Identification of U83836E as a γ-glutamylcyclotransferase inhibitor that suppresses MCF7 breast cancer xenograft growth

γ-Glutamylcyclotransferase (GGCT) is involved in glutathione homeostasis, in which it catalyzes the reaction that generates 5-oxoproline and free amino acids from γ-glutamyl peptides. Increasing evidence shows that GGCT has oncogenic functions and is overexpressed in various cancer tissues, and that inhibition of GGCT activity exerts anticancer effects in vitro and in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that U83836E ((2R)-2-[[4-(2,6-dipyrrolidin-1-ylpyrimidin-4-yl)piperazin-1-yl]methyl]-3,4-dihydro-2,5,7,8,-tetramethyl-2H-1-benzopyran-6-ol, dihydrochloride), a lazaroid that inhibits lipid peroxidation, inhibits GGCT enzymatic activity. U83836E was identified from a high-throughput screen of low molecular weight compounds using a fluorochrome-conjugated GGCT probe. We directly quantified that U83836E specifically inhibited GGCT by measuring the product of a fluorochrome-conjugated GGCT substrate assay, and showed that U83836E inhibited GGCT activity in extracts of NIH3T3 cells overexpressing GGCT. Moreover, U83836E significantly inhibited tumor growth in a xenograft model that used immunodeficient mice orthotopically inoculated with MCF7 human breast cancer cells. These results indicate that U83836E may be a useful GGCT inhibitor for the development of potential cancer therapeutics. •γ-Glutamylcyclotransferase is a potential molecular target for anticancer treatments.•U83836E is a newly identified novel γ-glutamylcyclotransferase inhibitor.•U83836E inhibits the growth of MCF7 human breast cancer cells.•U83836E inhibits the growth of MCF7 xenograft tumors in mice.