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Powała K, Żołek T, Brown G, Kutner A. Molecular Interactions of Selective Agonists and Antagonists with the Retinoic Acid Receptor γ. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:6568. [PMID: 38928275 PMCID: PMC11203493 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25126568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), the major active metabolite of all-trans retinol (vitamin A), is a key hormonal signaling molecule. In the adult organism, ATRA has a widespread influence on processes that are crucial to the growth and differentiation of cells and, in turn, the acquisition of mature cell functions. Therefore, there is considerable potential in the use of retinoids to treat diseases. ATRA binds to the retinoic acid receptors (RAR) which, as activated by ATRA, selectively regulate gene expression. There are three main RAR isoforms, RARα, RARβ, and RARγ. They each have a distinct role, for example, RARα and RARγ regulate myeloid progenitor cell differentiation and hematopoietic stem cell maintenance, respectively. Hence, targeting an isoform is crucial to developing retinoid-based therapeutics. In principle, this is exemplified when ATRA is used to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia (PML) and target RARα within PML-RARα oncogenic fusion protein. ATRA with arsenic trioxide has provided a cure for the once highly fatal leukemia. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies of RARγ have revealed the potential use of agonists and antagonists to treat diseases as diverse as cancer, heterotopic ossification, psoriasis, and acne. During the final drug development there may be a need to design newer compounds with added modifications to improve solubility, pharmacokinetics, or potency. At the same time, it is important to retain isotype specificity and activity. Examination of the molecular interactions between RARγ agonists and the ligand binding domain of RARγ has revealed aspects to ligand binding that are crucial to RARγ selectivity and compound activity and key to designing newer compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Powała
- Department of Organic and Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Teresa Żołek
- Department of Organic and Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Geoffrey Brown
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK;
| | - Andrzej Kutner
- Department of Drug Chemistry Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland;
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Gorodetska I, Offermann A, Püschel J, Lukiyanchuk V, Gaete D, Kurzyukova A, Freytag V, Haider MT, Fjeldbo CS, Di Gaetano S, Schwarz FM, Patil S, Borkowetz A, Erb HHH, Baniahmad A, Mircetic J, Lyng H, Löck S, Linge A, Lange T, Knopf F, Wielockx B, Krause M, Perner S, Dubrovska A. ALDH1A1 drives prostate cancer metastases and radioresistance by interplay with AR- and RAR-dependent transcription. Theranostics 2024; 14:714-737. [PMID: 38169509 PMCID: PMC10758061 DOI: 10.7150/thno.88057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Rationale: Current therapies for metastatic osseous disease frequently fail to provide a durable treatment response. To date, there are only limited therapeutic options for metastatic prostate cancer, the mechanisms that drive the survival of metastasis-initiating cells are poorly characterized, and reliable prognostic markers are missing. A high aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity has been long considered a marker of cancer stem cells (CSC). Our study characterized a differential role of ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 genes as regulators of prostate cancer progression and metastatic growth. Methods: By genetic silencing of ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 in vitro, in xenografted zebrafish and murine models, and by comparative immunohistochemical analyses of benign, primary tumor, and metastatic specimens from patients with prostate cancer, we demonstrated that ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 maintain the CSC phenotype and radioresistance and regulate bone metastasis-initiating cells. We have validated ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 as potential biomarkers of clinical outcomes in the independent cohorts of patients with PCa. Furthermore, by RNAseq, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and biostatistics analyses, we suggested the molecular mechanisms explaining the role of ALDH1A1 in PCa progression. Results: We found that aldehyde dehydrogenase protein ALDH1A1 positively regulates tumor cell survival in circulation, extravasation, and metastatic dissemination, whereas ALDH1A3 plays the opposite role. ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 are differentially expressed in metastatic tumors of patients with prostate cancer, and their expression levels oppositely correlate with clinical outcomes. Prostate cancer progression is associated with the increasing interplay of ALDH1A1 with androgen receptor (AR) and retinoid receptor (RAR) transcriptional programs. Polo-like kinase 3 (PLK3) was identified as a transcriptional target oppositely regulated by ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 genes in RAR and AR-dependent manner. PLK3 contributes to the control of prostate cancer cell proliferation, migration, DNA repair, and radioresistance. ALDH1A1 gain in prostate cancer bone metastases is associated with high PLK3 expression. Conclusion: This report provides the first evidence that ALDH1A1 and PLK3 could serve as biomarkers to predict metastatic dissemination and radiotherapy resistance in patients with prostate cancer and could be potential therapeutic targets to eliminate metastasis-initiating and radioresistant tumor cell populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ielizaveta Gorodetska
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
| | - Anne Offermann
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Luebeck, Germany; Pathology, Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel, Germany
| | - Jakob Püschel
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
| | - Vasyl Lukiyanchuk
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
| | - Diana Gaete
- Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Anastasia Kurzyukova
- Technische Universität Dresden, CRTD - Center for Regenerative Therapies TU Dresden and Center for Healthy Aging, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Vera Freytag
- Institute of Anatomy and Experimental Morphology, Center for Experimental Medicine, University Cancer Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Marie-Therese Haider
- Institute of Anatomy and Experimental Morphology, Center for Experimental Medicine, University Cancer Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | | | - Simona Di Gaetano
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
| | - Franziska Maria Schwarz
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Institute of Radiooncology-OncoRay, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Shivaprasad Patil
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Institute of Radiooncology-OncoRay, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angelika Borkowetz
- Department of Urology, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Holger H H Erb
- Department of Urology, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Aria Baniahmad
- Institute of Human Genetics, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Jovan Mircetic
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Heidi Lyng
- Department of Radiation Biology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Steffen Löck
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), partner site Dresden: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg; Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
- Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Annett Linge
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), partner site Dresden: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg; Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
- Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Tobias Lange
- Institute of Anatomy and Experimental Morphology, Center for Experimental Medicine, University Cancer Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- Institute of Anatomy I, Cancer Center Central Germany, Jena, University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Franziska Knopf
- Technische Universität Dresden, CRTD - Center for Regenerative Therapies TU Dresden and Center for Healthy Aging, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Ben Wielockx
- Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Mechthild Krause
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Institute of Radiooncology-OncoRay, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), partner site Dresden: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg; Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
- Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sven Perner
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Luebeck, Germany; Pathology, Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel, Germany
| | - Anna Dubrovska
- OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Institute of Radiooncology-OncoRay, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), partner site Dresden: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg; Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
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Kyzer JL, Noman MAA, Cuellar RAD, Chung SSW, Maitra S, Naqvi T, Hawkinson JE, Wolgemuth DJ, Georg GI. Investigation of selective retinoic acid receptor alpha antagonist ER-50891 and related analogs for male contraception. Arch Pharm (Weinheim) 2023:e2300031. [PMID: 37154197 DOI: 10.1002/ardp.202300031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) antagonist ER-50891 and 15 analogs were prepared and tested in vitro for potency and selectivity at RARα, RARβ, and RARγ using transactivation assays. Minor modifications to the parent molecule such as the introduction of a C4 tolyl group in place of the C4 phenyl group on the quinoline moiety slightly increased the RARα selectivity but larger substituents significantly decreased the potency. Replacement of the pyrrole moiety of ER-50891 with triazole, amides, or a double bond produced inactive compounds. ER-50891 was found to be stable in male mouse liver microsomes and was tested in male mice to assess its effects on spermatogenesis. Characteristic, albeit modest and transient, effects on spermatogenesis were observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jillian L Kyzer
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Md Abdullah Al Noman
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Rebecca A D Cuellar
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Sanny S W Chung
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Soma Maitra
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Tahmina Naqvi
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jon E Hawkinson
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Debra J Wolgemuth
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
- The Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
- The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Gunda I Georg
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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4
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Brown G. Retinoic acid receptor regulation of decision-making for cell differentiation. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1182204. [PMID: 37082619 PMCID: PMC10110968 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1182204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) activation of retinoic acid receptors (RARs) is crucial to an organism’s proper development as established by findings for mouse foetuses from dams fed a vitamin A-deficient diet. ATRA influences decision-making by embryonic stem (ES) cells for differentiation including lineage fate. From studies of knockout mice, RARα and RARγ regulate haematopoiesis whereby active RARα modulates the frequency of decision-making for myeloid differentiation, but is not essential for myelopoiesis, and active RARγ supports stem cell self-renewal and maintenance. From studies of zebrafish embryo development, active RARγ plays a negative role in stem cell decision-making for differentiation whereby, in the absence of exogenous ATRA, selective agonism of RARγ disrupted stem cell decision-making for differentiation patterning for development. From transactivation studies, 0.24 nM ATRA transactivated RARγ and 19.3 nM (80-fold more) was needed to transactivate RARα. Therefore, the dose of ATRA that cells are exposed to in vivo, from gradients created by cells that synthesize and metabolize, is important to RARγ versus RARα and RARγ activation and balancing of the involvements in modulating stem cell maintenance versus decision-making for differentiation. RARγ activation favours stemness whereas concomitant or temporal activation of RARγ and RARα favours differentiation. Crosstalk with signalling events that are provoked by membrane receptors is also important.
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Xiu L, Zhao Y, Li N, Zeng J, Liu J, Fu Y, Gao Q, Wu L. High expression of RARG accelerates ovarian cancer progression by regulating cell proliferation. Front Oncol 2022; 12:1063031. [PMID: 36523991 PMCID: PMC9746340 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1063031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To explore the relationship between retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARG) and ovarian cancer (OC) cell proliferation and the prognosis of patients. METHODS The transcriptome and clinical information of 379 OC and 88 normal ovarian samples were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and the Genotype Tissue Expression (GTEx) database. We compared the mRNA level of RARG between ovrian normal and tumor tissues with the Wilcoxon rank sum test.The R package "limma" was used to analyze the differences in RARG expression between different clinical subgroups. Kaplan-Meier analysis was applied to evaluate the correlation between RARG and prognosis of patients. A nomogram was established to predict the effect of RARG on prognosis of OC patients. Immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR experiments were conducted to determine the differential expression of RARG between ovarian normal and tumor tissues. Finally, we altered RARG expression using specific siRNA and lentiviral expression vectors to explore the function of RARG by CCK-8, cell cycle, colony formation, and xenograft assays in nude mice. RESULTS RARG was highly expressed in ovarian tumors and was an independent predictor of poor overall survival outcomes. Subgroup analysis showed the high expression of RARG was related to FIGO stage III-IV (P=0.027), overall survival time <5 years (P=0.013) and dead status (P=0.041). The Kaplan-Meier curve indicated that patients with high RARG expression level had poor prognosis. The area under the curve (AUC) of RAGR expression for predicting patient survival rates at 1, 5 and 9 years were 0.659, 0.616 and 0.627, respectively. The GSEA enrichment analysis revealed that RARG was involved in ovarian cancer progression through multiple pathways. In cellular experiments in vitro, downregulation of RARG expression significantly suppressed the proliferation and colony formation capacity of OC cells. In cellular experiments in vivo, knockdown of RARG significantly reduced tumor growth in nude mice, decreased expression levels of Ki-67 and proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). CONCLUSIONS High expression of RARG could promote OC cell proliferation and was an independent predictor of poor prognosis. RARG might work as a potential molecular target and biomarker for individualized diagnosis and treatment in OC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Xiu
- Department of Gynecology Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Yuxi Zhao
- Department of Gynecology Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Ning Li
- Department of Gynecology Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Jia Zeng
- Department of Gynecology Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Liu
- Department of Gynecology Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Yongliang Fu
- Department of Pathology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Qiao Gao
- Centre for Medicines Discovery, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Lingying Wu
- Department of Gynecology Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
