Chemotherapy to date has not been effective in the treatment of
cholangiocarcinoma. However,
gemcitabine, a novel
nucleoside analog, has shown remarkable
biological activity against
cholangiocarcinoma in some clinical studies. Combinations of
gemcitabine with other agents have also shown promising results, with a tolerable toxicity profile.
Nutlin-3 is a small-molecule inhibitor that acts to inhibit murine double minute-2 (MDM2) binding to p53 or p73 and subsequently activates p53- or p73-dependent apoptosis signaling pathways. To investigate their effects in combination, a p53-mutant
cholangiocarcinoma line HuCCT1 was treated with
Nutlin-3 and/or
gemcitabine in the current study. Cell proliferation assay, apoptosis assay, Western blot, coimmunoprecipitation, and
small interfering RNA (
siRNA) experiments were analyzed in HuCCT1 cells. Antitumoral effects of
Nutlin-3 and/or
gemcitabine targeting the p73/MDM2 pathways were evaluated.
Nutlin-3 and
gemcitabine can both inhibit the growth of HuCCT1 cells.
Nutlin-3 induces apoptosis and potentiates the cytotoxic effect of
gemcitabine through disrupting the binding of p73 with MDM2.
Nutlin-3 leads to activation of
caspases, increase levels of puma and bax, and decrease the expression of bcl-2. Blocking p73 function with a
siRNA attenuates the apoptosis induced by
gemcitabine,
Nutlin-3, and
gemcitabine/
Nutlin-3 combination. Our data provide evidence that p73 might compensate for p53 function in
gemcitabine-induced apoptosis of HuCCT1 cells.
Nutlin-3 acts through the inhibition of p73-MDM2 with subsequent activation of the apoptotic pathway signaling, which leads to the increase in chemosensitivity to
gemcitabine. In summary, our findings suggest that
Nutlin-3 will be active in the treatment of p53-mutant
cholangiocarcinoma, especially when in combination with
gemcitabine.