Objectives: To improve conventional chemotherapeutic efficacy, it is important to detect new molecular markers for chemosensitivity and possible accelerating cell-killing mechanisms. In this study, we investigated how MK2206, an allosteric Akt inhibitor, enhances the cisplatin (CDDP)-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in urothelial cancer cells.
Materials and methods: We examined bladder cancer cell lines for the expression of phospho(p)-Akt and its downstream targets by Western blot. The potential antitumor effects were analyzed by MTT assay in vitro and by subcutaneous xenograft models in vivo. The cell invasion was examined by transwell invasion assay, and the activities of the Akt signaling pathway and expression of apoptosis-related proteins were measured by Western blot.
Results: The expression of p-Akt and its downstream targets was increased in invasive bladder cancer cell lines vs. in noninvasive bladder cancer cell lines. MK2206 (500 nM) inhibited cell invasion in UMUC3 cell line and significantly increased the susceptibility of bladder cancer cell lines to CDDP. When used in combination with CDDP, MK2206 (500 nM) enhanced CDDP-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis, with suppressed expression of p-Akt and its downstream targets. In vivo MK2206 combined with CDDP effectively suppressed tumor growth in subcutaneous xenograft models.
Conclusions: These results suggest that concomitant use of MK2206 could promote the CDDP-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in urothelial cancer cell lines through the inhibited expression of the Akt pathway. This combined treatment may provide a new therapeutic option to enhance chemosensitivity in bladder cancer.
Keywords: Akt pathway; Cisplatin; Invasion; MK2206; Urothelial cancer.
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