Natural Product Library Screens Identify Sanguinarine Chloride as a Potent Inhibitor of Telomerase Expression and Activity.

ABSTRACT: Reverse transcriptase hTERT is essential to telomerase function in stem cells, as well as in 85-90% of human cancers. Its high expression in stem cells or cancer cells has made telomerase/hTERT an attractive therapeutic target for anti-aging and anti-tumor applications. In this study, we screened a natural product library containing 800 compounds using an endogenous hTERT reporter. Eight candidates have been identified, in which sanguinarine chloride (SC) and brazilin (Braz) were selected due to their leading inhibition. SC could induce an acute and strong suppressive effect on the expression of hTERT and telomerase activity in multiple cancer cells, whereas Braz selectively inhibited telomerase in certain types of cancer cells. Remarkably, SC long-term treatment could cause telomer

SUBMITTER: Yan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9104802 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature