ShDcR3 sensitizes TRAIL-resistant HCC cells by inducing caspase-dependent apoptosis while suppressing NF-κB dependent cFLIP(L) expression

Evidence has shown that most hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells are resistant to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-mediated apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying TRAIL-mediated apoptosis resistance are not well understood. In this study, we reported that downregulation of Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) expression by lentiviral vectors carrying shRNA against DcR3 (LV-ShDcR3, shDcR3) in Huh7 both greatly enhanced TRAIL-mediated apoptosis and reduced cell proliferation capability. In addition, silencing DcR3 resulted in upregulation of the cell apoptotic regulators including Bid, caspase-3, and caspase-8. Caspase inhibitors inhibited shDcR3-mediated cell death, which indicated that downregulation of DcR3 expression in Huh7 cells increased TRAIL-induced caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, although the knockdown of DcR3 altered the expression of some Bcl-2- and IAP-family proteins, this change was inhibited by pretreatment with a pancaspase inhibitor, which indicated the cytotoxic effect of shDcR3 was not due to the expression of these proteins. In contrast, shDcR3 significantly inhibited TRAIL-induced transcription factor nuclear κB (NF-κB) activation through the IκB kinase (IKK) pathway, as well as inhibited TRAIL-induced increases in FLICE-inhibitory protein long form (cFLIP(L)) expression at the transcriptional level. Silencing cFLIP(L) expression mimicked the cytotoxic effect of shDcR3 on TRAIL-mediated cell apoptosis. Moreover, overexpression of cFLIP(L) effectively prevented the increase in cell apoptosis in Huh7 cells co-treated with TRAIL and shDcR3. Taken together, our findings indicated that silencing DcR3 sensitizes TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in HCC cells by inhibiting NF-κB.