Cephalomannine reduces radiotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer cells by blocking the β-catenin-BMP2 signaling pathway

Background

The management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often includes the use of radiotherapy, with individual outcomes being impacted by the tumor's response to this treatment modality. Cephalomannine (CPM), a taxane diterpenoid found in Taxus spp, has been found to have anti-tumor activity. This study was aim to the explore the role and mechanism by which CPM affects radiotherapy resistance in NSCLC.

Methods

H460 cells were pretreated with different doses of CPM. H460 cells were transfected with β-catenin overexpression plasmids. The cell viability, colony-forming ability, migration ability, and sphere-forming ability and apoptosis of the cells were measured by using CCK-8, colony-forming, transwell, and sphere-forming assay and flow cytometry. Western blot assay was employed to detect the expression of β-catenin and BMP2.

Results

The cell viability, proliferation, migration and sphere-forming ability of cells in the radiotherapy-resistant (RR) group were significantly higher than those in the radiotherapy-sensitivity (RS) group. Conversely, the apoptosis rate of cells in the RR group was lower than that in the RS group. However, after CPM pretreatment of RR group cells, the above phenomena were reversed in a CPM dose-dependent manner. Subsequently, pretreatment with CPM resulted in a decrease in the expression levels of β-catenin and BMP2 in the RR group. In addition, overexpression of β-catenin mitigated the inhibitory effects of CPM on radiotherapy-resistant NSCLC cells.

Conclusion

CPM has the potential to decrease radiotherapy resistance in NSCLC cells by inhibiting the β-catenin-BMP2 signaling pathway, promoting apoptosis, and ultimately impeding cell growth.