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Sartorius K, Antwi SO, Chuturgoon A, Roberts LR, Kramvis A. RNA Therapeutic Options to Manage Aberrant Signaling Pathways in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Dream or Reality? Front Oncol 2022; 12:891812. [PMID: 35600358 PMCID: PMC9115561 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.891812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the early promise of RNA therapeutics as a magic bullet to modulate aberrant signaling in cancer, this field remains a work-in-progress. Nevertheless, RNA therapeutics is now a reality for the treatment of viral diseases (COVID-19) and offers great promise for cancer. This review paper specifically investigates RNAi as a therapeutic option for HCC and discusses a range of RNAi technology including anti-sense oligonucleotides (ASOs), Aptamers, small interfering RNA (siRNA), ribozymes, riboswitches and CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The use of these RNAi based interventions is specifically outlined in three primary strategies, namely, repressing angiogenesis, the suppression of cell proliferation and the promotion of apoptosis. We also discuss some of the inherent chemical and delivery problems, as well as targeting issues and immunogenic reaction to RNAi interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt Sartorius
- Hepatitis Virus Diversity Research Unit, School of Internal Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.,The Africa Hepatopancreatobiliary Cancer Consortium (AHPBCC), Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Department of Surgery, KZN Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Centre, Durban, South Africa
| | - Samuel O Antwi
- The Africa Hepatopancreatobiliary Cancer Consortium (AHPBCC), Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Division of Epidemiology, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Anil Chuturgoon
- Discipline of Medical Biochemistry, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Health Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Lewis R Roberts
- The Africa Hepatopancreatobiliary Cancer Consortium (AHPBCC), Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
| | - Anna Kramvis
- Hepatitis Virus Diversity Research Unit, School of Internal Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Almaeen AH, Alduraywish AA, Mobasher MA, Almadhi OIM, Nafeh HM, El-Metwally TH. Oxidative stress, immunological and cellular hypoxia biomarkers in hepatitis C treatment-naïve and cirrhotic patients. Arch Med Sci 2021; 17:368-375. [PMID: 33747272 PMCID: PMC7959056 DOI: 10.5114/aoms.2019.91451] [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] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the main cause of chronic liver disease, with calamitous complications. Its highest rate is recorded in Egypt. This study investigated whether oxidative stress, immunological chaos and cellular hypoxia are implicated in the pathophysiology of the disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the changes in blood oxidative stress, cellular hypoxia/angiogenesis and cellular immunological biomarkers in hospital-diagnosed treatment-naïve HCV-infected Upper Egyptian chronic liver disease patients vs. healthy controls (n = 40). The consecutively included patients comprised 120 with normal serum enzymes (HCV-NE) and 130 with high serum enzymes (HCV-HE), along with 120 cirrhotic patients. RESULTS Oxidative stress biomarkers - malondialdehyde (MDA), total peroxides and oxidative stress index (OSI) - were significantly lower in controls vs. each of the patient groups. Cirrhotic patients presented the highest levels. However, total antioxidants (TAO) showed non-significant differences among the four groups. The cellular hypoxia/angiogenesis biomarkers - lactate, vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptor 1 (sVEGFR1) - vs. controls were massively increased in patient groups. VEGF was lowest while sVEGFR1 was highest among cirrhotic patients. Immunological biomarkers, - granulocyte/monocyte-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and total immunoglobulin G (IgG) - were massively increased in patient groups vs. controls. GM-CSF was lowest in HCV-HE and IgG was highest in cirrhotic patients. sVEGFR1 correlated with the progression towards cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS Oxidative stress is implicated in the progress of HCV infection with marked induction of cellular hypoxia and dysfunctional angiogenesis, and a futile immunological reaction. sVEGFR1 level correlated with progression towards HCV-induced liver fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Maysa Ahmed Mobasher
- Department of Pathology, Jouf University College of Medicine, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
| | - Omar I. M. Almadhi
- College of Medicine, Jouf University College of Medicine, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hanan M. Nafeh
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology, Assiut University, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut, Egypt
| | - Tarek Hassan El-Metwally
- Department of Pathology, Jouf University College of Medicine, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Assiut University, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut, Egypt
