Systematic response of staurosporine scaffold-based inhibitors to drug-resistant cancer kinase mutations

Discovery of New Anti-Cancer Agents against Patient-Derived Sorafenib-Resistant Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer is the most well-known type of endocrine cancer that is easily treatable and can be completely cured in most cases. Nonetheless, anti-cancer drug-resistant metastasis or recurrence may occur and lead to the failure of cancer therapy, which eventually leads to the death of a patient with cancer. This study aimed to detect novel thyroid cancer target candidates based on validating and identifying one of many anti-cancer drug-resistant targets in patient-derived sorafenib-resistant papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). We focused on targeting the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) in patient-derived sorafenib-resistant PTC cells compared with patient-derived sorafenib-sensitive PTC cells. We discovered novel SERCA inhibitors (candidates 33 and 36) by virtual screening. These candidates are novel SERCA inhibitors that lead to remarkable tumor shrinkage in a xenograft tumor model of sorafenib-resistant patient-derived PTC cells. These results are clinically valuable for the progression of novel combinatorial strategies that facultatively and efficiently target extremely malignant cancer cells, such as anti-cancer drug-resistant PTC cells.

Immune infiltration and drug specificity analysis of different subtypes based on functional status in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is a subtype of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) strongly correlated with worse clinical outcomes. However, the role of characteristic pathway-related genes in patients with AITL (e.g., subtype typing and pathogenesis) remains unknown. In this study, we intended to understand the potential role and prognostic value of characteristic pathways in AITL and identified a model for subtype identification based on pathway-related functional status. Transcriptomic (RNA-seq) data were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database for three sets of tumor tissues from AITL patients. AITL was divided into three clusters based on the pathway profile of patients and the best clustering k = 3, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the three clusters were analyzed. The top 45 important variables associated with characteristic pathways, such as Huntington's disease, VEGF signaling pathway, nucleotide excision repair, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, purine metabolism, olfactory transduction, etc., were used to construct a subtype identification model. The model was experimentally validated and proved to possess good predictive efficacy. In addition, pathway-related subtype typing was significantly associated with different immune cell infiltration in AITL. Further analysis revealed that the drug IC50 values predicted also differed markedly among the different subtypes, thus further identifying some subtype-specific drugs. Our study indicates a potential role of characteristic pathways in AITL staging for the first time, provides novel insights for future research targeting AITL, and points to potential therapeutic options for patients with different subtypes of AITL.

Anti-Cancer SERCA Inhibitors Targeting Sorafenib-Resistant Human Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Thyroid cancer is generally curable and, in many cases, can be completely treated, although it can sometimes recur after cancer therapy. Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is known as one of the most general subtypes of thyroid cancer, which take up nearly 80% of whole thyroid cancer. However, PTC may develop anti-cancer drug resistance via metastasis or recurrence, making it practically incurable. In this study, we propose a clinical approach that identifies novel candidates based on target identification and validation of numerous survival-involved genes in human sorafenib-sensitive and -resistant PTC. Consequently, we recognized a sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) in human sorafenib-resistant PTC cells. Based on the present results, we detected novel SERCA inhibitor candidates 24 and 31 via virtual screening. These SERCA inhibitors showed remarkable tumor shrinkage in the sorafenib-resistant human PTC xenograft tumor model. These consequences would be clinically worthwhile for the development of a new combinatorial strategy that effectively targets incredibly refractory cancer cells, such as cancer stem cells and anti-cancer drug-resistant cells.

Bisindole natural products: A vital source for the development of new anticancer drugs

Currently, the number of new cancer cases and deaths worldwide is increasing year on year. In addition to the requirement for cancer prevention, the top priority is still to seek the effective cure of cancer. In over a half century of constant exploration, increasing attention has been paid to the excellent anticancer activity of natural products, with more and more natural products isolated, identified and detected. For this study, the focus lies the natural products of bisindole, where two indole molecules are indirectly linked or directly polymerized, developing the diversity of structure and mechanism, accompanied with the better anticancer activity than monomers. There has been a long history of applying indirubin and vincristine in cancer treatment, verifying the anticancer effect of bisindoles. Vincribine, midostaurin and other anticancer drugs have also been developed and commercialized. In this paper, a review regarding the potential therapeutic effect of bisindole alkaloids extracted from various natural products was carried out, in which the progress made in research of 242 bisindole alkaloids for cancer treatment was introduced. These compounds may be applicable as medicinal products for clinical research in the future.

