Nitric oxide inhibits autophagy and promotes apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common cause of cancer‐related mortality worldwide. The expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and the inhibition of autophagy have been linked to cancer cell death. However, the involvement of serum nitric oxide (NO), the expression of NOS, and autophagy have not been investigated in HCC. In the present study, we first established that the NO level was significantly higher in HBV‐related HCC than in the liver cirrhosis control (53.60±19.74 μmol/L vs 8.09±4.17 μmol/L, t=15.13, p<0.0001). Using immunohistochemistry, we found that the source of NO was at least partially attributed to the expression of iNOS and eNOS but not nNOS in the liver tissue. Furthermore, in human liver cancer cells, NO induced apoptosis and inhibited autophagy. Pharmacological inhibition of autophagy also induced apoptosis, whereas the induction of autophagy could ameliorate NO‐induced apoptosis. We also found that NO regulates the switch between apoptosis and autophagy by disrupting the Beclin 1/Vps34 association and by increasing the Bcl‐2/Beclin 1 interaction. Overall, the present findings suggest that increased NOS/NO promotes apoptosis via the inhibition of autophagy in liver cancer cells, which may provide a novel strategy for the treatment of HCC.

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