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Zheng Z, Lu X, Zhou D, Deng XF, Liu QX, Liu XB, Zhang J, Li YQ, Zheng H, Dai JG. A novel enemy of cancer: recent investigations into protozoan anti-tumor properties. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2024; 13:1325144. [PMID: 38274735 PMCID: PMC10808745 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1325144] [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: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Cancer remains a significant global health issue, despite advances in screening and treatment. While existing tumor treatment protocols such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy have proven effective in enhancing the prognosis for some patients, these treatments do not benefit all patients. Consequently, certain types of cancer continue to exhibit a relatively low 5-year survival rate. Therefore, the pursuit of novel tumor intervention strategies may help improve the current effectiveness of tumor treatment. Over the past few decades, numerous species of protozoa and their components have exhibited anti-tumor potential via immune and non-immune mechanisms. This discovery introduces a new research direction for the development of new and effective cancer treatments. Through in vitro experiments and studies involving tumor-bearing mice, the anti-tumor ability of Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium, Trypanosoma cruzi, and other protozoa have unveiled diverse mechanisms by which protozoa combat cancer, demonstrating encouraging prospects for their application. In this review, we summarize the anti-tumor ability and anti-tumor mechanisms of various protozoa and explore the potential for their clinical development and application.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Hong Zheng
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Army (Third Military) Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Ji-gang Dai
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Army (Third Military) Medical University, Chongqing, China
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Hao YF, Qin SW, Yang L, Jiang JG, Zhu W. Marmin from the blossoms of Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr. exerts lipid-lowering effect via inducing 3T3-L1 preadipocyte apoptosis. J Funct Foods 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2021.104513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
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Whitehead TP, Wiemels JL, Zhou M, Kang AY, McCoy LS, Wang R, Fitch B, Petrick LM, Yano Y, Imani P, Rappaport SM, Dahl GV, Kogan SC, Ma X, Metayer C. Cytokine Levels at Birth in Children Who Developed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2021; 30:1526-1535. [PMID: 34078642 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-20-1704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2020] [Revised: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal immune development may play an important role in the etiology of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). METHODS Seven cytokines, IL1β, IL4, IL6, IL8, GM-CSF, TNFα, and VEGF, were analyzed in blood spots collected at birth from 1,020 ALL cases and 1,003 controls participating in the California Childhood Leukemia Study. ORs and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) associated with an interquartile range increment in cytokine levels were calculated using logistic regression, adjusting for sociodemographic and birth characteristics. RESULTS We found that patients with ALL were born with higher levels of a group of correlated cytokines than controls [IL1β: OR of 1.18 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.35); IL8: 1.19 (1.03-1.38); TNFα: 1.15 (1.01-1.30); VEGF: 1.16 (1.01-1.33)], especially among children of Latina mothers (ORs from 1.31 to 1.40) and for ALL with high hyperdiploidy (ORs as high as 1.27). We found that neonatal cytokine levels were correlated with neonatal levels of endogenous metabolites which had been previously associated with ALL risk; however, there was no evidence that the cytokines were mediating the relationship between these metabolites and ALL risk. CONCLUSIONS We posit that children born with altered cytokine levels are set on a trajectory towards an increased risk for subsequent aberrant immune reactions that can initiate ALL. IMPACT This is the first study to evaluate the interplay between levels of immunomodulatory cytokines at birth, prenatal exposures, and the risk of childhood ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd P Whitehead
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California.
