Uloga inhibicije protein-kinaze aktivirane adenozin-monofosfatom u indukciji apoptoze i autofagije u tumorskim ćelijskim linijama

U ovoj doktorskoj disertaciji ispitivan je uticaj inhibicije intracelularnog energetskog senzora protein kinaze aktivirane adenozin-monofosfatom (AMPK) na indukciju apoptoze i autofagije u tumorskim ćelija. Farmakološki inhibitor AMPK dorzomorfin indukovao je G2/M blokadu ćelijskog ciklusa, praćen apoptozom koju karakteriše aktivacija kaspaza, eksternalizacija fosfatidilserina i fragmentacija DNK u U251 humanim i C6 pacovskim ćelijama glioma, dok na vijabilitet primarnih pacovskih astrocita i ćelija mišjeg melanoma B16 nije imao uticaja. Mehanizam indukcije apoptoze dorzomorfinom bio je posredovan stimulacijom produkcije reaktivnih vrsta kiseonika i inhibicijom ekspresije antiapoptotskog Bcl-2 proteina. Dorzomorfin je inhibirao fosforilaciju i enzimatsku aktivnost AMPK, što je za posledicu imalo smanjenje fosforilacije njenog supstrata acetil-CoA karboksilaze. Aktivatori AMPK metformin i AICAR delimično su neutralisali blokadu ćelijskog ciklusa, oksidativni stres i apoptozu indukovanu dorzomorfinom. Mala interferirajuća RNK (siRNK) koja sprečava ekspresiju humanog AMPK enzima je poput dorzomorfina zaustavila proliferaciju ćelija u G2/M fazi ćelijskog ciklusa, ali nije izazvala oksidativni stres i apoptozu u U251 ćelijama. Dakle, inhibicija AMPK je neophodna, ali ne i dovoljna za indukciju apotpoze dorzomorfinom u ćelijama glioma. U ovoj studiji takođe je pokazano da dorzomorfin indukuje autofagiju u ćelijama kancera. Indukcija autofagije u U251 ćelijama detektovana je fluorescentnim bojenjem unutarćelijskih kiselih vezikula akridin oranžom, indukcijom beklina-1, degradacijom p62 proteina i konverzijom LC3-I u formu asociranu sa autofagozomima LC3-II u odsustvu i prisustvu proteolitičkih inhibitora. Prisustvo autofagozomima sličnih vezikula potvrđeno je transmisionom elektronskom mikroskopijom. Inhibicija AMPK i Raptora indukovana dorzomorfinom u U251 ćelijama bila je paradoksalno asocirana sa smanjenjem fosforilacije AMPK/Raptorom inhibiranog glavnog represora autofagije mTOR i njegovog supstrata p70S6K. Fosforilacija mTOR aktivatora Akt i PI3K-aktivirane Src kinaze bile su takođe inhibirane u ćelijama tretiranim dorzomorfinom. Poništavanje ekspresije AMPK sa siRNA nije redukovalo aktivnost Akt/mTOR/p70S6K signalnog puta, a AMPK aktivatori metformin i AICAR nisu uspeli da blokiraju autofagiju indukovanu dorzomorfinom. Inhibitori autofagije bafilomicin i hlorokin značajno su povećali citotoksičnost dorzomorfina prema U251 ćelijama, što je pokazano povećanjem oslobađanja laktat dehidrogenaze, fragmentacije DNK i aktivacije kaspaze-3. Sličan efekat dorzomorfin je imao i prema ćelijama pacovskog glioma C6, mišjeg fibrosarkoma L929 i mišjeg melanoma B16. Pošto je ranije pokazano da dorzomorfin suprimira AMPK-zavisnu autofagiju u različitim ćelijskim tipovima, rezultati ove studije sugerišu da efekat dorzomorfina na autofagiju zavisi od doze, konteksta i/ili vrste ćelija. Imajući u vidu da dorzomorfin indukuje autofagiju u ćelijama kancera nezavisno od inhibicije AMPK, inhibicijom Akt/mTOR signalnog puta, rezultati ove studije ukazuju na neophodnost opreza pri interpretaciji rezultata eksperimenata u kojima se dorzomorfin koristi kao inhibitor AMPK, ali takođe sugerišu da bi dorzomorfin, sam ili u kombinaciji sa inhibitorima autofagije, mogao biti potencijalni kandidat za terapiju tumora. In this doctoral dissertation the effect of intracellular energy sensor AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) inhibition on induction of apoptosis and autophagy in tumor cells was investigated. Pharmacological AMPK inhibitor dorsomorphin caused G2/M cell cycle block, accompanied by apoptotic cell death characterized by caspase activation, phosphatidylserine exposure and DNA fragmentation in U251 human and C6 rat glioma cells, while it had no effect on viability of primary rat astrocytes and B16 mouse melanoma cells. The mechanisms underlying the pro-apoptotic action of dorsomorphin involved induction of oxidative stress and down-regulation of antiapoptotic molecule Bcl-2. Dorsomorphin diminished AMPK phosphorylation and enzymatic activity, resulting in reduced phosphorylation of its target acetyl CoA carboxylase. AMPK activators metformin and AICAR partly prevented the cell cycle block, oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by dorsomorphin. The small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting of human AMPK mimicked dorsomorphin-induced G2/M cell cycle arrest, but failed to induce oxidative stress and apoptosis in U251 glioma cells. Therefore, AMPK inhibition is required, but not sufficient for dorsomorphin-mediated apoptotic death of glioma cells. In this study, it was also reported that dorsomorphin can induce autophagy in cancer cells. The induction of autophagy in U251 human glioma cell line was demonstrated by acridine orange staining of intracellular acidic vesicles, Beclin 1 induction, p62 decrease and conversion of LC3-I to autophagosome-associated LC3-II in the absence and presence of proteolysis inhibitors. The presence of autophagosome like vesicles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Dorsomorphin-mediated inhibition of AMPK and Raptor in U251 cells was associated with paradoxical decrease in phosphorylation of AMPK/Raptor-repressed mTOR, a major negative regulator of autophagy, and its downstream target p70S6K. The phosphorylation of mTOR activator Akt and PI3K-activating kinase Src was also impaired in dorsomorphin-treated cells. The siRNA-mediated AMPK silencing did not reduce the activity of the Akt/mTOR/p70S6K pathway and AMPK activators metformin and AICAR failed to block dorsomorphin-induced autophagy. Autophagy inhibitors bafilomycin and chloroquine significantly increased the cytotoxicity of dorsomorphin towards U251 cells, as confirmed by the increase in lactate dehydrogenase release, DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 activation. Similar effects of dorsomorphin were also observed in C6 rat glioma, L929 mouse fibrosarcoma and B16 mouse melanoma cell lines. Since dorsomorphin has previously been reported to suppress AMPK dependent autophagy in different cell types, results in this study suggest that the effects of dorsomorphin on autophagy might be dose-, cell type- and/or context-dependent. By demonstrating the ability of dorsomorphin to induce autophagic response in cancer cells via AMPK inhibition-independent downregulation of Akt/mTOR pathway, results warrant caution when using dorsomorphin to inhibit AMPK-dependent cellular responses, but also suggest that dorsomorphin, alone or in combination with autophagy inhibitors, could be potential candidate for anticancer therapy.