Concurrent blockade of the NF-κB and Akt pathways potently sensitizes cancer cells to chemotherapeutic-induced cytotoxicity

Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and Akt are two major cell survival pathways that are often constitutively activated and can be further stimulated by chemotherpeutics in cancer cells. Although individually targeting the NF-κB or Akt has been reported to sensitize caner therapy, the effectiveness of concurrent blocking these two pathways for chemosensitizing of cancer cells to genotoxic therapeutics has not been investigated. In the present study, we investigate the activation of the NF-κB and Akt pathways by two frontline anticancer drugs cisplatin and etopside in a variety of cancer cell lines. The effects of blocking these two survival pathways individually or concurrently on cisplatin- or etopside-induced cytotoxicity were detected. The results show that cisplatin and etopside activate both NF-κB and Akt in cancer cells. Blockade of either of these pathways with chemical inhibitors or siRNA moderately sensitized cancer cells to cisplatin- or etopside-induced cytotoxicity. Strikingly, much more effective potentiation of cytotoxicity to these anticancer drugs was achieved when NF-κB and Akt were concurrently blocked. These data suggest that NF-κB and Akt cooperatively attenuate therapeutic-induced cytotoxicity and concurrently blocking these pathways is an effective strategy for improving the anticancer efficacy of therapeutics.