Apigenin Induces Autophagy and Cell Death by Targeting EZH2 under Hypoxia Conditions in Gastric Cancer Cells

Hypoxia is a major obstacle to gastric cancer (GC) therapy and leads to chemoresistance as GC cells are frequently exposed to the hypoxia environment. Apigenin, a flavonoid found in traditional medicine, fruits, and vegetables and an HDAC inhibitor, is a powerful anti-cancer agent against various cancer cell lines. However, detailed mechanisms involved in the treatment of GC using APG are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the biological activity of and molecular mechanisms involved in APG-mediated treatment of GC under hypoxia. APG promoted autophagic cell death by increasing ATG5, LC3-II, and phosphorylation of AMPK and ULK1 and down-regulating p-mTOR and p62 in GC. Furthermore, our results show that APG induces autophagic cell death via the activation of the PERK signaling, indicating an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. The inhibition of ER stress suppressed APG-induced autophagy and conferred prolonged cell survival, indicating autophagic cell death. We further show that APG induces ER stress- and autophagy-related cell death through the inhibition of HIF-1 alpha and Ezh2 under normoxia and hypoxia. Taken together, our findings indicate that APG activates autophagic cell death by inhibiting HIF-1 alpha and Ezh2 under hypoxia conditions in GC cells.