Resistomycin Inhibits Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling to Induce the Apoptotic Death of Human Colorectal Cancer Cells

Resistomycin is a natural antibiotic related to quinone that has been shown to exhibit robust antitumor activity. To further characterize the mechanistic basis for such activity, human colorectal cancer (CRC) cells were selected as a model to explore the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the ability of resistomycin to induce apoptotic cell death. These analyses revealed that resistomycin was able to suppress β-catenin, TCF4, and GSK-3β expression, together with that of the downstream targets c-Myc and survivin. This coincided with elevated cleaved caspase-3 and Bax protein levels and a decline in Bcl-2 content. When β-catenin was silenced, this further enhanced the ability of resistomycin to induce apoptotic CRC cell death, whereas this apoptotic process was partially ablated when cells were treated using lithium chloride to activate Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Overall, these results support a model wherein resistomycin inhibits Wnt/β-catenin signaling within CRC cells, thereby inducing apoptotic death. Further research may be warranted to better clarify the potential utility of this compound as a candidate drug for use in the treatment of patients suffering from this form of cancer.