U0126-EtOH is a potent, non-ATP competitive and selective MEK1 and MEK2 inhibitor, with IC₅₀s of 72 nM and 58 nM, respectively. U0126-EtOH is an autophagy and mitophagy inhibitor^[1][2][3][4]. IC50 & Target: IC50: 70/60 nM (MEK1/2)^[1] In Vitro: Treatment with U0126-EtOH (U0126) efficiently reduces progeny virus titers of all tested strains in A549 cells. While nM concentrations of U0126-EtOH are efficient to reduce H1N1v and H5N1 (MB1), μM concentrations of U0126-EtOH are required to reduce the virus titer of H5N1 (GSB) and H7N7. The EC₅₀ values for U0126-EtOH against H1N1v are 1.2±0.4 μM in A549 cells and 74.7±1.0 μM in MDCKII cells^[2].
Rat hepatocarcinoma cells (FAO) stimulated by fetal calf serum (FCS) exhibits a significant proportion in S phase (32.62%) whereas U0126-EtOH (U0126) strongly decreases the proportion of cells in S phase (9.92%) and increases the proportion of cells in G₀-G₁ phase and to a lesser extent in G₂/M^[3].
In Vivo: Mice are treated daily with U0126-EtOH (U0126; i.p., 10.5 mg/kg). In control experiment, tumor sizes are constant or slightly increase all over the kinetic. At the opposite, in all U0126-EtOH experiments, engraftment and early tumor growth are significantly decreased. Furthermore, a 60-70% reduction in the volume of tumors treated with U0126-EtOH is obtained 9 days after injection and thereafter^[3].
Rats are subjected to 120 minutes transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) and thereafter treated with the U0126-EtOH (U0126; i.p., 30 mg/kg) at 0 and 24 hours of reperfusion. After treatment with U0126-EtOH, the vasoconstriction to S6c is markedly reduced^[4].