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Ma M, He W, Zhao K, Xue L, Xia S, Zhang B. Targeting aldehyde dehydrogenase for prostate cancer therapies. Front Oncol 2022; 12:1006340. [PMID: 36300093 PMCID: PMC9589344 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1006340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men in the United States. About 10 – 20% of PCa progress to castration-resistant PCa (CRPC), which is accompanied by metastasis and therapeutic resistance. Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is famous as a marker of cancer stem-like cells in different cancer types, including PCa. Generally, ALDHs catalyze aldehyde oxidation into less toxic carboxylic acids and give cancers a survival advantage by reducing oxidative stress caused by aldehyde accumulation. In PCa, the expression of ALDHs is associated with a higher tumor stage and more lymph node metastasis. Functionally, increased ALDH activity makes PCa cells gain more capabilities in self-renewal and metastasis and reduces the sensitivity to castration and radiotherapy. Therefore, it is promising to target ALDH or ALDHhigh cells to eradicate PCa. However, challenges remain in moving the ALDH inhibitors to PCa therapy, potentially due to the toxicity of pan-ALDH inhibitors, the redundancy of ALDH isoforms, and the lack of explicit understanding of the metabolic signaling transduction details. For targeting PCa stem-like cells (PCSCs), different regulators have been revealed in ALDHhigh cells to control cell proliferation and tumorigenicity. ALDH rewires essential signaling transduction in PCa cells. It has been shown that ALDHs produce retinoic acid (RA), bind with androgen, and modulate diverse signaling. This review summarizes and discusses the pathways directly modulated by ALDHs, the crucial regulators that control the activities of ALDHhigh PCSCs, and the recent progress of ALDH targeted therapies in PCa. These efforts will provide insight into improving ALDH-targeted treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Siyuan Xia
- *Correspondence: Siyuan Xia, ; Baotong Zhang,
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Brown G. Lessons to cancer from studies of leukemia and hematopoiesis. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:993915. [PMID: 36204679 PMCID: PMC9531023 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.993915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The starting point to describing the origin and nature of any cancer must be knowledge about how the normal counterpart tissue develops. New principles to the nature of hematopoietic stem cells have arisen in recent years. In particular, hematopoietic stem cells can “choose” a cell lineage directly from a spectrum of the end-cell options, and are, therefore, a heterogeneous population of lineage affiliated/biased cells. These cells remain versatile because the developmental trajectories of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells are broad. From studies of human acute myeloid leukemia, leukemia is also a hierarchy of maturing or partially maturing cells that are sustained by leukemia stem cells at the apex. This cellular hierarchy model has been extended to a wide variety of human solid tumors, by the identification of cancer stem cells, and is termed the cancer stem cell model. At least, two genomic insults are needed for cancer, as seen from studies of human childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. There are signature mutations for some leukemia’s and some relate to a transcription factor that guides the cell lineage of developing hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Similarly, some oncogenes restrict the fate of leukemia stem cells and their offspring to a single maturation pathway. In this case, a loss of intrinsic stem cell versatility seems to be a property of leukemia stem cells. To provide more effective cures for leukemia, there is the need to find ways to eliminate leukemia stem cells.
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Abdelaal MR, Ibrahim E, Elnagar MR, Soror SH, Haffez H. Augmented Therapeutic Potential of EC-Synthetic Retinoids in Caco-2 Cancer Cells Using an In Vitro Approach. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23169442. [PMID: 36012706 PMCID: PMC9409216 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23169442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Colorectal cancer therapies have produced promising clinical responses, but tumor cells rapidly develop resistance to these drugs. It has been previously shown that EC19 and EC23, two EC-synthetic retinoids, have single-agent preclinical anticancer activity in colorectal carcinoma. Here, isobologram analysis revealed that they have synergistic cytotoxicity with retinoic acid receptor (RAR) isoform-selective agonistic retinoids such as AC261066 (RARβ2-selective agonist) and CD437 (RARγ-selective agonist) in Caco-2 cells. This synergism was confirmed by calculating the combination index (lower than 1) and the dose reduction index (higher than 1). Flow cytometry of combinatorial IC50 (the concentration causing 50% cell death) confirmed the cell cycle arrest at the SubG0-G1 phase with potentiated apoptotic and necrotic effects. The reported synergistic anticancer activity can be attributed to their ability to reduce the expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters including P-glycoprotein (P-gp1), breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and multi-drug resistance-associated protein-1 (MRP1) and Heat Shock Protein 70 (Hsp70). This adds up to the apoptosis-promoting activity of EC19 and EC23, as shown by the increased Caspase-3/7 activities and DNA fragmentation leading to DNA double-strand breaks. This study sheds the light on the possible use of EC-synthetic retinoids in the rescue of multi-drug resistance in colorectal cancer using Caco-2 as a model and suggests new promising combinations between different synthetic retinoids. The current in vitro results pave the way for future studies on these compounds as possible cures for colorectal carcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed R. Abdelaal
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
- Center of Scientific Excellence “Helwan Structural Biology Research, (HSBR)”, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
| | - Esraa Ibrahim
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
- Center of Scientific Excellence “Helwan Structural Biology Research, (HSBR)”, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
| | - Mohamed R. Elnagar
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11823, Egypt
| | - Sameh H. Soror
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
- Center of Scientific Excellence “Helwan Structural Biology Research, (HSBR)”, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
| | - Hesham Haffez
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
- Center of Scientific Excellence “Helwan Structural Biology Research, (HSBR)”, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +20-1094-970-173
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Antagonizing RARγ Drives Necroptosis of Cancer Stem Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23094814. [PMID: 35563205 PMCID: PMC9105400 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23094814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a need for agents that eliminate cancer stem cells, which sustain cancer and are also largely responsible for disease relapse and metastasis. Conventional chemotherapeutics and radiotherapy are often highly effective against the bulk of cancer cells, which are proliferating, but spare cancer stem cells. Therapeutics that target cancer stem cells may also provide a bona fide cure for cancer. There are two rationales for targeting the retinoic acid receptor (RAR)γ. First, RARγ is expressed selectively within primitive cells. Second, RARγ is a putative oncogene for a number of human cancers, including cases of acute myeloid leukemia, cholangiocarcinoma, and colorectal, renal and hepatocellular carcinomas. Prostate cancer cells depend on active RARγ for their survival. Antagonizing all RARs caused necroptosis of prostate and breast cancer stem cell-like cells, and the cancer stem cells that gave rise to neurospheres from pediatric patients’ primitive neuroectodermal tumors and an astrocytoma. As tested for prostate cancer, antagonizing RARγ was sufficient to drive necroptosis. Achieving cancer-selectively is a longstanding paradigm for developing new treatments. The normal prostate epithelium was less sensitive to the RARγ antagonist and pan-RAR antagonist than prostate cancer cells, and fibroblasts and blood mononuclear cells were insensitive. The RARγ antagonist and pan-RAR antagonist are promising new cancer therapeutics.
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Oikawa T, Fujii S, Mori S, Masuno H, Kawachi E, Kagechika H. Structural development of silicon-containing retinoids: structure-activity relationship study of the hydrophobic pharmacophore of retinobenzoic acids using silyl functionalities. ChemMedChem 2022; 17:e202200176. [PMID: 35451569 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202200176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
We designed and synthesized a series of retinobenzoic acids bearing various silyl functionalities in order to explore in detail the structure-activity relationship (SAR) at the hydrophobic moiety of retinoids. Among the synthesized compounds, 24c bearing a t -butyldimethylsilyl (TBS) group at the hydrophobic site exhibited potent retinoid activity comparable to that of the lead compound Am555S ( 4 ). Compound 24c exhibited transcription-promoting activity towards all three subtypes of retinoic acid receptor (RAR), but showed the highest activity towards RARγ, in contrast to the high RARα-selectivity of Am80 ( 3 ) and Am555S ( 4 ). The SARs presented here should be helpful in the development of subtype-selective retinoids, and in particular 24c might be a promising lead compound for new RARγ ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsuyoshi Oikawa
