[CAS NO. 1197397-89-9]  CBL0137 HCl

CBL0137 is a potent inducer of apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cell lines and is toxic not only for proliferating bulk tumor cells, but also for pancreatic cancer stem cells. CBL0137 and related molecules can simultaneously activate p53 and inhibit cellular stress pathways mediated by NF-κB and HSF-1. CBL0137 binds DNA but does not cause any sort of chemical modifications in DNA and therefore lacks genotoxicity. However, CBL0137 binding to DNA leads to functional inactivation of the Facilitates Chromatin Transcription (FACT) complex, a chromatin remodeling complex involved in transcription, replication, and DNA repair. In CBL0137-treated cells, FACT is lost from the nucleoplasm and trapped in chromatin, resulting in the inhibition of FACT-dependent transcription, including NF-kB-mediated transcription. Additionally, chromatin trapping of FACT leads to casein kinase 2 (CK2)-dependent phosphorylation and activation of p53.