Curcumin suppresses wilms' tumor metastasis by inhibiting RECK methylation

The role of dietary polyphenols in alternating DNA methylation in cancer

Natural products such as curcumin, quercetin, and resveratrol have been shown to have antitumor effectsand several studies have examined their role in treating cancer, either alone or in combination with other chemotherapeutic drugs. These compounds are capable of affecting different cancer-related mechanisms, such as proliferation, inflammation, invasion, and metastasis. Along with all of the benefits of these agents, affecting epigenetic processes is one of the most important aspects of their impact. Epigenetic modifications can be categorized into three main processes that include DNA methylation, histone modification, and regulation of small non-coding RNAs. Therefore, targeting DNA methylation can be used as a cancer treatment strategy by identifying or developing methylation modulators. Herein, we take a look into the studies investigating the role of natural products (e.g. curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and quercetin) in alternating the DNA methylation status of various cancer cells. We discuss how these compounds reduce the expression of enzymes mediating the methylation of tumor suppressor genes and thereby, increasing the expression of tumor suppressors while reactivating antitumor signaling pathways.

Curcumin in cancer therapy: Exploring molecular mechanisms and overcoming clinical challenges

Cancer poses a significant global health burden, necessitating the widespread use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy as conventional frontline interventions. Although targeted therapy and immunotherapy have shown remarkable advancements, the challenges of resistance development and severe side effects persist in cancer treatment. Consequently, researchers have actively sought more effective alternatives with improved safety profiles. In recent years, curcumin, a natural polyphenolic phytoalexin, has garnered considerable attention due to its broad spectrum of biological effects. This concise review provides valuable insights into the role of curcumin in cancer therapy, with a focus on elucidating its molecular mechanisms in inducing programmed cell death of tumor cells and suppressing tumor cell metastasis potential. Additionally, we discuss the challenges associated with the clinical application of curcumin and explore current endeavors aimed at overcoming these limitations. By shedding light on the promising potential of curcumin, this review contributes to the advancement of cancer treatment strategies.

Application study of curcumin fluorescent complex coated with pharmaceutical excipients for cell imaging

Taking curcumin as the starting point, β-cyclodextrin was introduced on both sides, and lipid-soluble curcumin was coated by acrylic resin using oil-in-water strategy. Four different types of curcumin fluorescent complexes EPO-Curcumin (EPO-Cur), L100-55-Curcumin (L100-55-Cur), EPO -Curcumin-β-cyclodextrin (EPO-Cur-β-cd) and L100-55-Curcumin-β-cyclodextrin (L100-55-Cur-β-cd) were prepared to solve their own solubility and biocompatibility issues. The prepared curcumin fluorescent complexes were characterized and tested by spectroscopy. The characteristic peaks of 3446 cm−1 (hydroxyl group), 1735cm−1(carbonyl group) and 1455 cm−1 (aromatic group) were determined in the infrared spectrum. In the fluorescence emission spectrum, it was found that the emission intensity of different curcumin fluorescent complexes in polar solvents reached hundreds of times. Through the transmission electron microscopy shows that acrylic resin tightly coats curcumin into rods or clusters. In order to observe their compatibility with tumor cells more directly, live cell fluorescence imaging was carried out, and it was found that all four kinds of curcumin fluorescence complexes had good biocompatibility. In particular, the effect of EPO-Cur-β-cd and L100-55-Cur-β-cd is better than that of EPO-Cur and L100-55-Cur.

Anti-migratory effect of curcumin on A-549 lung cancer cells via epigenetic reprogramming of RECK/ matrix metalloproteinase axis

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of curcumin on the viability, migration, and apoptosis of A549 lung cancer cells. Furthermore, RECK/MMPs axis as a probable regulator of cancer cell migration was assessed.

METHODS

In this study, effect of curcumin on viability changes, cell migration, and percentage of apoptosis of A549 non-small cell lung carcinoma was examined. The methylation status of RECK gene was investigated using MS-HRM technique. Moreover, expression changes of genes involved in apoptosis and migration (including CASP3, CASP8, CASP9, BAX, BCL2, MMP9, MMP2, and RECK) were investigated by quantitative Real-Time PCR.

RESULTS

The results of MTT assay showed that the cytotoxic effect of curcumin was in a dose dependent manner. Flow cytometry results demonstrated a significant increase in the percentage of apoptotic cells in curcumin treated group. In addition, curcumin inhibited migration rate in lung cancer cells. qRT-PCR revealed that expression of the candidate genes was in line with suppressed growth and migration. This could be due to, decreased methylation of the RECK gene promoter after curcumin treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Curcumin inhibited lung cancer cells through various molecular pathways. RECK/MMPs axis as a regulator of cancer cell migration was modulated after curcumin treatment and invasion of lung cancer cells was decreased.

Macrophages and monocytes mediated activation of oxidative phosphorylation implicated the prognosis and clinical therapeutic strategy of Wilms tumour

Wilms tumour is the fourth leading cause of paediatric malignancy, but the detailed relationship between the tumour microenvironment and prognosis remains largely unclear. In this research, gene expression profile and clinical information from TARGET and the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were collected. After comparing the prognostic value of the associated immune cells, we established a nomogram to predict the prognosis of Wilms tumour based on monocyte infiltration, macrophage infiltration, stage, and sex. Further results showed that the most significant relationship between matrix metallopeptidase 9 and prognosis or macrophage infiltration. Meanwhile, by gene set enrichment or variation analyses and immunohistochemistry staining, we demonstrated that the most highly enriched hub genes were closely related to the activated oxidative phosphorylation pathway. Finally, through tumour immune dysfunction and an exclusion algorithm, the satisfactory discriminative performance of our nomogram was revealed for predicting the response to clinical therapy. Anti-PD1 therapy is more suitable for Wilms tumour patients with high nomogram points, and chemotherapies are more effective for patients with low nomogram score.

Research advances in the targeted therapy and immunotherapy of Wilms tumor: a narrative review

Wilms tumor is the most common pediatric abdominal solid tumor, and its treatment has been a focus of research. For now, the 5-year survival rate of children with Wilms tumor is about 90%. It is difficult to make further progress simply by the improvement of the existing treatments (multi-modal therapy). Therefore, targeted therapy and immunotherapy which have high accuracy and few side effects began to be considered for the treatment of Wilms tumor. At present, though targeted therapy and immunotherapy are rarely used in the treatment of Wilms tumor except in clinical trials, there are dozens of clinical trials research them around the world. The sites in targeted therapy research are mainly focused on insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) pathway, anti-angiogenesis, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway, and some miRNAs, etc. And there are three types of study in Wilms tumor immunotherapy, which are inhibition of the COX-2 pathway, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, and multi-tumor associated antigen (TAA)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) therapy. Among them, the phase I clinical trial of multi-TAA-specific CTL (MTAA-CTL) therapy has been completed, and the results are very satisfactory. In this narrative review, we review the basic research and relevant clinical research on targeted therapy and immunotherapy for Wilms tumor.

Diet-derived small molecules (nutraceuticals) inhibit cellular proliferation by interfering with key oncogenic pathways: an overview of experimental evidence in cancer chemoprevention

Discouraging statistics of cancer disease has projected an increase in the global cancer burden from 19.3 to 28.4 million incidences annually within the next two decades. Currently, there has been a revival of interest in nutraceuticals with evidence of pharmacological properties against human diseases including cancer. Diet is an integral part of lifestyle, and it has been proposed that an estimated one-third of human cancers can be prevented through appropriate lifestyle modification including dietary habits; hence, it is considered significant to explore the pharmacological benefits of these agents, which are easily accessible and have higher safety index. Accordingly, an impressive embodiment of evidence supports the concept that the dietary factors are critical modulators to prevent, retard, block, or reverse carcinogenesis. Such an action reflects the ability of these molecules to interfere with multitude of pathways to subdue and neutralize several oncogenic factors and thereby keep a restraint on neoplastic transformations. This review provides a series of experimental evidence based on the current literature to highlight the translational potential of nutraceuticals for the prevention of the disease through consumption of enriched diets and its efficacious management by means of novel interventions. Specifically, this review provides the current understanding of the chemopreventive pharmacology of nutraceuticals such as cucurbitacins, morin, fisetin, curcumin, luteolin and garcinol toward their potential as anticancer agents.

