Overexpression of FADD enhances 5-fluorouracil-induced apoptosis in colorectal adenocarcinoma cells

Synthesis, characterization, and anticancer evaluation of 1,3-bistetrahydrofuran-2yl-5-FU as a potential agent for pancreatic cancer

The failure of current chemotherapeutic agents for pancreatic cancer (PCa) makes it the most aggressive soft tissue tumor with a 5-year survival of slightly above 10% and is estimated to be the second leading cause of cancer death by 2030.

OBJECTIVE

The main aim was to synthesize, characterize and evaluate the anticancer activity of 1,3-bistetrahydrofuran-2yl-5FU (MFU).

METHODS

MFU was synthesized by using 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and tetrahydrofuran acetate, and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), micro-elemental analysis, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and liquid chromatography with mass spectrophotometry (LC-MS). MFU and Gemcitabine hydrochloride (GemHCl) were tested for antiproliferative activity against MiaPaca-2 and Panc-1 cell lines.

RESULTS

The half-minimum inhibitory concentration (IC50) of MFU was twice lower than that of GemHCl when used in both cell lines. MiaPaca-2 cells (MFU-IC50 = 4.5 ± 1.2 μM vs. GemHCl-IC50 = 10.3 ± 1.1 μM); meanwhile similar trend was observed in Panc-1 cells (MFU-IC50 = 3.0 ± 1 μM vs. GemHCl-IC50 = 6.1 ± 1.03 μM). The MFU and GemHCl effects on 3D spheroids showed a similar trend (IC50-GemHCl = 14.3 ± 1.1 μM vs. IC50-MFU = 7.2 ± 1.1 μM) for MiaPaca-2 cells, and (IC50-GemHCl = 16.3 ± 1.1 μM vs. IC50-MFU = 9.2 ± 1.1 μM) for Panc-1 cells. MFU significantly inhibited clonogenic cell growth, and induced cell death via apoptosis. Cell cycle data showed mean PI for GemHCl (48.5-55.7) twice higher than MFU (24.7 to 27.9) for MiaPaca-2 cells, and similarly to Panc-1 cells. The in-vivo model showed intensely stained EGFR (stained brown) in all control, GemHCl and MFU-treated mice bearing subcutaneous PDX tumors, however, HER2 expression was less stained in MFU-treated tumors compared to GemHCl-treated tumors and controls. Mean tumor volume of MFU-treated mice (361 ± 33.5 mm3) was three-fold lower than GemHCl-treated mice (1074 ± 181.2 mm3) bearing pancreatic PDX tumors.

CONCLUSION

MFU was synthesized with high purity and may have potential anticancer activity against PCa.

FADD as a key molecular player in cancer progression

Cancer is a leading disease-related cause of death worldwide. Despite advances in therapeutic interventions, cancer remains a major global public health problem. Cancer pathogenesis is extremely intricate and largely unknown. Fas-associated protein with death domain (FADD) was initially identified as an adaptor protein for death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptosis. Recent evidence suggests that FADD plays a vital role in non-apoptotic cellular processes, such as proliferation, autophagy, and necroptosis. FADD expression and activity of are modulated by a complicated network of processes, such as DNA methylation, non-coding RNA, and post-translational modification. FADD dysregulation has been shown to be closely associated with the pathogenesis of numerous types of cancer. However, the detailed mechanisms of FADD dysregulation involved in cancer progression are still not fully understood. This review mainly summarizes recent findings on the structure, functions, and regulatory mechanisms of FADD and focuses on its role in cancer progression. The clinical implications of FADD as a biomarker and therapeutic target for cancer patients are also discussed. The information reviewed herein may expand researchers’ understanding of FADD and contribute to the development of FADD-based therapeutic strategies for cancer patients.

PANoptosis-based molecular clustering and prognostic signature predicts patient survival and immune landscape in colon cancer

