PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Rongxiu Li AU - Yan Zang AU - Changyou Li AU - Neil S. Patel AU - Jennifer R. Grandis AU - Daniel E. Johnson TI - ABT-737 Synergizes with Chemotherapy to Kill Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells via a Noxa-Mediated Pathway AID - 10.1124/mol.108.052969 DP - 2009 May 01 TA - Molecular Pharmacology PG - 1231--1239 VI - 75 IP - 5 4099 - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/75/5/1231.short 4100 - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/75/5/1231.full SO - Mol Pharmacol2009 May 01; 75 AB - Overexpression of Bcl-XL, an antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family member, occurs in a majority of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) and correlates with chemotherapy resistance in this disease. Overexpression of Bcl-2 is also observed in HNSCC, albeit less frequently. We have previously shown that peptides derived from the BH3 domains of proapoptotic proteins can be used to target Bcl-XL and Bcl-2 in HNSCC cells, promoting apoptosis. In this report, we examined the impact of ABT-737 (for structure, see Nature:-681, 2005 ), a potent small-molecule inhibitor of Bcl-XL and Bcl-2, on HNSCC cells. As a single agent, ABT-737 was largely ineffective at promoting HNSCC cell death. By contrast, ABT-737 strongly synergized with the chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and etoposide to promote HNSCC cell death and loss of clonogenic survival. Synergism between ABT-737 and chemotherapy was associated with synergistic activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Treatment with ABT-737 plus chemotherapy resulted in dramatic up-regulation of proapoptotic Noxa protein, and small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated inhibition of Noxa up-regulation partially attenuated cell death by the synergistic combination. Treatment with cisplatin or etoposide, alone or in combination with ABT-737, resulted in substantial down-regulation of Mcl-1L, a known inhibitor of ABT-737 action. Further down-regulation of Mcl-1L using siRNA failed to enhance killing by the cisplatin/ABT-737 synergistic combination, indicating that chemotherapy treatment of HNSCC cells is sufficient to remove this impediment to ABT-737. Together, our results demonstrate potent synergy between ABT-737 and chemotherapy drugs in the killing of HNSCC cells and reveal an important role for Noxa in mediating synergism by these agents. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics