Poster #045, UCSD
Evaluating the Effects of Seriniquinone on Neuroblastoma
Mentor: Peter Zage, MD, PhD
Children diagnosed with neuroblastoma face poor responses to therapy and very low rates of survival. Natural produce extracted from microbial sources at the bottom of the ocean like marine actinomycetes surprisingly work well as anticancer agents. Seriniquinone, a quinone-based compound that comes from a Serinicoccus species, has demonstrated vigorous anticancer activity across many tumor types through targeted dermcidin, a peptide connected to cancer cell survival and proliferation, causing autophagocytosis which is followed by apoptosis. All in all, seriniquinone could be a potential selective therapeutic option for pediatric neuroblastoma. Techniques used included neuroblastoma cell culture and quantification, CCK-8 viability assays, and Western Blot analysis. Synthetic seriniquinone was tested by preparing MYCN-amplified and non-amplified neuroblastoma cell lines for treatment with increasing concentrations of seriniquinone. Treated cells were analyzed by CCK-8 viability assays and Western blots analysis of whole cell lysates to examine protein expression changes due to the effect of seriniquinone on intracellular markers and markers of apoptosis such as PARP and Caspase-3. Treatment of various MYCN-amplified and non-amplified neuroblastoma cell lines shows that Seriniquinone inhibits cell growth and viability in a concentration-dependent manner, with observed cell rounding, detachment and death compared to the healthy monolayers in the control cells. Seriniquinone treatment also resulted in decreased expression of dermcidin and MYCN and induction of apoptosis compared to control cells. Our results support the efficacy of seriniquinone as a potent therapeutic agent with efficacy against pediatric neuroblastoma cells, with further studies planned to confirm the efficacy and mechanisms of action. Ultimately, we hope these findings can advance further preclinical validation and support future clinical investigation to battle against young children facing neuroblastoma.