Oridonin inhibits bladder cancer survival and immune escape by covalently targeting HK1

Hexokinase I (HK1) is highly expressed in a variety of malignancies, regulates glycolytic pathway in cancer cells, and thus considered to be one of the promising molecular targets for cancer therapy. Nonetheless, the development of a specific inhibitor against HK1 remains elusive.

This study aims to elucidate the mechanism by which oridonin inhibits the proliferation and immune evasion of bladder cancer cells, specifically through the suppression of HK1.

To examine the mechanisms by which oridonin directly binds to cysteines of HK1 and inhibits bladder cancer growth, this study utilized a variety of methods. These included the Human Proteome Microarray, Streptavidin-agarose affinity assay, Biolayer Interferometry (BLI) ainding analysis, Mass Spectrometry, Cellular Thermal Shift Assay, Extracellular Acidification Rate measurement, and Xenotransplant mouse models.

As indicated by our current findings, oridonin forms a covalent bond with Cys-813, located adjacently to glucose-binding domain of HK1. This suppresses the enzymatic activity of HK1, leading to an effective reduction of glycolysis, which triggers cell death via apoptosis in cells derived from human bladder cancer. Significantly, oridonin also inhibits lactate-induced PD-L1 expression in bladder cancer. Furthermore, pairing oridonin with a PD-L1 inhibitor amplifies the cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cells against bladder cancer.

This research strongly suggests that oridonin serves as a covalent inhibitor of HK1. Moreover, it indicates that functional cysteine residue of HK1 could operate as viable targets for selective inhibition. Consequently, oridonin exhibits substantial potential for the evolution of anti-cancer agents targeting the potential therapeutic target HK1 via metabolism immunomodulation.