Current Trends in Drug Delivery System of Curcumin and its Therapeutic Applications

Curcumin is a poly phenolic compound extracted from turmeric. Over the past years, it has acquired significant interest among researchers due to its numerous pharmacological activities like anti- cancer, anti-alzheimer, anti-diabetic, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and so on. However, the clinical use of curcumin is still obstructed due to tremendously poor bioavailability, rapid metabolism, lower gastrointestinal absorption, and low permeability through cell that makes its pharmacology thrilling. These issues have led to enormous surge of investigation to develop curcumin nano formulations which can overcome these restrictive causes. The scientists all across the universe are working on designing several drug delivery systems viz. liposomes, micelles, magnetic nano carriers, etc. for curcumin and its composites which not only improve its physiochemical properties but also enhanced its therapeutic applications. The review aims to systematically examine the treasure of information about the medicinal use of curcumin. This article delivers a general idea of the current study piloted to overwhelm the complications with the bioavailability of curcumin which have exhibited an enhanced biological activity than curcumin. This article explains the latest and detailed study of curcumin and its conjugates, its phytochemistry and biological perspectives and also proved curcumin as an efficient drug candidate for the treatment of numerous diseases. Recent advancements and futuristic viewpoints are also deliberated, which shall help researchers and foster commercial translations of improved nanosized curcumin combination for the treatment of various diseases.

Quadruple-responsive nanoparticle-mediated targeted combination chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer

The synergism of combination chemotherapy can only be achieved under specific drug ratios. Herein, hyaluronic acid (HA)-functionalized regenerated silk fibroin-based nanoparticles (NPs) were used to concurrently deliver curcumin (CUR) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) at various weight ratios (3.3 : 1, 1.6 : 1, 1.1 : 1, 1 : 1, and 1 : 1.2) to breast tumor cells. The generated HA-CUR/5-FU-NPs were found to have desirable particle sizes (around 200 nm), narrow size distributions, and negative zeta potentials (about -26.0 mV). Interestingly, these NPs showed accelerated drug release rates when they were exposed to buffers that mimicked the multi-hallmarks in the tumor microenvironment (pH/hydrogen peroxide/glutathione/hyaluronidase). The surface functionalization of NPs with HA endowed them with in vitro and in vivo breast tumor-targeting properties. Furthermore, we found that the co-loading of CUR and 5-FU in HA-functionalized NPs exhibited obvious synergistic anti-cancer, pro-apoptotic, and anti-migration effects, and the strongest synergism was found at the CUR/5-FU weight ratio of 1 : 1.2. Most importantly, mice experiments revealed that HA-CUR/5-FU-NPs (1 : 1.2) showed a superior anti-cancer activity against metastatic breast cancer compared to the single drug-loaded NPs and non-functionalized CUR/5-FU-NPs (1 : 1.2). Collectively, these results demonstrate that HA-CUR/5-FU-NPs (1 : 1.2) can be exploited as a robust nanococktail for the treatment of breast cancer and its lung metastasis.

Progress and promises of epigenetic drugs and epigenetic diets in cancer prevention and therapy: A clinical update

Epigenetic modifications are heritable yet reversible, essential for normal physiological functions and biological development. Aberrant epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA (ncRNA)-mediated gene regulation play a crucial role in cancer progression. In cellular reprogramming, irregular epigenomic modulations alter cell signaling pathways and the expression of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes, resulting in cancer growth and metastasis. Therefore, alteration of epigenetic-status in cancer cells can be used as a potential target for cancer therapy. Several synthetic epigenetic inhibitors (epi-drugs) and natural epigenetic modulatory bioactives (epi-diets) have been shown to have the potential to alter the aberrant epigenetic status and inhibit cancer progression. Further, the use of combinatorial approaches with epigenetic drugs and diets has brought promising outcomes in cancer prevention and therapy. In this article, we have summarized the epigenetic modulatory activities of epi-drugs, epi-diets, and their combination against various cancers. We have also compiled the preclinical and clinical status of these epigenetic modulators in different cancers.

Curcumin enhances anti‑cancer efficacy of either gemcitabine or docetaxel on pancreatic cancer cells

Curcumin is a natural compound extracted from turmeric (Curcuma longa), which has been reported to be a promising anti‑cancer drug in various human cancers. However, the effects of combination treatment of curcumin with gemcitabine or docetaxel on pancreatic cancer remains elusive. In the present study, the combinatory effects of curcumin with either gemcitabine or docetaxel on the proliferation, apoptosis, migration as well as invasion of PC cells were investigated. Calcusyn software was used to determine whether curcumin has is synergistic with gemcitabine or docetaxel. Combination index values from combinational use were all lower than 1, indicating the synergism of curcumin with gemcitabine or docetaxel on PC cells in vitro. EdU assay showed that curcumin could enhance the ability of gemcitabine or docetaxel to inhibit the proliferation of PC cells. Furthermore, the results from transmission electron microscope, DAPI staining experiments and western blot analysis revealed that curcumin may trigger apoptosis of PC cells via PARP/caspase‑3 signaling pathway and reinforced pro‑apoptotic ability of either gemcitabine or docetaxel. In addition, curcumin exhibited marked suppressive ability on metastasis of PC cells by wound healing and matrigel‑transwell assay. Mechanistically, upregulation of TIMP1/TIMP2 with concomitant downregulation of MMP2/MMP9/N‑cadherin proteins may be involved in this process. In conclusion, curcumin showed synergistic anti‑cancer effects with either gemcitabine or docetaxel on PC cells.

