Learning and Investigation of the Role of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme in Radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Ionizing radiation (IR) is an important treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) that mainly kills tumor cells by producing large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Intracellular ROS levels affect the sensitivity of tumor cells to IR. Recently, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) have been found to affect the intracellular levels of ROS. Therefore, we performed a health informatics assessment of ACE in the TCGA database. We explored the effect of ACE in NPC cells. We found that either knockdown of ACE or inhibition of ACE by enalaprilat could decrease ROS levels in NPC cells. Furthermore, knockdown of ACE or inhibition of ACE by enalaprilat could reduce IR-induced ROS levels. ACE knockdown or inhibition reduced IR-induced DNA damage and apoptosis. ACE overexpression increased the level of ROS in NPC cells and further increased sensitivity to IR. These findings indicate that ACE influences the effect of IR by regulating the level of ROS in NPC cells.