Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be originated from various etiologies and is preceded mostly by
cirrhosis. Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment due to its late prognosis. Alterations in autophagy have been reported during the development and progression of HCC. Autophagy allows for the maintenance of a positive energy balance and the proper functioning of organelles through the selective degradation of cellular components. It has been demonstrated that autophagy suppresses spontaneous
tumorigenesis in the liver. Therefore, autophagy has become a therapeutic target for effective HCC
therapies. We have previously demonstrated that the
adenosine-derived compound,
IFC-305, has a chemopreventive effect on HCC, in addition to maintaining mitochondrial function in a sequential model of
cirrhosis-HCC. Thus, the aim of this work was to determine if
IFC-305 has an effect on autophagy in the sequential model of
cirrhosis-HCC induced by
diethylnitrosamine or in vitro in the HCC cell line HepG2 and mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The results of this work showed that
IFC-305 modifies the levels of the BECN1, p62/SQSTM1 and LC3-II
proteins that play an important role in the autophagic process. In vivo,
IFC-305 regulates the levels of the PINK1 and PARKIN
proteins that specifically mark mitochondria for repair or degradation. In the HepG2 cell line, its effect was accompanied by a decrease in cell viability. Interestingly, in nontumoral cells the time to autophagy induction was different compared to the HepG2 cells. This study suggests that autophagy induction may be part of the mechanism by which
IFC-305 maintains mitochondrial function, thereby facilitating the prevention and reversal of HCC.