Caffeine induces cytoskeletal changes and cell death in H1299 cells

Caffeine is the most common natural neuroactive substance around the world. The exact mechanism of the anticancer effects of caffeine is not clear, especially in the contexts of the cytoskeletal changes. It is known that caffeine exerts an effect on cell cycle, cell proliferation, radiosensivity of cells, and also induces cell death. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of 10 and 20 mM L−1 caffeine on the major cytoskeletal proteins in non-small lung cancer cell line H1299. Caffeine treatment induced abnormalities in morphology and ultrastructure of cells. Moreover, the fluorescence studies showed changes in organization of vimentin, β-tubulin, lamin A/C and F-actin, which were attributed to the induction of cell death. The results also demonstrated that caffeine induced formation of two cell populations: giant, mono- or multinucleated cells, with the phenotype of mitotic catastrophe and shrunken cells with condensation of chromatin, typical of apoptosis. This study for the first time shows the effect of caffeine on the cytoskeleton of H1299 cell line. In conclusion, a high-dose caffeine treatment induces apoptotic cell death and makes it a powerful anticancer agent that should be considered for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.