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Gossypol

Description of Gossypol: Gossypol is an orally-active polyphenolic aldehyde with potential antineoplastic activity. Derived primarily from unrefined cottonseed oil, gossypol induces cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase, thereby inhibiting DNA replication and inducing apoptosis. This agent also inhibits cell-signaling enzymes, resulting in inhibition of cell growth, and may act as a male contraceptive. Check for active clinical trials or closed clinical trials using this agent. (NCI Thesaurus).

Gossypol  is a polyphenol derived from the cotton plant (genus Gossypium, family Malvaceae). Gossypol is a polyphenolic aldehyde that permeates cells and acts as an inhibitor for several dehydrogenase enzymes. It is a yellow pigment. Among other things, it has been tested as a male oral contraceptive in China. In addition to its contraceptive properties, gossypol has also long been known to possess antimalarial properties. Other researchers are investigating the anticancer properties of gossypol.

Oncology testing

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossypol)

Gossypol is also under investigation as a possible chemotherapy drug especially in its R- state. It is currently believed that gossypol in itself will not kill cancerous cells, however it changes the chemistry within the cancer cell and makes it more susceptible to traditional chemotherapy drugs. Phased trials have been done on resistant prostate and lung cancer. Few results have been published to date so no conclusions can be drawn.

Contraceptive use

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossypol)

A 1929 investigation in Jiangxi showed correlation between low fertility in males and use of crude cottonseed oil for cooking. The compound causing the contraceptive effect was determined to be gossypol. In the 1970s, the Chinese government began researching the use of gossypol as a contraceptive. Their studies involved over 10,000 subjects, and continued for over a decade. They concluded that gossypol provided reliable contraception, could be taken orally as a tablet, and did not upset men's balance of hormones.  However, gossypol also had serious flaws. The studies also discovered an abnormally high rate of hypokalemia among subjects. Hypokalemia — low blood potassium levels — causes symptoms of fatigue, muscle weakness, and at its most extreme, paralysis. In addition, about 7% of subjects reported effects on their digestive system, and about 12% increased fatigue. Most subjects recovered after stopping treatment and taking potassium supplements. A later study showed that taking potassium supplements during gossypol treatment did not prevent hypokalemia in primates. In the mid-1990s, the Brazilian pharmaceutical company Hebron announced plans to market a low-dose gossypol pill called Nofertil, but the pill never came to market. Its release was indefinitely postponed due to unacceptably high rates of permanent infertility. Between five and twenty-five percent of the men remained azoospermic up to a year after stopping treatment. The longer the men had taken the drug and the higher their overall dosage, the more likely the men were to have lowered fertility or to become completely infertile. Researchers have suggested that gossypol might make a good non-invasive alternative to surgical vasectomy. In 1986, the Chinese stopped research because of these side effects. In 1998, the World Health Organization's Research Group on Methods for the Regulation of Male Fertility recommended that research should be abandoned. In addition to the other side effects, the WHO researchers were concerned about gossypol's toxicity: the toxic dose in primates is less than 10 times the contraceptive dose. This report effectively ended further studies of gossypol as a temporary contraceptive, but research into using it as an alternative to vasectomy continues in Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, the Dominican Republic, and Nigeria.

Current developer:   

 1: Ye W, Chang HL, Wang LS, Huang YW, Shu S, Sugimoto Y, Dowd MK, Wan PJ, Lin YC. Induction of apoptosis by (-)-gossypol-enriched cottonseed oil in human breast cancer cells. Int J Mol Med. 2010 Jul;26(1):113-9. PubMed PMID: 20514430.

2: Zhang XQ, Huang XF, Mu SJ, An QX, Xia AJ, Chen R, Wu DC. Inhibition of proliferation of prostate cancer cell line, PC-3, in vitro and in vivo using (-)-gossypol. Asian J Androl. 2010 May;12(3):390-9. Epub 2010 Jan 18. PubMed PMID: 20081872.

3: Xu P, Ye W, Jen R, Lin SH, Kuo CT, Lin YC. Mitogenic activity of zeranol in human breast cancer cells is enhanced by leptin and suppressed by gossypol. Anticancer Res. 2009 Nov;29(11):4621-8. PubMed PMID: 20032412.

4: Wang X, Howell CP, Chen F, Yin J, Jiang Y. Gossypol--a polyphenolic compound from cotton plant. Adv Food Nutr Res. 2009;58:215-63. Review. PubMed PMID: 19878861.

