It has also been shown that CD133/CD44 expressing colon cancer cells express EMT markers

nic derivatives were cytotoxic to HepG2 cells, as demonstrated by MTT assays, with MI-J, MI-4F and MI-2,4diF being the most efficient to reduce their viability whereas MI-D required a 2-fold higher concentration. These results were confirmed by an increase in LDH activity of cell culture supernatants induced by all derivatives, with however some quantitative differences. The survival of PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19704093 non-tumoral hepatocytes in the presence of mesoionic derivatives demonstrated that MI-D, MI-J and MI-4F were not cytotoxic for these cells. By difference, a significant apparent cytotoxicity was observed with MI-2,4diF, in MTT assays, but no increase was produced on LDH activity. The absence of cytotoxicity was further confirmed by the lack of labeling with annexin V or PI, and by morphological analysis. Pires et al. demonstrated that the alterations produced by 1,3,4-thiadiazolium derivatives on mitochondrial bioenergetics were associated with their hydrophobic properties: MI-2,4diF displayed the most pronounced effects, probably due to its high Hansh constant as compared to MI-4F, MI-D and MI-J. Therefore, the significant reduction of non-tumoral cell viability observed with MI-4diF in the MTT assay, which is based on the activity of mitochondrial dehydrogenases, might be related to its effects on mitochondrial bioenergetics. Induction of apoptosis by chemotherapeutics is PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19703900 one of the most significant effects related to inhibition of tumor growth. When HepG2 cells were labeled here with annexin V and PI to monitor such an event, all mesoionic derivatives were indeed able to induce a significant double labeling. Annexin V is known to specifically bind to phosphatidylserine, a lipid which is translocated to the outer leaflet of the cell during apoptosis and can be identified through FITC fluorescence associated to annexin V. PI is impermeable to cell membrane and its binding to DNA is dependent on the increased membrane permeability observed in the late stages of apoptosis or necrosis. The results obtained with mesoionic compounds indicated that they induced a late apoptosis or necrosis in HepG2 cells. In order to better characterize the cytotoxicity pathway promoted, the HepG2 cells were incubated with the mesoionic derivatives, and the morphological analyses in earliest times of incubation indicated apoptosis features. These data were also confirmed by DNA fragmentation assays. Similar morphological alterations on melanoma cells MEL-85 were demonstrated with MI-D treatment, which also reduced the viability of the cells to ~ 40% at 25 M for 24 h. In this work, we used primary culture of rat hepatocytes instead human cells due the scarce availability of fresh human liver samples, the logistic and time required by the overall procedure, as well as the high cost related to the procedure. As performed in this work, other studies also have used rat primary hepatocytes in culture as an alternative to verify differential cytotoxicity of antitumoral compounds on human cancer. Nevertheless, the absence of cytotoxicity in rat cells observed in this work must be further confirmed on human cells. For new drugs intended to be used in CSP-1103 supplier clinical trials, several absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity assays are required, and the FDA has recommended initial in vitro tests to establish the effects of these drug candidates on MDR transporters, which could either promote their efflux or be inhibited by them, thus changing the bioavailability of other dru