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Sun S, Dong H, Yan T, Li J, Liu B, Shao P, Li J, Liang C. Role of TSP-1 as prognostic marker in various cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC MEDICAL GENETICS 2020; 21:139. [PMID: 32600280 PMCID: PMC7325168 DOI: 10.1186/s12881-020-01073-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Background Published studies present conflicting data regarding the impact of Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) expression on prognosis of various cancers. We performed this meta-analysis to illustrate the preliminary predictive value of TSP-1. Methods Twenty-four studies with a total of 2379 patients were included. A comprehensive literature search was performed by using PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, and hand searches were also conducted of relevant bibliographies. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for patient survival and disease recurrence were initially identified to explore relationships between TSP-1 expression and patient prognosis. Results A total of 24 eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis. Our results showed that high level of TSP-1 was correlated significantly with poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.17 ~ 1.68; P<0.001). However, high TSP-1 expression predicted no significant impact on progression-free survival (PFS)/ metastasis-free survival (MFS) (HR = 1.35, 95%CI: 0.87–2.10; P = 0.176) and disease-free survival (DFS)/ recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.40, 95%CI: 0.77–2.53; P = 0.271). In addition, we performed subgroup analyses which showed that high TSP-1 expression predicted poor prognosis in breast cancer and gynecological cancer. Additionally, the relatively small number of studies on PFS/MFS and DFS/RFS is a limitation. The data extracted through Kaplan-Meier curves may not be accurate. Moreover, only English articles were included in this article, which may lead to deviations in the results. Conclusions Our findings indicated high TSP-1 expression may act as a promising biomarker of poor prognosis in cancers, especially in breast cancer and gynecological cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengjie Sun
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Huiyu Dong
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Tao Yan
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Junchen Li
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Bianjiang Liu
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Pengfei Shao
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jie Li
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chao Liang
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
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Sadik NA, Ahmed NR, Mohamed MF, Ashoush OA. Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and its Validity as a Tumor Biomarker. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.2174/1875318301909010084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Background:
Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers associated with deaths worldwide and the presence of valid biomarkers for early diagnosis in high-risk patients can ameliorate the outcome of HCC. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) has been found to play an essential role in the process of HCC growth and progression.
Objectives:
Therefore, we evaluated the serum VEGF levels in patients with HCC and liver cirrhosis and estimated its significant value for differentiating HCC patients from liver cirrhosis patients.
Material and methods:
Eighty-one subjects were enrolled in the study, 30 patients had HCC, 31 patients had liver cirrhosis and 20 were healthy control subjects. VEGF and AFP were measured using ELIZA. Abdominal ultrasound and triphasic abdominal computed tomography were performed in all subjects. Receiver Operating Characteristics curve analysis was performed for serum VEGF to determine its validity as a tumor biomarker.
Results:
The median levels of the serum VEGF were highly expressed in the HCC group (418 pg/ml) and the liver cirrhosis group (308 pg/ml) with no significant difference (P = 0.767); however both groups showed a significant increase compared to the control group (0.8 pg/ml, P <0.000). Serum VEGF showed high sensitivity (100%) and high specificity (100%) in differentiating HCC patients from controls with a cut-off value of ≥ 64.2 pg/ml, although it showed low sensitivity (29.2%) and specificity (85.7%) for differentiating HCC patients from liver cirrhosis patients.
Conclusion:
VEGF can be used as a reliable biomarker for differentiating HCC patients from healthy subjects but it can't be used as a reliable biomarker for differentiating HCC patients from high-risk patients as liver cirrhosis. The elevated serum VEGF levels in HCC and liver cirrhosis patients can elucidate the crucial role of angiogenesis in HCC and liver cirrhosis.
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Salum GM, Bader El Din NG, Ibrahim MK, Anany MA, Dawood RM, Khairy A, El Awady MK. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression in Hepatitis C Virus-Induced Liver Fibrosis: A Potential Biomarker. J Interferon Cytokine Res 2017; 37:310-316. [PMID: 28472595 DOI: 10.1089/jir.2016.0127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The major complication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the induction of hepatic fibrosis. In this study, we investigated the correlation between the expression level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA) at mRNA and protein levels and the progression of HCV-related liver fibrosis. One hundred twenty subjects were selected for this study: 15 controls and 105 chronic HCV patients with different fibrosis grades (44 F0-F1 and 61 F2-F4). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to measure VEGFA mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, while enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the secreted VEGFA protein in serum. Both qRT-PCR and ELISA results showed that HCV patients have significantly higher VEGFA expression than that of controls (P = 0.036 and 0.043, respectively). Moreover, patients with late fibrotic stages (F2-F4) exhibited the highest levels of VEGFA mRNA and protein (P = 0.008 and 0.041, respectively) when compared with controls. An area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC of the ROC) for the circulatory VEGFA protein between HCV patients with fibrosis and healthy controls was 0.92 (P = 0.043). Our data suggest that VEGFA protein is a promising noninvasively diagnostic biomarker for HCV-induced liver fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghada M Salum
- 1 Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering Division, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt
| | - Noha G Bader El Din
- 1 Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering Division, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt
| | - Marwa K Ibrahim
- 1 Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering Division, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt
