Background
Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is an atypical serine/threonine kinase that belongs to the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-related kinase family [
1]. The mTOR kinase exists and acts as the catalytic subunit in two functionally and structurally distinct multi-protein complexes: mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) [
2,
3]. The mTOR signaling pathway integrates both intracellular and extracellular signals and serves as a central regulator of cell metabolism, growth, proliferation and survival [
1,
4]. The activation of mTORC1 leads to phosphorylation of ribosomal S6 protein kinase 1 (S6K1) and translational repressor eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E)-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), thus modulating ribosome biogenesis and the translation of proteins that promote cell growth [
5]. S6K1 phosphorylates ribosomal protein S6 (S6) and enhances the translation of mRNAs [
1,
6]. S6K1 also phosphorylates other important targets, including insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), eukaryotic initiation factor 4B, programmed cell death 4, eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase and mTOR [
6]. Phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 releases its inhibitory effect on eIF4E, promoting cap-dependent mRNA translation [
7]. eIF4E enhances cell growth, proliferation, survival and angiogenesis by selectively translating mRNA such as cyclin D1, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and vascular endothelial growth factor [
8,
9]. mTORC2 regulates cell survival by phosphorylating on Ser473 of Akt, also known as protein kinase B, which is one of the most important survival kinases [
1,
10].
Consistent with a critical role in regulating cell growth and metabolism, dysregulation of the mTOR signaling is commonly observed in human cancers [
11‐
14]. Aberrant mTOR signaling pathway activation through oncogene stimulation or loss of tumor suppressors contributes significantly to cancer initiation, development and chemotherapy resistance [
1,
7,
11,
14‐
18]. Cumulative evidence indicates that mTOR signaling pathway has become an attractive target for cancer therapy and targeting mTOR signaling has been exploited as a promising tumor-selective therapeutic strategy [
11,
12,
19,
20]. The most well-characterized inhibitors targeting this pathway are rapamycin and its analogs (also referred as rapalogs), which are currently used with success for treating certain types of tumors [
21,
22]. However, rapalogs incompletely inhibit mTORC1 and generally fail to inhibit mTORC2 in some tumor types, which may not be sufficient for achieving a robust anticancer effect [
15,
21,
23,
24]. Moreover, resistance to treatment with rapalogs has been reported. The resistance may be associated with disrupting the mTORC1-mediated negative feedback loops to IRS-1/PI3K, mTORC2 and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which lead to activation of Akt and MAPK/ERK signaling, thereby, counteracting the antitumor potential of mTORC1 inhibition [
24‐
27]. These insights have prompted the development of potent mTOR signaling inhibitors capable of overcoming the feedback activation of several oncogenic pathways and fully inhibiting the function of both mTOR complexes.
In the present study, N-Hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI), an important chemical raw material, was found to have potent and selective anti-proliferative effect on human breast carcinoma BT-20 cells, human colon adenocarcinoma LoVo and HT-29 cells during our screening for anticancer compounds. In vitro, NHPI induced G2/M phase arrest in BT-20 and LoVo cells, which was attributed to the inhibition of cyclin B1 and cdc2 expressions. Moreover, NHPI induced apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway. Of note, NHPI effectively inhibited mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling in BT-20 and LoVo cells, negating the feedback activation of Akt and ERK caused by mTORC1 inhibition. In vivo, NHPI significantly inhibited tumor growth and suppressed mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling in BT-20 xenografts with no obvious toxicity. These findings suggest that NHPI may be a potential candidate for cancer therapeutics by targeting mTOR signaling pathway and as such warrants further exploration.
Methods
Reagents
N-Hydroxyphthalimide was purchased from Accela ChemBio Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China). Propidium iodide (PI), RNase A and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) were from Sigma-Aldrich. Antibodies of mTOR, Phospho-mTOR (Ser2448), Phospho-mTOR (Ser2481), S6K1, Phospho-S6K1 (Thr389), Phospho-S6 Ribosomal Protein (Ser235/236), 4E-BP1, Phospho-4E-BP1 (Ser65), Phospho-Akt (Ser473), Phospho-Akt (Thr308), Cleaved PARP, Cleaved Caspase 3, Caspase 9, cyclin B1, cdc2 were obtained from Cell Signaling Technology; antibodies of S6, Akt, P-ERK1/2, β-actin, Caspase 3, Caspase 8, Bcl-xL, survivin were from Santa Cruz; antibody of ERK was from Epitomics; antibody of eIF4E was obtained from BD Biosciences; Alexa Fluor® 647 donkey anti-mouse IgG antibody was purchased from Invitrogen; all the other secondary antibodies were from Sigma-Aldrich.
