Reversible upregulation of tropomyosin-related kinase receptor B by geranylgeranoic acid in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells

Induction of Hepatoma Cell Pyroptosis by Endogenous Lipid Geranylgeranoic Acid-A Comparison with Palmitic Acid and Retinoic Acid

Research on retinoid-based cancer prevention, spurred by the effects of vitamin A deficiency on gastric cancer and subsequent clinical studies on digestive tract cancer, unveils novel avenues for chemoprevention. Acyclic retinoids like 4,5-didehydrogeranylgeranoic acid (4,5-didehydroGGA) have emerged as potent agents against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), distinct from natural retinoids such as all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). Mechanistic studies reveal GGA's unique induction of pyroptosis, a rapid cell death pathway, in HCC cells. GGA triggers mitochondrial superoxide hyperproduction and ER stress responses through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling and modulates autophagy, ultimately activating pyroptotic cell death in HCC cells. Unlike ATRA-induced apoptosis, GGA and palmitic acid (PA) induce pyroptosis, underscoring their distinct mechanisms. While all three fatty acids evoke mitochondrial dysfunction and ER stress responses, GGA and PA inhibit autophagy, leading to incomplete autophagic responses and pyroptosis, whereas ATRA promotes autophagic flux. In vivo experiments demonstrate GGA's potential as an anti-oncometabolite, inducing cell death selectively in tumor cells and thus suppressing liver cancer development. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular mechanisms underlying GGA's anti-HCC effects and underscores its promising role in cancer prevention, highlighting its importance in HCC prevention.

Geranylgeranoic acid, a bioactive and endogenous fatty acid in mammals: a review

Geranylgeranoic acid (GGA) was first reported in 1983 as one of the mevalonic acid (MVA) metabolites, but its biological significance was not studied for a long time. Our research on the antitumor effects of retinoids led us to GGA, one of the acyclic retinoids that induce cell death in human hepatoma-derived cell lines. We were able to demonstrate the presence of endogenous GGA in various tissues of male rats, including the liver, testis, and cerebrum, by LC-MS/MS. Furthermore, the biosynthesis of GGA from MVA in mammals including humans was confirmed by isotopomer spectral analysis using ¹³C-labeled mevalonolactone and cultured hepatoma cells, and the involvement of hepatic monoamine oxidase B (MAOB) in the biosynthesis of GGA was also demonstrated. The biological activity of GGA was analyzed from the retinoid (differentiation induction) and non-retinoid (cell death induction) aspects, and in particular, the non-retinoid mechanism by which GGA induces cell death in hepatoma cells was found to involve pyroptosis via ER-stress responses initiated by TLR4 signaling. In addition to these effects of GGA, we also describe the in vivo effects of GGA on reproduction. In this review, based mainly on our published papers, we have shown that hepatic MAOB is involved in the biosynthesis of GGA and that GGA induces cell death in human hepatoma-derived cell lines by non-canonical pyroptosis, one of the mechanisms of sterile inflammatory cell death.

A rapid increase in lysophospholipids after geranylgeranoic acid treatment in human hepatoma-derived HuH-7 cells revealed by metabolomics analysis

Geranylgeranoic acid (GGA) was developed as a preventative agent against second primary hepatoma, and was reported to induce cell death in human hepatoma cells via Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated pyroptosis. We recently reported that GGA is enzymatically biosynthesized from mevalonic acid in human hepatoma-derived HuH-7 cells and that endogenous GGA is found in most rat organs including the liver. An unbiased metabolomics analysis of ice-cold 50% acetonitrile extracts from control and GGA-treated cells was performed in this study to characterize the intracellular metabolic changes in GGA-induced pyroptosis and to analyze their relationship with the mechanism of GGA-induced cell death. The total positive ion chromatograms of the cellular extracts in ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry were apparently unchanged after GGA treatment, but an orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis score plot clearly discriminated the intracellular metabolite profiles of GGA-treated cells from that of control cells. S-plot analysis revealed 15 potential biomarkers up-regulated by 24-h GGA treatment according to their variable importance in the projection value of more than 1, and the subsequent metabolomics analysis identified nine of these metabolites as a group of lysophospholipids containing lysophosphatidylcholine with C16:0, C20:4, or C20:3 fatty acids. The possible roles of these lysophospholipids in GGA-induced pyroptosis are discussed.

