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Tarin M, Babaei M, Eshghi H, Matin MM, Saljooghi AS. Targeted delivery of elesclomol using a magnetic mesoporous platform improves prostate cancer treatment both in vitro and in vivo. Talanta 2024; 270:125539. [PMID: 38141466 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND To improve the anticancer properties of elesclomol (ELC), targeted theranostic nanoparticles (NPs; APT-PEG-Au-MMNPs@ELC) were designed to increase the selectivity of the drug delivery system (DDS). MATERIALS AND METHODS ELC was synthesized and entrapped in the open porous structure of magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MMNPs). The pore entrance of MMNPs was then blocked using gold gatekeepers. Finally, the external surfaces of the particles were grafted with functional polyethylene glycol (PEG) and EpCAM aptamer to generate biocompatible and targeted NPs. In the next step, the physicochemical properties of prepared NPs were fully evaluated and their anticancer potential was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS The targeted NPs were successfully synthesized with a final size diameter of 81.13 ± 7.41 nm. The results indicated a pH-dependent release pattern, which sustained for 72 h despite an initial rapid release. Upon exposure to APT-PEG-Au-MMNPs@ELC, higher cytotoxicity was observed in human prostate cancer cells (PC-3) as compared with control Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, indicating higher specificity of targeted NPs against EpCAM-positive cancerous cells. Moreover, APT-PEG-Au-MMNPs@ELC could induce apoptosis in PC-3 cells. In vivo results on a PC-3 xenograft tumor model demonstrated that targeted NPs could significantly inhibit tumor growth and diminish severe side effects of ELC, compared to the free drug. CONCLUSION Collectively, APT-PEG-Au-MMNPs@ELC could be considered a promising theranostic platform for the targeted delivery of ELC to improve its therapeutic effects in prostate cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mojtaba Tarin
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Maryam Babaei
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Hossein Eshghi
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Maryam M Matin
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran; Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Group, Institute of Biotechnology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
| | - Amir Sh Saljooghi
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran; Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Group, Institute of Biotechnology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
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Tarin M, Babaie M, Eshghi H, Matin MM, Saljooghi AS. Elesclomol, a copper-transporting therapeutic agent targeting mitochondria: from discovery to its novel applications. J Transl Med 2023; 21:745. [PMID: 37864163 PMCID: PMC10589935 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-023-04533-5] [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: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Copper (Cu) is an essential element that is involved in a variety of biochemical processes. Both deficiency and accumulation of Cu are associated with various diseases; and a high amount of accumulated Cu in cells can be fatal. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), oxidative stress, and cuproptosis are among the proposed mechanisms of copper toxicity at high concentrations. Elesclomol (ELC) is a mitochondrion-targeting agent discovered for the treatment of solid tumors. In this review, we summarize the synthesis of this drug, its mechanisms of action, and the current status of its applications in the treatment of various diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and other copper-associated disorders. We also provide some detailed information about future directions to improve its clinical performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mojtaba Tarin
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Maryam Babaie
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Hossein Eshghi
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Maryam M. Matin
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
- Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Group, Institute of Biotechnology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Amir Sh. Saljooghi
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
- Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Group, Institute of Biotechnology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
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Li D, Jin S, Chen P, Zhang Y, Li Y, Zhong C, Fan X, Lin H. Comprehensive analysis of cuproptosis-related lncRNAs for prognostic significance and immune microenvironment characterization in hepatocellular carcinoma. Front Immunol 2023; 13:991604. [PMID: 36685508 PMCID: PMC9846072 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.991604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Cuproptosis was characterized as a novel type of programmed cell death. Recently, however, the role of cuproptosis-related long noncoding RNAs (CRLs) in tumors has not yet been studied. Identifying a predictive CRL signature in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and investigating its putative molecular function were the goals of this work. Initially, Pearson's test was used to assess the relationship between lncRNAs and cuproptosis-associated genes obtained from HCC data of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). By implementing differential expression and univariate Cox analysis, 61 prognostic CRLs were subsequent to the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analysis. A prognostic risk score model was then constructed to evaluate its ability to predict patients' survival when combined with clinicopathological parameters in HCC. The five-lncRNA prognostic signature categorized the HCC patients into high- and low-risk groups. The low-risk group exhibited more sensitivity to elesclomol than the high-risk one. Surprisingly, distinct mitochondrial metabolism pathways connected to cuproptosis and pivotal immune-related pathways were observed between the two groups via gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Meanwhile, there were substantial differences between the high-risk group and the low-risk group in terms of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs). Furthermore, a positive relationship was shown between the risk score and the expression of immune checkpoints. Additionally, differential expression of the five lncRNAs was confirmed in our own HCC samples and cell lines via RT-qPCR. Finally, in vitro assays confirmed that WARS2-AS1 and MKLN1-AS knockdown could sensitize HCC cells to elesclomol-induced cuproptosis. Overall, our predictive signature may predict the prognosis of HCC patients in an independent manner, give a better understanding of how CRLs work in HCC, and offer therapeutic reference for patients with HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duguang Li
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shengxi Jin
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Peng Chen
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yiyin Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yirun Li
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Cheng Zhong
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Fan
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hui Lin
