Identification of a 3,3-difluorinated tetrahydropyridinol compound as a novel antitumor agent for hepatocellular carcinoma acting via cell cycle arrest through disturbing CDK7-mediated phosphorylation of Cdc2

Citrinin as a potential anti-cancer therapy: A comprehensive review

Citrinin (CIT) is a polyketide-derived mycotoxin, which is produced by many fungal strains belonging to the gerena Monascus, Aspergillus, and Penicillium. It has been postulated that mycotoxins have several toxic mechanisms and are potentially used as antineoplastic agents. Therefore, the present study carried out a systematic review, including articles from 1978 to 2022, by collecting evidence in experimental studies of CIT antiplorifactive activity in cancer. The Data indicate that CIT intervenes in important mediators and cell signaling pathways, including MAPKs, ERK1/2, JNK, Bcl-2, BAX, caspases 3,6,7 and 9, p53, p21, PARP cleavage, MDA, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant defenses (SOD, CAT, GST and GPX). These factors demonstrate the potential antitumor drug CIT in inducing cell death, reducing DNA repair capacity and inducing cytotoxic and genotoxic effects in cancer cells.

Targeting super enhancers for liver disease: a review

Background

Super enhancers (SEs) refer to the ultralong regions of a gene accompanied by multiple transcription factors and cofactors and strongly drive the expression of cell-type-related genes. Recent studies have demonstrated that SEs play crucial roles in regulating gene expression related to cell cycle progression and transcription. Aberrant activation of SEs is closely related to the occurrence and development of liver disease. Liver disease, especially liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), constitutes a major class of diseases that seriously endanger human health. Currently, therapeutic strategies targeting SEs can dramatically prevent disease progression and improve the prognosis of animal models. The associated new approaches to the treatment of related liver disease are relatively new and need systematic elaboration.

Objectives

In this review, we elaborate on the features of SEs and discuss their function in liver disease. Additionally, we review their application prospects in clinical practice in the future. The article would be of interest to hepatologists, molecular biologists, clinicians, and all those concerned with targeted therapy and prognosis of liver disease.

Methodology

We searched three bibliographic databases (Web of Science Core Collection, Embase, PubMed) from 01/1981 to 06/2022 for peer-reviewed scientific publications focused on (1) gene treatment of liver disease; (2) current status of SE research; and (3) targeting SEs for liver disease. We included English language original studies only.

Results

The number of published studies considering the role of enhancers in liver disease is considerable. Since SEs were just defined in 2013, the corresponding data on SEs are scarce: approximately 50 papers found in bibliographic databases on the correlation between enhancers (or SEs) and liver disease. Remarkably, half of these papers were published in the past three years, indicating the growing interest of the scientific community in this issue. Studies have shown that treatments targeting components of SEs can improve outcomes in liver disease in animal and clinical trials.

Conclusions

The treatment of liver disease is facing a bottleneck, and new treatments are needed. Therapeutic regimens targeting SEs have an important role in the treatment of liver disease. However, given the off-target effect of gene therapy and the lack of clinical trials, the available experimental data are still fragmented and controversial.

The antitumour effect of galangin and luteolin with doxorubicin on chemically induced hepatocellular carcinoma in rats

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a highly malignant tumour with very high morbidity and mortality, remains the second cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Galangin is a naturally occurring flavonoid extracted from the propolis and root of Alpinia officinarum, which possesses antitumour efficacy, which has resulted in an increase in interest in related research. Additionally, galangin inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in several human malignancies. On the other hand, luteolin, a naturally occurring flavonoid found in a variety of edible plants, augments cytotoxicity in different cancer cells through the inhibition of cell-survival pathways and activation of apoptosis. Moreover, luteolin blocks the activity of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members. The present study aimed to assess the antitumour effect of galangin and luteolin in combination and the antitumour effect of a combination of galangin and luteolin together with doxorubicin (DOX) in a chemically induced HCC rat model. Our analyses demonstrated that the combination treatment with galangin, luteolin, and DOX showed the greatest antineoplastic activity against HCC, which was observed by significant decreases in the levels of HCC markers, including serum α-fetoprotein-L3, and hepatic tissue expression of both glypican 3 and heat shock proteins. On the other hand, the hepatic tissue expression of caspase-3 was significantly increased. These results suggest that combination treatment with galangin and luteolin is a promising candidate for clinical use in HCC chemotherapy, especially when used in combination with DOX.

Licochalcone a Induces ROS-Mediated Apoptosis through TrxR1 Inactivation in Colorectal Cancer Cells

Licochalcone A (LCA) exhibited anticancer activity through modulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in some cancer cells and has been evidenced to suppress colorectal cancer (CRC) formation and progression. However, whether LCA mediates the progression of CRC by regulating ROS production remains unclear. To address this, HCT-116 cells were treated with LCA, resulting in G0/G1 phase arrest, apoptosis, and high ROS generation, which were attenuated by N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a ROS inhibitor. In addition, LCA suppressed the expression of thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) in HCT-116 cells, leading to high ROS levels and apoptosis. Moreover, LCA administration combined with TrxR1 inhibition further enhanced the production of ROS and apoptosis in HCT-116 cells compared to LCA administration or TrxR1 inhibition alone. These results demonstrated that LCA might enhance the production of ROS by targeting TrxR1, leading to apoptosis in HCT-116 cells, which provides potential insight for the interventional treatment of CRC.