In this study, a novel combination between different autophagy inhibitors was identified which inhibited tumor cell proliferation in both chemosensitive and chemoresistant TNBC cells and could result in development of novel treatment modality against TNBC.

Moreover, the combination treatment of MR-2088 with known KRAS→RAF→MEK→ERK pathway inhibitors, such as trametinib, showed promising synergistic effect in vitro using H2030 (KRAS) cell lines. Lastly, our findings underscore MR-2088's potential to inhibit starvation/stimuli-induced autophagic flux, coupled with its suitability for in vivo studies based on its pharmacokinetic properties.

Furthermore, chloroquine (an autophagy inhibitor) sensitized SORE6 but not SORE6 cells to Ara-C...MRT68921 significantly sensitized SORE6 but not SORE6 cells to Ara-C...Lastly, using pretreatment and relapsed AML patient bone marrow samples, we found that ULK2 expression was higher in relapsed AML. To conclude, our results supported the importance of autophagy in the relapse of FLT3-mutated AML and highlighted ULK2 in this context.

In conclusion, this study identified a combination of novel autophagy inhibitors which can potently inhibit proliferation of both chemosensitive as well as chemoresistant OSCC cells and could be developed as a novel therapy against advanced OSCC tumors.

In addition, the autophagy inhibitor MRT68921 improved the antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects of cinobufagin in the studied cell lines. Overall, this study suggests that combining cinobufagin with an autophagy inhibitor can effectively treat HCC, providing a potential strategy for cancer therapy.

Addition of ULK1 complex inhibitor (MRT68921) augmented the anti-tumor activity of Ibrutinib in HT, Oci-Ly1, Oci-Ly18 and SUDHL-6 GCB cell lines and activated caspase dependent apoptosis...Younes, A., et al., Randomized Phase III Trial of Ibrutinib and Rituximab Plus Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and Prednisone in Non-Germinal Center B-Cell Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma...Davies, A., et al., Gene-expression profiling of bortezomib added to standard chemoimmunotherapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (REMoDL-B): an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol, 2019. 20(5): p. 649-662.

ENV-201-mediated ULK1 inhibition thus shows promise as both a single agent or in combination with a growth factor/RAS/MAPK pathway-targeting cancer treatment.

Inhibition of ULK1 activity (by treatment with MRT68921) or its expression (by siRNA knockdown) in STAT3-KO cells inhibits autophagy and sensitizes cells to apoptosis. Taken together, our findings suggest that serine and tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3 play critical roles in STAT3-dependent autophagy in GBM, and thus are potential targets to treat GBM.