Concanamycin A

Concanamycin A is a specific inhibitor of vacuolar-type ATPase (V-ATPase) with IC50 value of 10 nM [1].

Vacuolar-type ATPase (V-ATPase) is expressed by clear cells to acidify the lumen of the epididymis, which is essential for male fertility; what's more, it induced proton extrusion into the extracellular medium which contributes to maintaining the intracellular pH under an acidic microenvironment. V-ATPase has also been reported to involve in the process of acidificating microenvironment around/in solid tumors and inducing tumor invasion/multi-drug resistance in several malignant tumors. [2].

Concanamycin A (CMA) is a specific V-ATPase inhibitor and is different from the reported V-ATPase inhibitor SS33410. In oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) OSCC cell lines (MISK81-5, SAS and HSC-4), low-concentration of CMA treatment induced the apoptosis of tumor cells [3]. Pretreated colorectal cancer cell lines with concanamycin A could significantly enhanced the Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis by blocking endosomal acidification by V-ATPase [4]. When tested with prostate cancer cell line C4-2B, inhibition of V-ATPase by concanamycin A reduced 80% invasion in vitro [5].

Concanamycin A also had been reported as a potent inhibitor of CTL cytotoxicity via perforin-mediated cytotoxic pathway [6].

References:
[1].  Huss, M., et al., Concanamycin A, the specific inhibitor of V-ATPases, binds to the V(o) subunit c. J Biol Chem, 2002. 277(43): p. 40544-8.
[2].  Muroi, M., et al., Folimycin (concanamycin A), a specific inhibitor of V-ATPase, blocks intracellular translocation of the glycoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus before arrival to the Golgi apparatus. Cell Struct Funct, 1993. 18(3): p. 139-49.
[3].  Kiyoshima, T., et al., Chemoresistance to concanamycin A1 in human oral squamous cell carcinoma is attenuated by an HDAC inhibitor partly via suppression of Bcl-2 expression. PLoS One, 2013. 8(11).
[4].  Horova V, et al., Inhibition of vacuolar ATPase attenuates the TRAIL-induced activation of caspase-8 and modulates the trafficking of TRAIL receptosomes. FEBS J, 2013. 280(14).
[5].  Michel V, et al., Inhibitors of vacuolar ATPase proton pumps inhibit human prostate cancer cell invasion and prostate-specific antigen expression and secretion. Int J Cancer. 2013.132(2).
[6].  Benkhoucha M et al., The neurotrophic hepatocyte growth factor attenuates CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activity. J Neuroinflammation. 2013, 10.

Chemoresistance to concanamycin A1 in human oral squamous cell carcinoma is attenuated by an HDAC inhibitor partly via suppression of Bcl-2 expression.[Pubmed:24278362]

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 20;8(11):e80998.

V-ATPase is involved in the acidification of the microenvironment around/in solid tumors, such as oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). V-ATPase is thought to induce tumor invasion and multi-drug resistance in several malignant tumors, and it also contributes to maintaining the intracellular pH under an acidic microenvironment by inducing proton extrusion into the extracellular medium. However, there is little information regarding the effects of V-ATPase inhibitors on OSCCs. In this study, the effects of a V-ATPase inhibitor, Concanamycin A1 (CMA), on the proliferation and apoptosis of OSCC were investigated in vitro. We used four OSCC cell lines, MISK81-5, SAS, HSC-4 and SQUU-B. Acridine orange staining revealed that the red fluorescence was reduced in all of the low concentration CMA-treated OSCC cells, indicating that the acidification of vesicular organelles in the OSCCs was prevented by the treatment with low-concentration of CMA. CMA treatment induced apoptosis in MISK81-5, SAS and HSC-4 cells, but not in SQUU-B cells. The p-p38 expression was not altered in CMA-treated SQUU-B cells, but their levels were increased in the other cells. The Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in CMA-treated SQUU-B cells was dramatically decreased in comparison with that in the other cell lines treated with CMA. However, when the SQUU-B cells were treated with CMA and a histone deacetylase inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), the SQUU-B cells became more susceptible to the CMA-induced apoptosis. SAHA treatment led to a significantly decrease in the Bcl-2 expression in CMA-treated SQUU-B cells, resulting in a dramatically increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in comparison with that observed in the SQUU-B cells treated with CMA alone. These findings suggest that CMA could have an anti-tumor effect on OSCCs. In addition, combination of CMA with other agents, such as SAHA, could help improve the pro-apoptotic effects of CMA even in CMA-resistant OSCC cells.

Dissection of autophagy in tobacco BY-2 cells under sucrose starvation conditions using the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase inhibitor concanamycin A and the autophagy-related protein Atg8.[Pubmed:26368310]

Plant Signal Behav. 2015;10(11):e1082699.

