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Kwiatkowska I, Hermanowicz JM, Przybyszewska-Podstawka A, Pawlak D. Not Only Immune Escape-The Confusing Role of the TRP Metabolic Pathway in Carcinogenesis. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:2667. [PMID: 34071442 PMCID: PMC8198784 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13112667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The recently discovered phenomenon that cancer cells can avoid immune response has gained scientists' interest. One of the pathways involved in this process is tryptophan (TRP) metabolism through the kynurenine pathway (KP). Individual components involved in TRP conversion seem to contribute to cancerogenesis both through a direct impact on cancer cells and the modulation of immune cell functionality. Due to this fact, this pathway may serve as a target for immunotherapy and attempts are being made to create novel compounds effective in cancer treatment. However, the results obtained from clinical trials are not satisfactory, which raises questions about the exact role of KP elements in tumorigenesis. An increasing number of experiments reveal that TRP metabolites may either be tumor promoters and suppressors and this is why further research in this field is highly needed. The aim of this study is to present KP as a modulator of cancer development through multiple mechanisms and to point to its ambiguity, which may be a reason for failures in treatment based on the inhibition of tryptophan metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iwona Kwiatkowska
- Department of Pharmacodynamics, Medical University of Bialystok, Mickiewicza 2C, 15-222 Bialystok, Poland; (J.M.H.); (D.P.)
| | - Justyna Magdalena Hermanowicz
- Department of Pharmacodynamics, Medical University of Bialystok, Mickiewicza 2C, 15-222 Bialystok, Poland; (J.M.H.); (D.P.)
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Medical University of Bialystok, Mickiewicza 2C, 15-222 Bialystok, Poland
| | | | - Dariusz Pawlak
- Department of Pharmacodynamics, Medical University of Bialystok, Mickiewicza 2C, 15-222 Bialystok, Poland; (J.M.H.); (D.P.)
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Piscianz E, Valencic E, Cuzzoni E, De Iudicibus S, De Lorenzo E, Decorti G, Tommasini A. Fate of lymphocytes after withdrawal of tofacitinib treatment. PLoS One 2014; 9:e85463. [PMID: 24416411 PMCID: PMC3887061 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2013] [Accepted: 11/28/2013] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Tofacitinib (Tofa) is an inhibitor of Janus Kinase 3, developed for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for the prevention of transplant rejection. Due to its selective action on proliferating cells, Tofa can offer a way to block T cell activation, without toxic effects on resting cells. However, few studies have investigated the effects of Tofa on lymphocyte activation in vitro. Our aim was to study the action of Tofa on different lymphocyte subsets after in vitro stimulation and to track the behaviour of treated cells after interruption of the treatment. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were stimulated in vitro with mitogen and treated with two concentrations of Tofa. After a first period in culture, cells were washed and further incubated for an additional time. Lymphocyte subsets, activation phenotype and proliferation were assessed at the different time frames. As expected, Tofa was able to reduce the activation and proliferation of lymphocytes in the first four days of treatment. In addition the drug led to a relative decrease of Natural Killer, B cells and CD8 T cells compared to CD4 T cells. However, treated cells were still viable after the first period in culture and begun to proliferate, strikingly, in a dose dependent manner when the drug was removed from the environment by replacing the culture medium. This novel data does not necessarily predict a similar behaviour in vivo, but can warn about the clinical use of this drug when a discontinuation of treatment with Tofa is considered for any reason.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Piscianz
- Department of Diagnostic Medicine, Institute for Maternal and Child Health – IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, Trieste, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Erica Valencic
- Department of Diagnostic Medicine, Institute for Maternal and Child Health – IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, Trieste, Italy
| | - Eva Cuzzoni
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Sara De Iudicibus
- Department of Paediatrics, Institute for Maternal and Child Health – IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, Trieste, Italy
| | - Elisa De Lorenzo
- Department of Translational Research, National Cancer Institute CRO-IRCCS, Aviano, Italy
| | - Giuliana Decorti
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Alberto Tommasini
- Department of Paediatrics, Institute for Maternal and Child Health – IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, Trieste, Italy
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Coburn C, Gems D. The mysterious case of the C. elegans gut granule: death fluorescence, anthranilic acid and the kynurenine pathway. Front Genet 2013; 4:151. [PMID: 23967012 PMCID: PMC3735983 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2013.00151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2013] [Accepted: 07/21/2013] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Gut granules are lysosome-like organelles with acidic interiors that are found in large numbers within the intestine of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. They are particularly prominent when viewed under ultraviolet light, which causes them to emit intense blue fluorescence. Yet the function of these large and abundant organelles in this heavily-studied model organism remains unclear. One possibility is that they serve as storage organelles, for example of zinc. A new clue to gut granule function is the identification of the blue fluorescent material that they contain as a glycosylated form of anthranilic acid, which is derived from tryptophan by action of the kynurenine pathway. This compound can also serve a surprising role as a natural, endogenous marker of organismal death.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David Gems
