TW01001, a novel piperazinedione compound, induces mitotic arrest and autophagy in non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells

Peiminine Induces G0/G1-Phase Arrest, Apoptosis, and Autophagy via the ROS/JNK Signaling Pathway in Human Osteosarcoma Cells in Vitro and in Vivo

Aims: Peiminine has been reported to have various pharmacological properties, including anticancer activity. In this study, we investigated the effect of this alkaloid on osteosarcoma and explored the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: To evaluate the antiosteosarcoma effects of peiminine in vitro, cell viability was assessed by CCK-8 and live/dead assays; the effects of the drug on apoptosis and the cell cycle were examined by flow cytometry; the effects on cell migration and invasion were detected by wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively, while its effects on autophagy were observed by transmission electron microscopy and an LC3 fluorescent puncta formation assay. The role of autophagy in the peiminine-mediated effects in osteosarcoma cells was evaluated by CCK-8 assay and western blotting after the application of the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine. The effect of peiminine on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was analyzed using fluorescence confocal microscopy and spectrophotometry. Additionally, peiminine-treated osteosarcoma cells were exposed to SP600125, a JNK inhibitor, and N-acetylcysteine, a ROS scavenger, after which the contribution of the ROS/JNK signaling pathway to osteosarcoma was assessed using cell viability and LC3 fluorescent puncta formation assays, flow cytometry, and western blotting. A xenograft mouse model of osteosarcoma was generated to determine the antitumor effects of peiminine in vivo.

Results: Peiminine suppressed proliferation and metastasis and induced cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and autophagy in osteosarcoma cells. These anticancer effects of peiminine were found to be dependent on intracellular ROS generation and activation of the JNK pathway. In line with these results, peiminine significantly inhibited xenograft tumor growth in vivo.

Conclusions: Peiminine induced G0/G1-phase arrest, apoptosis, and autophagy in human osteosarcoma cells via the ROS/JNK signaling pathway both in vitro and in vivo. Our study may provide an experimental basis for the evaluation of peiminine as an alternative drug for the treatment of osteosarcoma.

Disulfide Cleavage in a Dimeric Epipolythiodioxopiperazine Natural Product Diminishes Its Apoptosis-Inducing Effect but Enhances Autophagy in Tumor Cells

Gliocladicillin C (3) is a cytotoxic epipolythiodioxopiperazine (ETP) isolated from the Ophiocordyceps-associated fungus Clonostachys rogersoniana. Although the disulfides/polysulfides in ETPs are believed to account for their cytotoxicity, and 11'-deoxyverticillin A was demonstrated to induce apoptosis and autophagy, how they mediate apoptosis and autophagy remained unknown. Here, we revealed that 3 activated caspase-dependent apoptosis and autophagy in human tumor cells, while the prepared disulfide-cleavage product failed to induce reactive oxygen species production and PARP cleavage, but further enhanced the autophagic flux compared to 3. Gliocladicillin C and its derivative also increased the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase and stimulated autophagy by affecting the glycolytic pathway. These results demonstrated that the disulfides played an essential role in inducing apoptosis, but not autophagy.

Allicin activates autophagic cell death to alleviate the malignant development of thyroid cancer

Allicin has been reported to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, induce cell apoptosis and enhance the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. However, it has remained elusive whether allicin improves multidrug resistance in thyroid cancer cells through modulating autophagy. The present study demonstrated that combined use of allicin and cisplatin or carboplatin resulted in an enhanced growth inhibitory effect on SW1736 and HTh-7 cells. Furthermore, treatment with allicin significantly increased SW1736 and HTh-7 cell autophagy. Of note, allicin-induced cell death was largely abolished by 3-methyladenine or chloroquine treatment, suggesting that allicin-induced A549 cell death was dependent on autophagy. Western blot analysis demonstrated that allicin treatment inhibited the activation of Akt, mammalian target of rapamycin and S6. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that combined use of allicin and rapamycin induced more cell death compared with that induced by allicin or rapamycin alone. In conclusion, allicin may serve as an adjunctive therapy for thyroid cancer, as it induces autophagy-dependent cell death even when cancer cells have developed apoptosis resistance.

