Ciclopirox targets cellular bioenergetics and activates ER stress to induce apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer remains a major cause of cancer-related mortality throughout the world at present. Repositioning of existing drugs for other diseases is a promising strategy for cancer therapies, which may rapidly advance potentially promising agents into clinical trials and cut down the cost of drug development. Ciclopirox (CPX), an iron chelator commonly used to treat fungal infections, which has recently been shown to have antitumor activity against a variety of cancers including both solid tumors and hematological malignancies in vitro and in vivo. However, the effect of CPX on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the underlying mechanism is still unclear. METHODS: CCK-8, clonal formation test and cell cycle detection were used to observe the effect of inhibitor on the proliferation ability of NSCLC cells. The effects of CPX on the metastasis ability of NSCLC cells were analyzed by Transwell assays. Apoptosis assay was used to observe the level of cells apoptosis. The role of CPX in energy metabolism of NSCLC cells was investigated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection, glucose uptake, oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) experiments. Western blot was used to examine the protein changes. RESULTS: We report that CPX inhibits NSCLC cell migration and invasion abilities through inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, impairing cellular bioenergetics, and promoting reactive oxygen species to activate endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced apoptotic cell death. Moreover, CPX intraperitoneal injection can significantly inhibit NSCLC growth in vivo in a xenograft model. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that CPX targets cellular bioenergetics and activates unfolded protein response in ER to drive apoptosis in NSCLC cells, indicating that CPX may be a potential therapeutic drug for the treatment of NSCLC. Video Abstract.

Ciclopirox and bortezomib synergistically inhibits glioblastoma multiforme growth via simultaneously enhancing JNK/p38 MAPK and NF-κB signaling.

Ciclopirox (CPX) is an antifungal drug that has recently been reported to act as a potential anticancer drug. However, the effects and underlying molecular mechanisms of CPX on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remain unknown. Bortezomib (BTZ) is the first proteasome inhibitor-based anticancer drug approved to treat multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma, as BTZ exhibits toxic effects on diverse tumor cells. Herein, we show that CPX displays strong anti-tumorigenic activity on GBM. Mechanistically, CPX inhibits GBM cellular migration and invasion by reducing N-Cadherin, MMP9 and Snail expression. Further analysis revealed that CPX suppresses the expression of several key subunits of mitochondrial enzyme complex, thus leading to the disruption of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in GBM cells. In combination with BTZ, CPX promotes apoptosis in GBM cells through the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Moreover, CPX and BTZ synergistically activates nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling and induces cellular senescence. Our findings suggest that a combination of CPX and BTZ may serve as a novel therapeutic strategy to enhance the anticancer activity of CPX against GBM.

Artemisinin suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth, migration and invasion by targeting cellular bioenergetics and Hippo-YAP signaling.

The primary liver cancer (PLC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. The predominant form of PLC is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which accounts for about 85% of all PLC. Artemisinin (ART) was clinically used as anti-malarial agents. Recently, it was demonstrated to inhibit cell growth and migration in multiple cancer types. However, the molecular mechanism underlying these anti-cancer activity remains largely unknown. Herein, it is discovered that ART dramatically suppresses HCC cell growth in vitro through arresting cell cycle progression, and represses cell migration and invasion via regulating N-cadherin-Snail-E-cadherin axis. In addition, the disruption of cellular bioenergetics contributed to ART-caused cell growth, migration and invasion inhibition. Moreover, ART (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) substantially inhibits HCC xenograft growth in vivo. Importantly, Hippo-YAP signal transduction is remarkably inactivated in HCC cells upon ART administration. Collectively, these data reveal a novel mechanism of ART in regulating HCC cell growth, migration, and invasion, which indicates that ART could be considered as a potential drug for the treatment of HCC.