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Costantini L, Molinari R, Farinon B, Merendino N. Retinoic Acids in the Treatment of Most Lethal Solid Cancers. J Clin Med 2020; 9:E360. [PMID: 32012980 PMCID: PMC7073976 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9020360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the use of oral administration of pharmacological all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) concentration in acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) patients was approved for over 20 years and used as standard therapy still to date, the same use in solid cancers is still controversial. In the present review the literature about the top five lethal solid cancers (lung, stomach, liver, breast, and colon cancer), as defined by The Global Cancer Observatory of World Health Organization, and retinoic acids (ATRA, 9-cis retinoic acid, and 13-cis retinoic acid, RA) was compared. The action of retinoic acids in inhibiting the cell proliferation was found in several cell pathways and compartments: from membrane and cytoplasmic signaling, to metabolic enzymes, to gene expression. However, in parallel in the most aggressive phenotypes several escape routes have evolved conferring retinoic acids-resistance. The comparison between different solid cancer types pointed out that for some cancer types several information are still lacking. Moreover, even though some pathways and escape routes are the same between the cancer types, sometimes they can differently respond to retinoic acid therapy, so that generalization cannot be made. Further studies on molecular pathways are needed to perform combinatorial trials that allow overcoming retinoic acids resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Costantini
- Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences (DEB), Tuscia University, Largo dell’Università snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
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Zhang Z, Yu W, Zheng M, Liao X, Wang J, Yang D, Lu W, Wang L, Zhang S, Liu H, Zhou XZ, Lu KP. Pin1 inhibition potently suppresses gastric cancer growth and blocks PI3K/AKT and Wnt/β-catenin oncogenic pathways. Mol Carcinog 2019; 58:1450-1464. [PMID: 31026381 DOI: 10.1002/mc.23027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2018] [Revised: 03/29/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality and the fourth most common cancer globally. High intratumor heterogeneity of advanced gastric cancer poses great challenges to targeted therapy due to simultaneous activation of many redundant cancer-driving pathways. A central common signaling mechanism in cancer is proline-directed phosphorylation, which is further regulated by the unique proline isomerase Pin1. Pin1 inhibition exerts anticancer activity by blocking multiple cancer-driving pathways in some cancers, but its role in gastric cancer is not fully understood. Here we detected Pin1 protein expression in 1065 gastric cancer patients and paired normal tissues using immunohistochemistry and Western blot, and then examined the effects of Pin1 overexpression, and genetic and chemical Pin1 inhibition using Pin1 short hairpin RNA or small molecule inhibitor all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on tumorigenesis of human gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo, followed by biochemical analyses to elucidate Pin1 regulated oncogenic pathways. We found that Pin1 was significantly overexpressed in primary and metastasized tumors, with Pin1 overexpression being correlated with advanced stage and poor prognosis. Furthermore, whereas Pin1 overexpression promoted the transformed phenotype in immortalized and nontransformed human gastric cells, either genetic or chemical Pin1 inhibition in multiple human gastric cancer cells potently suppressed cell growth, G1/S transition and colony formation in vitro, as well as tumor growth in xenograft tumor models in vivo, which were further supported by downregulation of multiple key oncoproteins in PI3K/AKT and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways. These results not only provide the first evidence for a critical role of Pin1 in the tumorigenesis of gastric cancer but also suggest that targeting Pin1 using ATRA or other inhibitors offers an effective new therapeutic approach for treating advanced gastric cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenzhen Zhang
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.,Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Weixing Yu
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Min Zheng
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Xinhua Liao
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Jichuang Wang
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Dayun Yang
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Wenxian Lu
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Long Wang
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Sheng Zhang
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Hekun Liu
- Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Xiao Zhen Zhou
- Division of Translational Therapeutics, Department of Medicine and Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Kun Ping Lu
- Division of Translational Therapeutics, Department of Medicine and Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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Synthesis and Antiproliferative Activity of Novel All-Trans-Retinoic Acid-Podophyllotoxin Conjugate towards Human Gastric Cancer Cells. Molecules 2017; 22:molecules22040628. [PMID: 28420180 PMCID: PMC6154554 DOI: 10.3390/molecules22040628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2017] [Revised: 04/02/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
With the purpose of creating a multifunctional drug for gastric cancer treatment, a novel all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) conjugate with podophyllotoxin (PPT) was designed and synthesized, and its in vitro antiproliferative activity was evaluated against human gastric cancer cell lines using CCK-8 assay. The conjugate, P-A, exhibited significant anticancer activity against MKN-45 and BGC-823 cells with IC50 values of 0.419 ± 0.032 and 0.202 ± 0.055 μM, respectively. Moreover, P-A efficiently triggered cell cycle arrest and induced apoptosis in MKN-45 and BGC-823 cells due to modulation of cell cycle arrest- (CDK1, CDK2, CyclinA and CyclinB1) and apoptosis- (cleaved caspase-3, -8 and -9) related proteins, respectively. Further mechanism studies revealed that P-A could increase the expression levels of RARα and RARβ, and decrease the level of RARγ in MKN-45 and BGC-823 cells. Finally, P-A inhibited the ERK1/2 and AKT signaling in the above two cancer cell lines. More importantly, the underlying mechanisms of P-A were similar to those of precursor PPT but different with the other precursor ATRA. Together, the conjugate P-A was a promising candidate for the potential treatment of human gastric cancer.
