Data in support of a harmine-derived beta-carboline in vitro effects in cancer cells through protein synthesis

A harmine-derived beta-carboline, CM16, inhibits cancer cells growth through its effects on protein synthesis, as described in “A harmine-derived beta-carboline displays anti-cancer effects in vitro by targeting protein synthesis” (Carvalho et al., 2017)[1]. This data article provides accompanying data on CM16 cytostatic evaluation in cancer cells as well as data related to its effects on transcription and translation. After confirming the cytostatic effect of CM16, we investigated its ability to arrest the cell cycle in the glioma Hs683 and SKMEL-28 melanoma cell lines but no modification was evidenced. According to the global protein synthesis inhibition induced by CM16 [1], transcription phase, a step prior to mRNA translation, evaluated by labelled nucleotide incorporation assay was not shown to be affected under CM16 treatment in the two cell lines. By contrast, mRNA translation and particularly the initiation step were shown to be targeted by CM16 in [1]. To further decipher those effects, we established herein a list of main actors in the protein synthesis process according to literature survey for comparative analysis of cell lines displaying different sensitivity levels to CM16. Finally, one of these proteins, PERK, a kinase regulating eIF2-α phosphorylation and thereby activity, was evaluated under treatment with CM16 in a cell-free system.