Repurposing cephalosporin antibiotics as pro-senescent radiosensitizers.

ABSTRACT: Radiation therapy remains a significant therapeutic modality in the treatment of cancer. An attractive strategy would be to enhance the benefits of ionizing radiation (IR)with radiosensitizers. A high-content drug repurposing screen of approved and investigational agents, natural products and other small molecules has identified multiple candidates that blocked repair of IR damage in vitro. Here, we validated a subset of these hits in vitro and then examined effects on tumor growth after IR in a murine tumor model. Based on robust radiosensitization in vivo and other favorable properties of cephalexin, we conducted additional studies with other beta-lactam antibiotics. When combined with IR, each cephalosporin tested increased DNA damage and slowed tumor growth without affecting normal tis

SUBMITTER: Labay E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5085128 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature