Inhibitor of DNA binding 2 knockdown inhibits the growth and liver metastasis of colorectal cancer

Sialic acid blockade inhibits the metastatic spread of prostate cancer to bone

BACKGROUND

Bone metastasis is a common consequence of advanced prostate cancer. Bisphosphonates can be used to manage symptoms, but there are currently no curative treatments available. Altered tumour cell glycosylation is a hallmark of cancer and is an important driver of a malignant phenotype. In prostate cancer, the sialyltransferase ST6GAL1 is upregulated, and studies show ST6GAL1-mediated aberrant sialylation of N-glycans promotes prostate tumour growth and disease progression.

METHODS

Here, we monitor ST6GAL1 in tumour and serum samples from men with aggressive prostate cancer and using in vitro and in vivo models we investigate the role of ST6GAL1 in prostate cancer bone metastasis.

FINDINGS

ST6GAL1 is upregulated in patients with prostate cancer with tumours that have spread to the bone and can promote prostate cancer bone metastasis in vivo. The mechanisms involved are multi-faceted and involve modification of the pre-metastatic niche towards bone resorption to promote the vicious cycle, promoting the development of M2 like macrophages, and the regulation of immunosuppressive sialoglycans. Furthermore, using syngeneic mouse models, we show that inhibiting sialylation can block the spread of prostate tumours to bone.

INTERPRETATION

Our study identifies an important role for ST6GAL1 and α2-6 sialylated N-glycans in prostate cancer bone metastasis, provides proof-of-concept data to show that inhibiting sialylation can suppress the spread of prostate tumours to bone, and highlights sialic acid blockade as an exciting new strategy to develop new therapies for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

FUNDING

Prostate Cancer Research and the Mark Foundation For Cancer Research, the Medical Research Council and Prostate Cancer UK.

ID2 promotes tumor progression and metastasis in thyroid cancer

BACKGROUND

Inhibitor of DNA Binding 2 (ID2) plays a crucial role in tumor cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and stemness. Aberrant ID2 expression is associated with poor prognosis in various cancers. However, the specific function of ID2 in thyroid cancer remain unclear.

METHOD

The TCGA database were utilized to explore the clinical relevance of ID2 in cancer. GO, KEGG, and TIMER were employed to predict the potential roles of ID2 in cancer. Functional analysis, including CCK-8, colony formation, transwell, wound healing, and sphere formation experiments, were conducted to determine the biological functions of ID2 in human cancers. Western blot (WB), RT-qPCR, and immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses were used to investigate the relationship between ID2 and downstream targets.

RESULTS

Our study revealed significant overexpression of ID2 in various malignant tumor cells. Knocking ID2 significantly inhibited cancer cell proliferation and invasion, while overexpressing ID2 enhanced these capabilities. Additionally, ID2 mediates resistance of cancer cells to protein kinase B (or Akt) inhibitions. Further WB and IHC experiments indicated that ID2 promotes the phosphorylation activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway, thereby upregulating the expression of downstream proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and stemness-related markers.

CONCLUSION

We found that ID2 significantly promotes thyroid cancer cell proliferation, migration, EMT, and stemness through the PI3K/Akt pathway. Moreover, ID2 plays a crucial role in regulating cancer immune responses. It may serve as a potential biomarker for enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy against cancer.

Anti-cancer Effects of a Chitosan Based Nanoformulation Expressing miR-340 on 4T1 Breast Cancer Cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have a crucial role in the regulation of gene expression in tumor development, invasion, and metastasis. Herein, miRNA-340 (miR-340) has been shown to play tumor suppressor activity in breast cancer (BC). However, the clinical applications of miRNAs request the development of safe and effective delivery systems capable of protecting nucleic acids from degradation. In this study, biodegradable chitosan nanoparticles incorporating miR-340 plasmid DNA (pDNA) (miR-340 CNPs) were synthesized and characterized. Then, the anti-tumor effects of miR-340 CNPs were investigated using 4T1 BCE cells. The spherical nanoparticles (NPs) with an appropriate mean diameter of around 266 ± 9.3 nm and zeta potential of +17 ± 1.8 mV were successfully prepared. The NPs showed good stability, high entrapment efficiency and a reasonable release behavior, meanwhile their high resistance against enzymatic degradation was verified. Furthermore, NPs demonstrated appropriate transfection efficiency and could induce apoptosis, so had toxicity in 4T1 BCE cells. Also, CD47 expression on the surface of cancer cells was significantly reduced after treatment with miR-340 CNPs. The results showed that miR-340 CNPs augmented the expression of P-27 in BC cells. Furthermore, miR-340 CNPs caused down-regulation of BRP-39 (breast regression protein-39) increasingly suggested as a prognostic biomarker for neoplastic diseases like BC. In conclusion, our data show that miR-340 CNPs can be considered as a promising new platform for BC gene therapy.

Inhibitor of DNA binding/differentiation proteins as IDs for pancreatic cancer: Role in pancreatic cancer initiation, development and prognosis

A family of inhibitors of cell differentiation or DNA-binding proteins, known as ID proteins (ID1-4), function as mighty transcription factors in various cellular processes, such as inhibiting differentiation, promoting cell-cycle progression, senescence, angiogenesis, tumorigenesis, and metastasis in cancer. Pancreatic cancer represents the deadliest cancer with the lowest survival rate of 10% due to the diagnosis at an advanced fatal stage and therapeutic resistance. Modestly, the only curative option for this lethal cancer is surgery but is done in less than 15-20% of patients because of the locally aggressive and early metastatic nature. Finding the earliest biomarkers and targeting the various hallmarks of pancreatic cancer can improve the treatment and survival of pancreatic cancer patients. Therefore, herein in this review, we explore in depth the potential roles of ID proteins function in hallmarks of pancreatic cancer, signaling pathways, and its oncogenic and tumor-suppressive effects. Hence, understanding the roles of dysregulated ID proteins would provide new insights into its function in pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis.

Human organ rejuvenation by VEGF-A: Lessons from the skin

Transplanting aged human skin onto young SCID/beige mice morphologically rejuvenates the xenotransplants. This is accompanied by angiogenesis, epidermal repigmentation, and substantial improvements in key aging-associated biomarkers, including ß-galactosidase, p16^ink4a, SIRT1, PGC1α, collagen 17A, and MMP1. Angiogenesis- and hypoxia-related pathways, namely, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and HIF1A, are most up-regulated in rejuvenated human skin. This rejuvenation cascade, which can be prevented by VEGF-A-neutralizing antibodies, appears to be initiated by murine VEGF-A, which then up-regulates VEGF-A expression/secretion within aged human skin. While intradermally injected VEGF-loaded nanoparticles suffice to induce a molecular rejuvenation signature in aged human skin on old mice, VEGF-A treatment improves key aging parameters also in isolated, organ-cultured aged human skin, i.e., in the absence of functional skin vasculature, neural, or murine host inputs. This identifies VEGF-A as the first pharmacologically pliable master pathway for human organ rejuvenation in vivo and demonstrates the potential of our humanized mouse model for clinically relevant aging research.