Microcystin-LR induces a wide variety of biochemical changes in the A549 human non-small cell lung cancer cell line: Roles for protein phosphatase 2A and its substrates

Hanying Wang, Kailun Xu, Beilei Wang, Jinghui Liu, Xiaofeng Wang, Mingluan Xing, Pu Huang, Zonglou Guo, Lihong Xu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Our previous studies have described the toxic effects of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) in various normal cell lines and human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells, but the specific effects of MC-LR in other types of cancer cells with respect to protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) have not been fully elaborated. A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells have been identified to express organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATP) involved in cellular uptake of MC-LR, and thus probably make an appropriate in vitro model to assess MC-LR's cytotoxicity. Hence, in our present study, A549 cells were treated with various concentrations of MC-LR for 24 h. The presence of MC-LR in A549 cells was confirmed, and PP2A activity, PP2A substrates, cytoskeleton, apoptosis, and proliferation were subsequently explored. The results showed that 5–10 μM MC-LR inhibited PP2A activity significantly but 0.5–1 μM MC-LR did not change PP2A activity dramatically. The inhibition could result from the hyperphosphorylation of PP2A/C at Tyr307, an elevation in the total PP2A/C expression and the dissociation of α4/PP2A/C complexes. Moreover, MC-LR led to rearrangements of filamentous actin and microtubules, which might be correlated with the hyperphosphorylation of Ezrin, VASP and HSP27 due to PP2A inhibition and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation. However, exposure to MC-LR for 24 h failed to trigger either apoptosis or proliferation, which might be related to PP2A-inhibition-induced hyperphosphorylation of Bcl-2 and Bad and the activation status of Akt. In conclusion, our data indicated that MC-LR induced extensive molecular and cellular alterations in A549 cells through a PP2A-centered pathway, which differed in some respects from our previous study in SMMC-7721 cells. To our knowledge, this is the first report comprehensively demonstrating the effects of MC-LR in A549 cells, and our findings provide insights into the mechanism of MC-LR toxicity in cancer cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1065-1078
Number of pages14
JournalEnvironmental Toxicology
Volume32
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords

  • apoptosis
  • cytoskeleton
  • microcystin-LR
  • proliferation
  • protein phosphatase 2A

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Toxicology
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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