Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Stable XIAP knockdown clones of HCT116 colon cancer cells are more sensitive to TRAIL, taxanes and irradiation in vitro

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To develop a model of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) down regulation in colorectal cancer cell lines. This may be used to determine whether combination strategies have clinical potential.

Methods

A series of clones were developed using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against XIAP stably expressed in HCT116 cells. XIAP mRNA and protein levels were established by RT-PCR and Immunoblot, respectively. GeneChip microarrays confirmed XIAP knockdown and absence of compensation by other IAP members.

Results

Four XIAP knockdown cell lines show 82–93% reduction in XIAP mRNA and 67–89% reduction in protein when compared to four luciferase control cell lines. XIAP knockdown sensitises cells to rhTRAIL by a factor of 3, to paclitaxel and docetaxel by a factor of >2 and, to a lesser extent, radiotherapy (20% enhancement).

Conclusions

Clinical trials with XIAP antisense continue, and these data suggest combination studies with agents such as rhTRAIL and taxanes should be undertaken.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

AMPK:

AMP-activated protein kinase

cIAP1:

Cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein 1

cIAP2:

Cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein 2

DR:

Death receptor

IAP:

Inhibitor of apoptosis protein

NSCLC:

Non-small cell lung cancer

NAIP:

Neuronal apoptosis inhibitor protein

MTT:

3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide

RMA:

Robust multichip average

RNAi:

RNA interference

rhTRAIL:

Recombinant human TNF related apoptosis inducing ligand

RT-PCR:

Real time polymerase chain reaction

shRNA:

Short hairpin RNA

SRB:

Sulforhodamine B

XIAP:

X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein

References

  1. Debatin KM (2004) Apoptosis pathways in cancer and cancer therapy. Cancer Immunol Immunother 53(3):153–159

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Deveraux QL, Takahashi R, Salvesen GS, Reed JC (1997) X-linked IAP is a direct inhibitor of cell-death proteases. Nature 388(6639):300–304

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Scott FL, Denault JB, Riedl SJ, Shin H, Renatus M, Salvesen GS (2005) XIAP inhibits caspase-3 and -7 using two binding sites: evolutionarily conserved mechanism of IAPs. EMBO J 24(3):645–655

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Shiozaki EN, Chai J, Rigotti DJ et al (2003) Mechanism of XIAP-mediated inhibition of caspase-9. Mol Cell 11(2):519–527

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Wright CW, Duckett CS (2005) Reawakening the cellular death program in neoplasia through the therapeutic blockade of IAP function. J Clin Invest 115(10):2673–2678

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Eckelman BP, Salvesen GS (2006) The human anti-apoptotic proteins cIAP1 and cIAP2 bind but do not inhibit caspases. J Biol Chem 281(6):3254–3260

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Dohi T, Okada K, Xia F et al (2004) An IAP-IAP complex inhibits apoptosis. J Biol Chem 279(33):34087–34090

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Liu Z, Li H, Wu X et al (2006) Detachment-induced upregulation of XIAP and cIAP2 delays anoikis of intestinal epithelial cells. Oncogene 25(59):7680–7690

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Schwab M, Reynders V, Loitsch S et al (2008) PPARgamma is involved in mesalazine-mediated induction of apoptosis and inhibition of cell growth in colon cancer cells. Carcinogenesis 29(7):1407–1414

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Tamm I, Kornblau SM, Segall H et al (2000) Expression and prognostic significance of IAP-family genes in human cancers and myeloid leukemias. Clin Cancer Res 6(5):1796–1803

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Krajewska M, Krajewski S, Banares S et al (2003) Elevated expression of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins in prostate cancer. Clin Cancer Res 9(13):4914–4925

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Krajewska M, Kim H, Kim C et al (2005) Analysis of apoptosis protein expression in early-stage colorectal cancer suggests opportunities for new prognostic biomarkers. Clin Cancer Res 11(15):5451–5461

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Mizutani Y, Nakanishi H, Li YN et al (2007) Overexpression of XIAP expression in renal cell carcinoma predicts a worse prognosis. Int J Oncol 30(4):919–925

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Liu SS, Tsang BK, Cheung AN et al (2001) Anti-apoptotic proteins, apoptotic and proliferative parameters and their prognostic significance in cervical carcinoma. Eur J Cancer 37(9):1104–1110

