Oxamflatin: a novel compound which reverses malignant phenotype to normal one via induction of JunD

In the course of screening for inhibitors of tumorigenic phenotype of K-ras-transformed NIH3T3 cells (DT cells), we found a novel compound, oxamflatin, an aromatic sulfonamide hydroxamate derivative, which induces flat phenotype in these cells and suppresses their anchorage-independent growth. In contrast to DT cells, in v-raf-transformed NIH3T3 cells, no change in their morphology and no specific inhibition of their anchorage-independent growth was observed. Interestingly, oxamflatin was effective to NIH3T3 cells transformed by constitutively activated mutant of MEK, indicating the possibility that oncogene-induced morphological change is not necessarily induced by common signaling pathway such as MAP kinase cascade. In oxamflatin-treated DT cells, the expression of transcription factor junD was highly augmented, resulting in trans-activation of fibronectin gene by junD via cyclic AMP responsive element in its promoter. This behavior of junD was confirmed to correlate well with partial blocking of malignant phenotype in DT cells. Thus, oxamflatin can be categorized as the first reagent which induces genes whose products can interfere with oncogene-dependent transformation.