A novel sulfonamide derivative as a strong and selective apototic agent against hematological malignancies

Currently available chemotherapeutic drugs against hematological malignancies have several adverse effects and are associated with high mortality rates. Thus, in this study we evaluated the cytotoxic effect of 26 new sulfonamide derivatives on acute leukemia and multiple myeloma cells in order to try to discover a new selective and safe compound that might be used as a prototype for new chemotherapeutic agents. The most cytotoxic compound, DFS16, reduced the cell viability of K562, Jurkat and MM.1S cells in a concentration- and time- dependent manner and it was significantly less cytotoxic to non-tumor cells. On acute leukemia cells, sulfonamide DFS16 activated intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis with Bax/Bcl-2 inversion, increased FasR expression and ΔΨm loss. In K562, DFS16 induced apoptosis by caspase-3 activation, while in Jurkat, it induced AIF release and caspase-3 independent apoptosis. In multiple myeloma, DFS16 induced cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and apoptosis with ΔΨm loss. Altogether, the results suggest that the new sulfonamide derivative DFS16 induces apoptotic-like cell death in acute leukemia and multiple myeloma cells. DFS16 is a promising new molecule that could be used as a prototype for the development of chemotherapeutics against hematological malignancies.