PANoptosis is a newly-discovered cell death pathway that involves crosstalk and co-ordination between pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis processes. However, the roles of PANoptosis-related genes (PRGs) in prognosis and immune landscape of colon cancer remain widely unknown. Here, we performed a bioinformatics analysis of expression data of nineteen PRGs identified from previous studies and clinical data of colon cancer patients obtained from TCGA and GEO databases. Colon cancer cases were divided into two PRG clusters, and prognosis-related differentially expressed genes (PRDEGs) were identified. The patient data were then separated into two corresponding distinct gene clusters, and the relationship between the risk score, patient prognosis, and immune landscape was analyzed. The identified PRGs and gene clusters correlated with patient survival and immune system and cancer-related biological processes and pathways. A prognosis signature based on seven genes was identified, and patients were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups based on the calculated risk score. A nomogram model for prediction of patient survival was also developed based on the risk score and other clinical features. Accordingly, the high-risk group showed worse prognosis, and the risk score was related to immune cell abundance, cancer stem cell (CSC) index, checkpoint expression, and response to immunotherapy and chemotherapeutic drugs. Results of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) showed that LGR5 and VSIG4 were differentially expressed between normal and colon cancer samples. In conclusion, we demonstrated the potential of PANoptosis-based molecular clustering and prognostic signatures for prediction of patient survival and tumor microenvironment (TME) in colon cancer. Our findings may improve our understanding of the role of PANoptosis in colon cancer, and enable the development of more effective treatment strategies.

Overexpression of FADD and Bcl-XS proteins as novel prognostic biomarkers for surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most widespread cancer with increasing morbidity and mortality. FAS-associated protein with death domain (FADD) is considered as an essential instrument in cell death, whereas Bcl-XS promotes apoptosis through inhibiting the activity of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL.

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS

We detected the expression of FADD and Bcl-XS in resected NSCLC tissues by immunohistochemistry, and investigated their association with clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic significance of NSCLC patients.

RESULTS

Bcl-XS expression was significantly increased in well and moderate differentiated lung SCC (P= 0.004). Lung ADC patients with overexpression of FADD and lung SCC patients with low expression of Bcl-XS had importantly lower overall survival rates by Kaplan-Meier analysis (P= 0.033, P= 0.02, respectively). Multivariate analysis confirmed that elevated expression of FADD was an independent poor prognostic factor for patients with surgically resected lung ADC (P= 0.027) and increased expression of Bcl-XS was an independent good prognostic factor for patients with surgically resected lung SCC (P= 0.016)CONCLUSION: Elevated expression of FADD was identified as independent poor prognostic factor for patients with surgically resected lung ADC, however, increased expression of Bcl-XS was an independent good prognostic biomarker for patients with surgically resected lung SCC.

Cellular Mechanisms Accounting for the Refractoriness of Colorectal Carcinoma to Pharmacological Treatment

Simple Summary

Colorectal cancer (CRC) causes a high number (more than 800,000) of deaths worldwide each year. Better methods for early diagnosis and the development of strategies to enhance the efficacy of the therapeutic approaches used to complement or substitute surgical removal of the tumor are urgently needed. Currently available pharmacological armamentarium provides very moderate benefits to patients due to the high resistance of tumor cells to respond to anticancer drugs. The present review summarizes and classifies into seven groups the cellular and molecular mechanisms of chemoresistance (MOC) accounting for the failure of CRC response to the pharmacological treatment.

Abstract

The unsatisfactory response of colorectal cancer (CRC) to pharmacological treatment contributes to the substantial global health burden caused by this disease. Over the last few decades, CRC has become the cause of more than 800,000 deaths per year. The reason is a combination of two factors: (i) the late cancer detection, which is being partially solved by the implementation of mass screening of adults over age 50, permitting earlier diagnosis and treatment; (ii) the inadequate response of advanced unresectable tumors (i.e., stages III and IV) to pharmacological therapy. The latter is due to the existence of complex mechanisms of chemoresistance (MOCs) that interact and synergize with each other, rendering CRC cells strongly refractory to the available pharmacological regimens based on conventional chemotherapy, such as pyrimidine analogs (5-fluorouracil, capecitabine, trifluridine, and tipiracil), oxaliplatin, and irinotecan, as well as drugs targeted toward tyrosine kinase receptors (regorafenib, aflibercept, bevacizumab, cetuximab, panitumumab, and ramucirumab), and, more recently, immune checkpoint inhibitors (nivolumab, ipilimumab, and pembrolizumab). In the present review, we have inventoried the genes involved in the lack of CRC response to pharmacological treatment, classifying them into seven groups (from MOC-1 to MOC-7) according to functional criteria to identify cancer cell weaknesses. This classification will be useful to pave the way for developing sensitizing tools consisting of (i) new agents to be co-administered with the active drug; (ii) pharmacological approaches, such as drug encapsulation (e.g., into labeled liposomes or exosomes); (iii) gene therapy interventions aimed at restoring the impaired function of some proteins (e.g., uptake transporters and tumor suppressors) or abolishing that of others (such as export pumps and oncogenes).