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Yan SK, Liu RH, Jin HZ, Liu XR, Ye J, Shan L, Zhang WD. "Omics" in pharmaceutical research: overview, applications, challenges, and future perspectives. Chin J Nat Med 2015; 13:3-21. [PMID: 25660284 DOI: 10.1016/s1875-5364(15)60002-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
In the post-genomic era, biological studies are characterized by the rapid development and wide application of a series of "omics" technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics, cytomics, metallomics, ionomics, interactomics, and phenomics. These "omics" are often based on global analyses of biological samples using high through-put analytical approaches and bioinformatics and may provide new insights into biological phenomena. In this paper, the development and advances in these omics made in the past decades are reviewed, especially genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics; the applications of omics technologies in pharmaceutical research are then summarized in the fields of drug target discovery, toxicity evaluation, personalized medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine; and finally, the limitations of omics are discussed, along with the future challenges associated with the multi-omics data processing, dynamics omics analysis, and analytical approaches, as well as amenable solutions and future prospects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shi-Kai Yan
- School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Run-Hui Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Hui-Zi Jin
- School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Xin-Ru Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Ji Ye
- School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Lei Shan
- School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Wei-Dong Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, Shanghai 200040, China.
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Li JJ, Qi RZ, Ng GKH, Xie D. Proteomics in gastric cancer research: Benefits and challenges. Proteomics Clin Appl 2015; 3:185-96. [PMID: 26238618 DOI: 10.1002/prca.200800151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2008] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Among various cancers, gastric cancer (GC) exhibits relatively high morbidity and mortality rate worldwide. The lack of effective methods in early detection and diagnosis, and immediate therapies makes treating such disease a challenge for both clinicians and oncologists. Proteomics has emerged as a promising technology platform for rationally identifying biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets for GC, as well as discovering underlying mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Its application has greatly benefited mechanistic studies of this disease. This review will demonstrate the applications of proteomic technology in GC research. The advantages and shortcomings of this technology, as reflected by current studies, will also be discussed to improve and expand its application in the field of cancer research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing-Jing Li
- Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Robert Z Qi
- Department of Biochemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P. R. China
| | - Gary Kar Ho Ng
- Department of Biochemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P. R. China
| | - Dong Xie
- Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, P. R. China.
