The synthetic ajoene analog SPA3015 induces apoptotic cell death through crosstalk between NF-κB and PPARγ in multidrug-resistant cancer cells

Multidrug resistance (MDR) caused by P-glycoprotein (P-gp) overexpression impedes successful cancer chemotherapy. In this study, we investigated the anticancer effects of SPA3015, a synthetic ajoene analog, in P-gp-overexpressing MDR cancer cells (KBV20C and MES-SA/DX5). Treatment with SPA3015 caused a dramatic decrease in the cell viabilities of both KBV20C and MES-SA/DX5 cells. This decrease was accompanied by apoptotic cell death without affecting the expression level or drug efflux function of P-gp. SPA3015 selectively suppressed NF-κB reporter gene activity, which led to decreased expression of NF-κB target genes such as CIAP1, CIAP2, XIAP, and Bcl-XL. Surprisingly, nuclear localization and DNA binding affinity of the p65 subunit were not affected by SPA3015, suggesting that SPA3015 inhibits the transcriptional activity of NF-κB at the nucleus. Indeed, SPA3015 treatment led to an increase in the physical interaction of p65 with PPARγ, which resulted in the inhibition of NF-κB activity. Our findings support the hypothesis that SPA3015 inhibits NF-κB transcriptional activity by facilitating the physical interaction of the p65 subunit and PPARγ, which leads to apoptotic cell death in MDR cancer cells.