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Ferreira CG, van der Valk P, Span SW et al (2001) Expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis as a novel prognostic marker in radically resected non-small cell lung cancer patients. Clin Cancer Res 7(8):2468–2474

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Schimmer AD, Dalili S, Batey RA, Riedl SJ (2006) Targeting XIAP for the treatment of malignancy. Cell Death Differ 13(2):179–188

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Ranson M, Ward T, Cummings J et al (2005) A Phase 1 Trial of AEG35156 (XIAP antisense) administered as a 7-day continuous intravenous infusion in patients with advanced tumors. Clin Cancer Res 11(24, Part 2):8965s–9216s

    Google Scholar 

  18. McManus DC, Lefebvre CA, Cherton-Horvat G et al (2004) Loss of XIAP protein expression by RNAi and antisense approaches sensitizes cancer cells to functionally diverse chemotherapeutics. Oncogene 23(49):8105–8117

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Gentleman RC, Carey VJ, Bates DM et al (2004) Bioconductor: open software development for computational biology and bioinformatics. Genome Biol 5(10):R80

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. R Development Core Team (2006) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Available from: http://www.R-project.org

  21. Gautier L, Cope L, Bolstad BM, Irizarry RA (2004) affy–analysis of Affymetrix GeneChip data at the probe level. Bioinformatics 20(3):307–315

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Smyth G (2005) Limma: linear models for microarray data. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  23. Irizarry RA, Bolstad BM, Collin F, Cope LM, Hobbs B, Speed TP (2003) Summaries of Affymetrix GeneChip probe level data. Nucleic Acids Res 31(4):e15

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Smyth G (2004) Linear models and empirical Bayes methods for assessing differential expression in microarray experiments. Statistical applications in genetics and molecular biology. 3, no 1:Article 3

  25. Benjamini Y (1995) Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. J R Stat Soc Ser B(57):289–300

    Google Scholar 

  26. Skehan P, Storeng R, Scudiero D et al (1990) New colorimetric cytotoxicity assay for anticancer-drug screening. J Natl Cancer Inst 82(13):1107–1112

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Workman P, Twentyman P, Balkwill F, United Kingdom Co-Ordinating Committee on Cancer Research (UKCCCR) (1998) Guidelines for the welfare of animals in experimental neoplasia. Br J Cancer 77:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  28. Burstein E, Ganesh L, Dick RD et al (2004) A novel role for XIAP in copper homeostasis through regulation of MURR1. EMBO J 23(1):244–254

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Takeuchi H, Kim J, Fujimoto A et al (2005) X-Linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein expression level in colorectal cancer is regulated by hepatocyte growth factor/C-met pathway via Akt signaling. Clin Cancer Res 11(21):7621–7628

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Li L, Thomas RM, Suzuki H, De Brabander JK, Wang X, Harran PG (2004) A small molecule Smac mimic potentiates TRAIL- and TNFalpha-mediated cell death. Science 305(5689):1471–1474

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Liston P, Fong WG, Kelly NL et al (2001) Identification of XAF1 as an antagonist of XIAP anti-Caspase activity. Nat Cell Biol 3(2):128–133

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Suzuki Y, Imai Y, Nakayama H, Takahashi K, Takio K, Takahashi R (2001) A serine protease, HtrA2, is released from the mitochondria and interacts with XIAP, inducing cell death. Mol Cell 8(3):613–621

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Hegde R, Srinivasula SM, Datta P et al (2003) The polypeptide chain-releasing factor GSPT1/eRF3 is proteolytically processed into an IAP-binding protein. J Biol Chem 278(40):38699–38706

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Stehlik C, de Martin R, Kumabashiri I, Schmid JA, Binder BR, Lipp J (1998) Nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB-regulated X-chromosome-linked iap gene expression protects endothelial cells from tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced apoptosis. J Exp Med 188(1):211–216

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Harlin H, Reffey SB, Duckett CS, Lindsten T, Thompson CB (2001) Characterization of XIAP-deficient mice. Mol Cell Biol 21(10):3604–3608

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Cummins JM, Kohli M, Rago C, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Bunz F (2004) X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) is a nonredundant modulator of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-mediated apoptosis in human cancer cells. Cancer Res 64(9):3006–3008

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Olayioye MA, Kaufmann H, Pakusch M, Vaux DL, Lindeman GJ, Visvader JE (2005) XIAP-deficiency leads to delayed lobuloalveolar development in the mammary gland. Cell Death Differ 12(1):87–90

