A Synergetic Screening Approach with Companion Effector for Combination Therapy: Application to Retinoblastoma Journal Article


Authors: Mahida, J. P.; Antczak, C.; DeCarlo, D.; Champ, K. G.; Francis, J. H.; Marr, B.; Polans, A. S.; Albert, D. M.; Abramson, D. H.; Djaballah, H.
Article Title: A Synergetic Screening Approach with Companion Effector for Combination Therapy: Application to Retinoblastoma
Abstract: For many cancers, the lack of potency and the toxicity of current drugs limits the dose achievable in patients and the efficacy of treatment. Among them, retinoblastoma is a rare cancer of the eye for which better chemotherapeutic options are needed. Combination therapy is a compelling approach to enhance the efficacy of current treatment, however clinical trials to test rationally designed combinations of approved drugs are slow and expensive, and limited by our lack of in-depth knowledge of drug specificity. Since many patients already turn to nutraceuticals in hopes of improving their condition, we hypothesized that certain approved drugs could potentially synergize with widely consumed supplements. Following this hypothesis, we devised an alternative screening strategy aimed at taking advantage of a bait compound such as a nutraceutical with potential therapeutic benefits but low potency, by screening chemical libraries for approved drugs that synergize with this companion effector. As a proof of concept, we sought to identify approved drugs with synergetic therapeutic effects toward retinoblastoma cells in combination with the antioxidant resveratrol, popular as a supplement. We systematically tested FDA-approved drugs and known bioactives seeking to identify such pairs, which led to uncovering only a few additive combinations; but to our surprise, we identified a class of anticancer drugs widely used in the clinic whose therapeutic effect is antagonized with resveratrol. Our observations could explain in part why some patients do not respond well to treatment. Our results validate this alternative approach, and we expect that our companion effector strategy could significantly impact both drug discovery and the nutraceutical industry. © 2013 Mahida et al.
Keywords: controlled study; human cell; cancer combination chemotherapy; drug potentiation; antineoplastic agents; drug approval; reproducibility of results; cell viability; cell survival; drug inhibition; cancer cell culture; drug potency; high throughput screening; retinoblastoma; drug screening; dose-response relationship, drug; drug screening assays, antitumor; retinal neoplasms; small molecule libraries; cell line, tumor; high-throughput screening assays; drug synergism; ic 50; inhibitory concentration 50; resveratrol; floxuridine; perphenazine; concentration response; nocodazole; phorbol 13 acetate 12 myristate; budesonide; quinidine; piperazine; n [4 [6 methoxy 7 (3 morpholinopropoxy) 4 quinazolinylamino]phenyl]benzamide; stilbenes; 1 [2 (4 methoxyphenyl) 2 [3 (4 methoxyphenyl)propoxy]ethyl] 1h imidazole; avermectin; berberine; caffeic acid phenethyl ester; chelidonine; thioguanosine; tolperisone; tomelukast; triamterene
Journal Title: PLoS ONE
Volume: 8
Issue: 3
ISSN: 1932-6203
Publisher: Public Library of Science  
Date Published: 2013-01-01
Start Page: e59156
Language: English
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059156
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC3602587
PUBMED: 23527118
DOI/URL:
Notes: --- - "Export Date: 1 April 2013" - "Source: Scopus"
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MSK Authors
  1. Brian Marr
    112 Marr
  2. Jasmine Helen Francis
    256 Francis
  3. David H Abramson
    389 Abramson
  4. Hakim Djaballah
    101 Djaballah
  5. Christophe Antczak
    40 Antczak
  6. Jeni P Mahida
    6 Mahida
  7. Kathryn Graham Champ
    2 Champ