Gambogic acid improves non-small cell lung cancer progression by inhibition of mTOR signaling pathway

Gambogic acid (GA) has been shown to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, and enhance reactive oxygen species accumulation. However, whether GA could improve multidrug resistance through modulating autophagy has never been explored. We demonstrated that the combination of GA and cisplatin (CDDP) resulted in a stronger growth inhibition effect on A549 and NCI-H460 cells using the MTT assay. Furthermore, treatment with GA significantly increased autophagy in these cells. More importantly, GA-induced cell death could be largely abolished by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or chloroquine (CQ) treatment, suggesting that GA-induced cell death was dependent on autophagy. Western blot analysis showed that GA treatment suppressed the activation of Akt, mTOR, and S6. In addition, using a GA and rapamycin combination induced more cell death compared to either GA or rapamycin alone. In summary, GA may have utility as an adjunct therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients through autophagy-dependent cell death, even when cancer cells have developed resistance to apoptosis.

Anti-proliferation of triple-negative breast cancer cells with physagulide P: ROS/JNK signaling pathway induces apoptosis and autophagic cell death

Physagulide P (PP), a new natural compound, was isolated from Physalis angulate L. in our laboratory. In this study, we demonstrated that PP potently suppressed cell proliferation by inducing G2/M phase arrest in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells. Moreover, PP provoked apoptosis by decreasing the mitochondrial membrane potential and elevating the Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression ratio. The caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK partly restore cell viability, suggesting that apoptosis plays as an important role in the anti-proliferative effect of PP. PP-treated cells also underwent autophagy, as evidenced by the formation of autophagosomes and the accumulation of LC3BII. Furthermore, the knockdown of LC3B reduced PP-induced cytotoxicity, indicating that autophagy played an anticancer effect. PP also induced the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and resulted in c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) activation. Accordingly, JNK siRNA significantly attenuated PP-triggered apoptosis and autophagy, and ROS scavengers almost completely reverse this apoptosis and autophagy. The ROS scavenger also blocked PP-induced G2/M phase arrest and the phosphorylation of JNK. Our results revealed that PP induced G2/M phase arrest, apoptosis and autophagy via the ROS/JNK signaling pathway in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells. Therefore, PP is a promising candidate for the development of antitumor drugs for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.

Arsenic sulfide induces apoptosis and autophagy through the activation of ROS/JNK and suppression of Akt/mTOR signaling pathways in osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is a common primary malignant bone tumor, the cure rate of which has stagnated over the past 25-30 years. Arsenic sulfide (As₂S₂), the main active ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicine realgar, has been proved to have antitumor efficacy in several tumor types including acute promyelocytic leukemia, gastric cancer and colon cancer. Here, we investigated the efficacy and mechanism of As₂S₂ in osteosarcoma both in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we demonstrated that As₂S₂ potently suppressed cell proliferation by inducing G2/M phase arrest in various osteosarcoma cell lines. Also, treatment with As₂S₂ induced apoptosis and autophagy in osteosarcoma cells. The apoptosis induction was related to PARP cleavage and activation of caspase-3, -8, -9. As₂S₂ was demonstrated to induce autophagy as evidenced by formation of autophagosome and accumulation of LC3II. Further studies showed that As₂S₂-induced apoptosis and autophagy could be significantly attenuated by ROS scavenger and JNK inhibitor. Moreover, we found that As₂S₂ inhibited Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, and suppressing Akt and mTOR kinases activity can increase As₂S₂-induced apoptosis and autophagy. Finally, As₂S₂in vivo suppressed tumor growth with few side effects. In summary, our results revealed that As₂S₂ induced G2/M phase arrest, apoptosis, and autophagy via activing ROS/JNK and blocking Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in human osteosarcoma cells. Arsenic sulfide may be a potential clinical antitumor drugs targeting osteosarcoma.

