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Acid ceramidase controls apoptosis and increases autophagy in human melanoma cells treated with doxorubicin.

ABSTRACT: Acid ceramidase (AC) is a lysosomal hydrolase encoded by the ASAH1 gene, which cleaves ceramides into sphingosine and fatty acid. AC is expressed at high levels in most human melanoma cell lines and may confer resistance against chemotherapeutic agents. One such agent, doxorubicin, was shown to increase ceramide levels in melanoma cells. Ceramides contribute to the regulation of autophagy and apoptosis. Here we investigated the impact of AC ablation via CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing on the response of A375 melanoma cells to doxorubicin. We found that doxorubicin activates the autophagic response in wild-type A375 cells, which effectively resist apoptotic cell death. In striking contrast, doxorubicin fails to stimulate autophagy in A375 AC-null cells, which rapidly undergo apoptosis when exposed to the drug. The present work highlights changes that affect melanoma cells during incubation with doxorubicin, in A375 melanoma cells lacking AC. We found that the remarkable reduction in recovery rate after doxorubicin treatment is strictly associated with the impairment of autophagy, that forces the AC-inhibited cells into apoptotic path.

SUBMITTER: Lai M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8159975 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ablation of Acid Ceramidase Impairs Autophagy and Mitochondria Activity in Melanoma Cells.

Project description:Cutaneous melanoma is often resistant to therapy due to its high plasticity, as well as its ability to metabolise chemotherapeutic drugs. Sphingolipid signalling plays a pivotal role in its progression and metastasis. One of the ways melanoma alters sphingolipid rheostat is via over-expression of lysosomal acid ceramidase (AC), which catalyses the hydrolysis of pro-apoptotic long-chain ceramides into sphingosine and fatty acid. In this report, we examine the role of acid ceramidase in maintaining cellular homeostasis through the regulation of autophagy and mitochondrial activity in melanoma cell lines. We show that under baseline conditions, wild-type melanoma cells had 3-fold higher levels of the autophagy marker, microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3B (LC3 II), compared to AC-null cells. This difference was further magnified after cell starvation. Moreover, we noticed autophagy impairment in A375 AC-null cells, possibly due to local accumulation of non-metabolized ceramides. Nonetheless, we observed that AC-null cells exhibited a significant increase in mitochondrial membrane potential compared to control cells. Consistent with this observation, we found that, after total starvation, ~30% of AC-null cells undergo apoptosis compared to ~6% of wild-type cells. As expected, AC transfection restored viability in A375 AC-null cells. Together, these findings suggest that AC-null melanoma cells change and adapt their metabolism to survive in the absence of AC, although in a way that does not allow them to cope with the stress of nutrient deprivation.

| S-EPMC8004726 | biostudies-literature

Data on skeletal muscle apoptosis, autophagy, and morphology in mice treated with doxorubicin.

Project description:Skeletal muscle apoptosis and autophagy are catabolic processes that contribute to muscle atrophy during aging, disease, and following muscle injury. In this article, we present data on skeletal muscle apoptosis, autophagy, and morphology in C57BL/6 mice following doxorubicin administration. More specifically, time-course data on caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9, calpain, and cathepsin activity are presented, along with data on ATG7, p62, LC3-I, and LC3-II protein expression. Data on skeletal muscle reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, muscle morphology, as well as body and muscle weights are also presented.

| S-EPMC4816877 | biostudies-other

Progesterone increases apoptosis and inversely decreases autophagy in human hepatoma HA22T/VGH cells treated with epirubicin.

Project description:Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Epirubicin can induce intracellular reactive oxygen species and is widely used to treat unresectable HCC. Progesterone has been found to inhibit the proliferation of hepatoma cells. This study was designed to test the combined effects of epirubicin and progesterone on human hepatoma cell line, HA22T/VGH. These cells were treated with different concentrations of epirubicin with or without the coaddition of 30 μM progesterone and then analyzed for apoptosis, autophagy, and expressions of apoptotic-related proteins and multidrug-resistant gene. Epirubicin treatment dose-dependently inhibited the growth of HA22T/VGH cells. Addition of 30 μM progesterone, which was inactive alone, augmented the effect of epirubicin on the inhibition of growth of HA22T/VGH cells. Cotreatment with progesterone enhanced epirubicin-induced apoptosis, as evidenced by greater increase in caspase-3 activity and in the ratio of the apoptosis-regulating protein, Bax/Bcl-X(L). The combination also caused a decrease in autophagy and in the expression of multidrug resistance-related protein 1 mRNA compared to epirubicin alone. This study shows the epirubicin/progesterone combination was more effective in increasing apoptosis and inversely decreasing autophagy on HA22T/VGH cells treated with epirubicin alone, suggesting that this combination can potentially be used to treat HCC.

| S-EPMC4055367 | biostudies-other

Activation of Wnt/?-catenin signaling increases apoptosis in melanoma cells treated with trail.

