The β-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol offsets resistance mechanisms to chemotherapeutics in diverse sarcoma subtypes: a pilot study

Autor: Amalia Azzariti, Sabino Strippoli, Marianna Garofoli, Mariateresa Volpicella, Roberta Di Fonte, Livia Fucci, Michele Guida, Letizia Porcelli
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2020)
Scientific Reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
Popis: Standard chemotherapy for soft tissue sarcomas has shown limited efficacy. Here, we sought to evaluate whether β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) signalling contributed to the progression of sarcomas and therapy resistance. To assess the translational potential of β-adrenergic receptors, we performed immunohistochemical detection of β1-AR, β2-AR and β3-AR in leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma and angiosarcoma tissue specimens, reporting the results scored for the intensity. By using established and patient-derived sarcoma cells, we demonstrated the antitumour potential of the pharmacological targeting of β-ARs with the nonselective β-blocker propranolol in such sarcomas. Of note, pharmacological β-AR inhibition synergized with doxorubicin in inhibiting the cell viability of liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma cells and increased the response to docetaxel in angiosarcoma- and solitary fibrous tumour (SFT)-patient-derived cells. Notably, the SFT patient was treated with the combination of propranolol and docetaxel, reporting prolonged disease control. Mechanistically, we found that propranolol reduced the activity of the multidrug resistance efflux pump P-gp, thereby increasing the intracellular doxorubicin concentration and antitumour activity. In addition, propranolol attenuated the Akt-dependent survival signal induced by doxorubicin and strongly reduced the activation of the NF-kB/COX-2 pathway, increasing cell sensitivity to docetaxel. Overall, our study highlighted the therapeutic potential of propranolol, alone or in rational combination therapies, for sarcoma treatment.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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