The effect of benzyl isothiocyanate and its computer-aided design derivants targeting alkylglycerone phosphate synthase on the inhibition of human glioma U87MG cell line

Isothiocyanates in medicine: A comprehensive review on phenylethyl-, allyl-, and benzyl-isothiocyanates

In recent years, isothiocyanates (ITCs), bioactive compounds primarily derived from Brassicaceae vegetables and herbs, have gained significant attention within the biomedical field due to their versatile biological effects. This comprehensive review provides an in-depth exploration of the therapeutic potential and individual biological mechanisms of the three specific ITCs phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), and benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), as well as their collective impact within the formulation of ANGOCIN® Anti-Infekt N (Angocin). Angocin comprises horseradish root (Armoracia rusticanae radix, 80 mg) and nasturtium (Tropaeoli majoris herba, 200 mg) and is authorized for treating inflammatory diseases affecting the respiratory and urinary tract. The antimicrobial efficacy of this substance has been confirmed both in vitro and in various clinical trials, with its primary effectiveness attributed to ITCs. PEITC, AITC, and BITC exhibit a wide array of health benefits, including potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties, along with noteworthy anticancer potentials. Moreover, we highlight their ability to modulate critical biochemical pathways, such as the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathways, shedding light on their involvement in cellular apoptosis and their intricate role to guide immune responses.

Glioma-Targeted Therapeutics: Computer-Aided Drug Design Prospective

Amongst the several types of brain cancers known to humankind, glioma is one of the most severe and life-threatening types of cancer, comprising 40% of all primary brain tumors. Recent reports have shown the incident rate of gliomas to be 6 per 100,000 individuals per year globally. Despite the various therapeutics used in the treatment of glioma, patient survival rate remains at a median of 15 months after undergoing first-line treatment including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy with Temozolomide. As such, the discovery of newer and more effective therapeutic agents is imperative for patient survival rate. The advent of computer-aided drug design in the development of drug discovery has emerged as a powerful means to ascertain potential hit compounds with distinctively high therapeutic effectiveness against glioma. This review encompasses the recent advances of bio-computational in-silico modeling that have elicited the discovery of small molecule inhibitors and/or drugs against various therapeutic targets in glioma. The relevant information provided in this report will assist researchers, especially in the drug design domains, to develop more effective therapeutics against this global disease.

Anticancer activities of dietary benzyl isothiocyanate: A comprehensive review

Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) is one of the common isothiocyanates found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage or watercress. Preclinical studies report of its effectiveness in the prevention and treatment against several cancers. This review aims to report and discuss findings on anticancer activities of BITC and its modes of action against 14 types of cancer. A literature search was conducted using the keywords "BITC" and "anticancer" from PubMed, Google Scholar and CINAHL Plus to obtain relevant research articles. This review highlights the anticancer efficacy of BITC through modulation of various signaling pathways involved in apoptosis, cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest, metastasis, angiogenesis, autophagy and the effects of BITC in combination with other drugs. With the available pharmacology evidence, we conclude that further studies are needed to validate its effectiveness in humans for further development and translation into prophylaxis or therapy by promoting optimal therapeutic effects and minimizing toxicity in cancer treatment.

Phenethyl isothiocyanate synergistically induces apoptosis with Gefitinib in non-small cell lung cancer cells via endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated degradation of Mcl-1

Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are natural compounds abundant in cruciferous vegetables. Numerous studies have shown that ITCs exhibit anticancer activity by affecting multiple pathways including apoptosis and oxidative stress, and are expected to be developed into novel anticancer drugs. In our previous studies, we demonstrated that ITCs effectively inhibit the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, also induce apoptosis and autophagy. In the present study, we found that phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) had significant synergistic effects with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor Gefitinib in NSCLC cell lines NCI-H1299 and SK-MES-1; and the degradation of antiapoptotic factor myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1) caused by PEITC treatment played key roles in the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to Gefitinib. We further illustrated that PEITC regulated the expression of Mcl-1 through protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK)-eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α-CHOP-Noxa pathway by a posttranscriptional modulation. Pretreatment with endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) inhibitor tauroursodeoxycholic acid and knockdown of PERK expression attenuated the degradation of Mcl-1 caused by PEITC. In in vivo study, nude mice bearing NCI-H1299 xenograft were administrated with PEITC (50 mg/kg, ip) and Gefitinib (50 mg/kg, ig) for 15 days, the PEITC-Gefitinib combination treatment resulted in a significant synergistic reduction in tumor growth, and significantly induced both ER stress and Mcl-1 degradation in tumor tissues. In conclusion, we explored the prospect of PEITC in improving the efficacy of targeted drug therapy and demonstrated the synergistic effects and underlined mechanisms of PEITC combined with Gefitinib in NSCLC cells treatment. This study provided useful information for developing novel therapy strategies by combination treatment of PEITC with targeted drugs.

Curcumin Has Anti-Proliferative and Pro-Apoptotic Effects on Tongue Cancer in vitro: A Study with Bioinformatics Analysis and in vitro Experiments

Purpose

This study focused on the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of curcumin against tongue cancer (TC).

Methods

Target genes of TC and curcumin were identified, respectively. Three datasets of TC from Gene Expression Omnibus were included, and then the differentially expressed genes were collected. After combing the data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, bioinformatics analyses were performed to investigate hub genes in terms of the functions and correlations. The proliferation and migration of TC cells were evaluated with CCK-8 assay and scratch wound healing assay, respectively. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL assay, flow cytometry and Western blot. Cell cycle was determined by flow cytometry.

Results

In this study, 15 hub genes were identified (TK1, TDRD3, TAGLN2, RNASEH2A, PDE2A, NCF2, MAP3K3, GPX3, GPD1L, GBP1, ENO1, CAT, ALDH6A1, AGPS and ACACB). They were mainly enriched in oxygen-related processes, such as oxidation-reduction process, reactive oxygen species metabolic process, hydrogen peroxide catabolic process, oxidoreductase activity and Peroxisome-related pathway. The expression levels of hub gene mRNAs were positively correlated with each other's expression levels. None of the hub genes was correlated with prognosis (P > 0.05). Curcumin significantly inhibited CAL 27 cell proliferation and migration (P < 0.05), but significantly promoted cell apoptosis (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Curcumin has potential therapeutic effect on treating TC by suppressing cell proliferation and migration, as well as promoting apoptosis through modulating oxygen-related signaling pathways.

Viability of glioblastoma stem cells is effectively reduced by diisothiocyanate-derived mercapturic acids

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive tumor of the central nervous system and is manifested by diffuse invasion of glioblastoma stem cells into the healthy tissue, chemoresistance and recurrence. Despite aggressive therapy, consisting of maximal surgical resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy with temozolomide (Temodal^®), life expectancy of patients with glioblastoma is typically less than 15 months. In general, natural isothiocyanates isolated from plants of the Cruciferae family are selectively cytotoxic to tumor cells. It has been demonstrated previously that diisothiocyanate-derived mercapturic acids are highly cytotoxic to colon cancer cells. In the present study, the application of diisothiocyanate-derived mercapturic acids led to a decrease in the viability of an established glioblastoma cell line, primary patient-derived sphere-cultured stem cell-enriched cell populations (SCs), and cells differentiated from SCs. Consequently, targeting glioblastoma cells by diisothiocyanate-derived mercapturic acids is a promising approach to restrict tumor cell growth and may be a novel therapeutic intervention for the treatment of glioblastoma.