| | - Joseph L Wiemels
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Mi Zhou
- School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Alice Y Kang
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
| | - Lucie S McCoy
- School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Rong Wang
- Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Briana Fitch
- School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | | | - Yukiko Yano
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
| | - Partow Imani
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
| | - Stephen M Rappaport
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
| | - Gary V Dahl
- Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
| | - Scott C Kogan
- School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Xiaomei Ma
- Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Catherine Metayer
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
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Mandal N, Grambergs R, Mondal K, Basu SK, Tahia F, Dagogo-Jack S. Role of ceramides in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus and its complications. J Diabetes Complications 2021; 35:107734. [PMID: 33268241 PMCID: PMC8663915 DOI: 10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2020.107734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a systemic metabolic disease that affects 463 million adults worldwide and is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease, blindness, nephropathy, peripheral neuropathy, and lower-limb amputation. Lipids have long been recognized as contributors to the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of DM and its complications, but recent discoveries have highlighted ceramides, a class of bioactive sphingolipids with cell signaling and second messenger capabilities, as particularly important contributors to insulin resistance and the underlying mechanisms of DM complications. Besides their association with insulin resistance and pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes, evidence is emerging that certain species of ceramides are mediators of cellular mechanisms involved in the initiation and progression of microvascular and macrovascular complications of DM. Advances in our understanding of these associations provide unique opportunities for exploring ceramide species as potential novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers. This review discusses the links between ceramides and the pathogenesis of DM and diabetic complications and identifies opportunities for novel discoveries and applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nawajes Mandal
- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.; The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Memphis, TN 38163, USA..
| | - Richard Grambergs
- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Koushik Mondal
- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Sandip K Basu
- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Faiza Tahia
- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.; The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Sam Dagogo-Jack
- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Division of Endocrinology, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.; The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Clinical Research Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA..
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Caner A, Sadıqova A, Erdoğan A, Namlıses D, Nalbantsoy A, Oltulu F, Toz S, Yiğittürk G, Ozkök E, Gunduz C, Ozbel Y, Haydaroğlu A. Targeting of antitumor ımmune responses with live-attenuated Leishmania strains in breast cancer model. Breast Cancer 2020; 27:1082-1095. [PMID: 32472473 DOI: 10.1007/s12282-020-01112-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 05/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cancer is a major cause of death worldwide and most of the therapeutic approaches are relatively ineffective in eliminating cancer especially due to drug resistance. As an alternative, therapy with live microorganisms can induce a robust proinflammatory and anti-cancer immune response in the microenvironment of the tumor. In the present study, we aimed to establish a model for taking the advantages of immune responses against intracellular protozoan parasites for cancer treatment. METHODS Leishmania infantum and L. tropica were used in our study as agents of visceral and cutaneous forms of the infection, respectively. After establishing 4T1 breast cancer in mice groups, live-attenuated L. infantum (At-Li) and live-attenuated L. tropica (At-Lt) treatments were performed and results were evaluated according to tumor volume, immune markers and histological examination. RESULTS Live-attenuated Leishmania strains regressed 4T1-breast cancer in mice and are nonpathogenic, and these strains induce an immune response against 4T1 breast cancer. It is shown that At-Lt is found to be more effective than At-Li in breast cancer treatment using different methods included in the study as analyses of immune parameters, and histopathological examination in tumor tissue besides spleen cells. The tumor grew more slowly by the immune-stimulant effect of live-attenuated Leishmania parasites. CONCLUSION This promising therapy should be investigated for optimization in further studies with different cancer types and L. tropica may be designed to express antigens to enhance tumor antigen-specific responses, which may further improve efficacy and immune memory development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayse Caner
- Departments of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. .,Department of Basic Oncology, Ege University, Institute of Health Sciences, Izmir, Turkey. .,Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey.
| | - Aygül Sadıqova
- Infectious Disease Division, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA
| | - Alper Erdoğan
- Department of Basic Oncology, Ege University, Institute of Health Sciences, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Dünya Namlıses
- Department of Basic Oncology, Ege University, Institute of Health Sciences, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Ayse Nalbantsoy
- Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Fatih Oltulu
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Ege University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Seray Toz
- Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Gürkan Yiğittürk
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Ege University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Emel Ozkök
- Department of Pathology, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Cumhur Gunduz
- Department of Medical Biology, Ege University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Yusuf Ozbel
- Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Ayfer Haydaroğlu
- Department of Basic Oncology, Ege University, Institute of Health Sciences, Izmir, Turkey
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Possible anticancer agents: synthesis, pharmacological activity, and molecular modeling studies on some 5-N
-Substituted-2-N-(substituted benzenesulphonyl)-L(+)Glutamines. Med Chem Res 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00044-017-1858-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Tormentic acid in foods exerts anti-proliferation efficacy through inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. J Funct Foods 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2015.09.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
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