Miconazole induces protective autophagy in bladder cancer cells.

Autophagy plays a dual function in cancer progression; autophagy activation can support cancer cell survival or contribute to cell death. Miconazole, a Food and Drug Administration-approved antifungal drug, has been implicated in oncology research recently. Miconazole was found to exert antitumor effects in various tumors, including bladder cancer (BC). However, whether it provokes protective autophagy has been never discussed. We provide evidence that miconazole induces protective autophagy in BC for the first time. The results indicated that 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3)-II processing and p62 expression were elevated after miconazole exposure. Also, adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase phosphorylation was increased after miconazole treatment. We also confirmed the autophagy-promoting effect of miconazole in the presence of bafilomycin A1 (Baf A1). The result indicates that a combination treatment of miconazole and Baf A1 improved LC3-II processing, confirming that miconazole promoted autophagic flux. The acridine orange, Lysotracker, and cathepsin D staining results indicate that miconazole increased lysosome formation, revealing its autophagy-promoting function. Finally, miconazole and autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine cotreatment further reduced the cell viability and induced apoptosis in BC cells, proving that miconazole provokes protective autophagy in BC cells. Our findings approve that miconazole has an antitumor effect in promoting cell apoptosis; however, its function of protective autophagy is needed to be concerned in cancer treatment.

Role of TRPA1 in Tissue Damage and Kidney Disease.

TRPA1, a nonselective cation channel, is expressed in sensory afferent that innervates peripheral targets. Neuronal TRPA1 can promote tissue repair, remove harmful stimuli and induce protective responses via the release of neuropeptides after the activation of the channel by chemical, exogenous, or endogenous irritants in the injured tissue. However, chronic inflammation after repeated noxious stimuli may result in the development of several diseases. In addition to sensory neurons, TRPA1, activated by inflammatory agents from some non-neuronal cells in the injured area or disease, might promote or protect disease progression. Therefore, TRPA1 works as a molecular sentinel of tissue damage or as an inflammation gatekeeper. Most kidney damage cases are associated with inflammation. In this review, we summarised the role of TRPA1 in neurogenic or non-neurogenic inflammation and in kidney disease, especially the non-neuronal TRPA1. In in vivo animal studies, TRPA1 prevented sepsis-induced or Ang-II-induced and ischemia-reperfusion renal injury by maintaining mitochondrial haemostasis or via the downregulation of macrophage-mediated inflammation, respectively. Renal tubular epithelial TRPA1 acts as an oxidative stress sensor to mediate hypoxia-reoxygenation injury in vitro and ischaemia-reperfusion-induced kidney injury in vivo through MAPKs/NF-kB signalling. Acute kidney injury (AKI) patients with high renal tubular TRPA1 expression had low complete renal function recovery. In renal disease, TPRA1 plays different roles in different cell types accordingly. These findings depict the important role of TRPA1 and warrant further investigation.

Benzyl isothiocyanate promotes miR-99a expression through ERK/AP-1-dependent pathway in bladder cancer cells.

Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), a bioactive natural product present in cruciferous vegetables, has been proved to prevent cancer progression through various mechanisms. In our previous report, we proved that BITC exhibits antitumor effects in bladder cancer by suppressing IGF1R, FGFR3, and mTOR, which is mediated by miR-99a expression. In this study, we identified the signal pathway involved in regulating miR-99a expression after BITC exposure in bladder cancer. Treatment with different BITC concentrations resulted in induction of miR-99a expression in bladder cancer cell lines. Activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) and c-jun N-terminal kinase was observed in bladder cancer after BITC treatment for 24 hours. Interestingly, by using a chemical inhibitor of candidate pathways, we found that only the ERK signal pathway is required for miR-99a expression. Furthermore, we evaluated the transcription factor that may contribute to miR-99a expression in response to BITC treatment. The results indicated that c-Jun/AP-1 was activated after BITC treatment. Moreover, we confirmed c-Jun/AP-1 activation through immunofluorescence and the luciferase reporter assay. The results showed that BITC treatment markedly improved nuclear translocation of c-Jun/AP-1 and luciferase activity dose dependently. Finally, pretreatment with the ERK inhibitor U0126 diminished c-Jun phosphorylation and transcriptional activation, suggesting that BITC elicits ERK/c-Jun signal transduction, which is responsible for miR-99a expression in bladder cancer. The present work identifies the mechanism involved in upregulation miR-99a after BITC treatment, which provides an explanation for BITC biological function in our previous work.

Programmed Cell Death 1 (PD-1) Inhibitors in Renal Transplant Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Double-Edged Sword?

Given advancements in cancer immunity, cancer treatment has gained breakthrough developments. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitors, are the most promising drugs in the field and have been approved to treat various types of cancer, such as metastatic melanoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and urothelial carcinoma. However, whether PD-1 inhibitors should be administered to renal transplant patients with advanced cancer remains unclear because the T-cells produced after administration of these inhibitors act against not only tumor antigens but also donor alloantigens. Thus, the use of PD-1 inhibitors in kidney-transplanted patients with advanced cancer is limited on account of the high risk of graft failure due to acute rejection. Hence, finding optimal treatment regimens to enhance the tumor-specific T-cell response and decrease T-cell-mediated alloreactivity after administration of a PD-1 inhibitor is necessary. Thus far, no recommendations for the use of PD-1 inhibitors to treat cancer in renal transplant patients are yet available, and very few cases reporting kidney-transplanted patients treated with PD-1 inhibitors are available in the literature. Therefore, in this work, we review the published cases and suggest feasible approaches for renal transplant patients with advanced malignancy treated by a PD-1 inhibitor. Of the 22 cases we obtained, four patients maintained intact grafts without tumor progression after treatment with a PD-1 inhibitor. Among these patients, one maintained steroid dose before initiation of anti-PD1, two received immunosuppressive regimens with low-dose steroid and calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-elimination with sirolimus before initiation of anti-PD-1 therapy, and one received combined anti-PD-1, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and chemotherapy with unchanged immunosuppressive regimens. mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors and anti-VEGF may act as regulators of tumor-specific and allogenic T-cells. However, more studies are necessary to explore the optimal therapy and ensure the safety and efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors in kidney-transplanted patients.

miR-122-mediated translational repression of PEG10 and its suppression in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a primary liver malignancy, is the most common cancer in males and fourth common cancer in females in Taiwan. HCC patients usually have a poor prognosis due to late diagnosis. It has been classified as a complex disease because of the heterogeneous phenotypic and genetic traits of the patients and a wide range of risk factors. Micro (mi)RNAs regulate oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes that are known to be dysregulated in HCC. Several studies have found an association between downregulation of miR-122, a liver-specific miRNA, and upregulation of paternally expressed gene 10 (PEG10) in HCC; however, the correlation between low miR-122 and high PEG10 levels still remains to be defined and require more investigations to evaluate their performance as an effective prognostic biomarker for HCC. METHODS: An in silico approach was used to isolate PEG10, a potential miR-122 target implicated in HCC development. miR-122S binding sites in the PEG10 promoter were evaluated with a reporter assay. The regulation of PEG10 by miR-122S overexpression was examined by quantitative RT-PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry in miR-122 knockout mice and liver tissue from HCC patients. The relationship between PEG10 expression and clinicopathologic features of HCC patients was also evaluated. RESULTS: miR-122 downregulated the expression of PEG10 protein through binding to 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of the PEG10 transcript. In miR-122 knockout mice and HCC patients, the deficiency of miR-122 was associated with HCC progression. The expression of PEG10 was increased in 57.3 % of HCC as compared to paired non-cancerous tissue samples. However, significant upregulation was detected in 56.5 % of patients and was correlated with Okuda stage (P = 0.05) and histological grade (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: miR-122 suppresses PEG10 expression via direct binding to the 3'-UTR of the PEG10 transcript. Therefore, while PEG10 could not be an ideal diagnostic biomarker for HCC but its upregulation in HCC tissue still has predictive value for HCC prognosis.

Inhibition of High Basal Level of Autophagy Induces Apoptosis in Human Bladder Cancer Cells.

PURPOSE: Cancer cells adapt to stress by activation of the autophagy pathway primed for survival. A high basal level of autophagic activity was found in human bladder cancer cell lines. We studied the significance of the phenomenon on cancer cell survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The immortalized human bladder epithelial cell line SV-HUC-1 and the human bladder cancer cell lines RT-4 and 5637 together with human bladder cancer specimens collected from patients were used. A commercially available bladder cancer microarray was applied to confirm the findings. LC3 (light chain-3) II protein detection was done to determine the presence of autophagy. Caspase 3 and DNA fragmentation was performed to detect apoptosis. RESULTS: Bladder cancer cell lines showed activated autophagic flux compared to SV-HUC-1 cells, prostate cancer cells and breast cancer cells. Results were confirmed in human bladder cancer specimens. Autophagy inhibition by Baf (bafilomycin) A1, or by knockdown of ATG (autophagy related protein) 7 or 12 induced cytotoxicity in multiple human bladder cell lines. Induction of apoptosis was found in cells with autophagy inhibition. Although the disruption of mitochondria membrane potential or the generation of reactive oxygen species was detected in Baf A1 treated cells, intensity was mild and not thought to be related to apoptosis of bladder cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that autophagy is required for the growth and survival of human bladder cancer cells.

Induction of testicular damage by daily methamphetamine administration in rats.

Methamphetamine (METH)-induced brain damage and apoptosis within the central nervous system are well documented. This study was conducted to investigate the toxic effects of daily METH administration on the testes in a rat model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (5 weeks old, ~100 g, n = 64) were divided into two groups and treated with vehicle (saline, control) or METH (10 mg/kg) for 15, 30, 60 and 90 days. The results showed that daily administration of METH decreased the body, testicular and epididymis weights as well as the serum levels of total testosterone. The increased apoptotic index (Bad/Bcl2 expression ratio) and levels of cleaved caspase-3 indicated that apoptosis had occurred in the testes of the METH-treated rats. The oxidative stress levels increased as the reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) ratio decreased. The overall sperm counts decreased at 15 and 90 days, where- as morphologically abnormal sperm counts increased at 30, 60 and 90 days in the METH-treated rats. This study demonstrates that daily exposure to METH significantly reduced the number and quality of sperm in rats. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms likely include the reduction of serum testosterone levels and the increase of oxidative stress and apoptosis in the rat testes.

Benzyl isothiocyanate induces protective autophagy in human prostate cancer cells via inhibition of mTOR signaling.

Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) is a dietary chemopreventive agent that inhibits the growth of various human cancer cells by causing apoptotic cell death. In this study, we demonstrate that BITC not only induces apoptosis but also induces autophagy in human hormone-sensitive (Rv1) and -refractory (PC3) prostate cancer cells. In BITC-treated cells, the induction of autophagy was detected by monitoring the processing of an autophagy marker protein, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3), the aggregation of LC3 into granular structures and the formation of acidic organelles. Inhibition of autophagy using 3-methyladenine increased BITC-induced apoptosis, whereas the administration of caspase inhibitor suppressed BITC-induced cell death. Our data also showed that BITC inhibits mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase activity in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of phospho-mTOR (Ser2481), an indicator of mTOR intrinsic catalytic activity, and phospho-UNC-51-like kinase 1 (Ser757), a direct substrate of mTOR, were decreased in BITC-treated cells. However, the increased expression of phospho-mTOR (Ser2448), phospho-AKT (Ser473) and antiapoptotic Bcl-2 were detected only in PC3 cells at later stages of BITC treatment. Collectively, our results show that BITC induces a protective autophagy response in Rv1 and PC3 cells through inhibition of the mTOR signaling pathway. Activation of the AKT survival pathway was only observed in PC3 cells, representing a resistance mechanism of advanced prostate cancer upon BITC treatment. These findings could potentially contribute to the beneficial effect of BITC in prostate cancer treatments.

Hsa-miR-30a-3p overcomes the acquired protective autophagy of bladder cancer in chemotherapy and suppresses tumor growth and muscle invasion.

Bladder cancer (BC) is the second most common urologic cancer in western countries. New strategies for managing high-grade muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) are urgently required because MIBC has a high risk of recurrence and poor survival. A growing body of evidence indicates that microRNA has potent antitumorigenic properties in various cancers, and thus, therapeutic strategies based on microRNA may show promising results in cancer therapy. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database indicated that hsa-miR-30a-3p is downregulated in human BC. Our in vitro investigation demonstrated that hsa-miR-30a-3p suppresses the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 and reduces the cell invasive potential of BC cells. Furthermore, hsa-miR-30a-3p directly targets ATG5, ATG12, and Beclin 1; this in turn improves the chemosensitivity of BC cells to cisplatin through the repression of protective autophagy. In a tumor-xenograft mice model, hsa-miR-30a-3p suppressed muscle invasion. Cotreatment with hsa-miR-30a-3p enhanced the antitumor effect of cisplatin in reducing tumor growth in BC. The current study provides a novel strategy of using hsa-miR-30a-3p as an adjuvant or replacement therapy in future BC treatment.

Zoledronic acid induces autophagic cell death in human prostate cancer cells.

PURPOSE: Bisphosphonates are potent inhibitors of bone resorption. In vitro studies show that zolendronic acid inhibits prostate cancer cell growth by activating apoptosis. We investigated whether zolendronic acid also inhibits prostate cancer cell growth by autophagy (type II programmed cell death). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated the induction of autophagy in the PC-3, DU-145, LNCaP and CRW22Rv1 cell lines upon zolendronic acid treatment. LC3-II protein formation was detected by Western blot. LC3-II incorporation into autophagosomes was detected by immunofluorescence staining. Acidic organelle formation was detected by acridine orange staining. Rescue experiments using an apoptosis inhibitor and/or an autophagy inhibitor were performed by MTT assay. RESULTS: Autophagy induction was detected by formation of the LC3-II protein after exposure to 100 µM zolendronic acid. LC3-II and caspase-3 processing was detected 6 days after treatment. Acidic organelles were detectable by acridine orange staining and immunofluorescence showed round-up and condensed staining of LC3-II, suggesting autophagosome formation in the cytoplasm during autophagic cell death. Cell growth was rescued only by administering an apoptosis and autophagy inhibitor during zolendronic acid treatment, indicating that zolendronic acid induces prostate cancer death by apoptotic and autophagic cell death. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge we report the first study showing that zolendronic acid markedly inhibits human prostate cancer cell growth through autophagic cell death. Zolendronic acid shows its anticancer activity via apoptosis and autophagy. These findings can potentially contribute to the beneficial use of zolendronic acid for prostate cancer treatment.

Miconazole Contributes to NRF2 Activation by Noncanonical P62-KEAP1 Pathway in Bladder Cancer Cells.

PURPOSE: Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2, also known as NFE2L2 or NRF2, a transcription factor capable of upregulating antioxidant response element (ARE)-mediated expression and cytoprotective proteins, plays critical roles in chemoprevention, inflammation and aging. NRF2 has recently been proposed as a novel target for cancer chemoprevention. The fungicide miconazole has shown promising antiproliferative effects in cancer cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After miconazole treatment, the p62-KEAP1-NRF2 activation was analyzed by qPCR and Western blot. The nuclear translocation indicating NRF2 activation was further confirmed by immunofluorescence. Finally, the ROS production was detected by CM-H2DCFDA staining. RESULTS: We demonstrate in this study that miconazole dramatically increases NRF2 activation in bladder cancer cells, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Interestingly, levels of expression of p62, a noncanonical pathway that mediates NRF2 activation, appeared to increase in accordance with NRF2. We also investigated levels of the negative regulator kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1), which is involved in NRF2 activation. As expected, a decrease in KEAP1 expression was found after miconazole exposure. Confirmation of NRF2 nuclear translocation was monitored by immunofluorescence. Miconazole-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) promoted NRF2 activation. Pretreatment of bladder cancer cells with ROS scavengers abolished NRF2 expression and nuclear translocation, indicating that miconazole activates the noncanonical p62-KEAP1-NRF2 pathway, which is regulated by ROS production. CONCLUSION: Our study elucidates the mechanisms through which miconazole stimulates NRF2 which may contribute to cancer chemopreventive effects.

Benzyl isothiocyanate suppresses IGF1R, FGFR3 and mTOR expression by upregulation of miR-99a-5p in human bladder cancer cells.

Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) is known for its pharmacological properties against malignant neoplasm, including bladder cancer (BC). The current study investigated microRNAs (miRNA or miR) expression profiles with an emphasis on the role of miR­99a­5p in BITC­treated BC cells. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) microarray containing 79 aberrantly expressed miRNAs in BC was used to detect miRNA expression in BITC­treated cells. Several dysregulated miRNAs were identified and further confirmed using miRNA stem­loop reverse transcription (RT)­qPCR in 5637 cells. Insulin­like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R), fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) expression were determined by RT­qPCR and western blotting. Cell viability was evaluated using WST­1 reagent and apoptosis was monitored by determining the levels of cleaved­poly ADP­ribose polymerase and cleaved­caspase­3. BITC treatment significantly upregulated miR­99a­5p levels in a dose­dependent manner. miR­99a­5p overexpression decreased IGF1R, mTOR and FGFR3 expression, predicted targets of miR­99a­5p. In addition, antisense miR­99a­5p sequences inhibited BITC­induced miR­99a­5p overexpression, resulting in the restoration of protein expression and decreased cell viability. The current study identified multiple miRNAs responsive to BITC treatment, including miR­99a­5p. In addition, the induction of miR­99a­5p decreased IGF1R, mTOR and FGFR3 expression in BITC­treated BC cells. The current study provided novel insight into the antitumor mechanism by which BITC restores miR­99a­5p expression and decreases cancer cell survival.

Cisplatin contributes to programmed death-ligand 1 expression in bladder cancer through ERK1/2-AP-1 signaling pathway.

Bladder cancer (BC) is the second most common urologic malignancy and the ninth most common malignancy worldwide. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment for patients with early-stage disease, whereas therapeutic options are limited for patients with advanced-stage or residual BC. Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is an important target for immunotherapy. It is known that PD-L1 is overexpressed in BC; a clinical trial involving PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced BC is ongoing. In the present study, we used Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to define the expression level of PD-L1 after cisplatin treatment in BC-derived cell lines. The signal activation was also evaluated by Western blot in BC-derived cell lines. We found that chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin can induce PD-L1 but not PD-L2 expression in BC-derived cell lines. Furthermore, the expression level of PD-L1 was increased in a dose- and time-dependent manner after cisplatin treatment. The cisplatin-induced PD-L1 expression is mainly mediated by ERK1/2 but not Akt/mTOR signal pathway. Moreover, we found that cisplatin activates transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1) to regulate PD-L1 expression. The chemotherapy drug such as cisplatin may trigger resistance of BC through PD-L1 up-regulation. The present study suggests that PD-L1 antibody should be used concomitantly with chemotherapy in the setting of advanced and metastatic BC.

Allyl Isothiocyanate Induces Autophagy through the Up-Regulation of Beclin-1 in Human Prostate Cancer Cells.

Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), one of the most widely studied phytochemicals, inhibits the survival of human prostate cancer cells while minimally affecting normal prostate epithelial cells. Our study demonstrates the mechanism of AITC-induced cell death in prostate cancer cells. AITC induces autophagy in RV1 and PC3 cells, judging from the increased level of LC3-II protein in a dose- and time-dependent manner, but not in the normal prostate epithelial cell (PrEC). Inhibition of autophagy in AITC-treated cells decreased cell viability and enhanced apoptosis, suggesting that the autophagy played a protective role. There are several pathways activated in ATIC-treated cells. We detected the phosphorylation forms of mTOR, ERK, AMPK, JNK and p38, and ERK AMPK and JNK activation were also detected. However, inhibition of AITC-activated ERK, AMPK and JNK by pre-treatment of specific inhibitors did not alter autophagy induction. Finally, increased beclin-1 expression was detected in AITC-treated cells, and inhibition of AITC-induced beclin-1 attanuated autophagy induction, indicating that AITC-induced autophagy occurs through upregulating beclin-1. Overall, our data show for the first time that AITC induces protective autophagy in Rv1 and PC3 cells through upregulation of beclin-1. Our results could potentially contribute to a therapeutic application of AITC in prostate cancer patients.

miR-99a-5p acts as tumor suppressor via targeting to mTOR and enhances RAD001-induced apoptosis in human urinary bladder urothelial carcinoma cells.

INTRODUCTION: miR-99a-5p, known to play an important role in mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulation, is downregulated in human bladder cancer. The study aimed to investigate the anticancer activity of miR-99a-5p and the possible mechanism associated with mTOR in bladder cancer cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Vectors expressing miR-99a-5p were transfected into human urinary bladder urothelial carcinoma (5637 and T24) cells. The level of miR-99a-5p was monitored by microRNA (miRNA) quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR). Luciferase reporter assays were performed to verify the direct binding of miR-99a-5p to mTOR transcripts. The mTOR transcripts and protein levels were measured by QPCR and Western blot, respectively. Cell viability of miR-99a-5p-transfected cells was detected by tetrazolium salt (WST-1). Inhibition of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) signaling was detected by the phosphorylation of mTOR and AKT using Western blot. The ability of miR-99a-5p to enhance RAD001-induced apoptosis was determined as the expression of cleaved caspase 3 and levels of DNA fragmentation. RESULTS: Transfection of miR-99a-5p-expressing vector elevated the expression level of miR-99a-5p up to sixfold compared to vector-only controls. The results from luciferase assay verified that miR-99a-5p directly binds to the predicted sequence in the 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) of mTOR. The levels of mTOR RNA and protein were decreased in miR-99a-5p-transfected cells. Dual inhibition of mTORC1 and mTORC2 by miR-99a-5p was confirmed by the decreased phosphorylation of mTOR (at Ser2448 and Ser2481), phospho-rpS6 and phospho-4EBP1. The phosphorylation of AKT was significantly inhibited in miR-99a-5p-transfected cells upon RAD001 treatment. Enforced expression of miR-99a-5p potentiated RAD001-induced apoptosis in these cells. CONCLUSION: This is the first study showing that miR-99a-5p markedly inhibits the growth of bladder cancer cells via dual inhibition of mTORC1 and mTORC2. Our data demonstrated that forced expression of miR-99a-5p inhibits the feedback of AKT survival pathway and enhances the induction of apoptosis in RAD001-treated bladder cancer cells.

Acridine orange exhibits photodamage in human bladder cancer cells under blue light exposure.

Human bladder cancer (BC) cells exhibit a high basal level of autophagic activity with accumulation of acridine-orange(AO)-stained acidic vesicular organelles. The rapid AO relocalization was observed in treated BC cells under blue-light emission. To investigate the cytotoxic effects of AO on human BC cell lines under blue-light exposure, human immortalized uroepithelial (SV-Huc-1) and BC cell lines (5637 and T24) were treated with indicated concentrations of AO or blue-light exposure alone and in combination. The cell viability was then determined using WST-1, time-lapse imaging with a Cytosmart System and continuous quantification with a multi-mode image-based reader. Treatment of AO or blue-light exposure alone did not cause a significant loss of viability in BC cells. However, AO exhibited a dose-dependent increment of cytotoxicity toward BC cells under blue-light exposure. Furthermore, the tumor formation of BC cells with treatment was significantly reduced when evaluated in a mouse xenograft model. The photodamage caused by AO was nearly neglected in SV-Huc-1 cells, suggesting a differential effect of this treatment between cancer and normal cells. In summary, AO, as a photosensitizer, disrupts acidic organelles and induces cancer cell death in BC cells under blue-light irradiation. Our findings may serve as a novel therapeutic strategy against human BC.

Lutein Induces Autophagy via Beclin-1 Upregulation in IEC-6 Rat Intestinal Epithelial Cells.

Lutein is a carotenoid with anti-oxidant properties. Autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved catabolic cellular pathway for coping with stress conditions, is responsive to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and degrades damaged organelles. We previously demonstrated that lutein can induce anti-oxidant enzymes to relieve methotrexate-induced ROS stress. We therefore hypothesized that lutein, which activates ROS-scavenging enzymes, can also induce autophagy for cell survival. In this study, we demonstrated that lutein treatment attenuated the reduction in cell viability caused by H2O2. Lutein dose-dependently induced the processing of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3)-II, an autophagy marker protein, and accumulation of LC3-positive puncta in rat intestinal IEC-6 cells. Furthermore, (a) direct observation of autophagosome formation through transmission electron microscopy, (b) upregulation of autophagy-related genes including ATG4A, ATG5, ATG7, ATG12, and beclin-1 (BENC1), and (c) increased BECN1/Bcl-2 ratio confirmed the induction of autophagy by lutein. The results revealed that bafilomycin-A1-induced inhibition of autophagy reduced cell viability and increased apoptosis in lutein-treated cells, indicating a protective role of lutein-induced autophagy. Lutein treatment also activated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p-38, but had no effects on the induction of extracellular signal-related kinase or inhibition of mTOR; however, the inhibition of activated AMPK, JNK, or p-38 did not attenuate lutein-induced autophagy. Finally, increased BECN1 expression levels were detected in lutein-treated cells, and BECN1 knockdown abolished autophagy induction. These results suggest that lutein-induced autophagy was mediated by the upregulation of BECN1 in IEC-6 cells. We are the first to demonstrate that lutein induces autophagy. Elevated autophagy in lutein-treated IEC-6 cells may have a protective role against various stresses, and this warrants further investigation.

