Di-2-pyridylketone-4,4-dimethyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (
Dp44mT), the novel
iron chelator, has been reported to inhibit the
tumorigenesis and progression of various
cancer cells, including
neuroblastoma, neuroepithelioma and
prostate cancer. However, whether
Dp44mT has anticancer effects in
osteosarcoma is still unknown. Here, we investigated the antitumor action of
Dp44mT in
osteosarcoma and its underlying mechanisms. A human
osteosarcoma 143B cell line in vitro and 143B xenograft in nude mice in vivo were utilized, the anticancer effects of
Dp44mT were examined through methods of MTT assay, transwell, wound healing assay, flow cytometry, western blot, immunohistochemistry and H&E staining. We showed that
Dp44mT inhibits cell proliferation, invasion and migration in vitro. In addition, flow cytometry further illustrated that
Dp44mT suppression of 143B cell proliferation, invasion and migration were partially due to induction of cell apoptosis, cell cycle arrest in S phase and ROS production. Also in vitro and in vivo, the expression levels of Bcl2, Bax, Caspase3, Caspase9, LC3-II, β-
catenin and its downstream targets such as C-myc and
Cyclin D1 demonstrated that cell apoptosis and autophagy, as well as Wnt/β-
catenin pathway were involved in
Dp44mT induced
osteosarcoma suppression. The
Dp44mT inhibition of
osteosarcoma was further verified via animal models. The findings indicated that in vivo
Dp44mT showed a significant reduction in the 143B xenograft
tumor growth and
metastasis. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that
Dp44mT has effective anticancer capability in
osteosarcoma and that may represent a promising treatment strategy for
osteosarcoma.