Adiponectin Promotes Autophagy and Apoptosis in Endometrial Cancer Cell Lines

Konstantinos N Aronis*, Konstantinos E Siatis, Efi Giannopoulou and Haralambos P Kalofonos

Department of Medicine, Clinical Oncology Laboratory, University of Patras, Greece

^*Correspondance to: Konstantinos N Aronis 

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Abstract:

Obesity is a current pandemic and an established risk factor for endometrial cancer. There is emerging evidence that obesity is linked to malignancy development via dysregulation of adipose tissue-secreted hormones, known as adipokines. Adiponectin is one of the most abundant circulating adipokines and has anti-inflammatory and anti-neoplastic properties. The aim of our study is to evaluate the role of adiponectin in autophagy and apoptosis in endometrial cancer cells. We treated KLE endometrial cancer cell lines with 1 µg/ml of adiponectin for 24 h. We demonstrated that the levels of all three major autophagy markers (ATG5, Beclin-1 and LC3) increase with adiponectin treatment, suggesting activation of autophagy. In contrast, treatment with adiponectin reduced the protein levels of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and augmented nuclear localization of Bcl2, suggesting promotion of apoptosis. Last treatment with adiponectin increased reactive oxygen species production. The results of this study suggest that the anti-neoplastic effects of adiponectin on endometrial cancer cell lines are at least partially-mediated via a dual induction of autophagy and apoptosis and increased production of reactive oxygen species.

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Cite the Article:

Aronis KN, Siatis KE, Giannopoulou E, Kalofonos HP. Adiponectin Promotes Autophagy and Apoptosis in Endometrial Cancer Cell Lines. Clin Oncol. 2019;4:1660.