Clofoctol impairs the stemness of gastric cancer and induces TNF-mediated necroptosis by directly binding to RanBP2.

Abstract

Gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs) play a crucial role in the initiation, progression, recurrence and therapeutic resistance, contributing to a poor prognosis. Consequently, GCSCs are deemed to be a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer (GC). Although β-catenin is a well-recognized therapeutic target for GC and several inhibitors have demonstrated potent anti-tumor effects, there is a dearth of therapeutic agents targeting β-catenin for clinical therapy. In this study, we carried out high-throughput screening of clinically approved drugs to identify effective inhibitors of β-catenin. The results revealed that the antibiotic drug, clofoctol (CFT) effectively reduced the β-catenin level, attenuated stemness traits both in vitro and in vivo, and induced necroptosis of GCSCs. Further analyzing of downstream genes and targeted proteins, we found that CFT inhibited GCSCs viability by binding to the SUMO E3 ligase RanBP2, thereby suppressing the SerpinE1/β-catenin axis and activating TNF-mediated necroptosis. These results indicate that CFT may exert potent therapeutic effects against GC by targeting β-catenin and inhibiting the viability of GCSCs.