Jinfukang enhances the pro-apoptotic activity of cisplatin via activation of AIFM2 in human lung cancer cells

Application of cisplatin (DDP) for treating lung cancer is restricted due to its toxicity and drug resistance. In this study, we aimed to examine whether Jinfukang (JFK), an effective herbal medicine against lung cancer, enhances DDP-induced cytotoxicity in lung cancer cells. Morphologically, we observed JFK increases DDP-induced pro-apoptosis in A549 cells in a synergistic manner. Transcriptome profiling analysis indicated that combination of JFK and DDP regulates genes involved in apoptosis-related signaling pathways. Moreover, we found the combination of JFK and DDP produces synergistic pro-apoptosis effect in other lung cancer cell lines NCI-H1975, NCI-H1650 and NCI-H2228. Particularly, we demonstrated AIFM2 is activated by the combined treatment of JFK and DDP, and partially mediate the synergistic pro-apoptosis effect. Collectively, this study gives the first evidence that activation of AIFM2 contributes to induction of pro-apoptosis by combined treatment with JFK and DDP in human lung cancer cells and provides an insight for its potential clinical application in lung cancer treatment.