Lycorine hydrochloride inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis through promoting FBXW7-MCL1 axis in gastric cancer.

Background: Lycorine hydrochloride (LH), an alkaloid extracted from the bulb of the Lycoris radiata, is considered to have anti-viral, anti-malarial, and anti-tumorous effects. At present, the underlying mechanisms of LH in gastric cancer remain unclear. MCL1, an anti-apoptotic protein of BCL2 family, is closely related to drug resistance of tumor. Therefore, MCL1 is considered as a potential target for cancer treatment.

Methods: The effect of LH on gastric cancer was assessed in vitro (by MTT, BrdU, western blotting…) and in vivo (by immunohistochemistry).

Results: In this study, we showed that LH has an anti-tumorous effect by down-regulating MCL1 in gastric cancer. Besides, we unveiled that LH reduced the protein stability of MCL1 by up-regulating ubiquitin E3 ligase FBXW7, arrested cell cycle at S phase and triggered apoptosis of gastric cancer cells. Meanwhile, we also demonstrated that LH could induce apoptosis of the BCL2-drug-resistant-cell-lines. Moreover, PDX (Patient-Derived tumor xenograft) model experiment proved that LH combined with HA14-1 (inhibitor of BCL2), had a more significant therapeutic effect on gastric cancer.

Conclusions: The efficacy showed in our data suggests that lycorine hydrochloride is a promising anti-tumor compound for gastric cancer.