Pioglitazone, an anti-diabetic drug requires sustained MAPK activation for its anti-tumor activity in MCF7 breast cancer cells, independent of PPAR-γ pathway.

CONCLUSIONS: Pio suppresses the proliferation of MCF7 cells, at least partly by a PPAR-γ-independent mechanism involving the induction of p21 which in turn requires sustained activation of MAPK. These findings implicate the utility of Pio in the treatment of PPAR positive or negative human cancers and the development of a new class of compounds to enhance the effectiveness of Pio.
PMID: 26721366 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Pharmacological Reports - January 13, 2016 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Kole L, Sarkar M, Deb A, Giri B Tags: Pharmacol Rep Source Type: research