AccScience Publishing / EJMO / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/EJMO025010554
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Novel compound NHWD-870 suppresses melanoma proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis

Yingying Liu1† ,  Hongyin Sun2,3,4† ,  Mingzhu Yin2,3,4* ,  Yadong Xue5* ,  Rui Hu6*
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1 Department of Pathology, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
2 Clinical Research Center, Medical Pathology Center, Cancer Early Detection and Treatment Center, and Translational Medicine Research Center, Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Wanzhou, Chongqing, China
3 Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
4 Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital & Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Technology, CQU–Ferenc Krausz Nobel Laureate Scientific Workstation, Chongqing, China
5 Dermatology Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
6 Department of Dermatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
EJMO, 025010554 https://doi.org/10.36922/EJMO025010554
Received: 30 December 2025 | Revised: 1 February 2026 | Accepted: 4 February 2026 | Published online: 31 March 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Introduction: Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer worldwide. Although various novel therapies, including targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and epigenetic therapies, have been developed in recent decades to provide new treatment options, most patients with melanoma either respond poorly or develop resistance quickly. Thus, new therapeutic options are urgently needed. Bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) inhibition has emerged as a potential therapeutic strategy in cancer treatment.

Objectives: We aimed to study the effects of NHWD-870, a novel BET inhibitor analogue of BMS-986158, on melanoma proliferation.

Methods: We examined the effects of BMS-986158 and NHWD-870 on tumor proliferation in vitro and in vivo using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, Ki67-positive cell analysis, colony formation assay, and a xenograft mouse model. Flow cytometry and Western blotting were performed to investigate the effects of NHWD-870 on melanoma cell cycle and apoptosis.

Results: We found that NHWD-870 exhibited improved ability to suppress melanoma cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo compared to BMS-986158. Mechanistically, NHWD-870 treatment induced G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, accompanied by decreased cyclin B1 levels.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that NHWD-870 exhibits effective antineoplastic potency. It effectively inhibits melanoma progression, demonstrating greater efficacy than BMS-986158. These findings support further development of NHWD-870 as a potential new therapeutic candidate for melanoma treatment.

Keywords
Bromodomain and extra-terminal domain inhibitor
Cell proliferation
Melanoma
Cell cycle
Apoptosis
Funding
This research was funded by Natural Science Foundation of the New Era Longjiang Outstanding Master’s and Doctoral Dissertation Funding Program (grant no: LJYXL2022-074), Basic Scientific Research Funds for Central Universities (grant no: 2024IAIS-ZD001), Science and Technology Innovation Key R&D Program of Chongqing (grant no: CSTB2023TIAD-STX0011), The National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no: 82404107), and Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, China (grant no: CSTB2024NSCQ-MSX0171).
Conflict of interest
Mingzhu Yin is the Editor in Chief of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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Eurasian Journal of Medicine and Oncology, Electronic ISSN: 2587-196X Print ISSN: 2587-2400, Published by AccScience Publishing
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