Embelin Enhances the Sensitivity of Renal Cancer Cells To Axitinib by Inhibiting HIF-1α Signaling Pathway
Abstract Background Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common malignant tumor of urinary system with high recurrence rate and easy metastasis. Current clinical drugs for renal cell carcinoma include immunotherapy and targeted drugs. Axitinib is a clinical targeted drug for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma, which has some shortcomings such as unstable efficacy and easy drug resistance. The aim of this study was to determine whether embelin can enhance the sensitivity of renal cancer cells to axitinib and explore its regulatory pathways. Results Embelin enhanced the sensitivity of renal cancer cells to axitinib in the following aspects: enhancing the inhibition of cell proliferation by axitinib, the ability to kill cancer cells, and the induction of cell apoptosis. HIF-1α was a potential pathway of Embelin action. After IOX2 regulated the HIF-1α pathway, the enhancing effect of embelin on axitinib was weakened. Conclusions Embelin enhanced the sensitivity of both A498 and 786-O renal cancer cells to axitinib by inhibiting the HIF-1α pathway.