•

Metabolomics analysis was performed on geranylgeranoic acid (GGA)-treated cells.

•

Total positive ion chromatograms were apparently similar after GGA treatment.

•

The OPLS-DA score plot distinguished the GGA-treated cells from control cells.

•

The S-plot analysis revealed GGA-induced upregulation of lysophospholipids.

•

The possible roles of lysophospholipids in GGA-induced pyroptosis are discussed.

Differentiating Neuroblastoma: A Systematic Review of the Retinoic Acid, Its Derivatives, and Synergistic Interactions

A neuroblastoma (NB) is a solid paediatric tumour arising from undifferentiated neuronal cells. Despite the recent advances in disease management and treatment, it remains one of the leading causes of childhood cancer deaths, thereby necessitating the development of new therapeutic agents and regimens. Retinoic acid (RA), a vitamin A derivative, is a promising agent that can induce differentiation in NB cells. Its isoform, 13-cis RA or isotretinoin, is used in NB therapy; however, its effectiveness is limited to treating a minimal residual disease as maintenance therapy. As such, research focuses on RA derivatives that might increase the anti-NB action or explores the potential synergy between RA and other classes of drugs, such as cellular processes mediators, epigenetic modifiers, and immune modulators. This review summarises the in vitro, in vivo, and clinical data of RA, its derivatives, and synergising compounds, thereby establishing the most promising RA derivatives and combinations of RA for further investigation.

SMND-309 promotes neuron survival through the activation of the PI3K/Akt/CREB-signalling pathway

Context In clinical practice, the promotion of neuron survival is necessary to recover neurological functions after the onset of stroke. Objective This study aimed to investigate the post-ischaemic neuroprotective effect of SMND-309, a novel metabolite of salvianolic acid, on differentiated SH-SY5Y cells. Materials and methods SH-SY5Y cells were differentiated by pre-treating with 5 μM all-trans-retinoic acid for 6 d. The differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) for 2 h and reperfusion (R) for 24 h to induce OGD/R injury. After OGD injury, differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were treated with or without SMND-309 (5, 10, 20 μM) for another 24 h. Cell viability was detected through Cell counting kit-8 assay and lactate dehydrogenase leakage assay. Apoptosis was evaluated through flow cytometry, caspase-3 activity assay. Changes in protein levels were assessed through Western blot. Results SMND-309 ameliorated the degree of injury in the differentiated SH-SY5Y cells by increasing cell viabilities (5 μM, 65.4% ± 4.1%; 10 μM, 69.8% ± 3.7%; 20 μM, 75.3% ± 5.1%) and by reducing LDH activity (20 μM, 2.5 fold) upon OGD/R stimulation. Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide staining results suggested that apoptotic rate of differentiated SH-SY5Y cells decreased from 43.8% induced by OGD/R injury to 19.2% when the cells were treated with 20 μM SMND-309. SMND-309 significantly increased the Bcl-2 level of the injured differentiated SH-SY5Y cells but decreased the caspase-3 activity of these cells by 1.6-fold. In contrast, SMND-309 did not affect the Bax level of these cells. SMND-309 evidently increased the protein expression of BDNF when Akt and CREB were activated. This function was antagonized by the addition of LY294002. Conclusion SMND-309 can prevent neuronal cell death in vitro. This process may be related to the activation of the PI3K/Akt/CREB-signalling pathway.

The potential mechanism for the different expressions of gelatinases induced by all-trans retinoic acid in different cells

Gelatinases include matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). The increased expressions of gelatinases are implicated in the pathogenesis of cell injury and cell death. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is an import biological agent which can regulate the expressions of gelatinases and take part in cell injury and cell death. ATRA exerts its biological effect by the high-affinity binding to retinoic acid receptors (RARs). The RARs consist of three isoforms: RAR-α, RAR-β and RAR-γ. However, it is interesting that the effect of ATRA on the expressions of gelatinases is different in different cells. There is no report to explore the possible mechanism for it at present. In this context, we review the published reports and draw a hypothesis that: (i) The distributions of RARs isoforms are different in different cells; (ii) ATRA activates the different RARs isoforms in different cells; (iii) The roles of different RARs isoforms for regulating the expression of MMP-2 or MMP-9 are different in different cells. So, ATRA takes a different function on the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in different cells. Once the potential strategy can be successfully confirmed, it would be prone to comprehend why the ATRA regulates the different expressions of gelatinases in different cells.