Compound 1 modulated prosurvival signal transduction pathway. HNSCC cells were treated with increasing concentrations of 1 for 24 h. Total levels of phospho-Akt, total Akt, phospho-ERK and total ERK2 were determined by Western blotting. Antibody against β-actin was used as a protein loading control. Compound 1 reduced Akt activation as well as total cellular Akt, while ERK1/2 was activated in JHU011, JMAR, and MDA1986 cells while ERK1/2 activity decreased in UM-SCC-2 cells at a high concentration of 1. Total ERK levels remained unchanged when cells were treated with compound 1.