The antihypertension drug doxazosin suppresses JAK/STATs phosphorylation and enhances the effects of IFN-α/γ-induced apoptosis

Doxazosin, a commonly prescribed treatment for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, serves as an α1-blocker of the adrenergic receptors. In this study, we calculated its effect on the ovarian carcinoma cells. Doxazosin induces dose-dependent growth suppression and is additively activated through IFN-α or IFN-γ stimulation. They both enhanced G1 phase arrest, as well as the activity of caspase-3, and the reduction of cyclin D1 and CDK4 protein levels. Doxazosin growth suppression was abolished either by the Janus family of tyrosine kinase (JAK) or the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) inhibitor treatment. The activity of JAK/STAT was dependent on the level of doxazosin, suggesting a requirement of doxazosin for the activation of JAK/STAT. Furthermore, doxazosin plus IFN-α or doxazosin plus IFN-γ additively suppressed the activation of the JAK/STAT signals through phosphorylation of JAK and STAT, thus affecting the activation of subsequent downstream signaling components PI3K, mTOR, 70S6K, and PKCδ. In vivo study demonstrated that doxazosin significantly suppressed tumor growth in an ovarian cancer cell xenograft mouse model, inducing apoptotic cell death by up-regulating the expression of p53, whereas c-Myc expression was markedly reduced. Our data indicate that doxazosin can modulate the apoptotic effects of IFN-α- and IFN-γ through the JAK/STAT signaling pathways. Collectively, we indicate that this action may be a potent chemotherapeutic property against ovarian carcinoma.