FADD in Cancer: Mechanisms of Altered Expression and Function, and Clinical Implications

FADD was initially described as an adaptor molecule for death receptor-mediated apoptosis, but subsequently it has been implicated in nonapoptotic cellular processes such as proliferation and cell cycle control. During the last decade, FADD has been shown to play a pivotal role in most of the signalosome complexes, such as the necroptosome and the inflammasome. Interestingly, various mechanisms involved in regulating FADD functions have been identified, essentially posttranslational modifications and secretion. All these aspects have been thoroughly addressed in previous reviews. However, FADD implication in cancer is complex, due to pleiotropic effects. It has been reported either as anti- or protumorigenic, depending on the cell type. Regulation of FADD expression in cancer is a complex issue since both overexpression and downregulation have been reported, but the mechanisms underlying such alterations have not been fully unveiled. Posttranslational modifications also constitute a relevant mechanism controlling FADD levels and functions in tumor cells. In this review, we aim to provide detailed, updated information on alterations leading to changes in FADD expression and function in cancer. The participation of FADD in various biological processes is recapitulated, with a mention of interesting novel functions recently proposed for FADD, such as regulation of gene expression and control of metabolic pathways. Finally, we gather all the available evidence regarding the clinical implications of FADD alterations in cancer, especially as it has been proposed as a potential biomarker with prognostic value.

Matrix metalloproteinase 7 is a useful marker for 5-fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II and stage III colorectal cancer patients

Matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP7) was reported to be a negative regulator in Fas-mediated apoptosis. The mechanism of cell killing associated with 5-FU treatment in colon cancer was also closely related to Fas-induced apoptosis, which implied that the expression level of MMP7 in colorectal cancer may be associated with the sensitivity of 5-FU treatment. To prove the hypothesis, first we verified the negative relevance between the colorectal cancer cells apoptosis in response to 5-FU treatment and MMP7 level by MTT and flow cytometry assay in vitro. Further, we found the apoptosis was in a positive relation with the Fas ligand level collected from the medium, suggesting a Fas-induced apoptosis. We found that increased level of MMP7 resulted in the enhanced drug resistance in SW620 colon cancer cells treated with 5-FU in vitro. Besides, we analyzed the influence of MMP7 on prognosis of 76 patients with TNM stage II-III colorectal cancers who had undergone curative resections and received 5-FU-based adjuvant chemotherapy. The expression of MMP7 was detected by IHC, and the relationship between the expression of MMP7 and disease-free survival was analyzed by univariate analysis and multivariate analysis. Patients with higher expression of MMP7 showed inferior disease-free survival (p=0.007), and high expression of MMP7 was a significant independent unfavorable prognostic factor (p=0.012). These data suggested that MMP7 is a useful marker for 5-FU chemotherapy sensitivity in patients with stage II-III colorectal cancer.

HQS-3, a newly synthesized flavonoid, possesses potent anti-tumor effect in vivo and in vitro

HQS-3 is a newly baicalein derivative with a benzene substitution. We investigated the anticancer effect of HQS-3 in vivo and in vitro. HQS-3 significantly decreased tumor growth in mice inoculated with Heps and HepG2 cells; and had little influence on the state and weight of animals. After treatment with 20 mg/kg HQS-3, the inhibitory rate of tumor weight in mice inoculated with Heps and HepG2 cells were 63.62% and 68.03%, respectively. Meanwhile, HQS-3 inhibited the viability of various kinds of tumor cells with IC50 values in the range of 22.98-54.32 μM after 48 h treatment measured by MTT-assay. HQS-3 remarkably inhibited viability of hepatoma cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner and induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells by DAPI staining and Annexin V/PI double staining. The apoptosis-induction effect of HQS-3 was attributed to its ability to modulate the activity of caspase-9, caspase-3 and PARP. Moreover, the expression of bax protein was increased while the bcl-2 protein was decreased, leading to an increase in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. The accumulation of ROS induced by HQS-3 in HepG2 cells was also observed. The further results suggested that HQS-3 induced mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis by increasing ROS level and inhibiting the expression of anti-oxidative protein SOD2. HQS-3 exerted anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo via inducing tumor cells apoptosis, and these results suggested that it deserves further investigation as a novel chemotherapy for human tumors.