Proteomic Analysis of the Molecular Mechanism of Lovastatin Inhibiting the Growth of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cells

Metabolic abnormalities are one of the essential features of tumors. Increasingly more studies have shown that lovastatin, a lipid-reducing drug, has visible inhibitory effects on tumors, but it has not been reported in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. In this paper, we explored the effects of lovastatin on the growth of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and its possible molecular mechanisms. After treating nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells with different concentrations of lovastatin, we found that lovastatin can inhibit the growth of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in a time- and dose-dependent manner. To explore the molecular mechanism of how lovastatin inhibits the growth of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, we examined the proteome of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells treated at different time points using an LC/MS whole-proteomic strategy. The molecular network of differentially expressed proteins was constructed using IPA software. It was found that lovastatin inhibited the growth of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells mainly by affecting the EIF2 and the mTOR pathways, which regulate cell metabolism and apoptosis. The results of this study provide a robust basis for further research on the molecular mechanism of lovastatin's inhibition of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and provide a reference for the clinical use of lovastatin in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.