Cinobufagin induces FOXO1-regulated apoptosis, proliferation, migration, and invasion by inhibiting G9a in non-small-cell lung cancer A549 cells

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Bufonis (VB), an animal drug called Chansu in China, is the product of the secretion of Bufo gargarizans Cantor or B. melanostictus Schneider. As a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for a long time, it has been widely used in the treatment of heart failure, ulcer, pain, and various cancers. Cinobufaginn (CNB), the cardiotonic steroid or bufalene lactone extracted from VB, has the effects of detoxification, detumescence, and analgesia.Aim of the study: The present study aimed to define the effects of CNB on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and identify the potential molecular mechanisms.Materials and methods: A549 cells were treated with cinobufagin and cell viability, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were then evaluated using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assays, flow cytometry, and Transwell assays, respectively. Moreover, the levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), cytokeratin8 (CK8), poly ADPribose polymerase (PARP), Caspase3, Caspase8, B-cell lymphoma/lewkmia-2(Bcl-2), Bcl2-Associated X(Bax), forkhead box O1 (FOXO1), and euchromatic histone-lysine N-methyltransferase2 (G9a, EHMT2) in A549 cells were evaluated using qRT-PCR and/or Western blot analysis (WB), Co-IP, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry. An in vivo imaging system, TUNEL, Immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry were also used to detect proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA), Ki67, E-Cadherin(E-Cad), FOXO1, and G9a in mouse xenograft model experiments. Results: CNB suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion but promoted apoptosis in A549 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, while cinobufagin had no cytotoxic effect on BEAS-2B cells. In vivo, cinobufagin inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of A549 cells and promoted their apoptosis. The occurrence of the above phenomena was accompanied by an increase in FOXO1 expression and a decrease in G9a expression. In A549 cells, CNB did not reverse the changes in the proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis of A549 cells after FOXO1 was successfully silenced. Conclusion: Our study provides the first evidence that cinobufagin suppresses the malignant biological behaviours of NSCLC cells in vivo and in vitro and suggests that mechanistically, this effect may be achieved by inhibiting the expression of the histone methyltransferase G9a and activating the tumour suppressor gene FOXO1. Taken together, our findings provide important insights into the molecular mechanism underlying cinobufagin's anticancer activity, and suggest that cinobufagin could be a candidate for targeted cancer therapy.