Salinomycin promotes cell death via the activation of the ROS/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway in cholangiocarcinoma

Salinomycin (Sal), an ionophore antibiotic, has shown promising anti-cancer activity in multiple cancers. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of Sal on the ROS/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) in vitro and in vivo. We observed that Sal inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Sal promoted an increase of Annexin-V positive cells in Huh-28 and RBE cells in a dose-dependent manner, which was efficiently inhibited by VX-765 (Caspase-1 inhibitor), while Sal-induced increase of ROS levels was partially inhibited by exposure to N-acetyl-L-cysteine (ROS scavenger). Moreover, Sal inhibited tumor growth in RBE tumor-bearing mice. The activation of Sal on the ROS/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway was also identified in CCA cells and tumor tissues. Collectively, these results suggested that Sal activated the ROS/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway to promote pyroptosis-induced cell death in CCA and suggest it may be a promising treatment strategy for anti-CCA.