RNA-Sequencing, Connectivity Mapping, and Molecular Docking to Investigate Ligand-Protein Binding for Potential Drug Candidates for the Treatment of Wilms Tumor

Background

Wilms tumor, or nephroblastoma, is a malignant pediatric embryonal renal tumor that has a poor prognosis. This study aimed to use bioinformatics data, RNA-sequencing, connectivity mapping, molecular docking, and ligand-protein binding to identify potential targets for drug therapy in Wilms tumor.

Material/Methods

Wilms tumor and non-tumor samples were obtained from high throughput gene expression databases, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed using the voom method in the limma package. The overlapping DEGs were obtained from the intersecting drug target genes using the Connectivity Map (CMap) database, and systemsDock was used for molecular docking. Gene databases were searched for gene expression profiles for complementary analysis, analysis of clinical significance, and prognosis analysis to refine the study.

Results

From 177 cases of Wilms tumor, there were 648 upregulated genes and 342 down-regulated genes. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis showed that the identified DEGs that affected the cell cycle. After obtaining 21 candidate drugs, there were seven overlapping genes with 75 drug target genes and DEGs. Molecular docking results showed that relatively high scores were obtained when retinoic acid and the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, alsterpaullone, were docked to the overlapping genes. There were significant standardized mean differences for three overlapping genes, CDK2, MAP4K4, and CRABP2. However, four upregulated overlapping genes, CDK2, MAP4K4, CRABP2, and SIRT1 had no prognostic significance.

Conclusions

RNA-sequencing, connectivity mapping, and molecular docking to investigate ligand-protein binding identified retinoic acid and alsterpaullone as potential drug candidates for the treatment of Wilms tumor.

Curcumin Inhibits the Tumorigenesis of Breast Cancer by Blocking Tafazzin/Yes-Associated Protein Axis

Purpose

This study was aimed to explore the anti-tumor effect of curcumin on breast cancer (BC) and the underlying mechanism involving Tafazzin (TAZ)/Yes-associated protein (YAP) axis.

Methods

Different concentrations of curcumin (0, 10, 20 and 30 μM) were used to treat BC cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells). The viability, colony formation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of BC cells were detected by MTT, colony formation, flow cytometry, wound-healing and transwell assay, respectively. The protein expression of TAZ and YAP (effectors of Hippo signaling pathway) was detected by Western blot. MDA-MB-231 cells were injected into mice to verify the anti-tumor effect of curcumin in vivo.

Results

Curcumin (20 and 30 μM) inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted the apoptosis of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Curcumin decreased the protein expression of TAZ and YAP in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Overexpression of YAP reversed the anti-tumor effect of curcumin on MDA-MB-231 cells. In addition, curcumin (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg/d) inhibited the growth of tumor xenografts in mice, and down-regulated the protein expression of TAZ and YAP in tumor xenografts. However, curcumin at a concentration of 300 mg/kg/d slowed the increasing of body weight in mice.

Conclusion

Curcumin inhibited the tumorigenesis of BC by blocking TAZ/YAP axis.

Origins of DNA methylation defects in Wilms tumors

Wilms tumor is an embryonic renal cancer that typically presents in early childhood and accounts for 7% of all paediatric cancers. Different genetic alterations have been described in this malignancy, however, only a few of them are associated with a majority of Wilms tumors. Alterations in DNA methylation, in contrast, are frequent molecular defects observed in most cases of Wilms tumors. How these epimutations are established in this tumor is not yet completely clear. The recent identification of the molecular actors required for the epigenetic reprogramming during embryogenesis suggests novel possible mechanisms responsible for the DNA methylation defects in Wilms tumor. Here, we provide an overview of the DNA methylation alterations observed in this malignancy and discuss the distinct molecular mechanisms by which these epimutations can arise.