Tobacco BY-2 cells undergo autophagy in sucrose-free culture medium, which is the process mostly responsible for intracellular protein degradation under these conditions. Autophagy was inhibited by the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase inhibitors Concanamycin A and bafilomycin A1, which caused the accumulation of autophagic bodies in the central vacuoles. Such accumulation did not occur in the presence of the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine, and concanamycin in turn inhibited the accumulation of autolysosomes in the presence of the cysteine protease inhibitor E-64c. Electron microscopy revealed not only that the autophagic bodies were accumulated in the central vacuole, but also that autophagosome-like structures were more frequently observed in the cytoplasm in treatments with concanamycin, suggesting that Concanamycin Affects the morphology of autophagosomes in addition to raising the pH of the central vacuole. Using BY-2 cells that constitutively express a fusion protein of autophagosome marker protein Atg8 and green fluorescent protein (GFP), we observed the appearance of autophagosomes by fluorescence microscopy, which is a reliable morphological marker of autophagy, and the processing of the fusion protein to GFP, which is a biochemical marker of autophagy. Together, these results suggest the involvement of vacuole type H(+)-ATPase in the maturation step of autophagosomes to autolysosomes in the autophagic process of BY-2 cells. The accumulation of autophagic bodies in the central vacuole by concanamycin is a marker of the occurrence of autophagy; however, it does not necessarily mean that the central vacuole is the site of cytoplasm degradation.

Interactions between antiplasmodial 3,6-diamino-1'-dimethyl-9-anilinoacridine and hematin and concanamycin A.[Pubmed:18613537]

Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2007 Nov;38(6):979-82.

Antiplasmodial 9-anilinoacridine derivatives exert their effects either by inhibiting DNA topoisomerase (topo) II or by interfering with heme crystallization within the parasite acidic food vacuole. Previous studies have shown that analogs of 9-anilinoacridine containing 3,6-diamino substitutions (in the acridine ring) inhibit Plasmodium falciparum DNA topo II in situ, whereas those with a 3,6-diCl substitution act by inhibiting beta-hematin formation, a property also seen with 3,6-diamino-1'-dimethyl-9-anilinoacridine (DDAA). To understand this seemingly anomalous property of DDAA, studies of its interaction with hematin and localization within the parasite food vacuole were undertaken. A weak interaction with hematin was demonstrated spectroscopically. Antagonism of DDAA inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum growth in culture by Concanamycin A, a macrolide antibiotic inhibitor of vacuolar H(+)-ATPase derived from Streptomyces sp, was equivocal.

Increased production of reactive oxygen species by the vacuolar-type (H(+))-ATPase inhibitors bafilomycin A1 and concanamycin A in RAW 264 cells.[Pubmed:23038011]

J Toxicol Sci. 2012;37(5):1045-8.

Treatment of the mouse leukemic cell line RAW 264 with bafilomycin A1 or Concanamycin A, inhibitors of vacuolar-type (H(+))-ATPases (V-ATPases), significantly increased the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreased cell viability. These effects were significantly suppressed by the presence of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an ROS scavenger. si-RNA mediated knockdown of the gene for the c subunit of the V0 domain of V-ATPase also resulted in an increase in ROS production and a decrease in cell viability. These results suggest that decreased cellular V-ATPase activity decreases cell viability by increasing ROS production in RAW 264 cells.

Nitric oxide production by the vacuolar-type (H+)-ATPase inhibitors bafilomycin A1 and concanamycin A and its possible role in apoptosis in RAW 264.7 cells.[Pubmed:16895977]

J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2006 Nov;319(2):672-81.

In the mouse leukemic monocyte cell line RAW 264.7, the vacuolar-type (H(+))-ATPase (V-ATPase) inhibitors bafilomycin A1 and Concanamycin A induced nitric oxide (NO) production through the expression of inducible nitric-oxide synthase mRNA and its protein and decreased cell growth and survival as determined by 3-(4,5-dimethyl(thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Bafilomycin A1 and Concanamycin A activated nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and activator protein-1 and decreased the level of IkappaB-alpha and increased that of phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). NO production induced by these V-ATPase inhibitors was suppressed by the NF-kappaB inhibitor Bay 11-7082 [(E)3-[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl])-2-propenenitrile] and the JNK inhibitor SP600125 [anthra[1,9-cd]pyrazol-6(2H)-one] in parallel with the partial alleviation of the V-ATPase inhibitor-induced decrease in MTT response. The Na(+),K(+)-ATPase inhibitor dibucaine and the F-ATPase inhibitor oligomycin did not induce NO production at which concentrations the MTT response was decreased. The NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetyl-dl-penicillamine further lowered the V-ATPase inhibitor-induced decrease in the MTT response, and the NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide, sodium salt (carboxy-PTIO) alleviated it partially. Mitochondrial depolarization, an index of apoptosis, was induced by bafilomycin A1 and Concanamycin A. On treatment with the nitric-oxide synthase inhibitor N(G)-monomethyl-l-arginine acetate, the disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential induced by bafilomycin A1 and Concanamycin A was alleviated partially in parallel with the decrease in NO production. Carboxy-PTIO also alleviated it partially. Our findings suggest that the V-ATPase inhibitors bafilomycin A1 and Concanamycin A similarly induce NO production and the newly produced NO participates partially in the V-ATPase inhibitor-induced apoptosis in RAW 264.7 cells.