Molecular mechanisms underlying the antitumor activity of (E)-N-hydroxy-3-(1-(4-methoxyphenylsulfonyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolin-6-yl)acrylamide in human colorectal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

Upregulation of class I histone deacetylases (HDAC) correlates with poor prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Previous study revealed that (E)-N-hydroxy-3-(1-(4-methoxyphenylsulfonyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolin-6-yl)acrylamide (Compound 11) is a potent and selective class I HDAC inhibitor, exhibited significant anti-proliferative activity in various human cancer cell lines. In current study, we demonstrated that compound 11 exhibited significant anti-proliferative and cytotoxic activity in CRC cells. Notably, compound 11 was less potent than SAHA in inhibiting HDAC6 as evident from the lower expression of acetyl-α-tubulin, suggesting higher selectivity for class I HDACs. Mechanistically, compound 11 induced cell-cycle arrest at the G2/M phase, activated both intrinsic- and extrinsic-apoptotic pathways, altered the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins and exerted a potent inhibitory effect on survival signals (p-Akt, p-ERK) in CRC cells. Moreover, we provide evidence that compound 11 suppressed motility, decreased mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin and vimentin) and increased epithelial marker (E-cadherin) through down-regulation of Akt. The anti-tumor activity and underlying molecular mechanisms of compound 11 were further confirmed using the HCT116 xenograft model in vivo. Our findings provide evidence of the significant anti-tumor activity of compound 11 in a preclinical model, supporting its potential as a novel therapeutic agent for CRC.

Luteolin exerts an anticancer effect on NCI-H460 human non-small cell lung cancer cells through the induction of Sirt1-mediated apoptosis

Luteolin is a falconoid compound, which exhibits anticancer properties, however, its contribution to Sirt1-mediated apoptosis in human non-small cell lung cancer remains to be elucidated. The present study confirmed that the anticancer effect of luteolin on NCI-H460 cells was through Sirt1-mediated apoptosis. The NCI-H460 cells were treated with different concentrations of luteolin, and a 3-(4,5-dimeth yl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphnyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay, cell cycle analysis and annexin-V/fluorescein isothiocyanate and propidium double staining were performed to assess the apoptotic effect of luteolin. Wound healing and Transwell assays were performed to confirm the inhibition of NCI-H460 cell migration. The protein levels of Sirt1 were knocked down in the NCI-H460 cells using a lentivirus to further investigate the role of this protein, and the expression levels of the apoptotic associated proteins, Bad, Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3 and Sirt1, were measured using western blotting. The results of the present study demonstrated that luteolin exerted an anticancer effect against NCI-H460 cells through Sirt1-mediated apoptosis and the inhibition of cell migration.

Untangling knots between autophagic targets and candidate drugs, in cancer therapy

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosomal mechanism implicated in a wide variety of pathological processes, such as cancer. Autophagy can be regulated by a limited number of autophagy-related genes (Atgs) such as oncogenic Bcl-2/Bcl-XL , mTORC1, Akt and PI3KCI, and tumour suppressive proteins PI3KCIII, Beclin-1, Bif-1, p53, DAPKs, PTEN and UVRAG, which play their crucial roles in regulating autophagy-related cancer. As autophagy has a dual role in cancer cells, with tumour-promoting and tumour-suppressing properties, it has become an attractive target for a series of emerging small molecule drugs. In this review, we reveal new discoveries of related small molecules or chemical compounds that can regulate autophagic pathways and lead to pro-death or pro-survival autophagy, in different types of cancer. We discuss the knots between autophagic targets and candidate drugs, in the hope of shedding new light on exploiting new anti-tumour small molecule drugs for future cancer therapy.

SKLB316, a novel small-molecule inhibitor of cell-cycle progression, induces G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis in vitro and inhibits tumor growth in vivo