Cell culture
Human breast carcinoma cell line BT-20 and human normal breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A were purchased from Cell Research Center, IBMS, CAMS/PUMC (Beijing, China). Human breast cancer cell lines SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, MDA-MB-436, HCC1937 and MCF7, human colon cancer cell lines LoVo, HT-29, Caco-2 and RKO, human leukemia cell lines Jurkat, HL-60 and K-562, human ovary adenocarcinoma cell line NIH:OVCAR-3 and human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line SMMC-7721 were purchased from Cell Bank of Type Culture Collection of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China). All cells were cultured according to the vendor’s instructions.
Cell viability assay
Cell viability was determined by MTS assay, according to the protocol of CellTiter 96®AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay kit (Promega). Briefly, 100 μl of cell suspensions were seeded into each well of 96-well plates at a density of 5 × 103 cells/well and cultured overnight. Cells were then exposed to the tested compounds in triplicates for 48 h, 20 μL of CellTiter 96®AQueous One Solution Reagent was added to each well, and the cells were further incubated at 37 °C for 1–2 h. Cell viability was detected by measuring the optical density (OD) at 490 nm using a microplate reader (Bio-Rad Laboratories). The half inhibitory concentration (IC50) was determined by the relative survival curve.
Cell morphological analysis
Cells were seeded in 6-well plates (4 × 105 cells/well) and grown overnight. Next day, the cells were treated with indicated concentrations of NHPI. After incubation for 24 h, the morphology of cells was observed using a phase-contrast microscope (Eclipse Ti, Nikon) at 100× magnification.
Cell cycle analysis
Cells were seeded in 6-well plates and incubated at 37 °C overnight. Cells were then treated with indicated concentrations of NHPI for 24 h. Subsequently, the cells were collected and fixed with pre-cold 70 % ethanol overnight at −20 °C. Fixed cells were washed with PBS and incubated with a staining solution containing RNase A and PI in PBS for 30 min at room temperature. Fluorescence intensity was analyzed by FACSCalibur flow cytometer (BD Biosciences). The distribution of cells in each phase of the cell cycle was determined using FlowJo7.6.1 analysis software.
Apoptosis assay
Cell apoptosis was analyzed using the Annexin V-FITC Apoptosis Detection Kit I (BD Biosciences) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Cells were seeded in 6-well plates at a density of 1 × 105 cells/well and incubated overnight. After indicated treatment, cells were collected and washed twice with cold PBS, then resuspended in a binding buffer containing Annexin V-FITC and PI. After incubation for 15 min at room temperature in the dark, the fluorescence intensity was measured using a FACSCalibur flow cytometer (BD Biosciences).
Protein extraction and western blot analysis
Cells were seeded in 6-well plates at a density of 4 × 105 cells/well. The next day, cells were treated with indicated concentrations of NHPI for 24 h. Following treatment, cells were washed with cold PBS. On ice, cells were lysed in RIPA buffer, containing 50 mM Tris, pH 7.4; 150 mM NaCl; 1 % sodium deoxycholate; 0.1 % sodium dodecyl sulfate; 1 % NP-40; 1 mM EDTA; 1 mM PMSF; protease and phosphatase inhibitor cocktail (Roche). Lysates were centrifuged, and the supernatant was dissolved with 5× sample loading buffer and boiled for 5 min. Protein extracts were quantitated and loaded on 8–12 % sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel, electrophoresed and transferred to polyvinylidene fluoride membranes (Millipore). Membranes were incubated with 5 % non-fat dry milk to block non-specific binding and were incubated with primary antibodies, then with appropriate secondary antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase. Proteins of interest were incubated with Pierce ECL substrate (Thermo Scientific) and visualized by chemiluminescent detection on an ImageQuant LAS 4000 mini (GE Healthcare).
Mitochondrial membrane potential assay
The mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) in BT-20 cells was measured using JC-1 Mitochondrial Membrane Potential Assay Kit (Cayman Chemical Company). Briefly, BT-20 cells were seeded in 6-well plates at a density of 2 × 105 cells/well and incubated overnight for cell attachment. Cells were then treated with indicated concentrations of NHPI. After 48 h, added 200 μl of the JC-1 Staining Solution (1:10 dilution in culture medium) into each well and incubated for 30 min at 37 °C in a CO2 incubator. Next, the cells were trypsinized and collected. The samples were analyzed immediately using a FACSCalibur flow cytometer (BD Biosciences).
Immunofluorescence assay
BT-20 cells were seeded and cultured in 96-well plates (1 × 104 cells/well) overnight and then treated with indicated concentrations of NHPI. After incubation for 6 h, cells were fixed with 4 % paraformaldehyde for 20 min, and the fixed cells were permeabilized with 0.1 % Triton X-100 for 10 min. After blocking with 2 % BSA at 37 °C for 30 min, cells were incubated with eIF4E antibody (1:400 in 2 % BSA) at 4 °C overnight and then the cells were incubated with Alexa Fluor® 647 donkey anti-mouse IgG antibody (1:1000 in 2 % BSA) for 1 h at room temperature. DAPI was used to stain the nuclei. To monitor the subcellular location of eIF4E, Cellomics® ArrayScan® VTI HCS Reader (Thermo Scientific) was used to capture the images.
In vivo studies
Three-week old female BALB/c nude mice were purchased from Vital River Laboratory Animal Technology (Beijing, China) and fed in a specific pathogen-free environment and treated in accordance with the guidelines of the Animal Ethics Committee of Kunming Institute of Botany (Kunming, China). 6.8 × 106 BT-20 cells in Matrigel (Corning) were subcutaneously implanted into the right flank of nude mice for tumor formation. Tumor size was measured every three days in two dimensions with a digital caliper and calculated using the formula (length × width × width × 0.5). When the tumor reached approximately 100 mm3, mice were randomly divided into the control and treatment groups (n = 9/group). Subsequently, mice were treated daily by intraperitoneal injection with NHPI (40 mg/kg) prepared in a solution (10 % ethanol and 30 % PEG 400 in sterile saline) or vehicle control. At the end of treatment, mice were sacrificed and tumors were removed from mice. Then the tumors were weighed and frozen immediately at −80 °C for subsequent western blot analysis. Tumor samples were minced and homogenized to extract whole cell lysates. The clarified supernatants of the samples were applied for western blot analysis using specific antibodies.
Statistical analysis
Results in in vivo studies were expressed as mean ± standard error (mean ± SE) and all the other results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (mean ± SD). The data were analyzed using Student’s t-test. A probability value of P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Discussion
The mTOR signaling pathway is one of the major signaling cascades that regulate cell proliferation and survival. Dysregulation of mTOR signaling pathway is one of the most commonly observed pathological alterations in human cancers [
11]. The evidence linking activated mTOR signaling to cancer has generated significant interest in targeting the pathway for cancer therapy [
1,
11]. In the present study, we found that NHPI selectively inhibited the proliferation of human breast carcinoma BT-20 cells and human colon adenocarcinoma LoVo cells, concomitantly suppressing mTOR signaling pathway. However, no apparent cytotoxicity was observed in NHPI-treated human normal breast epithelial MCF-10A cells and other tested cancer cell lines, such as human breast adenocarcinoma MDA-MB-231 cells. Interestingly, NHPI at high concentration (20 and 40 μM) did not affect mTOR signaling in MDA-MB-231 cells. Taken together, the above results suggest that the selective proliferation inhibitory effect of NHPI may be attributed to the inhibition of mTOR signaling pathway in these cells.
