Cell experiment:

Cell viability is measured by thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cells are seeded in 96-well plates. When indicated they are treated with 10 μM Tenovin-1 (tnv-1) or are transfected with siRNAs. After the specified period of time, MTT solution (0.5 mg/mL) is added. The formazan crystals are dissolved in an extraction buffer (50% dimethylformamide and 20% SDS, pH 4.7). The absorbance (540/690 nm) is measured in a SunRise plate reader[4].

Animal experiment:

ARN8 melanoma or BL2 Burkitt’s lymphoma cells are injected into the flank of SCID mice and allowed to develop until tumors become palpable. Tenovin-1 (in 70% cyclodextrin) is administered daily (14 days) by intraperitoneal injection at 92.5 mg/kg and tumor growth is measured over a period of 18 days. Control animals are treated with 70% cyclodextrin. In the BL2 experiment, n = 12 for each treatment. In the ARN8 experiment, n = 14 for the control group and n = 16 for the tenovin-1 treated group. Growth measurements are averaged between groups and plotted[5].

Tenovin-1, a small molecule discovered by a cell-based screen, is a bio-active activator of p53 that elevates the levels of p53 protein, p53-downstream target p21CIP/WAF1 protein and mRNA and protects p53 from mdm2-mediated degradation with little impact on p53 synthesis. Tenovin-1 also exerts inhibition against human sirtuin 1 (SirT1) and sirtuin 2 (SirT2), two important members of the sirtuin family. Due to its insufficient solubility, an improved and water-soluble version of tenovin-1 has been found to decrease the peptide deacetylase activity of human SirT1 and SirT2 with values of 50% inhibition concentration IC₅₀of 21 μM and 10 μM respectively.

Reference

[1].Lain S, Hollick JJ, Campbell J, Staples OD, Higgins M, Aoubala M, McCarthy A, Appleyard V, Murray KE, Baker L, Thompson A, Mathers J, Holland SJ, Stark MJ, Pass G, Woods J, Lane DP, Westwood NJ. Discovery, in vivo activity, and mechanism of action of a small-molecule p53 activator. Cancer Cell. 2008 May;13(5):454-63. doi: 10.1016/j.ccr.2008.03.004.