Cell Lines and Cell Culture
Human colorectal cancer cell lines HCT15, SW620, DLD-1, HCT116, and NCM460 were purchased from Feiouer Biotechnology Co., Ltd. All cells were cultured in RPMI1640 supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (BI) in a 37°C incubator with 5% CO2.
Reagents and antibodies
Moxidectin, 3-methyladenine (3-MA), hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) purchased from selleck chemicals. Sodium 4-phenylbutyrate (4-PB) was purchased from Beijing Soleibo Technology Co, Ltd. Antibodies used in this study: LC3B (proteintech, 18725-1-AP, China), P62 (proteintech, 66184-1-Ig, China), Beclin1 (proteintech, 66665-1-Ig, China), AKT (CST, 9272S, USA), Phospho-AKT (Ser473) (Beyotime, AA329, China), mTOR (CST, 2972S, USA), Phospho-mTOR (S2448) (Boster, BM4840, China), p70S6K (Bioss, bs-6370R, China), Phospho-p70S6K (Ser417) (Bioss, bs-5668R, China), GAPDH (proteintech, 60004-1-Ig, China), β-Actin (proteintech, 20536-1-AP, China), goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) (H+L)-horseradish Peroxidase (HRP; proteintech, SA00001-2, China), goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L)-HRP (OriGene proteintech, SA00001-1, China), goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) ( H+L)-fluorescein (FITC; proteintech, SA00003-2, China)
Animal research
BALB/c nude mice were purchased from Zhejiang Weitong Lihua Bioscience Co., Ltd. 1×107 HCT15 were resuspended in 100 μl PBS and injected subcutaneously into nude mice. When the tumor volume reached 75mm3, the mice were randomly divided into two groups, and the mice were injected intraperitoneally with 100μL (75% saline) or moxidectin (15mg/kg/100μL/day). After 15 days tumor size was measured with a caliper and calculated as volume (mm3) using the equation: V = 0.5 x length x width2, all mice were euthanized with ether anesthesia, tumors were dissected and frozen in liquid nitrogen.
Cell viability assay
Cells were seeded in 96-well plates and incubated overnight, then cells were exposed to the indicated concentrations of drug for 36 h. Subsequently, cells were assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Briefly, 10 μL MTT was added to each well and incubated for 4 hours. The medium was removed and 150 μL DMSO was added to each well to dissolve the crystalline formazan dye. Absorbance was measured at 490 nm on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELX808IU, Bio-Tek).
Lactate dehydrogenase assay
Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was determined by LDH release kit (Beyotime, C0016). Assays were performed according to the manufacturer's instructions. Briefly, LDH converts pyruvate to lactate, reducing the developer to a colored product with absorbance at 450 nm as measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELX808IU, Bio-Tek).
Colony Formation Assay
300 cells were seeded in 6-well plates. Cells were cultured continuously for 7 days in the presence or absence of indicated concentrations of moxidectin, CQ, 3-MA. Colonies were stained with crystal violet and counted using a microscope. Only those cell clusters containing more than 50 cells were considered clones.
Flow Cytometry
After washing the harvested cells twice with PBS, resuspend the cells in binding buffer (500 μL) containing 5 μL Annexin V-FITC (Annexin V-FITC Detection Kit C1052, Biyuntian Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shanghai ,China). Then, 10 μL of propidium iodide (PI) was applied to the suspension and the cells were incubated for an additional 10 min. The degree of apoptosis was determined using an Agilent NovoCyte Cell Analyzer (Agilent, NovoCyte, USA).
Transmission electron microscope
Transmission electron microscopy analysis was used to visualize autophagic vesicles. Briefly, HCT15 and SW620 cells were fixed in 0.1% glutaraldehyde. After dehydration, ultrathin sections were prepared using a Sorvall MT5000 microtome. Samples were stained with lead citrate and/or uranyl acetate. Autophagic vesicles were analyzed by Philips EM420 electron microscope.
Fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction
Total RNA was obtained using Trizol (Thermo Fisher Scientific, 15596018) and total cDNA was generated using the PrimeScript™ RT Kit and gDNA Eraser (Takara, RR047A). Bio-Rad iTaq Universal SYBR Green Supermix (1725271) was then used to quantify the mRNA levels of the indicated genes. The primer pairs used for CFTR were: front 5'-TAGGAGCTTGAGCCCAGACG-3', reverse 5'-AACATCGCCGAAGGGCATTA-3', and the primer pair for GRP78 was front 5'-GCCTGTATTTCTAGACCTGCC-3', reverse 5'-TTCATCTTGCCAGCCAGTTG- 3'.
Immunofluorescence
Cells were seeded onto glass coverslips in 24-well plates. After treatment, cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS for 30 min. The slides were then washed three times with PBS and incubated with 0.4% Triton X-100 (Sigma-aldrich, 9002-93-1) and 5% goat serum (Sigma-aldrich, G9023) for 30 min. Cells were incubated with LC3B antibody overnight at 4°C, followed by fluorescein-conjugated secondary antibody for 1 hour at 37°C. Nuclei were finally stained with DAPI for 10 min and washed with PBS to stop the reaction. Visualize images using an upright fluorescence microscope.
Tandem mRFP-GFP fluorescence microscopy
Using tandem mRFP-GFP-tagged LC3 plasmids, cells were transfected with the addition of Lipofectamine 3000. After moxidectin treatment, cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 30 min and rinsed twice with PBS. Visualize images using an upright fluorescence microscope.
Quantitative and statistical analysis
The analysis was performed using the statistical software package GraphPad Prism 6.0. The obtained data were analyzed using Student's t-test or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Data are expressed as SD±mean, and statistical significance is defined as *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001; ns means no statistical significance。