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University: Tokyo Ika Shika Daigaku, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, JAPAN
| | - Shinya Fujii
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University: Tokyo Ika Shika Daigaku, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, JAPAN
| | - Shuichi Mori
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University: Tokyo Ika Shika Daigaku, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, JAPAN
| | - Hiroyuki Masuno
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University: Tokyo Ika Shika Daigaku, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, JAPAN
| | - Emiko Kawachi
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University: Tokyo Ika Shika Daigaku, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, JAPAN
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Oncogenes and the Origins of Leukemias. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23042293. [PMID: 35216407 PMCID: PMC8875247 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23042293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-maintaining hematopoietic stem cells are a cell population that is primarily ‘at risk’ to malignant transformation, and the cell-of-origin for some leukemias. Tissue-specific stem cells replenish the different types of functional cells within a particular tissue to meet the demands of an organism. For hematopoietic stem cells, this flexibility is important to satisfy the changing requirements for a certain type of immune cell, when needed. From studies of the natural history of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an initial oncogenic and prenatal insult gives rise to a preleukemic clone. At least a second genomic insult is needed that gives rise to a leukemia stem cell: this cell generates a hierarchy of leukemia cells. For some leukemias, there is evidence to support the concept that one of the genomic insults leads to dysregulation of the tissue homeostatic role of hematopoietic stem cells so that the hierarchy of differentiating leukemia cells belongs to just one cell lineage. Restricting the expression of particular oncogenes in transgenic mice to hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells led to different human-like lineage-restricted leukemias. Lineage restriction is seen for human leukemias by virtue of their sub-grouping with regard to a phenotypic relationship to just one cell lineage.
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Dulińska-Litewka J, Sharoni Y, Hałubiec P, Łazarczyk A, Szafrański O, McCubrey JA, Gąsiorkiewicz B, Laidler P, Bohn T. Recent Progress in Discovering the Role of Carotenoids and Their Metabolites in Prostatic Physiology and Pathology with a Focus on Prostate Cancer-A Review-Part I: Molecular Mechanisms of Carotenoid Action. Antioxidants (Basel) 2021; 10:antiox10040585. [PMID: 33920256 PMCID: PMC8069951 DOI: 10.3390/antiox10040585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Revised: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Among the vast variety of plant-derived phytochemicals, the group of carotenoids has continuously been investigated in order to optimize their potential application in the area of dietary intervention and medicine. One organ which has been especially targeted in many of these studies and clinical trials is the human prostate. Without doubt, carotenoids (and their endogenous derivatives—retinoids and other apo-carotenoids) are involved in intra- and intercellular signaling, cell growth and differentiation of prostate tissue. Due to the accumulation of new data on the role of different carotenoids such as lycopene (LC) and β-carotene (BC) in prostatic physiology and pathology, the present review aims to cover the past ten years of research in this area. Data from experimental studies are presented in the first part of the review, while epidemiological studies are disclosed and discussed in the second part. The objective of this compilation is to emphasize the present state of knowledge regarding the most potent molecular targets of carotenoids and their main metabolites, as well as to propose promising carotenoid agents for the prevention and treatment of prostatic diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Dulińska-Litewka
- Medical Biochemistry Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-034 Cracow, Poland; (P.H.); (A.Ł.); (O.S.); (B.G.); (P.L.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +48-12-422-3272
| | - Yoav Sharoni
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653 Beer Sheva, Israel;
| | - Przemysław Hałubiec
- Medical Biochemistry Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-034 Cracow, Poland; (P.H.); (A.Ł.); (O.S.); (B.G.); (P.L.)
| | - Agnieszka Łazarczyk
- Medical Biochemistry Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-034 Cracow, Poland; (P.H.); (A.Ł.); (O.S.); (B.G.); (P.L.)
| | - Oskar Szafrański
- Medical Biochemistry Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-034 Cracow, Poland; (P.H.); (A.Ł.); (O.S.); (B.G.); (P.L.)
| | - James A. McCubrey
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brody Medical Sciences Building, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA;
| | - Bartosz Gąsiorkiewicz
- Medical Biochemistry Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-034 Cracow, Poland; (P.H.); (A.Ł.); (O.S.); (B.G.); (P.L.)