ADME/toxicity prediction and antitumor activity of novel nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds designed by computer targeting of alkylglycerone phosphate synthase

Alkylglycerone phosphate synthase (AGPS) is an oncogene and can be considered as an antitumor drug target. The aim of the present study was to design novel nitrogenous heterocyclic compound improving targetability by computer-aided drug design technology targeting AGPS. A total of 12 nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds were designed and predicted the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion parameters/toxicity. Their activity in terms of proliferation inhibition, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction was then measured using an MTS assay and a high-content screening system in U251 cells. The results showed that anti-glioma activity was present in compounds N4, N5, N6, N7, N8 and N12, which was in accordance with the computer prediction. Therefore, these compounds may be suitable for the development of a novel glioma therapeutic drug.

Tudor-staphylococcal nuclease regulates the expression and biological function of alkylglycerone phosphate synthase via nuclear factor-κB and microRNA-127 in human glioma U87MG cells

Glioma is one of the malignant tumor types detrimental to human health; therefore, it is important to find novel targets and therapeutics for this tumor. The downregulated expression of Tudor-staphylococcal nuclease (SN) and alkylglycerone phosphate synthase (AGPS) can decrease cancer malignancy, and the overexpression of them can the increase viability and migration potential of various tumor cell types; however, the role of AGPS in the proliferation and migration of glioma, and the association of Tudor-SN and AGPS in human glioma is not clear. In the present study, it was determined that AGPS silencing suppressed the proliferation and migration potential of glioma U87MG cells, and suppressed the expression of the circular RNAs circ-ubiquitin-associated protein 2, circ-zinc finger protein 292 and circ-homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 3, and the long non-coding RNAs H19 imprinted maternally expressed transcript (non-protein coding), colon cancer-associated transcript 1 (non-protein coding) and hepatocellular carcinoma upregulated long non-coding RNA. Furthermore, Tudor-SN silencing suppressed the expression of AGPS; however, nuclear factor (NF)-κB and microRNA (miR)-127 retrieval experiments partially reduced the expression of AGPS. Additionally, it was determined that Tudor-SN silencing suppressed the activity of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, and NF-κB and miR-127 retrieval experiments partially reduced the activity of mTOR. Therefore, it was considered that NF-κB and miR-127 may be the mediators of Tudor-SN-regulated AGPS via the mTOR signaling pathway. These results improve on our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying Tudor-SN and AGPS in human glioma.

Computer-aided design of temozolomide derivatives based on alkylglycerone phosphate synthase structure with isothiocyanate and their pharmacokinetic/toxicity prediction and anti-tumor activity in vitro

Despite the development of temozolomide (TMZ), a novel type of glioma therapeutic drug, malignant glioma remains to cause severe damage to human health. The present study aimed to utilize the molecular biological differences between tumor and normal cells to design TMZ derivatives with improved selectivity and targeting using computer-aided drug design (CADD). Taking alkylglycerone phosphate synthase (AGPS) as a target, a 3D structure-activity relationship model was built using CADD technology; molecular docking of isothiocyanate (ITC) and TMZ compounds was conducted; ITC-TMZ derivatives were designed; and predictions on the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) processes and toxicity of the ITC-TMZ derivatives were established in order to obtain improved understanding of the structure-activity relationship of the candidate compounds. Using these techniques, it was identified that the docking scores of the structural derivatives S1-9 were higher than that of TMZ. Additionally, S3, −6, −7, −8, −9 and −10 exhibited enhanced ADME and similar toxicity to that of TMZ. The half maximal inhibitory concentrations of the CADD derivatives were also assessed in the glioma U87MG and U251 cell lines, and the activities of S1, −3, −8 and −10 were determined to be greater than that of TMZ, suggesting their potential as anti-cancer drugs with adequate AGPS targeting, ADME/toxicity and anti-tumor activity.

