LACTB induced apoptosis of oxaliplatin-resistant gastric cancer through regulating autophagy-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis pathway

Oxaliplatin (OXA), as a third-generation platinum anticancer drug, is a treatment drug for gastric cancer (GC). However, OXA resistance has become the main reason for OXA treatment failure. Serine beta-lactamase-like protein (LACTB), acts as a mitochondrial protein, can affect multiple cancer processes. Here, we aimed to investigate the function and mechanism of LACTB in OXA-resistant GC. After LACTB overexpression or autophagy activator (RAPA) treatment, cell proliferation, reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction were evaluated through CCK-8 assay, Edu staining, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence assay. Moreover, DNA double-stranded damage and autophagy-related proteins were examined via western blot. We revealed that LACTB was downregulated in OXA-resistant MGC-803 cells, and overexpression of LACTB reduced the resistance of GC cells to OXA. Besides, our results uncovered that overexpression of LACTB induced apoptosis, reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and accelerated ROS accumulation in OXA-resistant MGC-803 (MGC-803/OXA) cells. Meanwhile, we verified that overexpression of LACTB decreased glucose uptake and ATP synthesis, induced mitochondria and DNA damages, and inhibited autophagy of MGC-803/OXA cells. Furthermore, our results certified that RAPA could weaken the function of LACTB on apoptosis and mitochondrial morphology and function in OXA-resistant MGC-803 cells with OXA treatment. Therefore, we demonstrated that LACTB could attenuate the resistance of MGC-803/OXA cells to OXA through autophagy-mediated mitochondrial morphological changes, mitochondrial dysfunction, and apoptosis, suggesting that LACTB, functions as a suppressor, is conducive to the therapy of OXA-resistant GC.