Tumor cells depend on aerobic glycolysis for
adenosine triphosphate (
ATP) production, which is therefore targeted by therapeutic agents. The compound
3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA), a strong
alkylating agent and
hexokinase inhibitor, inhibits
tumor cell glycolysis and the production of
ATP, causing apoptosis. 3-BrPA induces apoptosis of
nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell lines HNE1 and CNE-2Z, which may be related to its molecular mechanisms. In the present study, we investigated the effects of 3-BrPA on the viability,
reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis and other types of programmed cell death in NPC cells in vitro and in vivo. PI staining showed significant apoptosis in NPC cells accompanied by the overproduction of ROS and downregulation of mitochondrial membrane potential (
MMP, ΔΨm) by 3-BrPA. However, the ROS scavenger
N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) significantly reduced 3-BrPA-induced apoptosis by decreasing ROS and facilitating the recovery of
MMP. We elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying 3-BrPA activity and found that it caused
mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS production, leading to necroptosis of NPC cells. We investigated the effects of the
caspase inhibitor
z-VAD-fmk, which inhibits apoptosis but promotes death domain receptor (DR)-induced NPC cell
necrosis.
Necrostatin-1 (Nec-1) inhibits necroptosis, apparently via a DR signaling pathway and thus abrogates the effects of z-VAD‑fmk. In addition, we demonstrated the effective attenuation of 3-BrPA-induced necrotic cell death by Nec-1. Finally, animal studies proved that 3-BrPA exhibited significant antitumor activity in nude mice. The present study is the first demonstration of 3-BrPA-induced non-apoptotic necroptosis and ROS generation in NPC cells and provides potential strategies for developing agents against apoptosis‑resistant
cancers.