2. Academic Validation
  3. Esketamine induces apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through the PERK/CHOP pathway

Esketamine induces apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through the PERK/CHOP pathway

  • Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2024 Jan 12:116800. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2023.116800.
Yuling Cao 1,  Huiting Li 2,  Yunfei Gao 3,  Jiao Long 1,  Lei Zheng 1,  Qi Zhang 1,  Ningning Li 4,  Xinjin Chi 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Anesthesiology, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China.
  • 2 Department of Anesthesiology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
  • 3 Department of Otolaryngology, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China.
  • 4 Tomas Lindahl Nobel Laureate Laboratory, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5 Department of Anesthesiology, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 38219984 DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2023.116800
Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a malignant tumor prevalent in southeast Asia and north Africa, still lacks effective treatment. Esketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartatic acid (NMDA) receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, is widely used in clinical anesthesia. Emerging evidence suggests that esketamine plays an important role in inhibiting tumor cell activity. However, the underlying mechanisms of esketamine on nasopharyngeal carcinoma remain unknown. In this study, we found that esketamine inhibited the proliferation and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Mechanically, Transcriptome sequencing and subsequent verification experiments revealed that esketamine promoted the Apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through endoplasmic reticulum stress PERK/ATF4/CHOP signaling pathway mediated by NMDAR. Additionally, when combined with esketamine, the inhibitory effect of cisplatin on the proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells was significantly enhanced. These findings provide new insights into future anti-nasopharyngeal carcinoma clinical strategies via targeting the NMDAR/PERK/CHOP axis alone or in combination with cisplatin.

Keywords

Apoptosis; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress; Esketamine; NMDAR; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

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