Nutlin-3 inhibits the NFκB pathway in a p53-dependent manner implications in lung cancer therapy

Nutlins were identified as the first potent and specific small molecule Mdm2 antagonists that inhibit the p53-Mdm2 interaction. We show in this study that Nutlin-3 can downregulate TNF alpha induced activation of the NF kappa B reporter in lung cancer cells. Activation of p53 dependent transcription is not compromised when Nutlin-3 is combined with TNFa. Instead, this combination treatment decreases cell viability in a p53 dependent manner. We show that Nutlin-3 strikingly inhibits the protein expression of NF kappa B target genes ICAM-1 and MCP-1 while other targets like Bcl-xL and FLIP are not affected, thereby suggesting that the inhibition is promoter specific. This inhibition of ICAM-1 and MCP-1 by Nutlin-3 is again dependent on the p53 status in cells. Furthermore, we show that Nutlin-3 strongly inhibits protein expression of ICAM-1 and MCP-1 induced by IL1, another NF kappa B activating stimuli. Nutlin-3 does not inhibit Akt phosphorylation, I kappa Ba phosphorylation, I kappa Ba degradation, p65 modification or p65 DNA binding in the cell lines tested. This study suggests the potential of Nutlin-3 as a bitargeted anti-cancer drug by simultaneously causing p53 activation and NF kappa B suppression. It also suggests that Nutlin-3 could be evaluated for treatment of lung cancer as a single agent or in combination therapy by targeting its effect on ICAM-1 and MCP-1 which are known to be critical for cancer cell invasion, thereby downregulating tumor formation and metastasis. This study also suggests biomarkers of response for evaluation of Nutlin-3 in the clinic.