5: Zerp SF, Stoter R, Kuipers G, Yang D, Lippman ME, van Blitterswijk WJ, Bartelink H, Rooswinkel R, Lafleur V, Verheij M. AT-101, a small molecule inhibitor of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members, activates the SAPK/JNK pathway and enhances radiation-induced apoptosis. Radiat Oncol. 2009 Oct 23;4:47. PubMed PMID: 19852810; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2771029.

6: Wang J, Zhou JY, Zhang L, Wu GS. Involvement of MKP-1 and Bcl-2 in acquired cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells. Cell Cycle. 2009 Oct 1;8(19):3191-8. Epub 2009 Oct 7. PubMed PMID: 19755862.

7: Hu ZY, Sun J, Zhu XF, Yang D, Zeng YX. ApoG2 induces cell cycle arrest of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by suppressing the c-Myc signaling pathway. J Transl Med. 2009 Aug 23;7:74. PubMed PMID: 19698176; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2742515.

8: El-Sharaky AS, Wahby MM, Bader El-Dein MM, Fawzy RA, El-Shahawy IN. Mutual anti-oxidative effect of gossypol acetic acid and gossypol-iron complex on hepatic lipid peroxidation in male rats. Food Chem Toxicol. 2009 Nov;47(11):2735-41. Epub 2009 Aug 6. PubMed PMID: 19665044.

9: Zhang L, Jiang H, Cao X, Zhao H, Wang F, Cui Y, Jiang B. Chiral gossypol derivatives: evaluation of their anticancer activity and molecular modeling. Eur J Med Chem. 2009 Oct;44(10):3961-72. Epub 2009 Apr 22. PubMed PMID: 19447525.

10: Stipanovic RD, Puckhaber LS, Liu J, Bell AA. Total and percent atropisomers of gossypol and gossypol-6-methyl ether in seeds from pima cottons and accessions of Gossypium barbadense L. J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Jan 28;57(2):566-71. PubMed PMID: 19113939.

11: Zhai G, Wu J, Zhao X, Yu B, Li H, Lu Y, Ye W, Lin YC, Lee RJ. A liposomal delivery vehicle for the anticancer agent gossypol. Anticancer Res. 2008 Sep-Oct;28(5A):2801-5. PubMed PMID: 19035313.

12: Etxebarria A, Landeta O, Antonsson B, Basañez G. Regulation of antiapoptotic MCL-1 function by gossypol: mechanistic insights from in vitro reconstituted systems. Biochem Pharmacol. 2008 Dec 1;76(11):1563-76. Epub 2008 Aug 12. PubMed PMID: 18762177.

13: Marzo I, Naval J. Bcl-2 family members as molecular targets in cancer therapy. Biochem Pharmacol. 2008 Oct 15;76(8):939-46. Epub 2008 Jun 28. PubMed PMID: 18638457.

14: Wang L, Sloper DT, Addo SN, Tian D, Slaton JW, Xing C. WL-276, an antagonist against Bcl-2 proteins, overcomes drug resistance and suppresses prostate tumor growth. Cancer Res. 2008 Jun 1;68(11):4377-83. PubMed PMID: 18519699; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2410026.

15: Wang X, Beckham TH, Morris JC, Chen F, Gangemi JD. Bioactivities of gossypol, 6-methoxygossypol, and 6,6'-dimethoxygossypol. J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jun 25;56(12):4393-8. Epub 2008 Jun 3. PubMed PMID: 18517219.

16: Ye W, Chang HL, Wang LS, Huang YW, Shu S, Dowd MK, Wan PJ, Sugimoto Y, Lin YC. Modulation of multidrug resistance gene expression in human breast cancer cells by (-)-gossypol-enriched cottonseed oil. Anticancer Res. 2007 Jan-Feb;27(1A):107-16. PubMed PMID: 17352222.

17: Zhang M, Liu H, Tian Z, Huang J, Remo M, Li QQ. Differential growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis by gossypol between HCT116 and HCT116/Bax(-/-) colorectal cancer cells. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2007 Mar;34(3):230-7. PubMed PMID: 17250644.

18: Yeow WS, Baras A, Chua A, Nguyen DM, Sehgal SS, Schrump DS, Nguyen DM. Gossypol, a phytochemical with BH3-mimetic property, sensitizes cultured thoracic cancer cells to Apo2 ligand/tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2006 Dec;132(6):1356-62. Epub 2006 Oct 30. PubMed PMID: 17140955.

