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Katzengruber L, Sander P, Laufer S. MKK4 Inhibitors-Recent Development Status and Therapeutic Potential. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24087495. [PMID: 37108658 PMCID: PMC10144091 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24087495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
MKK4 (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4; also referred to as MEK4) is a dual-specificity protein kinase that phosphorylates and regulates both JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) and p38 MAPK (p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathways and therefore has a great impact on cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Overexpression of MKK4 has been associated with aggressive cancer types, including metastatic prostate and ovarian cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. In addition, MKK4 has been identified as a key regulator in liver regeneration. Therefore, MKK4 is a promising target both for cancer therapeutics and for the treatment of liver-associated diseases, offering an alternative to liver transplantation. The recent reports on new inhibitors, as well as the formation of a startup company investigating an inhibitor in clinical trials, show the importance and interest of MKK4 in drug discovery. In this review, we highlight the significance of MKK4 in cancer development and other diseases, as well as its unique role in liver regeneration. Furthermore, we present the most recent progress in MKK4 drug discovery and future challenges in the development of MKK4-targeting drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leon Katzengruber
- Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tuebingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Pascal Sander
- Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tuebingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Stefan Laufer
- Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tuebingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) 'Image-Guided & Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies', Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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Ahmadzada T, Vijayan A, Vafaee F, Azimi A, Reid G, Clarke S, Kao S, Grau GE, Hosseini-Beheshti E. Small and Large Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Pleural Mesothelioma Cell Lines Offer Biomarker Potential. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:cancers15082364. [PMID: 37190292 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15082364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Pleural mesothelioma, previously known as malignant pleural mesothelioma, is an aggressive and fatal cancer of the pleura, with one of the poorest survival rates. Pleural mesothelioma is in urgent clinical need for biomarkers to aid early diagnosis, improve prognostication, and stratify patients for treatment. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have great potential as biomarkers; however, there are limited studies to date on their role in pleural mesothelioma. We conducted a comprehensive proteomic analysis on different EV populations derived from five pleural mesothelioma cell lines and an immortalized control cell line. We characterized three subtypes of EVs (10 K, 18 K, and 100 K), and identified a total of 4054 unique proteins. Major differences were found in the cargo between the three EV subtypes. We show that 10 K EVs were enriched in mitochondrial components and metabolic processes, while 18 K and 100 K EVs were enriched in endoplasmic reticulum stress. We found 46 new cancer-associated proteins for pleural mesothelioma, and the presence of mesothelin and PD-L1/PD-L2 enriched in 100 K and 10 K EV, respectively. We demonstrate that different EV populations derived from pleural mesothelioma cells have unique cancer-specific proteomes and carry oncogenic cargo, which could offer a novel means to extract biomarkers of interest for pleural mesothelioma from liquid biopsies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamkin Ahmadzada
- School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Abhishek Vijayan
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Fatemeh Vafaee
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- UNSW Data Science Hub, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Ali Azimi
- Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- Centre for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- Department of Dermatology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Glen Reid
- Department of Pathology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
| | - Stephen Clarke
- School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Department of Medical Oncology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
| | - Steven Kao
- School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Department of Medical Oncology, Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
- Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia
| | - Georges E Grau
- School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- The Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Elham Hosseini-Beheshti
- School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- The Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
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FDA-Approved Kinase Inhibitors in Preclinical and Clinical Trials for Neurological Disorders. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2022; 15:ph15121546. [PMID: 36558997 PMCID: PMC9784968 DOI: 10.3390/ph15121546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancers and neurological disorders are two major types of diseases. We previously developed a new concept termed "Aberrant Cell Cycle Diseases" (ACCD), revealing that these two diseases share a common mechanism of aberrant cell cycle re-entry. The aberrant cell cycle re-entry is manifested as kinase/oncogene activation and tumor suppressor inactivation, which are hallmarks of both tumor growth in cancers and neuronal death in neurological disorders. Therefore, some cancer therapies (e.g., kinase inhibition, tumor suppressor elevation) can be leveraged for neurological treatments. The United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has so far approved 74 kinase inhibitors, with numerous other kinase inhibitors in clinical trials, mostly for the treatment of cancers. In contrast, there are dire unmet needs of FDA-approved drugs for neurological treatments, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), ischemic stroke (IS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and others. In this review, we list these 74 FDA-approved kinase-targeted drugs and identify those that have been reported in preclinical and/or clinical trials for neurological disorders, with a purpose of discussing the feasibility and applicability of leveraging these cancer drugs (FDA-approved kinase inhibitors) for neurological treatments.
