A Novel Mechanism of Cannabidiol in Suppressing Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Inducing GSDME Dependent Pyroptosis

• Main Authors: Fugen Shangguan, Hongfei Zhou, Nengfang Ma, Shanshan Wu, Huimin Huang, Guihua Jin, Shijia Wu, Weilong Hong, Weiwei Zhuang, Hongping Xia, Linhua Lan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-07-01
• Series: Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
• Subjects: cannabidiol; hepatocellular carcinoma; pyroptosis; integrative stress response; aerobic glycolysis
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.697832/full

Cannabidiol (CBD), a phytochemical derived from Cannabis sativa L., has been demonstrated to exhibit promising anti-tumor properties in multiple cancer types. However, the effects of CBD on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells remain unknown. We have shown that CBD effectively suppresses HCC cell growth in vivo and in vitro, and induced HCC cell pyroptosis in a caspase-3/GSDME-dependent manner. We further demonstrated that accumulation of integrative stress response (ISR) and mitochondrial stress may contribute to the initiation of pyroptotic signaling by CBD. Simultaneously, CBD can repress aerobic glycolysis through modulation of the ATF4–IGFBP1–Akt axis, due to the depletion of ATP and crucial intermediate metabolites. Collectively, these observations indicate that CBD could be considered as a potential compound for HCC therapy.