B-125, a novel berberine derivative, acts as a better retinoid X receptor a agonist with stronger anti-tumor activity in colon cancer

Our previous study showed that Berberine binds to RXRα to suppress colon cancer growth (Ruan et. al., Oncogene 2017, 36: 6906). To achieve better RXRα binding activity, stronger anti-tumor effect and higher bioavailability, 21 novel berberine derivatives were designed based on the binding information of berberine to RXRα. Among them B-125 performs the best solubility, RXRE luciferase activity and tumor suppressing ability. NMR and fluorescent titration results show that B-125 retain the similar binding ability to RXRα compared with Berberine. CD study suggests that B-125 has stronger allosteric effect on RXRα than berberine. The bioavailability of B-125 is 25 times higher than berberine. In KM12C colon cancer cells, B-125 performs stronger RXRα dependent inhibitory effects than berberine. In vivo results showed that B-125 inhibits the growth of colon cancer xenograft in nude mice, and the effect is stronger than that of berberine. All the above results indicate that B-125 is a better anti-cancer drug than berberine with better RXRα modulation ability, higher bioavailability and stronger tumor suppressing effect. The study promotes B-125 as a potential novel RXRα based anti-cancer drug in the treatment of colon cancer. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Beibei Xu, Tian hui Hu, jing Xiong. B-125, a novel berberine derivative, acts as a better retinoid X receptor a agonist with stronger anti-tumor activity in colon cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1868.