Nitrosylated human serum albumin (SNO-HSA) induces apoptosis in tumor cells

Recently, nitric oxide has been investigated as a potential anti-cancer therapy because of its cytotoxic activity. Previously, we found that S-nitrosylated human serum albumin (SNO-HSA) induced apoptosis in C26 cells, demonstrating for the first time that SNO-HSA has potential as an anti-cancer drug. In the present study, the anti-tumor activity of SNO-HSA in another tumor type of cancer cell was investigated using murine tumor LY-80 cells. Mitochondrial depolarization, activation of caspase-3 and DNA fragmentation were induced in LY-80 cells by SNO-HSA treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Inhibition of caspase activity resulted in complete inhibition of DNA fragmentation induced by SNO-HSA. The cytotoxic effects of SNO-HSA on LY-80 were concentration-dependent. Tumor growth in LY-80-tumor-bearing rats was significantly inhibited by administration of SNO-HSA compared with saline- and HSA-treatment. These results suggest that SNO-HSA has potential as a chemopreventive and/or chemotherapeutic agent because it induces apoptosis in tumor cells.