Background: Metabolic reprogramming and hypoxia contribute to the resistance of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs in kinds of cancers. In this study, we investigated the effect of dihydrotanshinone I (DHTS) on reversing dysregulated metabolism of glucose and fatty acid in colon cancer and elucidated its mechanism of action.
Methods: Cell viability was determined by MTT assay. Oxidative phosphorylation, glycolysis, and mitochondrial fuel oxidation were assessed by Mito stress test, glycolysis stress test, and mito fuel flex test, respectively. Anti-cancer activity of DHTS in vivo was evaluated in Colon cancer xenograft. Hexokinase activity and free fatty acid (FFA) content were assessed using respective Commercial kits. Gene expression patterns were determined by performing DNA microarray analysis and real-time PCR. Protein expression was assessed using immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry.
Results: DHTS showed similar cytotoxicity against colon cancer cells under hypoxia and normoxia. DHTS decreased the efficiency of glucose and FA as mitochondrial fuels in HCT116 cells, which efficiently reversed by VO-OHpic trihydrate. DHTS reduced hexokinase activity and free fatty acid (FFA) content in tumor tissue of xenograft model of colon cancer. Gene expression patterns in metabolic pathways were dramatically differential between model and treatment group. Increases in PTEN and a substantial decrease in the expression of SIRT3, HIF1α, p-AKT, HKII, p-MTOR, RHEB, and p-ACC were detected.
Conclusions: DHTS reversed metabolic reprogramming in colon cancer through PTEN/AKT/HIF1α-mediated signal pathway.
General significance: The study is the first to report the reverse of metabolic reprogramming by DHTS in colon cancer. Meantime, SIRT3/PTEN/AKT/HIF1α mediated signal pathway plays a critical role during this process.
Keywords: Colon cancer; Dihydrotanshinone I; HIF1α; Metabolic reprogramming; PTEN; SIRT3.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.