A dihydroselenoquinazoline inhibits S6 ribosomal protein signalling, induces apoptosis and inhibits autophagy in MCF-7 cells

The PI3K/Akt/mTOR/S6 ribosomal protein signalling pathway is a key potential target in breast cancer therapy, playing a central role in proliferation and cell survival. In this study, we found that the seleno-compound 2,4-dihydroselenoquinazoline (3a) generally inhibited this signalling axis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells and caused downregulation of S6 ribosomal protein phosphorylation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, 3a caused a dose- and time-dependent decrease in MCF-7 cell viability as well as cell cycle arrest in G2/M. Interestingly 3a also induced apoptosis, as evidenced by cleavage of PARP and caspase-7, and inhibited autophagy, as demonstrated by accumulation of LC3-II and p62/SQSTM1. Given that induction of autophagy has been previously described as a mechanism by which some breast cancer cells counteract proapoptotic signalling and develop resistance to anti-hormone therapy, this suggests that this derivative, which both triggers apoptosis and inhibits autophagy, may be beneficial in preventing and overcoming resistance in breast cancer cells. The data also show the complexity of this signalling axis which is far from being understood.