Cordycepin induces apoptosis by caveolin-1 mediated JNK’s regulation of Foxo3a in lung cancer A549 cells

c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) plays a pivotal role in the regulation of cancer cell apoptosis. Previous studies have revealed that forkhead transcription factor (Foxo3a) is a critical effector of JNK-mediated tumor suppression. However, it is not clear whether caveolin-1 (CAV1) mediated JNK/Foxo3a pathway is involved in cancer cell apoptosis. We found that cordycepin upregulates CAV1 expression, which was accompanied by JNK phosphorylation (p-JNK), which induced Foxo3a translocation into the nucleus, resulting in the upregulation of levels of Bax protein. Furthermore, we found that CAV1 overexpression upregulated p-JNK, whereas siRNA mediated inhibition of CAV1 downregulated p-JNK, and that JNK inhibition by SP600125, a specific JNK inhibitor, significantly increased Foxo3a phosphorylation (p-Foxo3a), which attenuated Foxo3a translocation into the nucleus, indicating caveolin-1 mediated JNK’s regulation of Foxo3a. siRNA mediated inhibition of Foxo3a downregulated levels of Bax protein, attenuated A549 cell apoptosis, indicating that CAV1 mediated JNK/Foxo3a pathway induce the apoptosis of A549 lung cancer cells. Taken, together, these results indicate that cordycepin promotes CAV1 upregulation to enhance JNK/Foxo3a signaling pathway activation to induce apoptosis in lung cancer cells and support the potential of cordycepin as a therapeutic agent for lung cancer. A549 lung cancer cells were treated with 0.1% DMSO, cordycepin 60 ug/mL, and cordyceps 100 ug/mL for 48hrs.