Lung cancer is the leading cause of
cancer death worldwide, and most of all cases are
non-small-cell lung cancer.
Lung cancer is associated with dysregulation of mitochondrial fusion and fission, and inhibition of the fission regulator
Dynamin-related
protein 1 (Drp1) reduces proliferation and increases apoptosis of
lung cancer cells.
Dynasore is a small molecule non-selective inhibitor of the
GTPase activity of
dynamin 1,
dynamin 2, and Drp1 in vivo and in vitro. Here, we investigated the effects of
dynasore on the proliferation and apoptosis of A549
lung cancer cells, alone and in combination with the chemotherapeutic drug
cisplatin. We found that
cisplatin increased mitochondrial fission and
dynamin 2 expression, whereas
dynasore had the opposite effects. However, both
cisplatin and
dynasore independently induced mitochondrial oxidative stress, leading to
mitochondrial dysfunction, reduced cell proliferation, and enhanced apoptosis. Importantly,
dynasore significantly augmented the anti-
cancer effects of
cisplatin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that
dynasore inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of
lung cancer cells, and enhances the inhibitory effects of
cisplatin.