β‐Ionone represses renal cell carcinoma progression through activating LKB1/AMPK‐triggered autophagy

Abstract

Abstractβ‐Ionone, the end ring analog of β‐carotenoids, has been proven to have an antitumor effect in a variety of cancers. In this study, we investigated the impact of β‐ionone on renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell lines (786‐O and ACHN) using colony formation assays, flow cytometry analysis, and western blot analysis. We found that β‐ionone effectively inhibited the proliferation of RCC cells in vitro, which was also confirmed in a xenograft model. Moreover, we found that β‐ionone could induce autophagy, as indicated by LC3 puncta in 786‐O and ACHN cell lines and the expression of LC3 in β‐ionone‐treated RCC cells. To further explore the underlying mechanism, we assessed liver kinase B1/AMP‐activated protein kinase (LKB1/AMPK) signaling pathway activity, and the results showed that β‐ionone inhibited the proliferation of RCC cells by inducing autophagy via the LKB1/AMPK signaling pathway. In summary, our findings provide a new therapeutic strategy of β‐ionone‐induced autophagy in RCC.