Activation of p53 by spermine mediates induction of autophagy in HT1080 cells.

The recent evidences indicate that autophagy is associated with a number of pathological processes including cancer, muscular disorder and neurodegeneration in addition to longevity. The efficacy of spermine was investigated on induction of autophagy through histone deacetylation and p53 activation in human fibrosarcoma cell line, HT1080. In this study, it was discovered that spermine increases the activity of HAT and autophagy. It was also identified that the transcriptional activation of p53 and the activation of p21 promoter by spermine are related to the induction of autophagy in reporter gene assay. Furthermore, western blot analyses demonstrated that spermine modulates the expression of proteins related to autophagy and apoptosis. The expression levels of Ac-histone H3, HDAC1, HAT1, p300 and SIRT1 were increased in HT1080 cells treated with spermine. In addition, the expression levels of protein such as acetyl-p53, p-p53, Bcl-2 and caspase-9 inducing apoptosis were increased in the presence of spermine. Moreover, the levels of Mdm2 and caspase-3 expression were reduced in the cells exposed to spermine compared to blank group. These results suggest that activation of HAT in the presence of spermine promotes the induction of autophagy in HT1080 cells through the enhanced activity of p-p53 and acetyl p53.