The project is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Youth, Canton Sarajevo. The incidence and mortality rates of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are increasing globally. Unfortunately, the available treatments for these types of lymphoma often fail, and there is an urgent need for new treatment options. This project aims to propose new candidates for drug development that may be effective in treating different types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This project is a continuation of a ten-year research effort aimed at synthesizing new chemical compounds from the xanthene group and analyzing their molecular targets using bioinformatics software. In the preliminary phase, the effect of over 50 of the most promising candidates was analyzed. The best xanthene compounds with strong inhibitory functions on the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) model at nanomolar concentration were selected.
The goal is to determine the most effective concentrations of compounds using a cell viability measurement kit (CCK-8) and Trypan blue analysis to determine the number of viable cells. The next task is to determine the effect of compounds on cell proliferation using BrdU analysis, followed by Western blot analysis of the expression of selected protein candidates. This project is a collaboration of experts from different fields who aim to propose innovative treatment options for patients with lymphoma who have not responded well to currently available treatments. Analysis of protein expression can reveal new molecular biomarkers in DLBCL signaling pathways. Based on the above, the project's aim is to analyze the anti-cancer properties of selected xanthene compounds and determine their effects on deregulated signaling pathways in DLBCL cell models. Our new xanthene candidates have the potential to discover new drugs for the treatment of DLBCL.
