Compounds and methods for regulating cell differentiation

Patent Number: 6902881

This patent teaches the use of a bilin for treating cancer through induction of differentiation. It is a very promising idea since differentiation therapy is relatively non-toxic. The question is what concentrations of these bilins are needed to actually see an in vivo effect.

The 2 independent claims of the patent are:

A method for promoting cell differentiation, comprising treating a cell with a bilin, wherein the cell is selected from the group consisting of liposarcoma cell, thyroid carcinoma cell and lymphoblast cell.

A method for promoting differentiation of a cell, comprising treating the cell with a bilin represented by the general formula (I): ##STR17## wherein W, independently for each occurrence, represents CL.sub.2 , --C(.dbd.O), C(.dbd.S), C(.dbd.NH), or .dbd.CL; X, independently for each occurrence, represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl group; Y, independently for each occurrence, represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl group; Z, independently for each occurrence, represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl group; A, independently for each occurrence, represents NH or N.dbd.; B, independently for each occurrence, represents a trisubstituted, sp.sup.2 -hybridized carbon atom; K, independently for each occurrence, represents .dbd.CL or --CL.sub.2 --; and L, independently for each occurrence, represents H or lower alkyl, wherein the cell is selected from the group consisting of liposarcoma cell, thyroid carcinoma cell and lymphoblast cell.

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