Identification of anthelmintic parbendazole as a therapeutic molecule for HNSCC through connectivity map-based drug repositioning.

Dong Liang; Chen YU; Zhao MA; Xingye Yang; Zhenzhen LI; Xuhui Dong; Xiaojun Qin; Lupei DU; Minyong LI

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Identification of anthelmintic parbendazole as a therapeutic molecule for HNSCC through connectivity map-based drug repositioning.

Author: Dong LIANG ¹ ; Chen YU ¹ ; Zhao MA ¹ ; Xingye YANG ¹ ; Zhenzhen LI ¹ ; Xuhui DONG ¹ ; Xiaojun QIN ¹ ; Lupei DU ¹ ; Minyong LI ¹
Author Information

1. Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (MOE), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Anti-tumor; Bioinformatics; Drug repositioning; HNSCC; Parbendazole; cMap
From: Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2022;12(5):2429-2442
CountryChina
Language:English
Abstract: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common human cancers; however, its outcome of pharmacotherapy is always very limited. Herein, we performed a batch query in the connectivity map (cMap) based on bioinformatics, queried out 35 compounds with therapeutic potential, and screened out parbendazole as a most promising compound, which had an excellent inhibitory effect on the proliferation of HNSCC cell lines. In addition, tubulin was identified as a primary target of parbendazole, and the direct binding between them was further verified. Parbendazole was further proved as an effective tubulin polymerization inhibitor, which can block the cell cycle, cause apoptosis and prevent cell migration, and it exhibited reasonable therapeutic effect and low toxicity in the in vivo and in vitro anti-tumor evaluation. Our study repositioned an anthelmintic parbendazole to treat HNSCC, which revealed a therapeutic utility and provided a new treatment option for human cancers.