Chili peppers are one of the most widely consumed spices worldwide. However, research on the health benefits of chili peppers and some of its constituents has raised controversy as to whether chili pepper compounds possess
cancer-promoting or
cancer-preventive effects. While ample studies have been carried out to examine the effect of
capsaicin in
carcinogenesis, the chemopreventive effect of other major components in chili pepper, including
dihydrocapsaicin,
capsiate, and
capsanthin, is relatively unclear. Herein, we investigated the inhibitory effect of chili pepper components on malignant cell transformation. Among the tested chili pepper compounds,
dihydrocapsaicin displayed the strongest inhibitory activity against
epidermal growth factor (
EGF)-induced neoplastic transformation.
Dihydrocapsaicin specifically suppressed
EGF-induced phosphorylations of the p70S6K1-S6 pathway and the expression of c-Fos. A reduction in c-Fos levels by
dihydrocapsaicin led to a concomitant downregulation of
AP-1 activation. Further analysis of the molecular mechanism responsible for the
dihydrocapsaicin-mediated decrease in phospho-p70S6K1, revealed that
dihydrocapsaicin can block
amino acid-dependent mechanistic targets of
rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1)-p70S6K1-S6 signal activation. Additionally,
dihydrocapsaicin was able to selectively augment
amino acid deprivation-induced cell death in mTORC1-hyperactive cells. Collectively,
dihydrocapsaicin exerted chemopreventive effects through inhibiting
amino acid signaling and c-Fos pathways and, thus, might be a promising
cancer preventive natural agent.