Natural Compound Allicin Containing Thiosulfinate Moieties as Transmembrane Protein 16A (TMEM16A) Ion Channel Inhibitor for Food Adjuvant Therapy of Lung Cancer

Cancer is one of the most serious malignant diseases, and chemotherapy is cancer's main clinical treatment method. However, chemotherapy inevitably produces drug resistance, and side effects accompany them. Adjuvant therapy is an effective way to enhance chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity and reduce side effects. This study found allicin, garlic's active ingredient, is an inhibitor of transmembrane protein 16A (TMEM16A), a novel drug target of lung adenocarcinoma. Allicin concentration-dependently inhibited TMEM16A currents with an IC₅₀ of 24.35 ± 4.14 μM. Allicin thiosulfinate moieties bound with R535A/E624A/E633A residues of TMEM16A blocked the ion transport function and downregulated TMEM16A protein expression affecting the mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction. Then, allicin reduced the viability and migration of LA795 cells, and induced cell apoptosis. Moreover, multitarget combination administration results indicated that the therapeutic effect of 3.56 mg/kg allicin and 3 mg/kg cisplatin combined administration was superior to the superposition of the two drugs alone, demonstrating that the anticancer effects of allicin and cisplatin were synergistic. In addition, low-concentration combined administration also avoided the side effects of cisplatin in mice. Based on the good tumor suppressor effect and high biosafety of allicin and cisplatin combination in vivo, allicin can be used for food adjuvant therapy of cisplatin chemotherapy.