Inositol Hexaphosphate Inhibits Growth and Induces G1 Arrest and Apoptotic Death of Androgen-Dependent Human Prostate Carcinoma LNCaP Cells

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PCA) is the most common invasive malignancy and the second leading cause of cancerrelated deaths in the US male population. One approach to control this malignancy is its preventive intervention by dietary agents. Inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), a dietary constituent, has shown promising efficacy against various cancers; however, limited studies have been performed with IP6 against PCA. Here, we investigated the growth-inhibitory effect and associated mechanisms of IP6 in androgen-dependent human prostate carcinoma LNCaP cells. IP6 treatment of cells resulted in a strong growth inhibition and an increase in G1 cell population. In mechanistic studies, IP6 resulted in an increase in cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKIs) Cipi/p21 and Kip1/p27 levels, together with a decrease in cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and cyclin D1 protein levels. An increase in CDKI levels by IP6 also led to a concomitant increase in their interactions with CDK2 and CDK4, together with a strong decrease in the kinase activity of both CDKs. Downstream in CDKI-CDK-cyclin cascade, consistent with its inhibitory effect on CDK kinase activity, IP6 treatment of cells increased hypophosphorylated levels of retinoblastoma (Rb) with a decrease in Rb phosphorylation at serine 780, 807, and 811 sites, and caused a moderate to strong decrease in the levels of transcription factors E2F1, E2F4, and E2F5. In other studies, IP6 caused a dose- and a time-dependent apoptotic death of LNCaP cells, and a decrease in Bcl2 levels, causing a strong increase in Bax versus Bcl2 ratio, as well as an inhibition of constitutively active AKT phosphorylation. Taken together, these molecular alterations provide an insight into IP6-caused growth inhibition, G1 arrest, and apoptotic death of human prostate carcinoma LNCaP cells. Because early clinical PCA growth is an androgen-dependent response, the results of the present study employing androgendependent LNCaP cells suggest that IP6 has promise and potential to be effective against PCA.