Expression and clinical significance of organic cation transporter family in glioblastoma multiforme

Interleukin-17 receptor D is a favorable biomarker of glioblastoma

BACKGROUND

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most frequent glioma in adults. The prognosis of GBM is very poor and new prognostic biomarkers are in urgent need to better select high-risk patients and guide the individual treatments.

METHODS

In our study, we compared the expression of interleukin-17 receptor D (IL17RD) between GBMs and normal tissues from TCGA database, and detected IL17RD mRNA in 17 fresh GBM pairs with qPCR. With immunohistochemistry, we investigated the expression of IL17RD in 156 GBM tissues and further evaluated its clinical significance. The associations between IL17RD and clinicopathological factors were assessed by Chi-square test. The prognostic significance of IL17RD was evaluated by univariate analysis with Kaplan-Meier method, and by multivariate analysis with Cox-regression Hazard model.

RESULTS

The TPMs and mRNAs of IL17RD in GBM were substantially lower than those in normal brain tissues. The rates of low or high expression of IL17RD accounted for 41.67% and 58.33% respectively. IL17RD was significantly associated with higher survival rates of GBM. The 3-year overall survival rates of patients with low and high IL17RD were 7.2% and 19.5% respectively. In the Cox-regression model, the IL17RD expression was defined as an independent prognostic biomarker of GBM. Patients with high IL17RD expression had a more favorable outcome than those with low IL17RD.

CONCLUSIONS

High IL17RD expression was an independent prognostic indicator of GBM, suggesting a more favorable prognosis. Our results suggested that IL17RD detection may help find the high-risk patients which may receive more severe surveillance and more individual treatments.

The Role of Organic Cation Transporters in the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug-Drug Interactions of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) decisively contributed in revolutionizing the therapeutic approach to cancer, offering non-invasive, tolerable therapies for a better quality of life. Nonetheless, degree and duration of the response to TKI therapy vary depending on cancer molecular features, the ability of developing resistance to the drug, on pharmacokinetic alterations caused by germline variants and unwanted drug-drug interactions at the level of membrane transporters and metabolizing enzymes. A great deal of approved TKIs are inhibitors of the organic cation transporters (OCTs). A handful are also substrates of them. These transporters are polyspecific and highly expressed in normal epithelia, particularly the intestine, liver and kidney, and are, hence, arguably relevant sites of TKI interactions with other OCT substrates. Moreover, OCTs are often repressed in cancer cells and might contribute to the resistance of cancer cells to TKIs. This article reviews the OCT interactions with approved and in-development TKIs reported in vitro and in vivo and critically discusses the potential clinical ramifications thereof.

Epigallocatechin gallate stimulated histamine production and downregulated histamine H1 receptor in oral cancer cell lines expressing histidine decarboxylase

OBJECTIVES

Increased histamine production and the overexpression of receptors (H1R∼H4R) has been reported in several tumors. The effects of TGFβ1 and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on histamine synthesizing enzymes (HDCs), and the histamine transporter systems and receptors were investigated in this study.

METHODS

Four oral cancer cell lines (HSC2, HSC3, HSC4, and SAS) were treated with or without TGFβ1 or EGCG for 24 h. The expression levels of HDC, SLC22A3, H1R∼H4R, and TAS2R14 were investigated by Western blotting. Histamine concentrations were determined using the enzyme immune assay. Bitter taste receptor (TAS2R14 and TAS2R39) mRNAs were investigated by RT-PCR.

RESULTS

Varying expression levels of HDC, SLC22A3, H1R∼H4R, and TAS2R14 were observed in the four cell lines, where histamine concentrations were found to be ∼500 fmol/ml in cell culture media and induced 2-2.5 times higher amounts of histamine following EGCG treatment. TGFβ1 increased HDC expression in three cell lines, SLC22A3 expression in three cell lines, H1R expression in two cell lines, H2R expression in three cell lines, H3R expression in three cell lines, and H4R expression in three cell lines. EGCG decreased HDC expression in all four cell lines, SLC22A3 expression in three expression, H1R expression in all four cell lines, H2R expression in two cell lines, H3R expression in three cell lines, and H4R expression in two cell lines.

CONCLUSIONS

EGCG upregulated histamine production and decreased the expression level of H1R in the oral cancer cell lines. It might prove useful for cancer therapy during histamine regulation.

Filamentous Bacteriophage-A Powerful Carrier for Glioma Therapy

Glioma is a life-threatening malignant tumor. Resistance to traditional treatments and tumor recurrence present major challenges in treating and managing this disease, consequently, new therapeutic strategies must be developed. Crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is another challenge for most drug vectors and therapy medications. Filamentous bacteriophage can enter the brain across the BBB. Compared to traditional drug vectors, phage-based drugs offer thermodynamic stability, biocompatibility, homogeneity, high carrying capacity, self-assembly, scalability, and low toxicity. Tumor-targeting peptides from phage library and phages displaying targeting peptides are ideal drug delivery agents. This review summarized recent studies on phage-based glioma therapy and shed light on the developing therapeutics phage in the personalized treatment of glioma.