Effects of the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib on cell death signaling in human colon cancer

Abstract

The anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib, the only inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) with anticancer activity, is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and can cause endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by inhibiting sarco/ER Ca2 + -ATPase activity in cancer cells. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between celecoxib-induced ER stress and the effects of celecoxib against cell death signaling. Treatment of human colon cancer HCT116 cells with celecoxib reduced their viability and resulted in a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). Additionally, celecoxib treatment reduced the expression of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolism such as mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2). Furthermore, celecoxib reduced transmembrane protein 117 (TMEM117) and RNAi-mediated knockdown of TMEM117 reduced TFAM and UCP2 expression. These results suggest that celecoxib treatment results in loss of ΔΨm by reducing TMEM117 expression and provide insights for the development of novel drugs through TMEM117 expression.