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Engineering Research Center of Cognitive Healthcare, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Wan Q, Wei R, Wei X, Deng YP. Crosstalk of four kinds of cell deaths defines subtypes of cutaneous melanoma for precise immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Front Immunol 2022; 13:998454. [PMID: 36532053 PMCID: PMC9747944 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.998454] [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: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Cell death patterns can give therapeutic and biological clues that facilitate the development of individualized treatments for this lethal form of skin cancer. Methods We employed unsupervised clustering to establish robust classifications based on the four kinds of cell death-associated gene expression of 462 melanoma patients in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and tested their reproducibility in two independent melanoma cohorts of 558 patients. We then used dimensionality reduction of graph learning to display the different characteristics of cell death patterns and immune microenvironments. Results We examined 570 cell death-associated gene expression data of melanoma patients for exploration, independent verification, and comprehensive classification of five reproducible melanoma subtypes (CS1 to CS5) with different genomic and clinical features. Patients in death-inactive subtypes (CS1, CS2, and CS5) had the least immune and stromal cell infiltration, and their prognosis was the poorest. A death-active subtype (CS4), on the other hand, had the highest infiltrated immune and stromal cells and elevated immune-checkpoints. As a result, these patients had the highest response to immunotherapy and the best prognosis. An additional subtype (CS3) had more diversified cell death and immune characteristics with moderate prognoses. Based on graph learning, we successfully divided the CS3 subtype into two subgroups (group A and group B) with distinct survival outcomes and immune features. Finally, we identified eight potential chemical drugs that were specifically targeted for the therapy of melanoma subtypes. Conclusions This research defines the intrinsic subtypes of melanoma based on the crosstalk of four kinds of cell deaths, which affords a blueprint for clinical strategies and guiding precise immunotherapy and chemotherapy for melanoma patients.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Xin Wei
- *Correspondence: Xin Wei, ; Ying-ping Deng,
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Li Y, Yang J, Zhang Q, Xu S, Sun W, Ge S, Xu X, Jager MJ, Jia R, Zhang J, Fan X. Copper ionophore elesclomol selectively targets GNAQ/11-mutant uveal melanoma. Oncogene 2022; 41:3539-3553. [PMID: 35697803 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-022-02364-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Unlike cutaneous melanoma, uveal melanoma (UM) is characterized by mutations in GNAQ and GNA11 and remains a fatal disease because there is essentially no effective targeted therapy or immunotherapy available. We report the discovery of the copper ionophore elesclomol as a GNAQ/11-specific UM inhibitor. Elesclomol was identified in a differential cytotoxicity screen of an in-house tool compound library, and its in vivo pharmacological efficacy was further confirmed in zebrafish and mouse UM models. Mechanistically, elesclomol transports copper to mitochondria and produces a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as Cu(II) is reduced to Cu(I) in GNAQ/11-mutant UM cells, which selectively activates LATS1 kinase in the Hippo signaling pathway and consequently promotes YAP phosphorylation and inhibits its nuclear accumulation. The inactivation of YAP downregulates the expression of SNAI2, which in turn suppresses the migration of UM cells. These findings were cross validated by our clinical observation that YAP activation was found specifically in UM samples with a GNAQ/11 mutation. Furthermore, addition of binimetinib, a MEK inhibitor, to elesclomol increased its synthetic lethality to GNAQ/11-mutant UM cells, thereby overriding drug resistance. This effect was confirmed in an orthotopic xenograft model and in a patient-derived xenograft model of UM. These studies reveal a novel mechanistic basis for repurposing elesclomol by showing that copper homeostasis is a GNAQ/11-specific vulnerability in UM. Elesclomol may provide a new therapeutic path for selectively targeting malignant GNAQ/11-mutant UM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongyun Li
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Orbital Diseases and Ocular Oncology, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Yang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Orbital Diseases and Ocular Oncology, Shanghai, China
| | - Qianqian Zhang
- National Research Center for Translational Medicine (Shanghai), State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Shiqiong Xu
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Orbital Diseases and Ocular Oncology, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei Sun
- National Research Center for Translational Medicine (Shanghai), State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Shengfang Ge
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Orbital Diseases and Ocular Oncology, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaowei Xu
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Martine J Jager
- Department of Ophthalmology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Renbing Jia
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Orbital Diseases and Ocular Oncology, Shanghai, China.
| | - Jianming Zhang
- National Research Center for Translational Medicine (Shanghai), State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
| | - Xianqun Fan
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Orbital Diseases and Ocular Oncology, Shanghai, China.
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Targeted apoptosis of myofibroblasts by elesclomol inhibits hypertrophic scar formation. EBioMedicine 2020; 54:102715. [PMID: 32251998 PMCID: PMC7132150 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Revised: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 02/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Hypertrophic scar (HS) is characterized by the increased proliferation and decreased apoptosis of myofibroblasts. Myofibroblasts, the main effector cells for dermal fibrosis, develop from normal fibroblasts. Thus, the stimulation of myofibroblast apoptosis is a possible treatment for HS. We aimed to explore that whether over-activated myofibroblasts can be targeted for apoptosis by anticancer drug elesclomol. Methods 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining, flow cytometry, western blotting, collagen gel contraction and immunofluorescence assays were applied to demonstrate the proapoptotic effect of elesclomol in scar derived myofibroblasts and TGF-β1 induced myofibroblasts. The therapeutic potential of elesclomol was investigated by establishing rabbit ear hypertrophic scar models. Findings Both 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining and flow cytometry indicated that elesclomol targets myofibroblasts in vitro. Collagen gel contraction assay showed that elesclomol inhibited myofibroblast contractility. Flow cytometry and western blot analysis revealed that elesclomol resulted in excessive intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS), and caspase-3 and cytochrome c proteins. Moreover, compared with the control group, the elesclomol group had a significantly lower scar elevation index in vivo. Immunofluorescence assays for TUNEL and α-smooth muscle actin indicated that elesclomol treatment increased the number of apoptotic myofibroblasts. Interpretation The above results indicate that elesclomol exerted a significant inhibitory effect on HS formation via targeted myofibroblast apoptosis associated with increased oxidative stress. Thus, elesclomol is a promising candidate drug for the treatment of myofibroblast-related diseases such as HS.
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