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Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells.

ABSTRACT: Autophagy can promote cell survival or cell death, but the molecular basis underlying its dual role in cancer remains obscure. Here we demonstrate that delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component of marijuana, induces human glioma cell death through stimulation of autophagy. Our data indicate that THC induced ceramide accumulation and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha) phosphorylation and thereby activated an ER stress response that promoted autophagy via tribbles homolog 3-dependent (TRB3-dependent) inhibition of the Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) axis. We also showed that autophagy is upstream of apoptosis in cannabinoid-induced human and mouse cancer cell death and that activation of this pathway was necessary for the antitumor action of cannabinoids in vivo. These findings describe a mechanism by which THC can promote the autophagic death of human and mouse cancer cells and provide evidence that cannabinoid administration may be an effective therapeutic strategy for targeting human cancers.

SUBMITTER: Salazar M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2673842 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells.

Salazar María M Carracedo Arkaitz A Salanueva Iñigo J IJ Hernández-Tiedra Sonia S Lorente Mar M Egia Ainara A Vázquez Patricia P Blázquez Cristina C Torres Sofía S García Stephane S Nowak Jonathan J Fimia Gian María GM Piacentini Mauro M Cecconi Francesco F Pandolfi Pier Paolo PP González-Feria Luis L Iovanna Juan L JL Guzmán Manuel M Boya Patricia P Velasco Guillermo G

The Journal of clinical investigation 20090501 5

Autophagy can promote cell survival or cell death, but the molecular basis underlying its dual role in cancer remains obscure. Here we demonstrate that delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component of marijuana, induces human glioma cell death through stimulation of autophagy. Our data indicate that THC induced ceramide accumulation and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha) phosphorylation and thereby activated an ER stress response that promoted autophagy ...[more]

PMID: 19425170

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Project description:Autophagy is a highly conserved intracellular process that preserves cellular homeostasis by mediating the lysosomal degradation of virtually any component of the cytoplasm. Autophagy is a key instrument of cellular response to several stresses, including endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Cancer cells have developed high dependency on autophagy to overcome the hostile tumor microenvironment. Thus, pharmacological activation or inhibition of autophagy is emerging as a novel antitumor strategy. ERK5 is a novel member of the MAP kinase family that is activated in response to growth factors and different forms of stress. Recent work has pointed ERK5 as a major player controlling cancer cell proliferation and survival. Therefore small-molecule inhibitors of ERK5 have shown promising therapeutic potential in different cancer models. Here, we report for the first time ERK5 as a negative regulator of autophagy. Thus, ERK5 inhibition or silencing induced autophagy in a panel of human cancer cell lines with different mutation patterns. As reported previously, ERK5 inhibitors (ERK5i) induced apoptotic cancer cell death. Importantly, we found that autophagy mediates the cytotoxic effect of ERK5i, since ATG5-/- autophagy-deficient cells viability was not affected by these compounds. Mechanistically, ERK5i stimulated autophagic flux independently of the canonical regulators AMPK or mTORC1. Moreover, ERK5 inhibition resulted in ER stress and activation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) pathways. Specifically, ERK5i induced expression of the ER luminal chaperone BiP (a hallmark of ER stress), the UPR markers CHOP and ATF4, and the spliced form of XBP1. Pharmacological inhibition of UPR with chemical chaperone TUDC, or ATF4 silencing, resulted in impaired ERK5i-mediated UPR, autophagy and cytotoxicity. Overall, our results suggest that ERK5 inhibition induces autophagy-mediated cancer cell death by activating ER stress. Since ERK5 inhibition sensitizes cancer cells and tumors to chemotherapy, future work will determine the relevance of UPR and autophagy in the combined use of chemotherapy and ERK5i to tackle Cancer.

Project description:The incidence of chronic liver disease is constantly increasing, owing to the obesity epidemic. However, the causes and mechanisms of inflammation-mediated liver damage remain poorly understood. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is an initiator of cell death and inflammatory mechanisms. Although obesity induces ER stress, the interplay between hepatic ER stress, NLRP3 inflammasome activation and hepatocyte death signaling has not yet been explored during the etiology of chronic liver diseases. Steatosis is a common disorder affecting obese patients; moreover, 25% of these patients develop steatohepatitis with an inherent risk for progression to hepatocarcinoma. Increased plasma LPS levels have been detected in the serum of patients with steatohepatitis. We hypothesized that, as a consequence of increased plasma LPS, ER stress could be induced and lead to NLRP3 inflammasome activation and hepatocyte death associated with steatohepatitis progression. In livers from obese mice, administration of LPS or tunicamycin results in IRE1α and PERK activation, leading to the overexpression of CHOP. This, in turn, activates the NLRP3 inflammasome, subsequently initiating hepatocyte pyroptosis (caspase-1, -11, interleukin-1β secretion) and apoptosis (caspase-3, BH3-only proteins). In contrast, the LPS challenge is blocked by the ER stress inhibitor TUDCA, resulting in: CHOP downregulation, reduced caspase-1, caspase-11, caspase-3 activities, lowered interleukin-1β secretion and rescue from cell death. The central role of CHOP in mediating the activation of proinflammatory caspases and cell death was characterized by performing knockdown experiments in primary mouse hepatocytes. Finally, the analysis of human steatohepatitis liver biopsies showed a correlation between the upregulation of inflammasome and ER stress markers, as well as liver injury. We demonstrate here that ER stress leads to hepatic NLRP3 inflammasome pyroptotic death, thus contributing as a novel mechanism of inflammation-mediated liver injury in chronic liver diseases. Inhibition of ER-dependent inflammasome activation and cell death pathways may represent a potential therapeutic approach in chronic liver diseases.

Project description:Oxidative stress-related apoptosis and autophagy play crucial roles in the development of osteoarthritis (OA), a progressive cartilage degenerative disease with multifactorial etiologies. Here, we determined autophagic flux changes and apoptosis in human OA and tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP)-treated chondrocytes. In addition, we explored the potential protective effects of trehalose, a novel Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR)-independent autophagic inducer, in TBHP-treated mouse chondrocytes and a destabilized medial meniscus (DMM) mouse OA model. We found aberrant p62 accumulation and increased apoptosis in human OA cartilage and chondrocytes. Consistently, p62 and cleaved caspase-3 levels increased in mouse chondrocytes under oxidative stress. Furthermore, trehalose restored oxidative stress-induced autophagic flux disruption and targeted autophagy selectively by activating BCL2 interacting protein 3 (BNIP3) and Phosphoglycerate mutase family member 5 (PGAM5). Trehalose could ameliorate oxidative stress-mediated mitochondrial membrane potential collapse, ATP level decrease, dynamin-related protein 1 (drp-1) translocation into the mitochondria, and the upregulation of proteins involved in mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related apoptosis pathway. In addition, trehalose suppressed the cleavage of caspase 3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and prevented DNA damage under oxidative stress. However, the anti-apoptotic effects of trehalose in TBHP-treated chondrocytes were partially abolished by autophagic flux inhibitor chloroquine and BNIP3- siRNA. The protective effect of trehalose was also found in mouse OA model. Taken together, these results indicate that trehalose has anti-apoptotic effects through the suppression of oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial injury and ER stress which is dependent on the promotion of autophagic flux and the induction of selective autophagy. Thus, trehalose is a promising therapeutic agent for OA.

Dataset Information

Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells.

Publications

Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells.

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