Regulation of cytokinesis and necroptosis pathways by diosgenin inhibits the proliferation of NCI-H460 lung cancer cells.

Aim Overcoming resistance to apoptosis and antimitotic chemotherapy is crucial for effective treatment of lung cancer. Diosgenin (DG), a promising phytochemical, can regulate various molecular pathways implicated in tumor formation and progression. However, the precise biological activity of DG in lung cancer remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the antiproliferative activity of DG in NCI-H460 lung carcinoma cells to explore the underlying antimitotic mechanisms and alternative cell death pathways. In a 2D culture system, we analyzed cell viability, multinucleated cell frequency, cell concentration, cell cycle changes, cell death induction, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and nuclear DNA damage, particularly in relation to target gene expression. We also evaluated the antiproliferative activity of DG in a 3D culture system of spheroids, assessing volume changes, cell death induction, and inhibition of proliferation recovery and clonogenic growth. DG reduced cell viability and concentration while increasing the frequency of cells with multiple nuclei, particularly binucleated cells resulting from daughter cell fusion. This effect was associated with genes involved in cytokinesis regulation (RAB35, OCRL, BIRC5, and AURKB). Additionally, DG-induced cell death was linked to necroptosis, as evidenced by increased intracellular ROS production and RIPK3, MLKL, TRAF2, and HSPA5 gene expression. In tumor spheroids, DG increased spheroid volume, induced cell death, and inhibited proliferation recovery and clonogenic growth. Our study provides new insights into the biological activities of DG in lung cancer cells, contributing to the development of novel oncological therapies.

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Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.