Biochem Biophys Rep. 2020 Jul;22 100754
The oxysterol 25-hydroxycholesterol (25-HC) has diverse physiological activities, including the ability to inhibit anchorage-independent growth of colorectal cancer cells. Here, we found that a polyamine synthesis inhibitor, DFMO, prevented 25-HC-induced apoptosis in non-anchored colorectal cancer DLD-1 cells. Additionally, we found that the spermine synthesis inhibitor APCHA also inhibited 25-HC-induced apoptosis in DLD-1 spheroids. Inhibiting the maturation of SREBP2, a critical regulator of cholesterol synthesis, reversed the effects of APCHA. SREBP2 knockdown also abolished the ability of APCHA to counteract 25-HC activity. Furthermore, APCHA induced SREBP2 maturation and upregulated its transcriptional activity, indicating that altered polyamine metabolism can increase SREBP2 activity and block 25-HC-induced apoptosis in spheroids. These results suggest that crosstalk between polyamine metabolism and cholesterol synthetic pathways via SREBP2 governs the proliferative and malignant properties of colorectal cancer cells.
Keywords: 25-HC, 25-hydroxycholesterol; 25-Hydroxycholesterol; APCHA; APCHA, N-(3-Aminopropyl)cyclohexylamine; DFMO; DFMO, difluoromethylornithine; HMG-CoA, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A; INSIG, insulin inducing gene; MTT, 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; Polyamine; S1P, site-1 protease; S2P, site-2 protease; SCAP, SREBP cleavage activating protein; SRE, sterol response element; SREBP2; SREBP2, sterol regulatory element binding protein 2; poly-HEMA, poly-(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)