New paper in Apoptosis

30 03 2026

Check out our new paper in the journal Apoptosis. The interdisciplinary article is coauthored by researchers from the University of Warsaw : Wojciech Witkowski, Piotr Piotrowski, Michał Żebrowski, Martyna Cybularczyk-Cecotka, and Grzegorz Litwinienko, who worked in in close collaboration with Julia Słaby, Maciej Wnuk, Paulina Stec, Anna Deręgowska, and Anna Lewińska from the University of Rzeszów, as well as researchers from the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre (Nadezhda Romanchikova, Pawel Zayakin, Aija Linē) and the Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón and Universidad de Zaragoza (María Moros).

HSP90 inhibition potentiates oxidant-based antimelanoma action of novel thioquercetin derivatives by compromising AhR/CYP1A1 pathway

Apoptosis, 2026, 31, 114, DOI:10.1007/s10495-026-02311-4

The study investigated 14 newly synthesized quercetin derivatives designed to overcome the low bioavailability of natural quercetin in melanoma treatment. The researchers successfully identified three thioquercetin derivatives (thioQ, thioQ(OAc)4, and thioQ(OAc)5) that exhibit significantly higher anticancer activity at low micromolar concentrations compared to unmodified quercetin. The main success of the research lies in the discovery of a synergistic effect: combining these novel thioquercetins with an HSP90 inhibitor (17-DMAG) dramatically potentiates their efficacy. This combination triggers lethal oxidative stress in cancer cells by compromising their internal detoxification pathways (AhR/CYP1A1). Furthermore, the compound thioQ(OAc)4 was identified as a promising senolytic agent, capable of eliminating drug-resistant senescent melanoma cells. These findings offer a new strategy for designing more effective antimelanoma therapies.