ABSTRACT
Using short hairpin RNA against p53, transient ectopic expression of wild-type p53 or mutant p53 (R248W or R175H), and a p53- and p21-dependent luciferase reporter assay, we demonstrated that growth arrest and apoptosis of FaDu (human pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma), Hep3B (hepatoma), and MG-63 (osteosarcoma) cells induced by aloe-emodin (AE) are p53-independent. Co-immunoprecipitation and small interfering RNA (siRNA) studies demonstrated that AE caused S-phase cell cycle arrest by inducing the formation of cyclin A-Cdk2-p21 complexes through extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation. Ectopic expression of Bcl-X(L) and siRNA-mediated Bax attenuation significantly inhibited apoptosis induced by AE. Cyclosporin A or the caspase-8 inhibitor Z-IETD-FMK blocked AE-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and prevented increases in reactive oxygen species and Ca(++). Z-IETD-FMK inhibited AE-induced apoptosis, Bax expression, Bid cleavage, translocation of tBid to mitochondria, ERK phosphorylation, caspase-9 activation, and the release of cytochrome c, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), and endonuclease G from mitochondria. The stability of the mRNAs encoding caspase-8 and -10-associated RING proteins (CARPs) 1 and 2 was affected by AE, whereas CARP1 or 2 overexpression inhibited caspase-8 activation and apoptosis induced by AE. Collectively, our data indicate AE induces caspase-8-mediated activation of mitochondrial death pathways by decreasing the stability of CARP mRNAs in a p53-independent manner.
Subject(s)
Apoptosis/drug effects , Carrier Proteins/metabolism , Caspase 8/metabolism , Emodin/pharmacology , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/metabolism , Animals , Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins , Blotting, Western , Carrier Proteins/genetics , Caspase 8/genetics , Cell Cycle/drug effects , Cell Cycle Proteins , Cell Line , Cell Line, Tumor , Cyclin A/genetics , Cyclin A/metabolism , Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2/genetics , Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2/metabolism , Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21/genetics , Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21/metabolism , Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases/metabolism , HEK293 Cells , Humans , Neoplasms/genetics , Neoplasms/metabolism , Neoplasms/pathology , Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics , Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism , Phosphorylation/drug effects , Protein Binding/drug effects , Protein Kinase Inhibitors/pharmacology , RNA Interference , RNA Stability/drug effects , RNA, Messenger/genetics , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/geneticsABSTRACT
Aloe-emodin (AE), extracted from the rhizome of Rheum palmatum, has an anti-proliferative effect on different human cancer cell lines. Nonetheless, the underlying mechanism by which AE inhibits nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell invasion is still unclear. The results of this study show that treatment of NPC cells with growth suppressive concentrations of AE caused cell cycle arrest at the S-G(2)/M phase. Coimmunoprecipitation and small interfering RNA (siRNA) studies demonstrated that AE-induced cell cycle arrest in NPC cells was associated with increasing levels of cyclin B1 bound to cyclin-dependent kinase 1. The inhibition of NPC cell invasion by AE was evidenced through the suppression of matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) expression. MMP-2 promoter activity and cell invasion were inhibited by p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) siRNA, inhibitor 4-(4-Fluorophenyl)-2-[4-(methylsulfinyl)phenyl]-5-(4-pyridyl)-1H-imidazole (SB203580), and AE, but not by JNK siRNA and inhibitor 1,9-pyrazoloanthrone. Treatment with AE, SB203580, NF-kappaB inhibitors N-p-tosyl-(L)-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK) and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) or transfection with p38 MAPK siRNA significantly inhibited NF-kappaB transcriptional activity. In addition, TPCK and PDTC treatment inhibited the expression and promoter activity of MMP-2 and thereby significantly inhibited cell invasion activity. The involvement of p38 MAPK activity in NF-kappaB-mediated MMP-2 function was further confirmed through the attenuation of p38 MAPK by SB203580 and NF-kappaB ectopic expression. Collectively, our results indicate that AE inhibits invasion of NPC cells by suppressing the expression of MMP-2 via the p38 MAPK-NF-kappaB signaling pathway.