The XAF1 tumor suppressor induces autophagic cell death via upregulation of Beclin-1 and inhibition of Akt pathway

Autophagy is designated as type II programmed cell death and may confer a tumor-suppressive function. Our previous studies have shown that XIAP-associated factor 1 (XAF1) induced apoptosis and inhibited tumor growth in gastric cancer cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of XAF1 on the induction of autophagy in gastric cancer cells. We found that adenovirus vector-mediated XAF1 (adeno-XAF1) expression markedly induced autophagy, upregulated the level of Beclin-1 and inhibited phospho-Akt and phospho-p70S6K in gastric cancer cells. The downregulation of Beclin 1 or 3-methyladenine treatment suppressed adeno-XAF1-induced autophagy, but significantly enhanced adeno-XAF1-induced apoptosis. A pan-caspase inhibitor prevented adeno-XAF1-induced apoptosis, but significantly increased adeno-XAF1-induced autophagy. Furthermore, adeno-XAF1 induced autophagy in xenograft tumor and inhibited tumor growth. Our results document that adeno-XAF1 induces autophagy through upregulation of Beclin 1 expression and inhibition of Akt/p70S6K pathway, and reveal a new mechanism of XAF1 tumor suppression.

► XAF1 induces autophagy in gastric cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.
► XAF1 upregulates the level of Beclin-1.
► XAF1 inhibits the expression of phospho-Akt and phospho-p70S6K.
► XAF1 induces autophagy via multiple pathways.
► Apoptosis and autophagy are compensatory mechanisms for XAF-induced cell death.