In vitro and in vivo inhibition of SK-N-MC neuroblastoma growth using cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase inhibitors

The effect of cyclic nucleotide phosphodieterase (PDE) inhibitors Zaprinast and DC-TA-46 has been tested on SK-N-MC neuroblastoma growth. Antiproliferative activity of the tested drugs was assayed both in vitro and in the xenograft model of nude mice. In clonal density experiments, the IC₅₀ value was 3.3 μM for Zaprinast and 1.9 μM for DC-TA-46, while 7.5 μM BCNU alkylating agent was required to obtain the same effect. SK-N-MC cells xenografted in the nude mouse showed that the administration of Zaprinast and DC-TA-46 caused a significant 50% decrease of the tumour weight. These data demonstrate that PDE inhibitors may be useful for at least reducing tumour growth; they may be of interest for further evaluation as alternative molecules in the design of multiple agent protocols for neuroblastoma treatment.