ZT-25, a new vacuolar H+-ATPase inhibitor, induces apoptosis and protective autophagy through ROS generation in HepG2 cells

The vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) has recently been proposed as a key target for new strategies in cancer treatment. Our previous work has proved that diphyllin glycoside is a novel inhibitor of V-ATPase. Here the cytotoxic effects of ZT-25, the most potent diphyllin glycoside derivatives, were studied and some of the underlying mechanisms were elucidated. ZT-25 displayed strong cytotoxicity on several cancer cell lines and relatively low...