Tetrahydrocurcumin‑induced autophagy via suppression of PI3K/Akt/mTOR in non‑small cell lung carcinoma cells

Song,Guoqiang; Lu,Honghui; Chen,Fei; Wang,Youmei; Fan,Weibin; Shao,Weifang; Lu,Huoquan; Lin,Bin

doi:10.3892/mmr.2018.8600

Tetrahydrocurcumin‑induced autophagy via suppression of PI3K/Akt/mTOR in non‑small cell lung carcinoma cells

Authors:
- Guoqiang Song
- Honghui Lu
- Fei Chen
- Youmei Wang
- Weibin Fan
- Weifang Shao
- Huoquan Lu
- Bin Lin
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Affiliations: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Changxing People's Hospital of Zhejiang, Huzhou, Zhejiang 313100, P.R. China, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Changxing People's Hospital of Zhejiang, Huzhou, Zhejiang 313100, P.R. China, Department of Medical Laboratory, Changxing People's Hospital of Zhejiang, Huzhou, Zhejiang 313100, P.R. China
Published online on: February 13, 2018 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2018.8600
Pages: 5964-5969

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Abstract

Lung carcinoma is the leading cause of mortality due to cancer worldwide. Autophagy has a significant role in the development and progression of non‑small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). A previous study has revealed that tetrahydrocurcumin (THC), a traditional Chinese medicine isolated from Curcuma wenyujin (Chen & Ling, 1981), induces autophagy in human A549 NSCLC cells. The present study evaluated THC‑induced autophagy in A549 cells using various assays, including the Cell Counting Kit‑8, acridine orange staining, flow cytometry, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR), and western blot analysis of the markers of autophagy. THC inhibited the growth and proliferation of A549 cells (P<0.05). Acridine orange staining and flow cytometry revealed that THC treatment significantly enhanced autophagic cell proliferation inhibition (P<0.05). The RT‑qPCR analysis revealed that THC treatment increased Beclin‑1 expression level and compared with the control group (P<0.05). The light chain 3 (LC3)‑II/LC3‑I ratio was reduced in THC‑treated cells when compared with the control group (P<0.05). Protein expression of various markers of autophagy, including p62, phosphorylated (p)‑mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), phosphoinositide 3‑kinase (PI3K), p‑PI3K, protein kinase B (Akt), and p‑Akt was significantly reduced in THC‑treated cells (P<0.05). In conclusion, the present study revealed the underlying mechanisms associated with THC‑induced autophagy. A promising method of enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of THC against NSCLC cells may include inducing autophagy via inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

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