Dicoumarol potentiates cisplatin-induced apoptosis mediated by c-Jun N-terminal kinase in p53 wild-type urogenital cancer cell lines.

3-3'-Methylene-bis [4-hydroxycoumarin] (dicoumarol), an inhibitor of NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase 1, has been reported to possess potential antineoplastic effects and the ability to abrogate p53 protein. In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxic effects of dicoumarol in combination with cisplatin (CDDP), using four bladder (RT112, 253J, J82 and UMUC3) and two prostate (LNCap and PC3) cancer cell lines. Single treatment with 100 microM dicoumarol suppressed cell proliferation but did not induce apoptosis at 24 h in all cell lines examined. On the other hand, pretreatment with dicoumarol enhanced cytotoxicity of CDDP in three cell lines with wild type of p53 (RT112, 253J and LNCap), but not in three other cell lines with mutant p53 or in RT112 stable transfectants with a dominant-negative mutant of p53. In RT112 and LNCap, CDDP induced p53 and p21 expression, while pretreatment of dicoumarol suppressed induction of p53/p21 and resulted in sequential activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, inhibition of JNK, using SP600125, completely suppressed activity of caspases and poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage, leading to suppression of enhancement of CDDP-mediated apoptosis by dicoumarol. These results suggested that dicoumarol could enhance cytotoxicity of CDDP in urogenital cancer cells with wild-type p53 through the p53/p21/JNK pathways.