Role of autophagy in differential sensitivity of hepatocarcinoma cells to sorafenib

AIM: To investigate the role of sorafenib(SFN) in autophagy of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). We evaluated how SFN affects autophagy signaling pathway in human HCC cell lines. METHODS: Two different human HCC cell lines, Hep3 B and Huh7, were subjected to different concentrations of SFN. Cell viability and onset of apoptosis were determined with colorimetric assay and immunoblotting analysis, respectively. The changes in autophagy-related proteins, including LC3, ULK1, AMPK, and LKB, were determined with immunoblotting analysis in the presence or absence of SFN. To assess autophagic dynamics, autophagic flux was measured with chloroquine, a lysosomal inhibitor. The autophagic responsiveness between different HCC cell lines was compared under the autophagy enhancing conditions.RESULTS: Hep3 B cells were significantly more resistant to SFN than Huh7 cells. Immunoblotting analysis revealed a marked increase in SFN-mediated autophagy flux in Huh7 cells, which was, however, absent in Hep3 B cells. While both starvation and rapamycin enhanced autophagy in Huh7 cells, only rapamycin increased autophagy in Hep3 B cells. Immunoblotting analysis of autophagy initiation proteins showed that SFN substantially increased phosphorylation of AMPK and consequently autophagy in Huh7, but not in Hep3 B cells.CONCLUSION: The autophagic responsiveness to SFN is distinct between Hep3 B and Huh7 cells. Resistance of Hep3 B cells to SFN may be associated with altered autophagy signaling pathways.