Project description:While the TRAIL pathway represents a promising therapeutic target in melanoma, resistance to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis remains a barrier to its successful adoption. Since the Wnt/?-catenin pathway has been implicated in facilitating melanoma cell apoptosis, we investigated the effect of Wnt/?-catenin signaling on regulating the responses of melanoma cells to TRAIL. Co-treatment of melanoma cell lines with WNT3A-conditioned media and recombinant TRAIL significantly enhanced apoptosis compared to treatment with TRAIL alone. This apoptosis correlates with increased abundance of the pro-apoptotic proteins BCL2L11 and BBC3, and with decreased abundance of the anti-apoptotic regulator Mcl1. We then confirmed the involvement of the Wnt/?-catenin signaling pathway by demonstrating that siRNA-mediated knockdown of an intracellular ?-catenin antagonist, AXIN1, or treating cells with an inhibitor of GSK-3 also enhanced melanoma cell sensitivity to TRAIL. These studies describe a novel regulation of TRAIL sensitivity in melanoma by Wnt/?-catenin signaling, and suggest that strategies to enhance Wnt/?-catenin signaling in combination with TRAIL agonists warrant further investigation.

| S-EPMC3711908 | biostudies-literature

Acid Ceramidase in Melanoma: EXPRESSION, LOCALIZATION, AND EFFECTS OF PHARMACOLOGICAL INHIBITION.

Project description:Acid ceramidase (AC) is a lysosomal cysteine amidase that controls sphingolipid signaling by lowering the levels of ceramides and concomitantly increasing those of sphingosine and its bioactive metabolite, sphingosine 1-phosphate. In the present study, we evaluated the role of AC-regulated sphingolipid signaling in melanoma. We found that AC expression is markedly elevated in normal human melanocytes and proliferative melanoma cell lines, compared with other skin cells (keratinocytes and fibroblasts) and non-melanoma cancer cells. High AC expression was also observed in biopsies from human subjects with Stage II melanoma. Immunofluorescence studies revealed that the subcellular localization of AC differs between melanocytes (where it is found in both cytosol and nucleus) and melanoma cells (where it is primarily localized to cytosol). In addition to having high AC levels, melanoma cells generate lower amounts of ceramides than normal melanocytes do. This down-regulation in ceramide production appears to result from suppression of the de novo biosynthesis pathway. To test whether AC might contribute to melanoma cell proliferation, we blocked AC activity using a new potent (IC50 = 12 nM) and stable inhibitor. AC inhibition increased cellular ceramide levels, decreased sphingosine 1-phosphate levels, and acted synergistically with several, albeit not all, antitumoral agents. The results suggest that AC-controlled sphingolipid metabolism may play an important role in the control of melanoma proliferation.

| S-EPMC4732224 | biostudies-literature

Complete Acid Ceramidase ablation prevents cancer-initiating cell formation in melanoma cells.

Project description:Acid ceramidase (AC) is a lysosomal cysteine hydrolase that catalyzes the conversion of ceramide into fatty acid and sphingosine. This reaction lowers intracellular ceramide levels and concomitantly generates sphingosine used for sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) production. Since increases in ceramide and consequent decreases of S1P reduce proliferation of various cancers, AC might offer a new target for anti-tumor therapy. Here we used CrispR-Cas9-mediated gene editing to delete the gene encoding for AC, ASAH1, in human A375 melanoma cells. ASAH1-null clones show significantly greater accumulation of long-chain saturated ceramides that are substrate for AC. As seen with administration of exogenous ceramide, AC ablation blocks cell cycle progression and accelerates senescence. Importantly, ASAH1-null cells also lose the ability to form cancer-initiating cells and to undergo self-renewal, which is suggestive of a key role for AC in maintaining malignancy and self-renewal of invasive melanoma cells. The results suggest that AC inhibitors might find therapeutic use as adjuvant therapy for advanced melanoma.

| S-EPMC5547127 | biostudies-literature

Acid ceramidase expression modulates the sensitivity of A375 melanoma cells to dacarbazine.

