Abstract
Background/Objectives: The expression of oncogene zinc-finger protein 217 (ZNF217) has been reported to play a central role in cancer development, resistance, and recurrence. Therefore, targeting ZNF217 has been proposed as a possible strategy to fight cancer, and there has been much research on compounds that can target ZNF217. The present work investigates the chemo-preventive properties of cucurbitacin D, a compound with a broad range of anticancer effects, in hematological cancer cells, specifically with regard to its ability to modulate ZNF217 expression. Methods: Different cucurbitacins were isolated from the Vietnamese plant Elaeocarpus hainanensis. The purified compounds were tested on nucleophosmin-mutated acute myeloid leukemia and other hematological cancer cell lines to assess their effects on the cell cycle, cell viability and apoptosis, and the expression of ZNF217. Results: Cucurbitacin D resulted in a reduction in the number of acute myeloid leukemia cells by inducing an increase in apoptosis and blocking cell cycle progression. It also led to a significant decrease in ZNF217 expression in the nucleophosmin-mutated acute myeloid leukemia cell line but not in the other hematologic cancer cell lines. The reduction in ZNF217 expression contributed significantly to the blocking of cell cycle progression but did not affect apoptosis. Conclusions: The obtained results suggest that cucurbitacin D is a promising molecule for targeting mutated nucleophosmin or its pathway in acute myeloid leukemia cells, although further studies are needed for in-depth investigations into its specific mechanisms.