| | - Mohamed A Anany
- 1 Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering Division, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt
| | - Reham M Dawood
- 1 Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering Division, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt
| | - Ahmed Khairy
- 2 Department of Endemic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University , Cairo, Egypt
| | - Mostafa K El Awady
- 1 Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering Division, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt
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Liang YZ, Zeng ZL, Hua LL, Li JF, Wang YL, Bi XZ. Expression and significance of angiostatin, vascular endothelial growth factor and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in brain tissue of diabetic rats with ischemia reperfusion. ASIAN PAC J TROP MED 2016; 9:587-91. [PMID: 27262072 DOI: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2016] [Revised: 03/16/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To discuss the expression and significance of angiostatin, vascular endothelial growth factor and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in the brain tissue of diabetic rats with ischemia reperfusion. METHODS A total of 60 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the normal group, sham group, diabetic cerebral infarction group and single cerebral infarction group according to the random number table, with 15 rats in each group. The high sucrose diet and intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin were performed for the modeling of diabetic rats, while the thread-occlusion method was employed to build the model of cerebral ischemia reperfusion. The immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the expression of angiostatin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in the brain tissue. RESULTS The expression of angiostatin after the reperfusion in the brain tissue of rats in the single cerebral infarction group and diabetic cerebral infarction group was increased 6 h after the reperfusion, reached to the peak on 1 d and then decreased gradually. The expression of angiostatin in the diabetic cerebral infarction group 6 h, 1 d, 3 d and 7 d after the reperfusion was significantly higher than that in the single cerebral infarction group (P < 0.05). VEGF began to be increased 1 h after the reperfusion in the single cerebral infarction group and diabetic cerebral infarction group, reached to the peak at 6 h and then decreased gradually. The expression of VEGF in the diabetic cerebral infarction group at each time point after the reperfusion was significantly lower than that in the single cerebral infarction group (P < 0.05). MMP-9 began to be increased 1 h after the reperfusion in the single cerebral infarction group and diabetic cerebral infarction group, reached to the peak on 1 d and then decreased gradually. The expression of MMP-9 in the diabetic cerebral infarction group at each time point after the reperfusion was significantly higher than that in the single cerebral infarction group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The high glucose environment in which the diabetic cerebral infarction is occurred is to induce the formation of MMP-9 at first and then activate and increase the expression of angiostatin. Afterwards, the expression of VEGF is inhibited, resulting in the poor angiogenesis after cerebral infarction, which thus makes the injury of brain tissue after cerebral infarction even worse than the non-diabetes mellitus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Zhi Liang
- Department of Cardiology, Shangqiu No. 1 People's Hospital, Shangqiu 476000, Henan, China
| | - Zhi-Lei Zeng
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450016, Henan, China
| | - Lin-Lin Hua
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450016, Henan, China
| | - Jin-Feng Li
- Department of Neurology, No. 148 Hospital of P.L.A., Zibo 255300, Shandong, China
| | - Yun-Liang Wang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450016, Henan, China; Department of Neurology, No. 148 Hospital of P.L.A., Zibo 255300, Shandong, China.
| | - Xi-Zhuang Bi
- School of Medicine, Shandong University, Ji'nan 250012, Shandong, China
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Inhibitory effect of endostar on specific angiogenesis induced by human hepatocellular carcinoma. Gastroenterol Res Pract 2015; 2015:957574. [PMID: 25983751 PMCID: PMC4423035 DOI: 10.1155/2015/957574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2014] [Accepted: 12/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
To investigate the effect of endostar on specific angiogenesis induced by human hepatocellular carcinoma, this research systematically elucidated the inhibitory effect on HepG2-induced angiogenesis by endostar from 50 ng/mL to 50000 ng/mL. We employed fluorescence quantitative Boyden chamber analysis, wound-healing assay, flow cytometry examination using a coculture system, quantitative analysis of tube formation, and in vivo Matrigel plug assay induced by HCC conditioned media (HCM) and HepG2 compared with normal hepatocyte conditioned media (NCM) and L02. Then, we found that endostar as a tumor angiogenesis inhibitor could potently inhibit human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) migration in response to HCM after four- to six-hour action, inhibit HCM-induced HUVEC migration to the lesion part in a dose-dependent manner between 50 ng/mL and 5000 ng/mL at 24 hours, and reduce HUVEC proliferation in a dose-dependent fashion. Endostar inhibited HepG2-induced tube formation of HUVECs which peaked at 50 ng/mL. In vivo Matrigel plug formation was also significantly reduced by endostar in HepG2 inducing system rather than in L02 inducing system. It could be concluded that, at cell level, endostar inhibited the angiogenesis-related biological behaviors of HUVEC in response to HCC, including migration, adhesion proliferation, and tube formation. At animal level, endostar inhibited the angiogenesis in response to HCC in Matrigel matrix.
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