exploring the therapeutic potential of fluorinated cxcr4 inhibitor a1: insights from breast cancer in vitro investigations

The impacts of the cxc motif chemokine 12 (cxcl12)/ c-x-c chemokine receptor type 4 (cxcr4) axis on the infiltration of anti-tumor and pro-tumor immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (tme) of breast cancer (bca) have been noted in previous studies. accordingly, regulating the downstream signals of this axis can effectively increase cd8+ cytotoxic t cells and decrease the frequency of immunosuppressive cells in the tme. this study investigated the anti-tumor effects of n, n''-thiocarbonylbis (n'-(3,4-dimethylphenyl)-2,2,2 trifluoroacetimidamide) (a1), a novel fluorinated cxcr4 inhibitor on a bca cell line.in this study, the impacts of a1 on cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle were examined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (mtt) and flow cytometry assays. moreover, the effect of a1 on the number of cxcr4+ 4t1 cells was measured by flow cytometry.a1 treatment exhibited cytotoxic effects on 4t1 cells, promoting cell apoptosis and g2/m cell cycle arrest. in addition, a1-treated cells showed a reduced cell proliferation than cxcl12 treated cells. furthermore, treatment with a1 alongside cxcl12 significantly decreased the number of cxcr4+ cells compared to the control group treated with only cxcl12 as a proliferator factor.these results indicate that a1 exerts potential anti-tumor effects and may serve as a possible therapeutic agent for bca treatment; however, further studies are required.