biostudies-literatureUnknown8(8)Cheng XDominant-negative mutants of telomerase hTERT were demonstrated to have selective effects in tumor cells. However, no any effective and highly selective hTERT inhibitor has been developed so far. We focused on developing new hTERT modulators and synthesized a small molecular compound, named (4-bromophenyl)(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)methanone. Our in vitro studies found that title compound showed high inhibitory activity against telomerase, had high antiproliferative capacity on SMMC-7721 cells with IC₅₀ value 88 nm, and had no obvious toxic effect on human normal hepatocyte cells with IC₅₀ value 10 μM. Our in vivo studies showed that this compound significantly inhibited tumor growth in xenograft tumor models. The further molecular mechanisms of title compound inhibitCell death & diseasee3016https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC5596570biostudies-literatureDiscovery of (4-bromophenyl)(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)methanone through upregulating hTERT induces cell apoptosis and ERS.PMC5596570Liu HTang WJLiu XHShi JBChen LZWang YCheng XfalseDiscovery of (4-bromophenyl)(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)methanone through upregulating hTERT induces cell apoptosis and ERS.Dominant-negative mutants of telomerase hTERT were demonstrated to have selective effects in tumor cells. However, no any effective and highly selective hTERT inhibitor has been developed so far. We focused on developing new hTERT modulators and synthesized a small molecular compound, named (4-bromophenyl)(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)methanone. Our in vitro studies found that title compound showed high inhibitory activity against telomerase, had high antiproliferative capacity on SMMC-7721 cells with IC₅₀ value 88 nm, and had no obvious toxic effect on human normal hepatocyte cells with IC₅₀ value 10 μM. Our in vivo studies showed that this compound significantly inhibited tumor growth in xenograft tumor models. The further molecular mechanisms of title compound inhibit2017-01-01T00:00:00Z2017 Aug2025-04-05T14:05:20.138Z2019-03-27T02:56:12ZS-EPMC55965702883714510.1038/cddis.2017.384