Suppression of B-RafV600E melanoma cell survival by targeting mitochondria using triphenyl-phosphonium-conjugated nitroxide or ubiquinone

ABSTRACTMost BRAF-mutated melanomas initially responsive to the FDA-approved inhibitors preferentially targeting B-Raf mutated in Val600 residue eventually relapse, requiring additional therapeutic modalities. Recent studies report the significance of metabolic reprograming in mitochondria for maintenance of BRAF-mutated melanomas and for development of their drug resistance to B-Raf inhibitors, providing a rationale for targeting mitochondria as a potential therapeutic strategy for melanoma. We therefore determined whether mitochondria-targeted metabolism-interfering agents can effectively suppress human B-RafV600E melanoma cell lines and their dabrafenib/PLX4032-resistant progenies using mitochondria-targeted carboxy-proxyl (Mito-CP) and ubiquinone (Mito-Q). These agents exhibited comparable efficacy to PLX4032 in suppressing SK-MEL28, A375, and RPMI-7951 cells in vitro. As determined in SK-MEL28 and A375 cells, Mito-CP induced apoptotic cell death mediated by mitochondrial membrane depolarization and s...