Nemorubicin has antitumor activity, with IC70s of 578 nM, 468 nM, 193 nM, 191 nM, 68 nM, and 131 ± 9 nM for HT-29, A2780, DU145, EM-2, Jurkat and CEM cell lines, respectively.
Nemorubicin is CYP3A-activated anticancer prodrug, which can produce a more cytotoxic metabolite, PNU-159682.
Nemorubicin acts through nucleotide excision repair (NER) system to exert its activity. Nemorubicin (0-0.3 μM) is more active in the L1210/DDP cells with intact NER than in the XPG-deficient L1210/0 cells. Cells resistant to nemorubicin show increased sensitivity to UV damage.
Nemorubicin is cytotoxic to 9L/3A4 cells, with an IC50 of 0.2 nM, 120-fold lower than that of P450-deficient 9L cells (IC50, 23.9 nM). Nemorubicin also potently inhibits Adeno-3A4 infected U251 cells with IC50 of 1.4 nM. P450 reductase overexpression enhances cytotoxicity of Nemorubicin.