| | - Piotr Laidler
- Medical Biochemistry Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-034 Cracow, Poland; (P.H.); (A.Ł.); (O.S.); (B.G.); (P.L.)
| | - Torsten Bohn
- Nutrition and Health Research Group, Department of Population Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, 1 A-B, rue Thomas Edison, L-23 1445 Strassen, Luxembourg;
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Brown G, Petrie K. The RARγ Oncogene: An Achilles Heel for Some Cancers. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:3632. [PMID: 33807298 PMCID: PMC8036636 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22073632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer "stem cells" (CSCs) sustain the hierarchies of dividing cells that characterize cancer. The main causes of cancer-related mortality are metastatic disease and relapse, both of which originate primarily from CSCs, so their eradication may provide a bona fide curative strategy, though there maybe also the need to kill the bulk cancer cells. While classic anti-cancer chemotherapy is effective against the dividing progeny of CSCs, non-dividing or quiescent CSCs are often spared. Improved anti-cancer therapies therefore require approaches that target non-dividing CSCs, which must be underpinned by a better understanding of factors that permit these cells to maintain a stem cell-like state. During hematopoiesis, retinoic acid receptor (RAR) γ is selectively expressed by stem cells and their immediate progeny. It is overexpressed in, and is an oncogene for, many cancers including colorectal, renal and hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinomas and some cases of acute myeloid leukemia that harbor RARγ fusion proteins. In vitro studies suggest that RARγ-selective and pan-RAR antagonists provoke the death of CSCs by necroptosis and point to antagonism of RARγ as a potential strategy to treat metastatic disease and relapse, and perhaps provide a cure for some cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey Brown
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B152TT, UK
| | - Kevin Petrie
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Sunderland, Sunderland SR13SD, UK;
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Petrie K, Urban‐Wójciuk Z, Sbirkov Y, Graham A, Hamann A, Brown G. Retinoic acid receptor γ is a therapeutically targetable driver of growth and survival in prostate cancer. Cancer Rep (Hoboken) 2020; 3:e1284. [PMID: 32881426 PMCID: PMC7941583 DOI: 10.1002/cnr2.1284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Revised: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prostate cancer (PC) tissue contains all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) at a very low level (10-9 M), at least an order of magnitude lower than in adjacent normal healthy prostate cells or benign prostate hyperplasia. When this is coupled with deregulated expression of the intracellular lipid-binding proteins FABP5 and CRABP2 that is frequently found in PC, this is likely to result in the preferential delivery of ATRA to oncogenic PPARβ/δ rather than retinoic acid receptors (RARs). There are three isotypes of RARs (RARα, RARβ, and RARγ) and recent studies have revealed discrete physiological roles. For example, RARα and RARγ promote differentiation and self-renewal, respectively, which are critical for proper hematopoiesis. AIMS We have previously shown that ATRA stimulates transactivation of RARγ at sub-nanomolar concentrations (EC50 0.24 nM), whereas an 80-fold higher concentration was required for RARα-mediated transactivation (EC50 19.3 nM). Additionally, we have shown that RAR pan-antagonists inhibit the growth of PC cells (at 16-34 nM). These findings, together with the low level of ATRA in PC, led us to hypothesize that RARγ plays a role in PC pathogenesis and that RARγ-selective antagonism may be an effective treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS We found that concentrations of 10-9 M and below of ATRA promoted survival/proliferation and opposed adipogenic differentiation of human PC cell lines by a mechanism that involves RARγ. We also found that a RARγ-selective antagonist (AGN205728) potently induced mitochondria-dependent, but caspase-independent, cell death in PC cell lines. Furthermore, AGN205728 demonstrated synergism in killing PC cells in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. CONCLUSION We suggest that the use of RARγ-selective antagonists may be effective in PC (and potentially other cancers), either as a single agent or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Petrie
- School of MedicineFaculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing University of SunderlandSunderlandUK
| | | | | | | | | | - Geoffrey Brown
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Clinical Sciences and Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medical and Dental SciencesThe University of BirminghamBirminghamUK
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