Downregulation of XIAP and induction of apoptosis by the synthetic cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor GW8510 in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Small-molecule inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are known to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in certain cancer cells. In order to evaluate the antitumor activity of one such inhibitor, GW8510, against human lung cancers, we analyzed the effects of GW8510 on six nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines (A549, H1299, H460, H226, H358 and H322) and normal human fibroblast (NHFB). We treated the cells with GW8510 at concentrations of 0-10 μM, and found that it suppressed cell growth in vitro in all the lung cancer cells but not in NHFB. Subsequent study showed that GW8510 induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the A549, H1299 and H460 cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner. Western blot analysis showed that GW8510 downregulated the expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) but had no detectable effect on the expression of Bax, Bak, or Bcl2. GW8510 also downregulated XIAP mRNA level, suggesting that downregulation of XIAP expression occurs at the transcriptional level. Moreover, ectopic XIAP expression diminished growth inhibition and apoptosis induction by GW8510. Importantly, GW8510 was not capable of inducing apoptosis of NHFB cells. These results suggest that GW8510 might provide a treatment strategy for human NSCLC and XIAP is an important target for GW8510-induced apoptosis of NSCLC cells that occurs through inhibition of XIAP mRNA transcription.