A plenty of distinct mechanisms including PI3K amplification/mutation, PTEN loss of function, Akt overexpression, and S6K1 or eIF4E overexpression can result in the constitutive activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in cancer cells [
7]. We speculate that the distinct mechanisms of mTOR pathway activation in cells seem to be associated with the sensitivity of different cells to NHPI. The fact that the antitumor activity of NHPI is so specific to certain cancer cell lines urged us to focus on the genetic background of these cell lines. Notably, all the three NHPI-sensitive cell lines (BT-20, LoVo and HT-29) harbor mutations of the PI3K p110 catalytic unit, whereas the NHPI-resistant cell lines, such as human breast adenocarcinoma MDA-MB-231 cells, lack mutations of the PI3K p110 catalytic unit. Mutations of the PI3K p110 catalytic unit cause increased PI3K activity that ultimately leads to increased mTOR signaling pathway activity [
44,
45]. Thus, we speculate that cell lines with high mTOR signaling pathway activity caused by mutations of the PI3K p110 catalytic unit are more sensitive to NHPI. However, more studies are needed to verify the hypothesis and further elucidate the selective antitumor mechanism of NHPI.
It has been reported that mTOR signaling pathway regulates cell apoptosis and is involved in the up-regulation of survivin via rapid changes in mRNA translation [
46,
47]. Our results showed that NHPI induced apoptosis of BT-20 cells by declining the expressions of anti-apoptotic proteins survivin and Bcl-xL as well as activating of caspase 9 and caspase 3. Considering that NHPI inhibited mTOR signaling and decreased expression of anti-apoptotic proteins such as survivin, it is likely that NHPI-induced apoptosis of BT-20 cells is associated with the inhibition of mTOR signaling pathway. Of note, this finding is confirmed in tumors from mice treated with NHPI. In BT-20 xenografts, NHPI significantly inhibited tumor growth. Meanwhile, NHPI reduced mTORC1 activation and its substrate 4E-BP1 phosphorylation as well as the phosphorylation level of Akt at Ser473 in the tumors from NHPI-treated mice, which further suggests that NHPI displays antitumor activity in association with the suppression of both mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling pathway.
The recognitions that rapalogs have limited substrate-specific efficacy and cause feedback activation of several oncogenic pathways have fostered the development of ATP-competitive mTOR kinase inhibitors (TKIs) [
1,
15,
25‐
27]. The advantage of TKIs is that they inhibit both mTORC1 and mTORC2 [
48]. Despite the loss of mTORC2-mediated Ser473 phosphorylation of Akt in cells treated with TKIs, mTORC1 inhibition would still promote feedback activation of PI3K-driven phosphorylation of Akt at Thr308 [
3,
15]. Moreover, the loss of mTORC1-mediated IRS-1 feedback might activate PI3K effectors other than Akt [
15,
49]. These insights have fueled the development of PI3K and mTOR dual inhibitors. Nevertheless, a recent study showed that NVP-BEZ235, a PI3K and mTOR dual inhibitor, induced the activation of the MAPK as indicated by enhanced ERK phosphorylation, which likely limit the clinical utilization of it in cancer treatment [
50‐
52]. Our present data showed that NHPI effectively inhibited mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling, and overcame the feedback activation of Akt and ERK caused by mTORC1 inhibition in BT-20 and Lovo cells, indicating that NHPI may achieve a robust anticancer effect.
Conclusions
In conclusion, we found for the first time that NHPI selectively inhibited the proliferation of human breast carcinoma BT-20 cells, human colon adenocarcinoma LoVo and HT-29 cells, and displayed potent antitumor activity in vivo in BT-20 xenografts. The mechanism by which NHPI displays antitumor activity is associated with the inhibition of mTOR signaling pathway. Taken together, our findings suggest that NHPI may be developed as a promising candidate for cancer therapeutics by targeting mTOR signaling pathway.
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81302807, H. Zhou; No. 21572236, C. Xia) , the West Light Foundation of The Chinese Academy of Sciences (H. Zhou) and the Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Yunnan Province (U1402227, Y. Li).
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
YL, HZ and CX conceived and designed the experiments; MW performed the experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the paper; HZ critically revised the paper; CX and AZ carried out chemical synthesis; TA, LK and CY assisted in animal experiments; TA, LK, CY and JL gave advice in experiments and discussed the results. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.