Natural product (−)-gossypol inhibits colon cancer cell growth by targeting RNA-binding protein Musashi-1

Musashi-1 (MSI1) is an RNA-binding protein that acts as a translation activator or repressor of target mRNAs. The best-characterized MSI1 target is Numb mRNA, whose encoded protein negatively regulates Notch signaling. Additional MSI1 targets include the mRNAs for the tumor suppressor protein APC that regulates Wnt signaling and the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor P21WAF−1. We hypothesized that increased expression of NUMB, P21 and APC, through inhibition of MSI1 RNA-binding activity might be an effective way to simultaneously downregulate Wnt and Notch signaling, thus blocking the growth of a broad range of cancer cells.

Source: Molecular Oncology - April 9, 2015 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Lan Lan, Carl Appelman, Amber R. Smith, Jia Yu, Sarah Larsen, Rebecca T. Marquez, Hao Liu, Xiaoqing Wu, Philip Gao, Anuradha Roy, Asokan Anbanandam, Ragul Gowthaman, John Karanicolas, Roberto N. De Guzman, Steven Rogers, Jeffrey Aubé, Min Ji, Robert S. C Source Type: research