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Lin LL, Huang HC, Juan HF. Discovery of biomarkers for gastric cancer: a proteomics approach. J Proteomics 2012; 75:3081-97. [PMID: 22498886 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2012.03.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2012] [Revised: 03/10/2012] [Accepted: 03/25/2012] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Although many treatment options exist for patients with gastric tumors, the incidence and mortality rate of gastric cancer are on the rise. The early stages of gastric cancer are non-symptomatic, and the treatment response is unpredictable. This situation is further aggravated by a lack of diagnostic biomarkers that can aid in the early detection and prognosis of gastric cancer and in the prediction of chemoresistance. Moreover, clinical surgical specimens are rarely obtained, and traditional biomarkers of gastric cancer are not very effective. Many studies in the field of proteomics have contributed to the discovery and establishment of powerful diagnostic tools (e.g., ProteinChip array) in the management of cancer. The evolution in proteomic technologies has not only enabled the screening of a large number of samples but also enabled the identification of pathologically significant proteins, such as phosphoproteins, and the quantitation of difference in protein expression under different conditions. Multiplexed assays are used widely to accurately fractionate various complex samples such as blood, tissue, cells, and Helicobacter pylori-infected specimens to identify differentially expressed proteins. Biomarker detection studies have substantially contributed to the areas of secretome, metabolome, and phosphoproteome. Here, we review the development of potential biomarkers in the natural history of gastric cancer, with specific emphasis on the characteristics of target protein convergence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Ling Lin
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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Huang Z, Chen G, Shi P. Effects of emodin on the gene expression profiling of human breast carcinoma cells. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009; 32:286-91. [PMID: 19185431 DOI: 10.1016/j.cdp.2008.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2008] [Revised: 06/08/2008] [Accepted: 12/20/2008] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The mechanism of emodin-mediated cell apoptosis has been investigated extensively in many types of human cancer cells. Our previous study demonstrated that emodin induced apoptosis through the decrease of Bcl-2/Bax ratio and the increase of cytoplasm cytochrome c concentration in human breast cancer BCap-37 cells. However, emodin's reaction to breast cancer cells remains elusive. MATERIALS AND METHODS An apoptosis-associated cDNA microarray comprised of 458 known genes, namely, death receptors, calpains, death kinases, granzymes, DNA fragmentation proteins, caspases and Bcl-2 family, was used to determine the impact of emodin in breast cancer BCap-37 cells. Furthermore, the candidate emodin target genes were further evaluated via real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis. RESULTS We found that gene expression profiling in human breast cancer BCap-37 cells was altered when exposed to emodin. Thirty of the unique genes that were either induced or repressed in response to emodin-induced apoptosis were also identified. A follow-up study characterized p53, emodin-induced gene, IGF-2, and emodin-repressed gene, and the downstream proteins were also seen as possible molecular targets of emodin. CONCLUSION Data from this study provide novel evidence that emodin induces gene expression profiling changes, but has no effects on caspases. In addition, the p53 pathway may cooperate with the IGF-2 pathway, resulting in an emodin-induced apoptosis through disruption of the mitochondrial signaling pathway in BCap-37 cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiwei Huang
- Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, PR China
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Shi P, Huang Z, Chen G. Rhein induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in human hepatocellular carcinoma BEL-7402 cells. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CHINESE MEDICINE 2008; 36:805-13. [PMID: 18711776 DOI: 10.1142/s0192415x08006259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Rhein, an anthraquinone derivative of rhubarb, inhibits the proliferation of various human cancer cells. In this paper, we focused on studying the effects of rhein on human hepatocelluar carcinoma BEL-7402 cells and further understanding the underlying molecular mechanism in an effort to make the potential development of rhein in the treatment of cancers. Using MTT assay and flow cytometry, we demonstrate a critical role of rhein in the suppression of BEL-7402 cell proliferation in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The increase of apoptosis rate was observed after incubation of BEL-7402 cells with rhein at 50-200 muM for 48 hours, and the cells exhibit typical apoptotic features including cellular morphological change and chromatin condensation. Moreover, rhein-induced cell cycle S-phase arrest. Additionally, after rhein treatment, expression levels of c-Myc gene were decreased, while those of caspase-3 gene were increased in a dose-dependent manner by using real-time PCR assay. The results demonstrate for the first time that cell cycle S-phase arrest is one of the mechanisms of rhein in inhibition of BEL-7402 cells. Rhein plays its role by inducing cell cycle arrest via downregulation of oncogene c-Myc and apoptosis through the caspase-dependent pathway. It is expected that rhein will be effective and useful as a new agent in hepatocelluar carcinoma treatment in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Shi
- Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China.
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Emodin-induced apoptosis in human breast cancer BCap-37 cells through the mitochondrial signaling pathway. Arch Pharm Res 2008; 31:742-8. [DOI: 10.1007/s12272-001-1221-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2007] [Revised: 02/05/2008] [Accepted: 04/10/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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N/A, 孙 丹, 房 静. N/A. Shijie Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi 2006; 14:1502-1506. [DOI: 10.11569/wcjd.v14.i15.1502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
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