Coumestrol suppresses the accumulation of HIF-1α via suppression of SPHK1 pathway in hypoxic prostate cancer cells. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Coumestrol suppresses hypoxia inducible factor 1α by inhibiting ROS mediated sphingosine kinase 1 in hypoxic PC-3 prostate cancer cells.
Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2014 Jun 1 ;24(11):2560-4. Epub 2014 Apr 3. PMID: 24768446
Sung-Yun Cho
Among many signals to regulate hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), sphingosine kinase 1 (SPHK1) is also involved in various biological activities such as cell growth, survival, invasion, angiogenesis, and carcinogenesis. Thus, in the present study, molecular mechanisms of coumestrol were investigated on the SPHK1 and HIF-1α signaling pathway in hypoxic PC-3 prostate cancer cells. Coumestrol significantly suppressed SPHK1 activity and accumulation of HIF-1α in a time- and concentration-dependent manner in hypoxic PC-3 cells. In addition, coumestrol inhibited the phosphorylation status of AKT and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK 3β) signalinginvolved in cancer metabolism. Furthermore, SPHK1 siRNA transfection, sphigosine kinase inhibitor (SKI), reactive oxygen species (ROS) enhanced the inhibitory effect of coumestrol on the accumulation of HIF-1α and the expression of pAKT and pGSK 3β in hypoxic PC-3 cells by combination index. Overall, our findings suggest that coumestrol suppresses the accumulation of HIF-1α via suppression of SPHK1 pathway in hypoxic PC-3 cells.