19: Konac E, Ekmekci A, Yurtcu E, Ergun MA. An in vitro study of cytotoxic effects of gossypol on human epidermoid larynx carcinoma cell line (HEp-2). Exp Oncol. 2005 Mar;27(1):81-3. PubMed PMID: 15812364.

20: Xu L, Yang D, Wang S, Tang W, Liu M, Davis M, Chen J, Rae JM, Lawrence T, Lippman ME. (-)-Gossypol enhances response to radiation therapy and results in tumor regression of human prostate cancer. Mol Cancer Ther. 2005 Feb;4(2):197-205. PubMed PMID: 15713891.

21: Oliver CL, Miranda MB, Shangary S, Land S, Wang S, Johnson DE. (-)-Gossypol acts directly on the mitochondria to overcome Bcl-2- and Bcl-X(L)-mediated apoptosis resistance. Mol Cancer Ther. 2005 Jan;4(1):23-31. PubMed PMID: 15657350.

22: Susman E. Cottonseed-oil byproduct as anticancer radiation sensitiser. Lancet Oncol. 2004 Nov;5(11):648. PubMed PMID: 15536689.

23: Kovacic P. Mechanism of drug and toxic actions of gossypol: focus on reactive oxygen species and electron transfer. Curr Med Chem. 2003 Dec;10(24):2711-8. Review. PubMed PMID: 14529461.

24: Kitada S, Leone M, Sareth S, Zhai D, Reed JC, Pellecchia M. Discovery, characterization, and structure-activity relationships studies of proapoptotic polyphenols targeting B-cell lymphocyte/leukemia-2 proteins. J Med Chem. 2003 Sep 25;46(20):4259-64. PubMed PMID: 13678404.

25: Mego M. Telomerase inhibitors in anticancer therapy: gossypol as a potential telomerase inhibitor. Bratisl Lek Listy. 2002;103(10):378-81. Review. PubMed PMID: 12583508.

26: Liu S, Kulp SK, Sugimoto Y, Jiang J, Chang HL, Dowd MK, Wan P, Lin YC. The (-)-enantiomer of gossypol possesses higher anticancer potency than racemic gossypol in human breast cancer. Anticancer Res. 2002 Jan-Feb;22(1A):33-8. PubMed PMID: 12017312.

27: Wang X, Wang J, Wong SC, Chow LS, Nicholls JM, Wong YC, Liu Y, Kwong DL, Sham JS, Tsa SW. Cytotoxic effect of gossypol on colon carcinoma cells. Life Sci. 2000 Oct 20;67(22):2663-71. PubMed PMID: 11105982.

28: Quintana PJ, de Peyster A, Klatzke S, Park HJ. Gossypol-induced DNA breaks in rat lymphocytes are secondary to cytotoxicity. Toxicol Lett. 2000 Sep 30;117(1-2):85-94. PubMed PMID: 11033237.

29: Vander Jagt DL, Deck LM, Royer RE. Gossypol: prototype of inhibitors targeted to dinucleotide folds. Curr Med Chem. 2000 Apr;7(4):479-98. Review. PubMed PMID: 10702620.

30: Liang XS, Rogers AJ, Webber CL, Ormsby TJ, Tiritan ME, Matlin SA, Benz CC. Developing gossypol derivatives with enhanced antitumor activity. Invest New Drugs. 1995;13(3):181-6. PubMed PMID: 8729944.

31: Gilbert NE, O'Reilly JE, Chang CJ, Lin YC, Brueggemeier RW. Antiproliferative activity of gossypol and gossypolone on human breast cancer cells. Life Sci. 1995;57(1):61-7. PubMed PMID: 7596222.

32: Prusoff W, Lin TS, Pivazyan A, Sun AS, Birks E. Empirical and rational approaches for development of inhibitors of the human immunodeficiency virus--HIV-1. Pharmacol Ther. 1993 Nov;60(2):315-29. Review. PubMed PMID: 8022862.

33: Chang CJ, Ghosh PK, Hu YF, Brueggemeier RW, Lin YC. Antiproliferative and antimetastatic effects of gossypol on Dunning prostate cell-bearing Copenhagen rats. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 1993 Mar;79(3):293-312. PubMed PMID: 8480076.

34: Jaroszewski JW, Kaplan O, Cohen JS. Action of gossypol and rhodamine 123 on wild type and multidrug-resistant MCF-7 human breast cancer cells: 31P nuclear magnetic resonance and toxicity studies. Cancer Res. 1990 Nov 1;50(21):6936-43. PubMed PMID: 2208159.