Blocking AMPK/ULK1-dependent autophagy promoted apoptosis and suppressed colon cancer growth

Background Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process through which cells degrade and recycle cytoplasm. The relation among autophagy, apoptosis and tumor is highly controversial until now and the molecular mechanism is poorly understood. Methods Cell viability and apoptosis were detected by CCK8, crystal violet staining, Hoechst333342 staining and flow cytometry. The expression of AMPK and ULK1 was analyzed by western blotting. Colon cancer growth suppression by NVP-BEZ235 or CQ in vivo was studied in a tumor xenograft mouse model. Results Our previous study revealed that NVP-BEZ235 suppressed colorectal cancer growth via inducing apoptosis, however later, we found it also initiated autophagy simultaneously. In this present study, our results show that NVP-BEZ235 induced autophagy through AMPK/ULK1 pathway in colon cancer cells. Blocking autophagy by knocking down AMPK or ULK1 inhibited cell proliferation and further promoted NVP-BEZ235 induced apoptosis. Meantime, the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) shows obvious effect on inhibiting cell proliferation but not on inducing apoptosis, while it significantly increased NVP-BEZ235 induced apoptosis. Furthermore, the combinational therapy of NVP-BEZ235 and CQ shows synergistic antitumor effects in colon cancer in vivo. Conclusion NVP-BEZ235 induced AMPK/ULK1-dependent autophagy. Targeting this autophagy suppressed colon cancer growth through further promoting apoptosis, which is a potential therapeutic option for clinical patients.