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Schimmer AD (2004) Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins: translating basic knowledge into clinical practice. Cancer Res 64(20):7183–7190

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Motoshima H, Goldstein BJ, Igata M, Araki E (2006) AMPK and cell proliferation—AMPK as a therapeutic target for atherosclerosis and cancer. J Physiol 574(Pt 1):63–71

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Marini P, Denzinger S, Schiller D et al (2006) Combined treatment of colorectal tumours with agonistic TRAIL receptor antibodies HGS-ETR1 and HGS-ETR2 and radiotherapy: enhanced effects in vitro and dose-dependent growth delay in vivo. Oncogene 25(37):5145–5154

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Buchsbaum DJ, Zhou T, Grizzle WE et al (2003) Antitumor efficacy of TRA-8 anti-DR5 monoclonal antibody alone or in combination with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy in a human breast cancer model. Clin Cancer Res 9(10 Pt 1):3731–3741

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Cao C, Mu Y, Hallahan DE, Lu B (2004) XIAP and survivin as therapeutic targets for radiation sensitization in preclinical models of lung cancer. Oncogene 23(42):7047–7052

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Vogler M, Durr K, Jovanovic M, Debatin KM, Fulda S (2007) Regulation of TRAIL-induced apoptosis by XIAP in pancreatic carcinoma cells. Oncogene 26(2):248–257

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Yang L, Cao Z, Yan H, Wood WC (2003) Coexistence of high levels of apoptotic signaling and inhibitor of apoptosis proteins in human tumor cells: implication for cancer specific therapy. Cancer Res 63(20):6815–6824

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Ravi R, Jain AJ, Schulick RD et al (2004) Elimination of hepatic metastases of colon cancer cells via p53-independent cross-talk between irinotecan and Apo2 ligand/TRAIL. Cancer Res 64(24):9105–9114

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Endo T, Abe S, Seidlar HB et al (2004) Expression of IAP family proteins in colon cancers from patients with different age groups. Cancer Immunol Immunother 53(9):770–776

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Kanzler S TT, Heinemann V et al (2005) Results of a phase 2 trial of HGS-ETR1 (agonistic human monoclonal antibody to TRAIL receptor 1) in subjects with relapsed or refractory colorectal cancer (CRC) [abstract 630]. Eur J Cancer Suppl 3:177

    Google Scholar 

  48. Plummer R, Attard G, Pacey S et al (2007) Phase 1 and pharmacokinetic study of lexatumumab in patients with advanced cancers. Clin Cancer Res 13(20):6187–6194

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. LaCasse EC, Cherton-Horvat GG, Hewitt KE et al (2006) Preclinical characterization of AEG35156/GEM 640, a second-generation antisense oligonucleotide targeting X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis. Clin Cancer Res 12(17):5231–5241

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Park SJ, Wu CH, Gordon JD, Zhong X, Emami A, Safa AR (2004) Taxol induces caspase-10-dependent apoptosis. J Biol Chem 279(49):51057–51067

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Michael Dodds and Susan Alexander for technical assistance, Aegera Therapeutics Inc for provision of the shRNA constructs and the Cancer Research UK GeneChip microarray service based in the Paterson Institute, University of Manchester for processing the microarray samples.

Conflict of interest statement

K Connolly was funded by Cancer Research UK (Grant number C96/A4743) and her salary was supported in part by Aegera Therapeutics Inc. The Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre received clinical trial support for the Phase I study AEG35156 (XIAP antisense) from Aegera Therapeutics Inc.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Duncan Jodrell

    Present address: Department of Oncology, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, University of Cambridge, Box 193 (R4), Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK

  2. Sylvie Guichard

    Present address: AstraZeneca, Mereside 11G76, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 4TF, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh, EH4 2XR, UK

    Kate Connolly, Morwenna Muir, Duncan Jodrell & Sylvie Guichard

  2. Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Cancer Research UK, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn, London, WC2A 3PX, UK

    Richard Mitter

Authors
  1. Kate Connolly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard Mitter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Morwenna Muir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Duncan Jodrell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sylvie Guichard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kate Connolly.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Connolly, K., Mitter, R., Muir, M. et al. Stable XIAP knockdown clones of HCT116 colon cancer cells are more sensitive to TRAIL, taxanes and irradiation in vitro. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 64, 307–316 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-008-0872-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-008-0872-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation