Downregulation of Nrf2 promotes radiation-induced apoptosis through Nrf2 mediated Notch signaling in non-small cell lung cancer cells.

The nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a crucial regulator of the cellular antioxidant system. Nrf2 is often constitutively activated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, which promotes cytoprotection against oxidative stress and xenobiotics. Notch1 signaling is critically implicated in cell fate determination. It has been reported that Nf2 strongly regulates Notch1 activity. However, the role of Nrf2 mediated Notch1 signaling in response to ionizing radiation (IR) remains elusive. We report that knockdown of Nrf2 promotes radiation-induced apoptosis through Nrf2 mediated Notch1 signaling in NSCLC cells. IR activated Nrf2 in a dose-dependent manner and the expression of Nrf2 was significantly elevated at 4 h after exposure. RNAi-mediated reduction of Nrf2 significantly increased endogenous ROS levels, and decreased the expression of glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD (P) H quinine oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) in irradiated cells. Furthermore, decrease in Nrf2 expression significantly dampened Notch1 expression following ionizing radiation exposure, and potentiated IR-induced cellular apoptosis. These results demonstrated that Nrf2 could be activated by ionizing radiation, knockdown of Nrf2 could promote radiation induced apoptosis and Nrf2-mediated Notch signaling is an important determinant in radioresistance of lung cancer cells.