Calcium Is a Key Signaling Molecule in β-Lapachone-mediated Cell Death

β-Lapachone (β-Lap) triggers apoptosis in a number of human breast and prostate cancer cell lines through a unique apoptotic pathway that is dependent upon NQO1, a two-electron reductase. Downstream signaling pathway(s) that initiate apoptosis following treatment with β-Lap have not been elucidated. Since calpain activation was suspected in β-Lap-mediated apoptosis, we examined alterations in Ca²⁺ homeostasis using NQO1-expressing MCF-7 cells. β-Lap-exposed MCF-7 cells exhibited an early increase in intracellular cytosolic Ca²⁺, from endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺ stores, comparable to thapsigargin exposures. 1,2-Bis-(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′N′-tetraacetic acid-acetoxymethyl ester, an intracellular Ca²⁺ chelator, blocked early increases in Ca²⁺ levels and inhibited β-Lap-mediated mitochondrial membrane depolarization, intracellular ATP depletion, specific and unique substrate proteolysis, and apoptosis. The extracellular Ca ²⁺ chelator, EGTA, inhibited later apoptotic end points (observed >8 h, e.g. substrate proteolysis and DNA fragmentation), suggesting that later execution events were triggered by Ca²⁺ influxes from the extracellular milieu. Collectively, these data suggest a critical, but not sole, role for Ca²⁺ in the NQO1-dependent cell death pathway initiated by β-Lap. Use of β-Lap to trigger an apparently novel, calpain-like-mediated apoptotic cell death could be useful for breast and prostate cancer therapy.