Neddylation inhibitor, MLN4924 suppresses angiogenesis in huvecs and solid cancers

Cullin-RING E3 ligases are involved in the ubiquitination of substrates that regulate important biological processes and are a potential therapeutic target in many types of cancer. MLN4924, a small molecule of NEDD8-activating enzyme inhibitor, inactivates CRL by blocking cullin neddylation and has been reported to elicit anti-tumor effect. In this study, In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of MLN4924 on angiogenesis in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) and four types of cancer cells. Our results showed that MLN4924 inhibits cell viability and induced apoptosis in HUVECs in a dose-dependent manner. MLN4924 inhibits proliferation and interferes with the cell cycle checkpoint regulators, p21, p27, and phospho-histone H3. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment increased the level of UBC12 in HUVECs, indicating that neddylation pathway is involved in VEGF-activated angiogenesis. MLN4924 decreased VEGF-activated cell proliferation via neddylation inhibition. MLN4924 inhibited VEGF-activated cell migration, capillary tube formation and VEGF-mediated Erk1/2 activation in HUVECs. We also examined antitumor effect of MLN4924 using xenograft SCID mouse models of four different types of cancer cells. The in vivo results showed MLN4924 inhibited tumor growth in all four types of cancers with decreasing CD31 expression in xenograft tumor. In conclusion, MLN4924 inhibited viability, migration, and VEGF-promoted angiogenic activity in HUVECs; consistently, MLN4924 inhibited tumor growth in four types of cancers with suppression of angiogenesis. These findings provide evidence to develop therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment through anti-angiogenesis through neddylation inhibition.