1 T moderate intensity static magnetic field affects Akt/mTOR pathway and increases the antitumor efficacy of mTOR inhibitors in CNE-2Z cells

Abstract

Static magnetic field (SMF) has been known to affect cell proliferation in a cell-type-dependent manner, while the mechanism still remains unclear. We found that 1T moderate intensity SMF inhibits cell proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE-2Z cells and the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, which is upregulated in many cancers. mTOR inhibitors are potential chemodrugs, but their clinical effects are limited by the feedback reactivation of other signaling components such as EGFR and Akt. We showed that 1T SMF increases the antitumor efficacy of mTOR inhibitor Torin 2. In addition, 1T SMF increases the inhibition efficiency on mTOR substrates phosphorylation and represses the mTOR inhibitor-induced feedback reactivation of EGFR and Akt. Our study not only demonstrates that mTOR/Akt pathway is one of the molecular targets of SMFs in cells, but also reveals the clinical potentials of combinations of mTOR inhibitors and SMFs in cancer treatment.