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Assessment of the Effect of Overexpression of Death-Associated Protein Kinases 3 Using PEGFPN1 on Gastric Adenocarcinoma Cell Line (MKN45). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER MANAGEMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.5812/ijcm-118185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. An in-depth understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlies tumor GC will lead to breakthroughs in the targeted treatment of GC. Based on multiple lines of evidence, death-associated protein kinase 3 (DAPK3) regulates both programmed cell death including apoptosis and autophagy. The widespread experimental evidence raises the possibility of using DAPK-based gene therapy strategies. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of overexpression of DAPK3 using the PEGFPN1 vector on the gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (MKN45). Methods: The MKN45 cell lines were cultured in a DMEM culture medium and, then, the recombinant vector PEGFPN1-DAPK3 was transfected into the cells by lipofectamine 2000. The effects of the overexpression of the DAPK3 gene on MKN45 cells were evaluated by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), flow cytometry, and Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) techniques. Results: Our findings indicated that overexpression of DAPK3 in MKN45 cells not only affects the expression of apoptosis-related genes but also changes the expression of autophagy-related genes. Additionally, overexpression of DAPK3 reduces the metabolic activity of cells. Conclusions: The overexpression of the DAPK3 gene can lead to cell death by both inducing apoptosis and autophagy pathways in the gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (MKN45). This anti-cancer activity may describe a hopeful strategy in the application of novel gene therapy for the treatment of gastric adenocarcinoma; however, further research is required to examine the clinical effectiveness of this strategy in GC treatment.
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Ayala-Marin YM, Grant AH, Rodriguez G, Kirken RA. Quadruple and Truncated MEK3 Mutants Identified from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Promote Degradation and Enhance Proliferation. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:12210. [PMID: 34830095 PMCID: PMC8618549 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222212210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Revised: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Compared to other ethnicities, Hispanic children incur the highest rates of leukemia, and most cases are diagnosed as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Despite improved treatment and survival for ALL, disproportionate health outcomes in Hispanics persist. Thus, it is essential to identify oncogenic mutations within this demographic to aid in the development of new strategies to diagnose and treat ALL. Using whole-exome sequencing, five single nucleotide polymorphisms within mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MAP2K3) were identified in an ALL cancer patient library from the U.S./Mexico border. MAP2K3 R26T and P11T are located near the substrate-binding site, while R65L and R67W localized to the kinase domain. Truncated-MAP2K3 mutant Q73* was also identified. Transfection in HEK293 cells showed that the quadruple-MEK3 mutant (4M-MEK3) impacted protein stability, inducing degradation and reducing expression. The expression of 4M-MEK3 could be rescued by cysteine/serine protease inhibition, and proteasomal degradation of truncated-MEK3 occurred in a ubiquitin-independent manner. MEK3 mutants displayed reduced auto-phosphorylation and enzymatic activity, as seen by decreases in p38 phosphorylation. Furthermore, uncoupling of the MEK3/p38 signaling pathway resulted in less suppressive activity on HEK293 cell viability. Thus, disruption of MEK3 activation may promote proliferative signals in ALL. These findings suggest that MEK3 represents a potential therapeutic target for treating ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Robert A. Kirken
- Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA; (Y.M.A.-M.); (A.H.G.); (G.R.)
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PHLPPing the balance: restoration of protein kinase C in cancer. Biochem J 2021; 478:341-355. [PMID: 33502516 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20190765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Protein kinase signalling, which transduces external messages to mediate cellular growth and metabolism, is frequently deregulated in human disease, and specifically in cancer. As such, there are 77 kinase inhibitors currently approved for the treatment of human disease by the FDA. Due to their historical association as the receptors for the tumour-promoting phorbol esters, PKC isozymes were initially targeted as oncogenes in cancer. However, a meta-analysis of clinical trials with PKC inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy revealed that these treatments were not advantageous, and instead resulted in poorer outcomes and greater adverse effects. More recent studies suggest that instead of inhibiting PKC, therapies should aim to restore PKC function in cancer: cancer-associated PKC mutations are generally loss-of-function and high PKC protein is protective in many cancers, including most notably KRAS-driven cancers. These recent findings have reframed PKC as having a tumour suppressive function. This review focusses on a potential new mechanism of restoring PKC function in cancer - through targeting of its negative regulator, the Ser/Thr protein phosphatase PHLPP. This phosphatase regulates PKC steady-state levels by regulating the phosphorylation of a key site, the hydrophobic motif, whose phosphorylation is necessary for the stability of the enzyme. We also consider whether the phosphorylation of the potent oncogene KRAS provides a mechanism by which high PKC expression may be protective in KRAS-driven human cancers.
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Recasens A, Humphrey SJ, Ellis M, Hoque M, Abbassi RH, Chen B, Longworth M, Needham EJ, James DE, Johns TG, Day BW, Kassiou M, Yang P, Munoz L. Global phosphoproteomics reveals DYRK1A regulates CDK1 activity in glioblastoma cells. Cell Death Discov 2021; 7:81. [PMID: 33863878 PMCID: PMC8052442 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-021-00456-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Both tumour suppressive and oncogenic functions have been reported for dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A). Herein, we performed a detailed investigation to delineate the role of DYRK1A in glioblastoma. Our phosphoproteomic and mechanistic studies show that DYRK1A induces degradation of cyclin B by phosphorylating CDC23, which is necessary for the function of the anaphase-promoting complex, a ubiquitin ligase that degrades mitotic proteins. DYRK1A inhibition leads to the accumulation of cyclin B and activation of CDK1. Importantly, we established that the phenotypic response of glioblastoma cells to DYRK1A inhibition depends on both retinoblastoma (RB) expression and the degree of residual DYRK1A activity. Moderate DYRK1A inhibition leads to moderate cyclin B accumulation, CDK1 activation and increased proliferation in RB-deficient cells. In RB-proficient cells, cyclin B/CDK1 activation in response to DYRK1A inhibition is neutralized by the RB pathway, resulting in an unchanged proliferation rate. In contrast, complete DYRK1A inhibition with high doses of inhibitors results in massive cyclin B accumulation, saturation of CDK1 activity and cell cycle arrest, regardless of RB status. These findings provide new insights into the complexity of context-dependent DYRK1A signalling in cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariadna Recasens
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia.
| | - Sean J Humphrey
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Michael Ellis
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Monira Hoque
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Ramzi H Abbassi
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Brianna Chen
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Mitchell Longworth
- School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Elise J Needham
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - David E James
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Terrance G Johns
- Oncogenic Signalling Laboratory, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth Children's Hospital, 15 Hospital Avenue, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Bryan W Day
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, 300 Herston Road, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia
| | - Michael Kassiou
- School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Pengyi Yang
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia.,Charles Perkins Centre and School of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.,Computational Systems Biology Group, Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia
| | - Lenka Munoz
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia.
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Shevchenko E, Poso A, Pantsar T. The autoinhibited state of MKK4: Phosphorylation, putative dimerization and R134W mutant studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2020; 18:2687-2698. [PMID: 33101607 PMCID: PMC7550801 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein kinases are crucial components of the cell-signalling machinery that orchestrate and convey messages to their downstream targets. Most often, kinases are activated upon a phosphorylation to their activation loop, which will shift the kinase into the active conformation. The Dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MKK4) exists in a unique conformation in its inactive unphosphorylated state, where its activation segment appears in a stable α-helical conformation. However, the precise role of this unique conformational state of MKK4 is unknown. Here, by all-atom molecular dynamics simulations (MD simulations), we show that this inactive state is unstable as monomer even when unphosphorylated and that the phosphorylation of the activation segment further destabilizes the autoinhibited α-helix. The specific phosphorylation pattern of the activation segment has also a unique influence on MKK4 dynamics. Furthermore, we observed that this specific inactive state is stable as a dimer, which becomes destabilized upon phosphorylation. Finally, we noticed that the most frequent MKK4 mutation observed in cancer, R134W, which role has not been disclosed to date, contributes to the dimer stability. Based on these data we postulate that MKK4 occurs as a dimer in its inactive autoinhibited state, providing an additional layer for its activity regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina Shevchenko
- Dept of Internal Medicine VIII, University Hospital Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Strasse 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Antti Poso
- Dept of Internal Medicine VIII, University Hospital Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Strasse 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistonranta 1C, 70210 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Tatu Pantsar
- School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistonranta 1C, 70210 Kuopio, Finland
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Corresponding author.
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