Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Feb 1;67(3):1221-7.
doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-3377.

HIV protease inhibitor nelfinavir inhibits growth of human melanoma cells by induction of cell cycle arrest

Affiliations

HIV protease inhibitor nelfinavir inhibits growth of human melanoma cells by induction of cell cycle arrest

Wei Jiang et al. Cancer Res. .

Abstract

HIV protease inhibitors (HIV PI) are a class of antiretroviral drugs that are designed to target the viral protease. Unexpectedly, this class of drugs is also reported to have antitumor activity. In this study, we have evaluated the in vitro activity of nelfinavir, a HIV PI, against human melanoma cells. Nelfinavir inhibits the growth of melanoma cell lines at low micromolar concentrations that are clinically attainable. Nelfinavir promotes apoptosis and arrests cell cycle at G(1) phase. Cell cycle arrest is attributed to inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and concomitant dephosphorylation of retinoblastoma tumor suppressor. We further show that nelfinavir inhibits CDK2 through proteasome-dependent degradation of Cdc25A phosphatase. Our results suggest that nelfinavir is a promising candidate chemotherapeutic agent for advanced melanoma, for which novel and effective therapies are urgently needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources