A novel autophagy inhibitor berbamine blocks SNARE-mediated autophagosome-lysosome fusion through upregulation of BNIP3.

Increasing evidences reveal that autophagy inhibitor could enhance the effect of chemotherapy to cancer. However, few autophagy inhibitors are currently approved for clinical application in humans. Berbamine (BBM) is a natural compound extracted from traditional Chinese medicine that is widely used for treatment of a variety of diseases without any obvious side effects. Here we found that BBM is a novel auophagy inhibitor, which potently induced the accumulation of autophagosomes by inhibiting autophagosome-lysosome fusion in human breast cancer cells. Mechanistically, we found that BBM blocked autophagosome-lysosome fusion by inhibiting the interaction of SNAP29 and VAMP8. Furthermore, BBM induced upregulation of BNIP3 and the interaction between SNAP29 and BNIP3. BNIP3 depletion or SNAP29 overexpression abrogated BBM-mediated blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion through the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8, whereas BNIP3 overexpression blocked autophagosome-lysosome fusion through inhibition of the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8. These findings suggest that upregulation of BNIP3 and interaction between BNIP3 and SNAP29 could be involved in BBM-mediated blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion through inhibition of the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8. Our findings identify the critical role of BNIP3 in blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion mediated by BBM, and suggest that BBM could potentially be further developed as a novel autophagy inhibitor, which could enhance the effect of chemotherapy to cancer.

SNAP-23 and VAMP-3 contribute to the release of IL-6 and TNFα from a human synovial sarcoma cell line.

Fibroblast-like synoviocytes are important mediators of inflammatory joint damage in arthritis through the release of cytokines, but it is unknown whether their exocytosis from these particular cells is SNARE-dependent. Here, the complement of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) in human synovial sarcoma cells (SW982) was examined with respect to the secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), before and after knockdown of a synaptosome-associated protein of molecular mass 23 kDa (SNAP-23) or the vesicle-associated membrane protein 3 (VAMP-3). Wild-type SW982 cells expressed SNAP-23, VAMP-3, syntaxin isoforms 2-4 and synaptic vesicle protein 2C (SV2C). These cells showed Ca²âº-dependent secretion of IL-6 and TNFα when stimulated by interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) or in combination with K⁺ depolarization. Specific knockdown of SNAP-23 or VAMP-3 decreased the exocytosis of IL-6 and TNFα; the reduced expression of SNAP-23 caused accumulation of SV2 in the peri-nuclear area. A monoclonal antibody specific for VAMP-3 precipitated SNAP-23 and syntaxin-2 (and syntaxin-3 to a lesser extent). The formation of SDS-resistant complexes by SNAP-23 and VAMP-3 was reduced upon knockdown of SNAP-23. Although the syntaxin isoforms 2, 3 and 4 are expressed in SW982 cells, knockdown of each did not affect the release of cytokines. Collectively, these results show that SNAP-23 and VAMP-3 participate in IL-1ß-induced Ca²âº-dependent release of IL-6 and TNFα from SW982 cells.