A new piperazine derivative, SJ-8026, is a synthetic anti-cancer agent which exhibits topoisomerase II-inhibiting activities. In this study, we investigated the possibility that this compound inhibits angiogenesis and induces tumor-cell apoptosis using bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) and human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) as a model system. in vivo, SJ-8026 decreased the neovascularization of chick embryos and the basic fibroblast growth factor-induced angiogenesis in the chorioallantoic membrane and the mouse Matrigel implants. in vitro, SJ-8026 treatment resulted in the inhibition of proliferation, migration, invasion and tube formation in BAECs. In addition, the treatment of SJ-8026 in HepG2 cells reduced the cell viability, and caused the production of fragmented DNA and the morphological changes corresponding to apoptosis including condensed and fragmented DNA. SJ-8026 also elicited the release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspase-3. Therefore, it is possible that SJ-8026 functions as both angiogenesis inhibitor and apoptosis inducer. Taken together, these results suggest that SJ-8026 may be a candidate for strong anti-cancer agent with the ability to inhibit the angiogenesis of endothelial cells and to induce the apoptosis of tumor cells.

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