BCI-121 significantly inhibits SMYD3-substrate interaction and chromatin recruitment and is effective in reducing proliferation in various cancer cells types. BCI-121 significantly reduces proliferation of HT29 (by 46%) and HCT116 (by 54%) cells at 72 h and decreases the expression levels of SMYD3 target genes. SMYD3 preferentially methylates histone H4, and the presence of BCI-121 impairs SMYD3-mediated H4 in vitro methylation. Cancer cells treated with BCI-121 show a significant reduction in their growth ability and accumulated in the S phase of the cell cycle. Cells treated with BCI-121 shows a dose-dependent relationship between SMYD3 impairment and both inhibition of proliferation and reduction of targeted methyl marks (H4K5me and H3K4me2). BCI-121 shows antiproliferative properties in cancer cell lines overexpressing SMYD3 and, in general, replicated the effects of SMYD3-targeted RNAi. Experiments performed in cancer cells show that BCI-121 prevents SMYD3 recruitment on the promoters of its target genes and this event is correlated with reduced gene expression[1].
References
[1]. Peserico A, et al. A SMYD3 Small-Molecule Inhibitor Impairing Cancer Cell Growth. J Cell Physiol. 2015 Oct;230(10):2447-2460.