Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are important active pharmaceutical ingredients in targeted therapy of various types of cancer. They are considered as endocrine disruptors since several cases of thyroid dysfunction were noted during the treatment. Their long-term use in therapy and increasing incidence of cancer lead to the rise of consumption of these drugs, which results in their growing presence in the environment. Therefore, even the healthy population and other living organisms are exposed to them. Understanding the mechanism of action of these drugs on thyroid function is of great importance for preventing hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
In the scope of this master thesis we have studied the activity of selected tyrosine kinase inhibitors (imatinib, sorafenib, erlotinib, regorafenib) on thyroid receptors, expressed in the cell line GH3.TRE-Luc. Firstly, we have determined non-cytotoxic concentrations of selected drugs using the cell viability assay. In the next step, we used those concentrations in the luciferase reporter assay to determine their agonistic or antagonistic activity on thyroid receptors.
According to the results and threshold for agonistic (⡥ 130% luciferase activity compared to control compound) and antagonistic (⡤ 70% luciferase activity compared to control compound) activity none of the selected tyrosine kinase inhibitors show direct activity on thyroid receptors. Low concentrations (10 pM) of both imatinib and sorafenib indicate a potential hormetic effect. Therefore, it would be wise to subject lower concentrations of both drugs to further testing. Therapeutic concentrations of erlotinib show statistically significant decrease of luciferase activity in antagonistic testing; however, not below the threshold value for antagonistic activity. When interpreting the results, it is important to bear in mind that a decrease of luciferase activity may possibly be linked to the inhibition of the luciferase itself and not to the action of a drug on thyroid receptor.
Mechanism involved in adverse effects of selected tyrosine kinase inhibitors on thyroid function is not likely to be associated with their activity on thyroid receptors. Thus, the search for tyrosine kinase inhibitors’ mechanism of action on thyroid gland continues.
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