Canagliflozin, characterized as a HDAC6 inhibitor, inhibits gastric cancer metastasis

Abstract

Gastric cancer is a common gastrointestinal cancer. Survival outcome for patients with the recurrence or metastasis remains poor due to the lack of effective targeting drugs. The mechanisms of non-histone acetylation modifications are key epigenetic regulations that participate in various biological processes. HDAC6 is mostly located in the cytoplasm to deacetylate non-histone substrates, which has been identified as a critical promoter of many oncogenic pathways in cancers, including gastric cancer. Nevertheless, its inhibitor has not been applied in gastric cancer clinically. In this study, we identified canagliflozin as an active HDAC6-targeted inhibitor from FDA-approved Drug Library by enzymatic assay. The strong affinity of the compounds with HDAC6 was further verified by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA). In addition, molecular docking showed that canagliflozin could bind to the active pocket of HDAC6 and form interactions with key residues. Further experiments revealed that canagliflozin could effectively inhibit the migration and epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) of gastric cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. These results reveal a novel finding that canagliflozin has the potential to be an effective agent in inhibiting gastric cancer metastasis.

Canagliflozin mediates tumor suppression alone and in combination with radiotherapy in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) through inhibition of HIF‐1α

“…7). Recently, another study suggested that canagliflozin directly targets and suppresses HDAC6 in gastrointestinal cancer cells [60], indicating that HDAC targeting may be a common pathway for the activity of this drug in tumors. Many of the genes that were significantly upregulated by RT (FGFR1, ALDOA, RNF145, PGK1, P4HA1, PLOD2, IGFBP3, NDRG1, PFKFB3, and BNIP3L) are associated with glycolysis, cell cycle progression, prevention of apoptosis, angiogenesis, cholesterol homeostasis, and survival, which contribute to resistance to cytotoxic therapy.…”

“…7 ). Recently, another study suggested that canagliflozin directly targets and suppresses HDAC6 in gastrointestinal cancer cells [ 60 ], indicating that HDAC targeting may be a common pathway for the activity of this drug in tumors.…”

Editorial: Epigenetic regulation of autophagy in inflammatory diseases

“…Studies on drug regulation of autophagy and epigenetics offer new treatment targets for ID. Canagliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of diabetes, targeted the epigenetic modifiers histone deacetylases 6 and 2, inhibiting the progression of tumors ( 6 , 7 ) and activated autophagy yielding anti-inflammatory effects ( 8 ). Canagliflozin attenuated renal fibrosis in vitro and in vivo through an autophagy-mediated m 6 A modification ( Yang et al.…”