Novel demethylcantharidin-platinum (DMC-Pt) complexes have been found to have superior in vitro anticancer activity against a number of human colon cancer cell lines when compared with oxaliplatin. One complex where the DMC-Pt moiety was integrated with trans-R,R-diamino-cyclohexane (DACH), exhibited the most pronounced cytotoxicity. To ascertain the mechanistic contribution of the DMC component, microarray analysis was conducted to compare the effect of the novel (R,R-DACH)-Pt-(DMC) complex and oxaliplatin, on the gene expression of human colorectal cancer (HCT116) cells. The Affymetrix HG-U133A oligonucleotide microarray was used, and the data allowed for the discrimination of genes that were specifically affected by the DMC ligand. One hundred and forty-one genes were found to be up-regulated. Of these, 48 can be classified according to different cellular responses including DNA repair, DNA synthesis, cell adhesion, cell cycle regulation, mitotic spindle checkpoint and apoptosis/antiapoptosis. The DMC ligand is likely to have caused damage to DNA bases and/or strands, and nucleotide mismatch, as highlighted by the recruitment of the repairing genes from the BER, HR and MMR. Antiapoptotic genes such as survivin, BRCA1 and ITGB3BP were up-regulated, and it is proposed that the inherent defense mechanism of the cell may have been triggered, creating potential resistance to apoptosis. This study is the first to demonstrate the impact of the DMC ligand on the gene expression profile of HCT116 colon cancer cells and further substantiates its inclusion in the design of novel platinum-based anticancer complexes.

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