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine inhibit bladder cancer cell growth by targeting basal autophagy and enhancing apoptosis.

Chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), two antimalarial drugs, are suggested to have potential anticancer properties. in the present study, we investigated the effects of CQ and HCQ on cell growth of bladder cancer with emphasis on autophagy inhibition and apoptosis induction in vitro. The results showed that CQ and HCQ inhibited the proliferation of multiple human bladder cell lines (including RT4, 5637, and T24) in a time- and dose-dependent fashion, especially in advanced bladder cancer cell lines (5637 and T24) compared to immortalized uroepithelial cells (SV-Huc-1) or other reference cancer cell lines (PC3 and MCF-7). We found that 24-hour treatment of CQ or HCQ significantly decreased the clonogenic formation in 5637 and T24 cells compared to SV-Huc-1. As human bladder cancer tumor exhibits high basal level of autophagic activities, we detected the autophagic flux in cells treated with CQ and HCQ, showing an alternation in LC3 flux in CQ- or HCQ-treated cells. Moreover, bladder cancer cells treated with CQ and HCQ underwent apoptosis, resulting in increased caspase 3/7 activities, increased level of cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), caspase 3, and DNA fragmentation. Given these results, targeting autophagy with CQ and HCQ represents an effective cancer therapeutic strategy against human bladder cancer.

Cisplatin induces protective autophagy through activation of BECN1 in human bladder cancer cells.

PURPOSE: Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is the first line treatment for several cancers including bladder cancer (BC). Autophagy induction has been implied to contribute to cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer; and a high basal level of autophagy has been demonstrated in human bladder tumors. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that autophagy may account for the failure of cisplatin single treatment in BC. This study investigated whether cisplatin induces autophagy and the mechanism involved using human BC cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human BC cells (5637 and T24) were used in this study. Cell viability was detected using water soluble tetrazolium-8 reagents. Autophagy induction was detected by monitoring the levels of light chain 3 (LC3)-II and p62 by Western blot, LC3-positive puncta formation by immunofluorescence, and direct observation of the autophagolysosome (AL) formation by transmission electron microscopy. Inhibitors including bafilomycin A1 (Baf A1), chloroquine (CQ), and shRNA-based lentivirus against autophagy-related genes (ATG7 and ATG12) were utilized. Apoptosis level was detected by caspase 3/7 activity and DNA fragmentation. RESULTS: Cisplatin decreased cell viability and induced apoptosis of 5637 and T24 cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner. The increased LC3-II accumulation, p62 clearance, the number of LC3-positive puncta, and ALs in cisplatin-treated cells suggested that cisplatin indeed induces autophagy. Inhibition of cisplatin-induced autophagy using Baf A1, CQ, or ATG7/ATG12 shRNAs significantly enhanced cytotoxicity of cisplatin toward BC cells. These results indicated that cisplatin induced protective autophagy which may contribute to the development of cisplatin resistance and resulted in treatment failure. Mechanistically, upregulation of beclin-1 (BECN1) was detected in cisplatin-treated cells, and knockdown of BECN1 using shRNA attenuated cisplatin-induced autophagy and subsequently enhanced cisplatin-induced apoptosis. CONCLUSION: Collectively, the study results indicated that cisplatin-induced autophagy is mediated by BECN1 in BC cells. Therefore, combinative treatment using cisplatin and autophagy inhibitors could potentially overcome cisplatin resistance related to autophagy induction.