Metabolic activation triggered by cAMP in MCF-7 cells generates lethal vulnerability to combined oxamate/etomoxir

Mitochondria Transplantation Mitigates Damage in an In Vitro Model of Renal Tubular Injury and in an Ex Vivo Model of DCD Renal Transplantation

OBJECTIVES

To test whether mitochondrial transplantation (MITO) mitigates damage in 2 models of acute kidney injury (AKI).

BACKGROUND

MITO is a process where exogenous isolated mitochondria are taken up by cells. As virtually any morbid clinical condition is characterized by mitochondrial distress, MITO may find a role as a treatment modality in numerous clinical scenarios including AKI.

METHODS

For the in vitro experiments, human proximal tubular cells were damaged and then treated with mitochondria or placebo. For the ex vivo experiments, we developed a non-survival ex vivo porcine model mimicking the donation after cardiac death renal transplantation scenario. One kidney was treated with mitochondria, although the mate organ received placebo, before being perfused at room temperature for 24 hours. Perfusate samples were collected at different time points and analyzed with Raman spectroscopy. Biopsies taken at baseline and 24 hours were analyzed with standard pathology, immunohistochemistry, and RNA sequencing analysis.

RESULTS

In vitro, cells treated with MITO showed higher proliferative capacity and adenosine 5'-triphosphate production, preservation of physiological polarization of the organelles and lower toxicity and reactive oxygen species production. Ex vivo, kidneys treated with MITO shed fewer molecular species, indicating stability. In these kidneys, pathology showed less damage whereas RNAseq analysis showed modulation of genes and pathways most consistent with mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolism and downregulation of genes involved in neutrophil recruitment, including IL1A, CXCL8, and PIK3R1.

CONCLUSIONS

MITO mitigates AKI both in vitro and ex vivo.

Dynamic network biomarker to determine the critical point of breast cancer stage progression

BACKGROUND

The discovery of early warning signs and biomarkers in patients with early breast cancer is crucial for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Dynamic Network Biomarker (DNB) is an approach based on nonlinear dynamics theory, which we exploited to identify a set of DNB members and their key genes as early warning signals during breast cancer staging progression.

METHODS

First, based on the gene expression profile of breast cancer in the TCGA database, the DNB algorithm was used to calculate the composite index (CI) of each gene cluster in the process of breast cancer anatomical staging. Then we calculated gene modules associated with the clinical phenotype stage based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), combined with DNB membership to identify key genes in the network.

RESULTS

We identified a set of gene clusters with the highest CI in Stage II as DNBs, whose roles in related pathways indicate the emergence of a tipping point and impact on breast cancer development. In addition, analysis of the key gene GPRIN1 showed that high expression of GPRIN1 predicts poor prognosis, and related immune analysis showed that GPRIN1 is involved in the development of breast cancer through immune aspects.

CONCLUSION

The discovery of DNBs and the key gene GPRIN1 can provide potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for breast cancer.

Correlation between electrical characteristics and biomarkers in breast cancer cells

Both electrical properties and biomarkers of biological tissues can be used to distinguish between normal and diseased tissues, and the correlations between them are critical for clinical applications of conductivity (σ) and permittivity (ε); however, these correlations remain unknown. This study aimed to investigate potential correlations between electrical characteristics and biomarkers of breast cancer cells (BCC). Changes in σ and ε of different components in suspensions of normal cells and BCC were analyzed in the range of 200 kHz-5 MHz. Pearson's correlation coefficient heatmap was used to investigate the correlation between σ and ε of the cell suspensions at different stages and biomarkers of cell growth and microenvironment. σ and ε of the cell suspensions closely resembled those of tissues. Further, the correlations between Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger 1 and ε and σ of cell suspensions were extremely significant among all biomarkers (p_ε < 0.001; p_σ < 0.001). There were significant positive correlations between cell proliferation biomarkers and ε and σ of cell suspensions (p_ε/σ < 0.05). The microenvironment may be crucial in the testing of cellular electrical properties. ε and σ are potential parameters to characterize the development of breast cancer.

The Breast Cancer Stem Cells Traits and Drug Resistance

Drug resistance is a major challenge in breast cancer (BC) treatment at present. Accumulating studies indicate that breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are responsible for the BC drugs resistance, causing relapse and metastasis in BC patients. Thus, BCSCs elimination could reverse drug resistance and improve drug efficacy to benefit BC patients. Consequently, mastering the knowledge on the proliferation, resistance mechanisms, and separation of BCSCs in BC therapy is extremely helpful for BCSCs-targeted therapeutic strategies. Herein, we summarize the principal BCSCs surface markers and signaling pathways, and list the BCSCs-related drug resistance mechanisms in chemotherapy (CT), endocrine therapy (ET), and targeted therapy (TT), and display therapeutic strategies for targeting BCSCs to reverse drug resistance in BC. Even more importantly, more attention should be paid to studies on BCSC-targeted strategies to overcome the drug resistant dilemma of clinical therapies in the future.

LDHA Promotes Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Progression Through Facilitating Glycolysis and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

Aerobic glycolysis is the main pathway for energy metabolism in cancer cells. It provides energy and biosynthetic substances for tumor progression and metastasis by increasing lactate production. Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) promotes glycolysis process by catalyzing the conversion of pyruvate to lactate. Despite LDHA exhibiting carcinogenesis in various cancers, its role in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. This study demonstrated that LDHA was over-expressed in both OSCC tissues and cell lines, and was significantly associated with lower overall survival rates in patients with OSCC. Using weighted gene correlation network analysis and gene set enrichment analysis for the gene expression data of patients with OSCC (obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database), a close association was identified between epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and LDHA in promoting OSCC progression. The knockdown of LDHA suppressed EMT, cell proliferation, and migration and invasion of OSCC cells in vitro. Moreover, the silencing of LDHA inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Oxamate, as a competitive LDHA inhibitor, was also suppressed diverse malignant biocharacteristics of OSCC cells. Our findings reveal that LDHA acts as an oncogene to promote malignant progression of OSCC by facilitating glycolysis and EMT, and LDHA may be a potential anticancer therapeutic target.

MicroRNA-6077 enhances the sensitivity of patients-derived lung adenocarcinoma cells to anlotinib by repressing the activation of glucose transporter 1 pathway

Anlotinib is a novel molecular targeted agent targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, which differs from the other currently available non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) molecular targeted drugs targeting this receptor. Although the application of anlotinib may bring new hope for patients with advanced NSCLC, the cost of treatment is high. The results of this study showed that microRNA-6077 (miR-6077) represses the expression of GLUT1 (glucose transporter 1) and enhances the sensitivity of patient-derived lung adenocarcinoma (AC) cells to anlotinib. The miR-6077, which potentially binds to the 3'untranslated region of GLUT1, was identified and screened by miRDB, an online tool; sequences of miR-6077 were prepared as lentivirus particles. A549 cells (a lung adenocarcinoma cell line) and five patient-derived AC cell lines were infected with control miRNA or miR-6077, and subsequently treated with the indicated concentration of anlotinib. The expression of proteins, such as GLUT1, was determined by western blotting. The antitumor effect of anlotinib was identified through in-vitro (e.g., MTT) or in-vivo methods (e.g., subcutaneous tumor model). Overexpression of miR-6077 repressed the expression of GLUT1 and decreased the glucose uptake, lactate production, or ATP generation in AC cells. In addition, MiR-6077 may enhance the antitumor effect of anlotinib on A549 or patient-derived AC cell lines. Therefore, our results indicated that miR-6077 represses the expression of GLUT1 and enhances the sensitivity of patients-derived lung AC cells to anlotinib.