ABSTRACT
Malignant rhabdoid tumour (MRT) is a rare, aggressive paediatric neoplasm, primarily diagnosed in those below the age of three. MRTs most commonly arise in the central nervous system and kidneys. A poor prognosis accompanies the MRT diagnosis, with a reported 2year survival rate of 30%. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of new therapies for this malignancy. Members of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family have previously been reported to be overexpressed in various cancers. As such, small molecule inhibitors of these family members have entered clinical trials. However, the role of IAPs in MRT has not been examined yet. The present study is the first report of the expression of a range of IAPs, including Xlinked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP), cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein 1 (cIAP1), cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein 2 (cIAP2), livin and survivin in MRT cell lines. Furthermore, the results demonstrated the ability of the XIAP inhibitor, embelin, to sensitise MRT cell lines to TNFrelated apoptosisinducing ligand (TRAIL) treatment. The enhanced cell death detected upon cotreatment was dependent on caspase8 and cooccurred with caspase8 and caspase3 cleavage, suggesting engagement of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. Sensitisation to TRAIL was accompanied by livin cleavage, alongside downregulation of survivin and the caspase8 inhibitor FLIPL. In addition, knockdown of XIAP using siRNA enhanced TRAILmediated cell death, suggesting that this process may in part mediate sensitisation. In conclusion, the present results suggested that IAP inhibition may present a novel avenue for the treatment of MRT.