Oxyresveratrol drives caspase-independent apoptosis-like cell death in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells through the induction of ROS

Earlier studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that Oxyresveratrol (OXY), a hydroxyl-substituted stilbene, exhibits potent inhibition of human melanoma cell proliferation. The present study defines a cytotoxic effect of OXY on the highly chemo-resistant, triple-negative human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. OXY-mediated cell death resulted in accumulation of cells at the sub-G1 phase of the cell cycle, induced chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, phosphatidylserine externalization and PARP cleavage, indicative of apoptosis. Interestingly, morphology and cell viability studies with the pan-caspase inhibitor, QVD-OPH revealed that OXY-induced cell death was caspase-independent. Docking studies also showed that OXY can bind to the S1 site of caspase-3, and could also exert an inhibitory effect on this executioner caspase. The immunoblot analysis demonstrating the absence of caspase cleavage during cell death further confirmed these findings. OXY was also observed to induce the production of reactive oxygen species, which caused the depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane resulting in translocation of Apoptosis Inducing Factor (AIF) into the nucleus. Pretreatment of the cells with N-Acetyl Cysteine antioxidant prevented cell death resulting from OXY treatment. Thus, OXY initiates ROS-mediated, apoptosis-like cell death, involving mitochondrial membrane depolarization, translocation of AIF into the nucleus, and DNA fragmentation, resulting in caspase-independent cell death in MDA-MB-231 cells. The cytotoxicity manifested by OXY was also observed in 3D cell culture models and primary cells, thereby providing a basis for the utilization of OXY as a novel template for the future design of anticancer therapeutics.