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College LondonLondon, UK
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Coburn C, Allman E, Mahanti P, Benedetto A, Cabreiro F, Pincus Z, Matthijssens F, Araiz C, Mandel A, Vlachos M, Edwards SA, Fischer G, Davidson A, Pryor RE, Stevens A, Slack FJ, Tavernarakis N, Braeckman BP, Schroeder FC, Nehrke K, Gems D. Anthranilate fluorescence marks a calcium-propagated necrotic wave that promotes organismal death in C. elegans. PLoS Biol 2013; 11:e1001613. [PMID: 23935448 PMCID: PMC3720247 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2012] [Accepted: 06/13/2013] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Death of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans involves a conserved necrotic cell death cascade which generates endogenous blue anthranilate fluorescence, allowing death to be visualized. For cells the passage from life to death can involve a regulated, programmed transition. In contrast to cell death, the mechanisms of systemic collapse underlying organismal death remain poorly understood. Here we present evidence of a cascade of cell death involving the calpain-cathepsin necrosis pathway that can drive organismal death in Caenorhabditis elegans. We report that organismal death is accompanied by a burst of intense blue fluorescence, generated within intestinal cells by the necrotic cell death pathway. Such death fluorescence marks an anterior to posterior wave of intestinal cell death that is accompanied by cytosolic acidosis. This wave is propagated via the innexin INX-16, likely by calcium influx. Notably, inhibition of systemic necrosis can delay stress-induced death. We also identify the source of the blue fluorescence, initially present in intestinal lysosome-related organelles (gut granules), as anthranilic acid glucosyl esters—not, as previously surmised, the damage product lipofuscin. Anthranilic acid is derived from tryptophan by action of the kynurenine pathway. These findings reveal a central mechanism of organismal death in C. elegans that is related to necrotic propagation in mammals—e.g., in excitotoxicity and ischemia-induced neurodegeneration. Endogenous anthranilate fluorescence renders visible the spatio-temporal dynamics of C. elegans organismal death. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, intestinal lysosome-related organelles (or “gut granules”) contain a bright blue fluorescent substance of unknown identity. This has similar spectral properties to lipofuscin, a product of oxidative damage known to accumulate with age in postmitotic mammalian cells. Blue fluorescence seems to increase in aging worm populations, and lipofuscin has been proposed to be the source. To analyze this further, we measure fluorescence levels after exposure to oxidative stress and during aging in individually tracked worms. Surprisingly, neither of these conditions increases fluorescence levels; instead blue fluorescence increases in a striking and rapid burst at death. Such death fluorescence (DF) also appears in young worms when killed, irrespective of age or cause of death. We chemically identify DF as anthranilic acid glucosyl esters derived from tryptophan, and not lipofuscin. In addition, we show that DF generation in the intestine is dependent upon the necrotic cell death cascade, previously characterized as a driver of neurodegeneration. We find that necrosis spreads in a rapid wave along the intestine by calcium influx via innexin ion channels, accompanied by cytosolic acidosis. Inhibition of necrosis pathway components can delay stress-induced death, supporting its role as a driver of organismal death. This necrotic cascade provides a model system to study neurodegeneration and organismal death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra Coburn
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Erik Allman
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, United States of America
| | - Parag Mahanti
- Boyce Thompson Institute and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Alexandre Benedetto
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Filipe Cabreiro
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Zachary Pincus
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | | | - Caroline Araiz
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Abraham Mandel
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Manolis Vlachos
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | - Sally-Anne Edwards
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Grahame Fischer
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alexander Davidson
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rosina E. Pryor
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ailsa Stevens
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Frank J. Slack
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Nektarios Tavernarakis
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | | | - Frank C. Schroeder
- Boyce Thompson Institute and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Keith Nehrke
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, United States of America
| | - David Gems
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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