Benzyl isothiocyanate induces protective autophagy in human lung cancer cells through an endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated mechanism

Isothiocyanates, such as allyl isothiocya¬nate (AITC), benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), phenethyl isothio¬cyanate (PEITC) and sulforaphane (SFN), are natural compounds abundant in cruciferous vegetables, which have substantial chemopreventive activities against various human malignancies. However, the mechanisms underlying the inhibition of tumor cell growth by isothiocyanates are not fully understood. Since autophagy has dual functions in cancer, in the present study we investigated the effects of BITC on autophagy induction in human lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. BITC (1-100 μmol/L) dose-dependently inhibited the growth of 3 different human lung cancer cell lines A549 (adenocarcinoma), H661 (large cell carcinoma) and SK-MES-1 (squamous cell carcinoma) with IC₅₀ values of 30.7±0.14, 15.9±0.22 and 23.4±0.11 μmol/L, respectively. BITC (10-40 μmol/L) induced autophagy in the lung cancer cells, evidenced by the formation of acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs), the accumulation of LC3-II, the punctate pattern of LC3, and the expression of Atg5. Pretreatment with the autophagy inhibitor 3-MA (5 mmol/L) significantly enhanced the BITC-caused growth inhibition in the lung cancer cells. Furthermore, BITC (20-40 μmol/L) activated ER stress, as shown by the increased cytosolic Ca²⁺ level and the phosphorylation of the ER stress marker proteins PERK and eIF2α in the lung cancer cells. Pretreatment with the ER stress inhibitor 4-PBA (5 mmol/L) attenuated the autophagy induction and potentiated the BITC-induced cell growth inhibition. In nude mice bearing A549 xenografts, administration of BITC (100 mg·kg^-1·d^-1, ip) for 8 weeks markedly suppressed the lung tumor growth, and significantly enhanced both autophagy and ER stress in the tumor tissues. Our results demonstrate that BITC inhibits human lung cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. In addition, BITC induces autophagy in the lung cancer cells, which protects the cancer cells against the inhibitory action of BITC; the autophagy induction is mediated by the ER stress response.

Bioavailability of Glucosinolates and Their Breakdown Products: Impact of Processing

Glucosinolates are a large group of plant secondary metabolites with nutritional effects, and are mainly found in cruciferous plants. After ingestion, glucosinolates could be partially absorbed in their intact form through the gastrointestinal mucosa. However, the largest fraction is metabolized in the gut lumen. When cruciferous are consumed without processing, myrosinase enzyme present in these plants hydrolyzes the glucosinolates in the proximal part of the gastrointestinal tract to various metabolites, such as isothiocyanates, nitriles, oxazolidine-2-thiones, and indole-3-carbinols. When cruciferous are cooked before consumption, myrosinase is inactivated and glucosinolates transit to the colon where they are hydrolyzed by the intestinal microbiota. Numerous factors, such as storage time, temperature, and atmosphere packaging, along with inactivation processes of myrosinase are influencing the bioavailability of glucosinolates and their breakdown products. This review paper summarizes the assimilation, absorption, and elimination of these molecules, as well as the impact of processing on their bioavailability.

Fatty acid extract from CLA-enriched egg yolks can mediate transcriptome reprogramming of MCF-7 cancer cells to prevent their growth and proliferation

Background

Our previous study showed that fatty acids extract obtained from CLA-enriched egg yolks (EFA-CLA) suppressed the viability of MCF-7 cancer cell line more effectively than extract from non-enriched egg yolks (EFA). In this study, we analysed the effect of EFA-CLA and EFA on transcriptome profile of MCF-7 cells by applying the whole Human Genome Microarray technology.

Results

We found that EFA-CLA and EFA treated cells differentially regulated genes involved in cancer development and progression. EFA-CLA, compared to EFA, positively increased the mRNA expression of TSC2 and PTEN tumor suppressors as well as decreased the expression of NOTCH1, AGPS, GNA12, STAT3, UCP2, HIGD2A, HIF1A, PPKAR1A oncogenes.

Conclusions

We show for the first time that EFA-CLA can regulate genes engaged in AKT/mTOR pathway and inhibiting cell cycle progression. The observed results are most likely achieved by the combined effect of both: incorporated CLA isomers and other fatty acids in eggs organically modified through hens’ diet. Our results suggest that CLA-enriched eggs could be easily available food products with a potential of a cancer chemopreventive agent.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12263-016-0537-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.