Cholecalciferol modulates autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum stress to inhibit colon cancer cell proliferation

Abstract

Cholecalciferol is a type of vitamin D and has significant effects on the human body. Among its many roles, recent studies have shown that cholecalciferol can inhibit the proliferation of various cancer cells. In this study, we aimed to investigate the impact of cholecalciferol treatment on colon cancer cells through endoplasmic reticulum stress and autophagy. First, the cytotoxicity of cholecalciferol was evaluated by XTT. Accordingly, in further analysis cholecalciferol was applied to cells at concentrations of 150 and 250 µM for 48 hours. Colony formation capacity of cells, autophagy and ER-stress associated GRP78/BiP levels were evaluated after cholecalciferol treatment. And, the expression levels of genes linked to autophagy, ER stress, and apoptosis were examined using qRT-PCR. Results show that cholecalciferol suppresses the capacity of colony formation of colon cancer cells while raising ER stress marker GRP78/BiP level and lowering autophagy level. And, it was observed that cholecalciferol decreased the expression level of autophagy-related genes and increased the expression level of ER stress and apoptosis-related genes. These findings suggest that cholecalciferol operates its anticancer effect by suppressing autophagy and enhancing apoptosis through the induction of ER stress in colon cancer cells.

Keywords

• Autophagy
• Cholecalciferol
• Colon cancer
• Endoplasmic reticulum stress

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