Lactucin induces apoptosis through reactive oxygen species-mediated BCL-2 and CFLARL downregulation in Caki-1 cells

Autor: Chuleui Jung, Eon-Gi Sung, Ho-Yong Sohn, Joo-Young Kim, Tae-Jin Lee, Ji Hoon Jang, In-Hwan Song, Cho-Young Park
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Genes & Genomics. 43:1199-1207
ISSN: 2092-9293
1976-9571
DOI: 10.1007/s13258-021-01142-8
Popis: Background Lactucin, a naturally occurring active sesquiterpene lactone, is abundantly found in chicory and romaine lettuce. A recent study reported that lactucin could induce apoptosis in leukemia cells. However, its cytotoxicity and potential molecular mechanisms underlying cancer cell death remain unclear. Objective Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the direct effect and underlying mechanism of action of lactucin on renal cancer cells. Methods MTT assay and flow cytometry were performed to evaluate the rate of cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. Western blotting, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and protein stability analyses were performed to analyze the effect of lactucin on the expression of apoptosis-related proteins such as B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) and CFLAR (CASP8 and FADD like apoptosis regulator) long isoform (CFLARL) in Caki-1 human renal cancer cells. In addition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was evaluated using flow cytometry. Results Lactucin treatment induced apoptosis in Caki-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner via activation of the caspase pathway. It downregulated BCL-2 and CFLARL expression levels by suppressing BCL-2 transcription and CFLARL protein stability, respectively. Pretreatment with N-acetyl-1-cysteine, a ROS scavenger, attenuated the lactucin-induced apoptosis and restored the BCL-2 and CFLARL expression to basal levels. Lactucin-facilitated BCL-2 downregulation was regulated at the transcriptional level through the inactivation of the NF-κB pathway. Conclusions Our study is the first to demonstrate that lactucin-induced apoptosis is mediated by ROS production, which in turn activates the caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway by inhibiting BCL-2 and CFLARL expression in Caki-1 cells.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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