: However, no significant synergistic effect of PJ34 and melphalan on cell proliferation was observed. These effects were accompanied by inhibition of the FA/BRCA pathway by downregulation of Fanconi D2 (FANCD2) protein expression. The results showed that treatment with 60 µmol/l of PJ34 previously to melphalan administration increased cell apoptosis. Pretreatment also caused cell cycle arrest.
Conclusions: This study suggests that enhancement of melphalan efficacy may be best achieved by the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) inhibitor PJ34. The effects of PJ34 are associated with inhibition of the FA/BRCA pathway, increased apoptosis percentage, and G2/M cell cycle arrest. Administration of PJ34 has been shown to protect DNA from damage induced by melphalan. This corroborates the biological activities of PJ34 and points to the need for further studies.