NSC126188 induces apoptosis of prostate cancer PC-3 cells through inhibition of Akt membrane translocation, FoxO3a activation, and RhoB transcription

Kyoung Jae Won, Bo Kyung Kim, Gyoonhee Han, Kyeong Lee, Young Jin Jung, Hwan Mook Kim, Kyung Bin Song, Kyung Sook Chung, Misun Won

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

We previously reported that NSC126188 caused apoptosis of cancer cells by inducing expression of RhoB. We here present that NSC126188 induces apoptosis of prostate cancer PC-3 cells by inhibiting Akt/FoxO3 signaling, which mediates RhoB upregulation. The apoptosis and Akt dephosphorylation caused by NSC126188 was not substantially relieved by overexpressing wild-type Akt but was relieved by overexpressing constitutively active Akt (CA-Akt) or myristoylated Akt (myr-Akt). Furthermore, overexpression of CA-Akt or myr-Akt downregulated RhoB expression, indicating that RhoB expression is regulated by Akt signaling. Interestingly, membrane translocation of GFP-Akt by insulin exposure was abolished in the cells pretreated with NSC126188 suggesting that NSC126188 directly interfered with translocation of Akt to the plasma membrane. In addition, NSC126188 activated FoxO3a by dephosphorylating S253 via Akt inhibition. Activated FoxO3a translocated to the nucleus and increased transcription of RhoB and other target genes. PC-3 cells transiently overexpressing FoxO3a exhibited increased RhoB expression and apoptosis in response to NSC126188. Conversely, FoxO3a knockdown reduced NSC126188-induced RhoB expression and cell death. These results suggest that RhoB may be a target gene of FoxO3a and is regulated by Akt signaling. Taken together, NSC126188 induces apoptosis of PC-3 cells by interfering with membrane recruitment of Akt, resulting in Akt dephosphorylation and FoxO3a activation, which leads to transcription of RhoB.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)179-190
Number of pages12
JournalApoptosis
Volume19
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2014

Keywords

  • Akt
  • Apoptosis
  • Foxo3a
  • Nsci26188
  • Rhob

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