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Histone deacetylase inhibitors sensitize glioblastoma cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis by c-myc-mediated downregulation of cFLIP

Abstract

Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain tumor with a very poor prognosis, calling for novel treatment strategies. Here, we provide first evidence that histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACI) prime glioblastoma cells for tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) -induced apoptosis at least in part by c-myc-mediated downregulation of cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein (cFLIP). Pretreatment with distinct HDACI (MS275, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, valproic acid) significantly enhances TRAIL-induced apoptosis in several glioblastoma cell lines. Monitoring a panel of apoptosis-regulatory proteins revealed that MS275 reduces the expression of cFLIPL and cFLIPS. This leads to decreased recruitment of cFLIPL and cFLIPS and increased activation of caspase-8 to the TRAIL death-inducing signaling complex, resulting in enhanced cleavage of caspase-8, -9 and -3 and caspase-dependent apoptosis. Also, MS275 promotes TRAIL-triggered processing of Bid, activation of Bax, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c. MS275-mediated downregulation of cFLIP occurs at the mRNA level independent of proteasome- or caspase-mediated degradation, and is preceded by upregulation of nuclear levels of c-myc, a transcriptional repressor of cFLIP. Notably, MS275 causes increased binding of c-myc to the cFLIP promoter and reduces cFLIP promoter activity. Indeed, knockdown of c-myc partially rescues cFLIPL from MS275-inferred downregulation and significantly decreases TRAIL- and MS275-induced apoptosis. Also, overexpression of cFLIPL or cFLIPS significantly reduces MS275- and TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Importantly, MS275 sensitizes primary cultured glioblastoma cells towards TRAIL and cooperates with TRAIL to reduce long-term clonogenic survival of glioblastoma cells and to suppress glioblastoma growth in vivo underscoring the clinical relevance of this approach. Thus, these findings demonstrate that HDACI represent a promising strategy to prime glioblastoma for TRAIL-induced apoptosis by targeting cFLIP.

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Acknowledgements

We thank O Micheau (Dijon, France) and M Leverkus (Mannheim, Germany) for providing cFLIP vectors. This work has been partially supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung, European Community (ApopTrain, APO-SYS) and IAP6/18 (to SF).

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Correspondence to S Fulda.

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Bangert, A., Cristofanon, S., Eckhardt, I. et al. Histone deacetylase inhibitors sensitize glioblastoma cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis by c-myc-mediated downregulation of cFLIP. Oncogene 31, 4677–4688 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2011.614

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