4-6-dimorpholino-n-(4-nitrophenyl)-1-3-5-triazin-2-amine and icaritin

The current research studied the potential effect of autophagy on icaritin-induced anti-colorectal cancer (CRC) cell activity. Treatment of icaritin in both primary and established (HT-29) CRC cells induced feedback activation of autophagy, evidenced by p62 degradation, Beclin-1 and autophagy-related gene-5 (ATG-5) upregulation, as well as light chain 3B (LC3B)-GFP puncta formation. Pharmacological inhibiting of autophagy dramatically potentiated icaritin-induced CRC cell death and apoptosis. Meanwhile, shRNA-mediated knockdown of Beclin-1 or ATG-5 also sensitized icaritin-induced CRC cell death and apoptosis. Icaritin activated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling in CRC cells, functioning as the upstream signaling for autophagy activation. shRNA/siRNA-mediated knockdown of AMPKα1inhibited icaritin-induced autophagy activation, but exacerbated CRC cell death. On the other hand, the AMPK activator compound 13 (C13) or the autophagy activator MHY1485 attenuated icaritin-induced cytotoxicity. In nude mice, icaritin (oral administration)-induced HT-29 tumor growth inhibition was potentiated when combined with AMPKα1 shRNA knockdown in tumors. We conclude that feedback activation of AMPK-autophagy pathway could be a primary resistance factor of icaritin.

Topics: AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; Animals; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Autophagy-Related Protein 5; Beclin-1; Blotting, Western; Cell Survival; Colorectal Neoplasms; Flavonoids; HT29 Cells; Humans; Male; Mice, Nude; Middle Aged; Morpholines; RNA Interference; Signal Transduction; Triazines; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays