Caveolin-1 knockdown increases the therapeutic sensitivity of lung cancer to cisplatin-induced apoptosis by repressing Parkin-related mitophagy and activating the ROCK1 pathway

Chemotherapy is the first-line treatment option for patients with lung cancer. However, therapeutic resistance occurs through an incompletely understood mechanism. Our research wants to investigate the influence of Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) on the therapeutic sensitivity of lung cancer in vitro. Results in this study demonstrated that Cav-1 levels were markedly inhibited in A549 lung cancer cells after exposure to cisplatin. Knockdown of caveolin further enhanced cisplatin-triggered cancer death in A549 cells. The functional investigation demonstrated that Cav-1 inhibition amplified the mitochondrial stress signaling induced by cisplatin, as evidenced by the mitochondrial reactive oxygen species burst, cellular metabolic disruption, mitochondrial membrane potential reduction, and mitochondrial caspase-9-related apoptosis activation. At the molecular level, cav-1 augmented cisplatin-mediated mitochondrial damage by inhibiting Parkin-related mitochondrial autophagy. Mitophagy activation effectively attenuated the promotive impact of Cav-1 knockdown on mitochondrial damage and cell death. Furthermore, our data indicated that Cav-1 affected Parkin-related mitophagy by activating the Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase 1 (ROCK1) pathway; inhibition of the ROCK1 axis prevented cav-1 knockdown-mediated cell death and mitochondrial damage. Taken together, our results provide ample data illuminate the necessary action exerted by Cav-1 on affecting cisplatin-related therapeutic resistance. Silencing of Cav-1 inhibited Parkin-related mitophagy, thus amplifying cisplatin-mediated mitochondrial apoptotic signaling. This finding identifies the Cav-1/ROCK1/Parkin/mitophagy axis as a potential target to overcome cisplatin-related resistance in lung cancer cells.