Phenethyl Isothiocyanate Exposure Promotes Oxidative Stress and Suppresses Sp1 Transcription Factor in Cancer Stem Cells
Department of Health and Nutritional Sciences, South Dakota State University, Box 2275A, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Current address: Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
‡
Current address: Department of Cancer Biology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(5), 1027; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20051027
Received: 11 January 2019 / Revised: 5 February 2019 / Accepted: 22 February 2019 / Published: 27 February 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effect of Dietary Factors on Cancer)
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) is a cytosolic marker of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are a sub-population within heterogeneous tumor cells. CSCs associate with therapy-resistance, self-renewal, malignancy, tumor-relapse, and reduced patient-survival window. ALDH1-mediated aldehyde scavenging helps CSCs to survive a higher level of oxidative stress than regular cancer cells. Cruciferous vegetable-derived phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) selectively induces reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to apoptosis of cancer cells, but not healthy cells. However, this pro-oxidant role of PEITC in CSCs is poorly understood and is investigated here. In a HeLa CSCs model (hCSCs), the sphere-culture and tumorsphere assay showed significantly enriched ALDHhi CSCs from HeLa parental cells (p < 0.05). Aldefluor assay and cell proliferation assay revealed that PEITC treatments resulted in a reduced number of ALDHhi hCSCs in a concentration-dependent manner (p < 0.05). In the ROS assay, PEITC promoted oxidative stress in hCSCs (p ≤ 0.001). Using immunoblotting and flow cytometry techniques, we reported that PEITC suppressed the cancer-associated transcription factor (Sp1) and a downstream multidrug resistance protein (P-glycoprotein) (both, p < 0.05). Furthermore, PEITC-treatment of hCSCs, prior to xenotransplantation in mice, lowered the in vivo tumor-initiating potential of hCSCs. In summary, PEITC treatment suppressed the proliferation of ALDH1 expressing cancer stem cells as well as key factors that are involved with drug-resistance, while promoting oxidative stress and apoptosis in hCSCs.