Project description:Dacarbazine (DTIC) is the treatment of choice for metastatic melanoma, but its response in patients remains very poor. Ceramide has been shown to be a death effector and to play an important role in regulating cancer cell growth upon chemotherapy. Among ceramidases, the enzymes that catabolize ceramide, acid ceramidase (aCDase) has been implicated in cancer progression. Here we show that DTIC elicits a time- and dose-dependent decrease of aCDase activity and an increase of intracellular ceramide levels in human A375 melanoma cells. The loss of enzyme activity occurred as a consequence of reactive oxygen species-dependent activation of cathepsin B-mediated degradation of aCDase. These events preceded autophagic features and loss of cell viability. Down-regulation of acid but not neutral or alkaline ceramidase 2 resulted in elevated levels of ceramide and sensitization to the toxic effects of DTIC. Conversely, inducible overexpression of acid but not neutral ceramidase reduced ceramide levels and conferred resistance to DTIC. In conclusion, we report that increased levels of ceramide, due to enhanced degradation of aCDase, are in part responsible for the cell death effects of DTIC. These results suggest that down-regulation of aCDase alone or in combination with DTIC may represent a useful tool in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

| S-EPMC3151065 | biostudies-literature

Autoproteolytic cleavage and activation of human acid ceramidase.

Project description:Herein we report the mechanism of human acid ceramidase (AC; N-acylsphingosine deacylase) cleavage and activation. A highly purified, recombinant human AC precursor underwent self-cleavage into alpha and beta subunits, similar to other members of the N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase superfamily. This reaction proceeded with first order kinetics, characteristic of self-cleavage. AC self-cleavage occurred most rapidly at acidic pH, but also at neutral pH. Site-directed mutagenesis and expression studies demonstrated that Cys-143 was an essential nucleophile that was required at the cleavage site. Other amino acids participating in AC cleavage included Arg-159 and Asp-162. Mutations at these three amino acids prevented AC cleavage and activity, the latter assessed using BODIPY-conjugated ceramide. We propose the following mechanism for AC self-cleavage and activation. Asp-162 likely forms a hydrogen bond with Cys-143, initiating a conformational change that allows Arg-159 to act as a proton acceptor. This, in turn, facilitates an intermediate thioether bond between Cys-143 and Ile-142, the site of AC cleavage. Hydrolysis of this bond is catalyzed by water. Treatment of recombinant AC with the cysteine protease inhibitor, methyl methanethiosulfonate, inhibited both cleavage and enzymatic activity, further indicating that cysteine-mediated self-cleavage is required for ceramide hydrolysis.

| S-EPMC2431059 | biostudies-literature

WWOX suppresses autophagy for inducing apoptosis in methotrexate-treated human squamous cell carcinoma.

Project description:Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells refractory to initial chemotherapy frequently develop disease relapse and distant metastasis. We show here that tumor suppressor WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) (also named FOR or WOX1) regulates the susceptibility of SCC to methotrexate (MTX) in vitro and cure of SCC in MTX therapy. MTX increased WWOX expression, accompanied by caspase activation and apoptosis, in MTX-sensitive SCC cell lines and tumor biopsies. Suppression by a dominant-negative or small interfering RNA targeting WWOX blocked MTX-mediated cell death in sensitive SCC-15 cells that highly expressed WWOX. In stark contrast, SCC-9 cells expressed minimum amount of WWOX protein and resisted MTX-induced apoptosis. Transiently overexpressed WWOX sensitized SCC-9 cells to apoptosis by MTX. MTX significantly downregulated autophagy-related Beclin-1, Atg12-Atg5 and LC3-II protein expression and autophagosome formation in the sensitive SCC-15, whereas autophagy remained robust in the resistant SCC-9. Mechanistically, WWOX physically interacted with mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which potentiated MTX-increased phosphorylation of mTOR and its downstream substrate p70 S6 kinase, along with dramatic downregulation of the aforementioned proteins in autophagy, in SCC-15. When WWOX was knocked down in SCC-15, MTX-induced mTOR signaling and autophagy inhibition were blocked. Thus, WWOX renders SCC cells susceptible to MTX-induced apoptosis by dampening autophagy, and the failure in inducing WWOX expression leads to chemotherapeutic drug resistance.

| S-EPMC3789168 | biostudies-literature

Akt2 and acid ceramidase cooperate to induce cell invasion and resistance to apoptosis.

Project description:Both Akt 2 and acid ceramidase (ASAH1) are found aberrantly overexpressed in cancer cells, but whether these two enzymes cooperate to induce malignant transformation is not known. We found that in immortalized, non-transformed cells, ectopic co-expression of Akt2 and ASAH1 is significantly more effective than expression of each gene alone at inducing cell invasion and at conferring resistance to apoptosis. Consistent with these observations, siRNA-mediated depletion of both Akt2 and ASAH1 is much more potent than depleting each alone at inhibiting cell viability/proliferation and cell invasion. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibitors of Akt (TCN or MK-2206) and ASAH1 (B13) synergize to inhibit cell viability/proliferation, and combinations of these drugs are more effective than single-agent treatments at inhibiting cell invasion. Taken together, the results suggest that these two enzymes cooperate to induce malignant transformation and warrant further preclinical studies to evaluate the potential of combining inhibitors of Akt and ASAH1 to treat cancer.

| S-EPMC3737305 | biostudies-literature

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