Up-regulation of TNF-alpha/NFkB/SIRT1 axis drives aggressiveness and cancer stem cells accumulation in chemoresistant oral squamous cell carcinoma

Tumor resistance remains an obstacle to successfully treating oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Cisplatin is widely used as a cytotoxic drug to treat solid tumors, including advanced OSCC, but with low efficacy due to chemoresistance. Therefore, identifying the pathways that contribute to chemoresistance may show new possibilities for improving the treatment. This work explored the role of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)/NFkB signaling in driving the cisplatin resistance of OSCC and its potential as a pharmacological target to overcome chemoresistance. Differential accessibility analysis demonstrated the enrichment of opened chromatin regions in members of the TNF-alpha/NFkB signaling pathway, and RNA-Seq confirmed the upregulation of TNF-alpha/NFkB signaling in cisplatin-resistant cell lines. NFkB was accumulated in cisplatin-resistant cell lines and in cancer stem cells (CSC), and the administration of TNF-alpha increased the CSC, suggesting that TNF-alpha/NFkB signaling is involved in the accumulation of CSC. TNF-alpha stimulation also increased the histone deacetylases HDAC1 and SIRT1. Cisplatin-resistant cell lines were sensitive to the pharmacological inhibition of NFkB, and low doses of the NFkB inhibitors, CBL0137, and emetine, efficiently reduced the CSC and the levels of SIRT1, increasing histone acetylation. The NFkB inhibitors decreased stemness potential, clonogenicity, migration, and invasion of cisplatin-resistant cell lines. The administration of the emetine significantly reduced the tumor growth of cisplatin-resistant xenograft models, decreasing NFkB and SIRT1, increasing histone acetylation, and decreasing CSC. TNF-alpha/NFkB/SIRT1 signaling regulates the epigenetic machinery by modulating histone acetylation, CSC, and aggressiveness of cisplatin-resistant OSCC and the NFkB inhibition is a potential strategy to treat chemoresistant OSCC.