Benzothiazole derivatives have received considerable attentions for their potencies in cancer therapy. In the present study, we reported that SKLB316, a novel synthesized benzothiazole derivative, exhibits activities to inhibit colorectal and pancreatic cancer in vitro and in vivo by inducing G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. In vitro, it exhibited significant anti-proliferative activities against human cancer cells derived from different histotypes including the colorectal cancer cell line HCT116 and pancreatic cancer cell line CFPAC-1. We chose these cell lines to study the possible anti-tumor mechanism because they are sensitive to SKLB316 treatment. Flow cytometry assays showed that SKLB316 could induce G2/M cell cycle arrest. Mechanistically, SKLB316 could decrease the activities of cdc2/cyclin B1 complex, including decreasing the synthesis of cyclin B1, cdc2 and cdc25c, while accumulating the levels of phosphorylated cdc2 (Tyr15) and checkpoint kinase 2. SKLB316 could also decrease the level of cyclin E and A2. Moreover, SKLB316 could induce cancer cell apoptosis, which was associated with activation of caspase 9, downregulation of Bcl-2 and upregulation of Bax. SKLB316 could also decrease the mitochondrial membrane potential and induce the generation of reactive oxygen species in cells. The results implied that SKLB316 may induce apoptosis via the mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway. Moreover, SKLB316 could suppress the growth of established colorectal and pancreatic cancer tumors in nude mice without causing obvious side effects. TUNEL assays confirmed that SKLB316 could also induce tumor cell apoptosis in vivo. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the potential value of SKLB316 as a novel anti-tumor drug candidate.

AKT/mTOR and c-Jun N-terminal kinase signaling pathways are required for chrysotile asbestos-induced autophagy

Chrysotile asbestos is closely associated with excess mortality from pulmonary diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. Although multiple mechanisms in which chrysotile asbestos fibers induce pulmonary disease have been identified, the role of autophagy in human lung epithelial cells has not been examined. In this study, we evaluated whether chrysotile asbestos induces autophagy in A549 human lung epithelial cells and then analyzed the possible underlying molecular mechanism. Chrysotile asbestos induced autophagy in A549 cells based on a series of biochemical and microscopic autophagy markers. We observed that asbestos increased expression of A549 cell microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3-II), an autophagy marker, in conjunction with dephosphorylation of phospho-AKT, phospho-mTOR, and phospho-p70S6K. Notably, AKT1/AKT2 double-knockout murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) had negligible asbestos-induced LC3-II expression, supporting a crucial role for AKT signaling. Chrysotile asbestos also led to the phosphorylation/activation of Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAPK. Pharmacologic inhibition of JNK, but not p38 MAPK, dramatically inhibited the protein expression of LC3-II. Moreover, JNK2(-/-) MEFs but not JNK1(-/-) MEFs blocked LC3-II levels induced by chrysotile asbestos. In addition, N-acetylcysteine, an antioxidant, attenuated chrysotile asbestos-induced dephosphorylation of P-AKT and completely abolished phosphorylation/activation of JNK. Finally, we demonstrated that chrysotile asbestos-induced apoptosis was not affected by the presence of the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine or autophagy-related gene 5 siRNA, indicating that the chrysotile asbestos-induced autophagy may be adaptive rather than prosurvival. Our findings demonstrate that AKT/mTOR and JNK2 signaling pathways are required for chrysotile asbestos-induced autophagy. These data provide a mechanistic basis for possible future clinical applications targeting these signaling pathways in the management of asbestos-induced lung disease.

In search of the active metabolites of an anticancer piperazinedione, TW01003, in rats

TW01003, a piperazinedione derivative designed as an antimitotic agent, exhibited potent anticancer and antiangiogenesis activities in mice. However, oral administration of this compound in rats led to poor systemic bioavailability which suggested that in vivo efficacy might come from its metabolites. This report describes the identification of TW01003 metabolites in pig and Wistar rats. Following intravenous administration of TW01003, pig urine samples were subjected to sulfatase and glucuronidase treatment to monitor the biotransformation products. Rats were given TW01003 both intravenously and orally, and blood samples were collected and then analyzed by HPLC to quantitatively determine the metabolic transformation of TW01003 to its metabolite. A sulfate conjugate, TW01003 sulfate, was identified as the major metabolite for TW01003 after intravenous injection in both pig and rats. However, in rats, the glucuronide conjugate became major metabolite 30 min after TW01003 oral dosing. Pharmacokinetic analysis after intravenous administration of TW01003 indicated that TW01003 sulfate had a systemic bioavailability 2.5 times higher, volume of distribution three times higher, residence time seven times longer, and clearance rate 2.3 times lower compared to TW01003. Our results indicate that the potent anticancer and antiangiogenesis activities of TW01003 might not come from TW01003 per se but from its metabolites TW01003 sulfate.