Potentiation of Apoptosis by Treatment With the Protein Kinase C-Specific Inhibitor Safingol in Mitomycin C-Treated Gastric Cancer Cells

Background: Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of enzymes that function in processes relevant to carcinogenesis, tumor cell metastasis, and apoptosis. Safingol, an optical isomer (the L-threo enantiomer) of dihydrosphingosine, is a specific inhibitor of PKC and might represent a novel agent for anticancer therapy. Preclinical animal studies show that safingol alone has a minimal effect on tumor cell growth, but combining this compound with convention al chemotherapy agents dramatically potentiates their antitumor effects. It has been suggested that many chemo-therapeutic agents exert their anti-tumor effects by inducing apoptosis. Purpose: We wanted to determine the extent to which safingol, alone or in combination with a standard chemother-apeutic agent (mitomycin C [MMC]), would promote apoptosis in gastric cancer cells in vitro. Furthermore, we investigated whether the induction of apoptosis in the treated cells was affected by their p53 tumor suppressor status or their drug-resistance status. Methods: SK-GT-5 (p53-deficient and MMC-resistant) and MKN-74 (p53 wild-type and MMC-sensitive) gastric cancer cells were exposed to either no drug, safingol (50μ) alone, MMC (5 lig/ml) alone, or a combination of safingol (50/μM) and MMC (5 μg/mL). In some experiments, cells were exposed simultaneously to safingol and the PKC activator, 3-phorbol 12-myris-tate 13-acetate (PMA), prior to treatment with MMC. Apoptosis was measured by two methods: 1) quantitative fluorescence microscopy of nuclear chromatin condensation in cells stained with the dye, bisbenzamide trihydro-chloride (Hoechst-33258), and 2) terminal deoxynucleotidy transferase (TdT) labeling of the 3'-OH ends of DNA fragments produced in apoptotic cells. Results: As determined by quantitative fluorescence microscopy, exposure of SK-GT-5 cells to safingol alone induced apoptosis in 2% ± 1% (mean ± SD) of the cells, and MMC alone increased that level to 18% ± 1%. However, the combination of safingol and MMC induced apoptosis in 39% ± 1% of the cells (P