Table 1 Antiproliferative and cytotoxic effect of selected antivirals and antibiotics
From: Using antimicrobial adjuvant therapy in cancer treatment: a review
Anti-microbial | Target and its function | Mechanism | Shown in | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ribavirin | Eukaryotic translation initiation factor: eIF4E; Enhanced mRNA transport and translation of cyclin D1, survivin, c-myc, VEGF and etc. | Ribavirin binds to eIF4E with high affinity and competes with its binding to mRNA; selectively disrupts eIF4E subcellular organization and therefore transport and translation of mRNAs which are post-transcriptionally regulated by eIF4E leading to decreased levels of oncogenes such as cyclin D1. | Patients with acute myeloid leukemias; Breast cancer cell lines | |
Acyclovir | indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO); enhances activity of Treg while Treg inhibits immunity in glioblastomas | Acyclovir could decrease Treg function in glioblastoma and could potentially be used as an adjunct in therapy | Proposed | [8] |
17-AAG, 17-DMAG (geldanamycin analogs) | HSP-90 promotes survival of tumor cell, induces their growth and metastasis even when there are no growth factors via continued protein translation and cellular proliferation; Its client proteins include: KIT, AKT, CDK4, telomerase, Bcl-2, MMP2 and others. | Inhibition of HSP90 leads to decreased level and activity of its client protein protooncogene KIT and downstream signaling molecules AKT and STAT3 | HMC-1 cells derived from a patient with mast cell leukemia | |
Hsp90 inhibition by 17-AAG leads to decreased proliferation and viability and increased radiosensitivity of cancer cells | Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines | [32] | ||
Clioquinol | Acts as metal ionophore | Probably increases metal concentration in mitochondria and induces release of cytochrome c leading to apoptosis | DHL-4, A2780, SiHa and other cells and mouse xenograft model | [33] |
PMEG, PMEDAP | VEGF, EGF, FGF, PDGF and their receptors are important in angiogenesis | Diphosphate derivatives of PMEG and PMEDAP inhibit DNA polymerase and activity of human telomerase in vitro. DNA damage could affect signalling pathways associated with angiogenesis. | SD-lymphoma bearing rats | [34] |