AG1031 induces apoptosis through suppressing SIRT1/p53 pathway in human neuroblastoma cells

Neuroblastoma is the most common extra-cranial tumor in childhood. As an antineoplastic medicine, the effect of AG-1031 on the neuroblastoma is still unclear. Silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) is a conserved NAD⁺-dependent deacetylase, which plays a key role in carcinogenesis through the deacetylation of important regulatory proteins, including p53. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether there was a significant anti-tumor effect of AG-1031 on the human neuroblastoma cells through suppressing SIRT1/p53 pathway. Our study showed that AG1031 treatment resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell viability. The data, obtained from both Western blot assay and Hoechst 33258 staining, further showed that AG1031 exhibited strong anti-tumor activity closely associated with significantly increasing apoptotic indices and enhancing oxidative stress levels. Moreover, AG1031 treatment could down-regulate SIRT1 in a dose-dependent manner and up-regulate p53 acetylation, while overexpression of SIRT1 significantly attenuated the anti-tumor effect of AG1031 in SH-SY5Y cells. AG1031 potently induced SH-SY5Y cells apoptosis through suppressing SIRT1/p53 signaling. These data suggest that AG1031 may be used for therapeutic intervention in neuroblastoma treatment.