Analysis of Antitumor Potential of Xanthene Compounds in Lymphoma Cells

Antitumor activity of two newly and sixteen previously synthesized 9-arylsubstituted 2,6,7-trihydroxyxanthene-3-ones on diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cells were analyzed in this study. Xanthene derivatives are characterized with numerous therapeutic applications, including anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and other activities. In silico molecular docking analysis suggests significant binding affinities of certain compounds toward Akt and NF-κB proteins as two major players of cell proliferation and differentiation. Results of WST-8 assay indicate mild or no activity of xanthene compounds on cell viability of HBL-1 and DHL-4 cell lines belonging to ABC and GCB DLBCL subtypes, respectively. Western blotting showed stimulatory activity of certain compounds, with increased expression of Akt in HBL-1 and DHL-4 cells. Our results provide an insight into activation of compensatory Akt mechanism in DLBCL models that could be an important step for further approaches in application of dual inhibitors for cancer treatment to achieve greater therapeutic effectiveness and drug resistance escape.