We have demonstrated the cytotoxic effects of [Pt(O,O'-acac)(γ-acac)(dimethyl sulfide (DMS))] on various immortalized cell lines, in primary cultures, and in murine xenograft models in vivo. Recently, we also showed that [Pt(O,O'-acac)(γ-acac)(DMS)] is able to kill Caki-1 renal cells both in vivo and in vitro. In the present paper, apoptotic and autophagic effects of [Pt(O,O'-acac)(γ-acac)(DMS)] and cisplatin were studied and compared using Caki-1 cancerous renal cells. The effects of cisplatin include activation of caspases, proteolysis of enzyme poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), control of apoptosis modulators B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), and BH3-interacting domain death agonist (Bid), and cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase. Conversely, [Pt(O,O'-acac)(γ-acac)(DMS)] did not induce caspase activation, nor chromatin condensation or DNA fragmentation. The effects of [Pt(O,O'-acac)(γ-acac)(DMS)] include microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3B (LC3)-I to LC3-II conversion, Beclin-1 and Atg-3, -4, and -5 increase, Bcl-2 decrease, and monodansylcadaverine accumulation in autophagic vacuoles. [Pt(O,O'-acac)(γ-acac)(DMS)] also modulated various kinases involved in intracellular transduction regulating cell fate. [Pt(O,O'-acac)(γ-acac)(DMS)] inhibited the phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapmycin (mTOR), p70S6K, and AKT, and increased the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK1/2), a kinase activity pattern consistent with autophagy induction. In conclusion, while in past reports the high cytotoxicity of [Pt(O,O'-acac)(γ-acac)(DMS)] was always attributed to its ability to trigger an apoptotic process, in this paper we show that Caki-1 cells die as a result of the induction of a strong autophagic process.
Keywords: apoptosis; autophagy; cancerous renal cells; cisplatin.