Antimycin A sensitizes cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis through upregulation of DR5 and downregulation of c-FLIP and Bcl-2

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has been the focus as a potential anticancer drug, because it induces apoptosis in a wide variety of cancer cells but not in most normal human cell types. In this study, we showed that combination treatment with sub-toxic doses of antimycin A (AMA), an inhibitor of electron transport, plus TRAIL induced apoptosis in human renal cancer cells, but not in normal tubular kidney cells. Treatment of Caki cells with AMA upregulated the death receptor 5 (DR5) protein and downregulated c-FLIP and Bcl-2 proteins in a dose-dependent manner. AMA-induced decrease of c-FLIPL and c-FLIPs protein levels which were caused by increased protein instability, which was confirmed by the result showing that treatment with a protein biosynthesis inhibitor, CHX, accelerated degradation of c-FLIPL and c-FLIPs proteins caused by AMA treatment. We also found that AMA induced upregulation of DR5 and downregulation of Bcl-2 at the transcriptional level. Pretreatment with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) partly recovered the expression levels of c-FLIPL and c-FLIPs proteins were downregulated by the AMA treatment, suggesting that AMA appears to be partially dependent on the generation of ROS for downregulation of c-FLIPL and c-FLIPs. Collectively, this study demonstrates that AMA enhances TRAIL-induced apoptosis in human renal cancer cells by upregulation of DR5 as well as downregulation of c-FLIP and Bcl-2. Furthermore, this study shows that AMA markedly increases sensitivity to cisplatin in Caki human renal cancer cells.