Carnoquinolines Target Copper Dyshomeostasis, Aberrant Protein-Protein Interactions, and Oxidative Stress

New Biotinylated GHK and Related Copper(II) Complex: Antioxidant and Antiglycant Properties In Vitro against Neurodegenerative Disorders

Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people worldwide. The failure of the enzymatic degradation, the oxidative stress, the dyshomeostasis of metal ions, among many other biochemical events, might trigger the pathological route, but the onset of these pathologies is unknown. Multi-target and multifunctional molecules could address several biomolecular issues of the pathologies. The tripeptide GHK, a bioactive fragment of several proteins, and the related copper(II) complex have been largely used for many purposes, from cosmetic to therapeutic applications. GHK derivatives were synthesized to increase the peptide stability and improve the target delivery. Herein we report the synthesis of a new biotin-GHK conjugate (BioGHK) through orthogonal reactions. BioGHK is still capable of coordinating copper(II), as observed by spectroscopic and spectrometric measurements. The spectroscopic monitoring of the copper-induced ascorbate oxidation was used to measure the antioxidant activity Cu(II)-BioGHK complex, whereas antiglycant activity of the ligand towards harmful reactive species was investigated using MALDI-TOF. The affinity of BioGHK for streptavidin was evaluated using a spectrophotometric assay and compared to that of biotin. Finally, the antiaggregant activity towards amyloid-β was evaluated using a turn-on fluorescent dye. BioGHK could treat and/or prevent several adverse biochemical reactions that characterize neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Recent advances in the modulation of amyloid protein aggregation using the supramolecular host-guest approaches

Misfolding of proteins is associated with many incurable diseases in human beings. Understanding the process of aggregation from monomers to fibrils, the characterization of all intermediate species, and the origin of toxicity is very challenging. Extensive research including computational and experimental shed some light on these tricky phenomena. Non-covalent interactions between amyloidogenic domains of proteins play a major role in their self-assembly which can be disrupted by designed chemical tools. This will lead to the development of inhibitors of detrimental amyloid formations. In supramolecular host-guest chemistry approaches, different macrocycles function as hosts for encapsulating hydrophobic guests, i.e. phenylalanine residues of proteins, in their hydrophobic cavities via non-covalent interactions. In this way, they can disrupt the interactions between adjacent amyloidogenic proteins and prevent their self-aggregation. This supramolecular approach has also emerged as a prospective tool to modify the aggregation of several amyloidogenic proteins. In this review, we discussed recent supramolecular host-guest chemistry-based strategies for the inhibition of amyloid protein aggregation.

Characterization of cuproptosis identified immune microenvironment and prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia

BACKGROUND

Recent studies have reported that cuproptosis, a novel cell death pathway, strongly correlates with mitochondrial metabolism. In addition, the studies reported that cuproptosis plays a role in the development of several cancers and is regulated by protein lipoylation. During cuproptosis, copper binds to the lipoylated proteins and mediates cancer progression. However, the role of cuproptosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients is yet to be explored.

METHODS

This study curated seven cuproptosis-related-genes (CRGs): FDX1, DLAT, PDHB, PDHA1, DLD, LIAS, and LIPT1 to determine cuproptosis modification patterns and the CRGs signature in AML. The CIBERSORT and ssGSEA algorithms were utilized to evaluate the infiltration levels of different immune cell subtypes. A cuproptosis score system based on differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was constructed using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis. The developed cuproptosis score system was validated using two immunotherapy datasets, IMvigor210 and GSE78220.

RESULTS

Three distinct cuproptosis regulation patterns were identified using the Beat AML cohort. The results demonstrated that the three cuproptosis regulation patterns were correlated with various biological pathways and clinical outcomes. Tumor microenvironment (TME) characterization revealed that the identified cuproptosis regulation patterns were consistent with three immune profiles: immune-desert, immune-inflamed, and immune-excluded. The AML patients were grouped into low- and high-score groups based on the cuproptosis score system abstracted from 486 cuproptosis-related DEGs. Patients with lower cuproptosis scores were characterized by longer survival time and attenuated immune infiltration. It was found that lower cuproptosis scores were strongly correlated with lower somatic mutation frequency. Moreover, patients with lower cuproptosis scores presented more favorable immune responses and dual clinical benefits among external validation cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS

Cuproptosis phenotypes are significantly correlated with immune microenvironment complexity and variety. Cuprotopsis regulates the response of cancer cells to the immune system. Quantitatively assessing cuproptosis phenotypes in AML improves the understanding and knowledge regarding immune microenvironment characteristics and promotes the development of therapeutic interventions.

Evidence of Metallic and Polyether Ionophores as Potent Therapeutic Drug Candidate in Cancer Management

Cancer remains one of the most crucial human malignancies with a higher mortality rate globally, and is predicted to escalate soon. Dysregulated ion homeostasis in cancerous cells prompted the researchers to investigate further ion homeostasis impeding agents as potent anticancerous agents. Reutilization of FDA-approved non-cancerous drugs has emerged as a practical approach to developing potent, cost-effective drugs for cancer treatment. Across the globe, most nations are incapable of fulfilling the medical demands of cancer patients due to costlier cancerous drugs. Therefore, we have inclined our review towards emphasizing recent advancements in cancer therapies involving ionophores utilization in exploring potent anticancer drugs. Numerous research reports have established the significant anticancerous potential of ionophores in several pre-clinical reports via modulating aberrant cell signaling pathways and enhancing antitumor immunity in immune cells. This review has mainly summarized the most significant ion homeostasis impeding agents, including copper, zinc, calcium, and polyether, that presented remarkable potential in cancer therapeutics via enhanced antitumor immunity and apoptosis induction. Altogether, this study could provide a robust future perspective for developing cost-effective anticancerous drugs rapidly and cost-effectively, thereby combating the limitations of currently available drugs used in cancer treatment.

Synergistic Effect of L-Carnosine and Hyaluronic Acid in Their Covalent Conjugates on the Antioxidant Abilities and the Mutual Defense against Enzymatic Degradation

Hyaluronic acid (Hy) is a natural linear polymer that is widely distributed in different organisms, especially in the articular cartilage and the synovial fluid. During tissue injury due to oxidative stress, Hy plays an important protective role. All the beneficial properties of Hy make the polymer attractive for many biomedical uses; however, the low stability and short biological half-life limit Hy application. To overcome these problems, the addition of small antioxidant molecules to Hy solution has been employed to protect the molecular integrity of Hy or delay its degradation. Carnosine (β-alanyl-L-histidine, Car) protects cells from the damage due to the reactive species derived from oxygen (ROS), nitrogen (RNS) or carbonyl groups (RCS). Car inhibits the degradation of hyaluronan induced by free radical processes in vitro but, like Hy, the potential protective action of Car is drastically hampered by the enzymatic hydrolysis in vivo. Recently, we conjugated Hy to Car and the derivatives (HyCar) showed protective effects in experimental models of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in vivo. Here we report the antioxidant activity exerted by HyCar against ROS, RNS and RCS. Moreover, we tested if the covalent conjugation between Hy and Car inhibits the enzymatic hydrolysis of the polymer and the dipeptide backbone. We found that the antioxidant properties and the resistance to the enzymatic hydrolysis of Hy and Car are greatly improved by the conjugation.