Potential Therapeutic Agents against Paclitaxel—And Sorafenib-Resistant Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Thyroid carcinoma, a disease in which malignant cells form in the thyroid tissue, is the most common endocrine carcinoma, with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) accounting for nearly 80% of total thyroid carcinoma cases. However, the management of metastatic or recurrent therapy-refractory PTC is challenging and requires complex carcinoma therapy. In this study, we proposed a new clinical approach for the treatment of therapy-refractory PTC. We identified sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) as an essential factor for the survival of PTC cells refractory to the treatment with paclitaxel or sorafenib. We validated its use as a potential target for developing drugs against resistant PTC, by using patient-derived paclitaxel- or sorafenib-resistant PTC cells. We further discovered novel SERCA inhibitors, candidates 7 and 13, using the evolutionary chemical binding similarity method. These novel SERCA inhibitors determined a substantial reduction of tumors in a patient-derived xenograft tumor model developed using paclitaxel- or sorafenib-resistant PTC cells. These results could provide a basis for clinically meaningful progress in the treatment of refractory PTC by identifying a novel therapeutic strategy: using a combination therapy between sorafenib or paclitaxel and specific SERCA inhibitors for effectively and selectively targeting extremely malignant cells such as antineoplastic-resistant and carcinoma stem-like cells.

Effects of Anti-Cancer Drug Sensitivity-Related Genetic Differences on Therapeutic Approaches in Refractory Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer (TC) includes tumors of follicular cells; it ranges from well differentiated TC (WDTC) with generally favorable prognosis to clinically aggressive poorly differentiated TC (PDTC) and undifferentiated TC (UTC). Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is a WDTC and the most common type of thyroid cancer that comprises almost 70–80% of all TC. PTC can present as a solid, cystic, or uneven mass that originates from normal thyroid tissue. Prognosis of PTC is excellent, with an overall 10-year survival rate >90%. However, more than 30% of patients with PTC advance to recurrence or metastasis despite anti-cancer therapy; consequently, systemic therapy is limited, which necessitates expansion of improved clinical approaches. We strived to elucidate genetic distinctions due to patient-derived anti-cancer drug-sensitive or -resistant PTC, which can support in progress novel therapies. Patients with histologically proven PTC were evaluated. PTC cells were gained from drug-sensitive and -resistant patients and were compared using mRNA-Seq. We aimed to assess the in vitro and in vivo synergistic anti-cancer effects of a novel combination therapy in patient-derived refractory PTC. This combination therapy acts synergistically to promote tumor suppression compared with either agent alone. Therefore, genetically altered combination therapy might be a novel therapeutic approach for refractory PTC.

Intrinsic relative preference profile of pan-kinase inhibitor drug staurosporine towards the clinically occurring gatekeeper mutations in Protein Tyrosine Kinases

Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) have been recognized as the attractive druggable targets of various diseases including cancer. However, many PTKs are clinically observed to establish a gatekeeper mutation in the peripheral hinge section of active site, which plays a primary role in development of acquired drug resistance to kinase inhibitors. The natural product Staurosporine, an ATP-competitive reversible pan-kinase inhibitor, has been found to exhibit wild type-sparing selectivity for some PTK gatekeeper mutants. In this study, totally 23 acquired drug-resistant gatekeeper mutations harbored on 17 PTKs involved in diverse cancers were curated, from which only five amino acid types, namely Thr, Met, Val, Leu and Ile, were observed at both wild-type and mutant residues of these clinically occurring gatekeeper sites. Here, an integrative strategy that combined molecular modeling and kinase assay was described to systematically investigate the relative preference of Staurosporine towards the five gatekeeper amino acid types in real kinase context and in a psendokinase model. A kinase-free, intrinsic relative preference profile of Staurosporine to gatekeeper amino acids was created: (dispreferred) Thr⊳Val⊳Ile⊳Leu⊳Met (preferred). It is found that kinase context has no essential effect on the profile; different kinases and even psendokinase can obtain a consistent conclusion for the preference order. Theoretically, we can use the profile to predict Staurosporine response to any gatekeeper mutation between the five amino acid types in any PTK. Structural and energetic analyses revealed that the multiple-aromatic ring system of Staurosporine can form multiple noncovalent interactions with the weakly polar side chain of Met and can pack tightly or moderately against the nonpolar side chains of Val, Ile and Leu, thus stabilizing the kinase-inhibitor system (ΔU < 0), whereas the polar side chain of Thr may cause unfavorable electronegative and solvent effects with the aromatic electrons of Staurosporine, thus destabilizing the system (ΔU > 0).