Integrated regulation of autophagy and apoptosis by EEF2K controls cellular fate and modulates the efficacy of curcumin and velcade against tumor cells

Yan Cheng, Xingcong Ren, Yi Zhang, Yu Shan, Kathryn J. Huber-Keener, Li Zhang, Scot R. Kimball, Harold Harvey, Leonard S. Jefferson, Jin Ming Yang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induces both autophagy and apoptosis yet the molecular mechanisms and pathways underlying the regulation of these two cellular processes in cells undergoing ER stress remain less clear. We report here that eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase (EE F2K) is a critical controller of the ER stress-induced autophagy and apoptosis in tumor cells. DDIT4, a stress-induced protein, was required for transducing the signal for activation of EE F2K under ER stress. We further showed that phosphorylation of EE F2K at Ser398 was essential for induction of autophagy, while phosphorylation of the kinase at Ser366 and Ser78 exerted an inhibitory effect on autophagy. Suppression of the ER stress-activated autophagy via silencing of EE F2K aggravated ER stress and promoted apoptotic cell death in tumor cells. Moreover, inhibiting EE F2K by either RNAi or NH125, a small molecule inhibitor of the enzyme, rendered tumor cells more sensitive to curcumin and velcade, two anticancer agents that possess ER stress-inducing action. Our study indicated that the DDIT4-EE F2K pathway was essential for inducing autophagy and for determining the fate of tumor cells under ER stress, and suggested that inhibiting the EE F2K-mediated autophagy can deteriorate ER stress and lead to a greater apoptotic response, thereby potentiating the efficacy of the ER stress-inducing agents against cancer.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)208-219
Number of pages12
JournalAutophagy
Volume9
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the US. Public Health Service R01CA135038 (J.-M.Y.) and R01DK13499 (L.S.J.), and from the Department of Defense BC103654 (Y.C.), Elsa Pardee Foundation (J.-M.Y.), and National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NO. 81072146).

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the US. Public Health Service R01CA135038 (J.-M.Y.) and R01DK13499 (L.S.J.), and from the Department of Defense BC103654 (Y.C.), Elsa Pardee Foundation (J.-M.Y.), and National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NO. 81072146).

FundersFunder number
National Natural Sciences Foundation of China81072146
U.S. Department of DefenseBC103654
Elsa U Pardee Foundation
U.S. Public Health ServiceR01DK13499, R01CA135038

    Keywords

    • Apoptosis
    • Autophagy
    • EEF2K
    • ER stress
    • Tumor cells

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Molecular Biology
    • Cell Biology

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