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Int J Med Sci 2012; 9(7):555-566. doi:10.7150/ijms.4455 This issue Cite

Research Paper

Cytotoxicity of 15-Deoxy-Δ^12,14-prostaglandin J₂ through PPARγ-independent Pathway and the Involvement of the JNK and Akt Pathway in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Megumi Fujita¹, Chiaki Tohji¹, Yoko Honda¹, Yasuhiro Yamamoto², Tsutomu Nakamura², Tatsurou Yagami², Motohiro Yamamori¹, Noboru Okamura^{1 ✉}

1. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, 11-68 Koshien-kyuban-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8179, Japan;
2. Department of Pharmaceutical Health Care, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Himeji Dokkyo University, 2-1 Kami-ohno 7-Chome, Himeji, Hyogo 670-8524, Japan.

✉ Corresponding author: Noboru Okamura, PhD., Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, 11-68 Koshien-kyuban-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8179, Japan. Tel/Fax: +81 798 45 9955, E-mail: nokamuraac.jp. More

Abstract

Introduction: Agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) have been examined as chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents. The aim was to investigate the cytotoxicity and action mechanisms of 15-deoxy-Δ^12,14-prostaglandin J₂ (15d-PGJ₂), one of endogenous ligands for PPARγ, in terms of PPARγ-dependency and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Akt pathway in three human renal cell carcinoma (RCC)-derived cell lines.

Methods: 786-O, Caki-2 and ACHN cells were used as human RCC-derived cell lines. Cell viability and caspase-3 activity was detected by fluorescent reagents, and chromatin-condensation was observed with a brightfield fluorescent microscope after staining cells with Hoechst33342. The expression levels of proteins were detected by Western blot analysis.

Results: 15d-PGJ₂ showed cytotoxicity in dose-dependent manner. 15d-PGJ₂ induced chromatin-condensation and elevated caspase-3 activity, and the cell viability was restored by co-treatment with a pan-caspase inhibitor, Z-VAD-FMK, indicating the involvement of caspase-dependent apoptosis. The cytotoxicity was not impaired by a PPARγ inhibitor, GW9662, suggesting that 15d-PGJ₂ exerted the cytotoxicity in a PPARγ-independent manner. Some antioxidants rescued cells from cell death induced by 15d-PGJ₂, but some did not, suggesting that reactive oxygen species (ROS) did not contribute to the apoptosis. 15d-PGJ₂ also increased the expression levels of phospho-c-Jun N terminal kinase (JNK) in Caki-2 cells, and decreased those of phospho-Akt in 786-O cells, indicating that the JNK MAPK and the Akt pathways participated in the anticancer effects of 15d-PGJ₂ in some cell lines.

Conclusion: 15d-PGJ₂ exerted cytotoxic effects accompanying caspase-dependent apoptosis, and this effect was elicited in a PPARγ-independent manner in three cell lines. In addition, the JNK MAPK and Akt pathway was involved in the cytotoxicity of 15d-PGJ₂ to some extent in some cell line. Therefore, our study showed the 15d-PGJ₂ to potentially be an interesting approach for RCC treatment.

Keywords: 15-deoxy-Δ^12,14prostaglandin J₂, PPARγ, Renal cell carcinoma, Apoptosis, JNK MAPK, Akt.

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