A Small Molecule Inhibitor Selectively Induces Apoptosis in Cells Transformed by High Risk Human Papilloma Viruses

A phenotypic high-throughput cell culture screen was performed to identify compounds that prevented proliferation of the human Papilloma virus type 16 (HPV-16) transformed cell line Ca Ski. A series of quinoxaline compounds exemplified by Compound 1 was identified. Testing against a panel of cell lines demonstrated that Compound 1 selectively inhibited replication of all HPV-16, HPV-18, and HPV-31 transformed cell lines tested with 50% Inhibitory Concentration (IC50) values of 2 to 8 μM relative to IC50 values of 28 to 73 μM in HPV-negative cell lines. Treatment with Compound 1 resulted in a cascade of multiple apoptotic events, including selective activation of effector caspases 3 and 7, fragmentation of cellular DNA, and PARP (poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase) cleavage in HPV-positive cells relative to HPV-negative cells. Unregulated proliferation of HPV transformed cells is dependent on the viral oncogenes, E6 and E7. Treatment with Compound 1 resulted in a decrease in HPV E7 protein in Ca Ski cells. However, the timing of this reduction relative to other effects of compound treatment suggests that this was a consequence, rather than a cause, of the apoptotic cascade. Likewise, compound treatment resulted in no obvious effects on the E6- and E7- mediated down regulation of p53 and Rb, or their downstream effectors, p21 or PCNA. Further investigation of apoptotic signals induced by Compound 1 revealed cleavage of Caspase-8 in HPV-positive cells as early as 2 hours post-treatment, suggesting the compound initiates apoptosis through the extrinsic, death receptor-mediated, pathway of cell death. These studies provide proof of concept that cells transformed by oncogenic Papillomaviruses can be selectively induced to undergo apoptosis by compound treatment.