RITA enhances irradiation-induced apoptosis in p53-defective cervical cancer cells via upregulation of IRE1 alpha/XBP1 signaling

Radiation therapy is the most widely used treatment for patients with cervical cancer. Recent studies have shown that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induces apoptosis and sensitizes tumor cells to radiotherapy, which reportedly induces ER stress in cells. Classical key tumor suppressor p53 is involved in the response to a variety of cellular stresses, including those incurred by ionizing irradiation. A recent study demonstrated that small-molecule RITA (reactivation of p53 and induction of tumor cell apoptosis) increased the radiosensitivity of tumor cells expressing mutant p53 (mtp53). In the present study, we explored the effects and the underlying mechanisms of RITA in regards to the radiosensitivity and ER stress in mtp53-expressing human cervix cancer cells. Treatment with 1 mu M of RITA for 24 h before irradiation markedly decreased survival and increased apoptosis in C-33A and HT-3 cells; the effects were not significantly altered by knockdown of p53. In the irradiated C-33A and HT-3 cells, RITA significantly increased the expression of IRE1 alpha, the spliced XBP1 mRNA level, as well as apoptosis; the effects were abolished by knockdown of IRE1 alpha. Transcriptional pulse-chase assays revealed that RITA significantly increased the stability of IRE1 alpha mRNA in the irradiated C-33A and HT-3 cells. In contrast, the same RITA treatment did not show any significant effect on sham-irradiated cells. In conclusion, the present study provides initial evidence that RITA upregulates the expression level of IRE1 alpha by increasing the stability of IRE1 alpha mRNA in irradiated mtp53-expressing cervical cancer cells; the effect leads to enhanced IRE1 alpha/XBP1 ER stress signaling and increased apoptosis in the cells. The present study offers novel insight into the pharmacological potential of RITA in the radiotherapy for cervical cancer.