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Matsumoto S, Kikuchi A. Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in liver biology and tumorigenesis. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 2024; 60:466-481. [PMID: 38379098 DOI: 10.1007/s11626-024-00858-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
The Wnt/β-catenin pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway that controls fundamental physiological and pathological processes by regulating cell proliferation and differentiation. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway enables liver homeostasis by inducing differentiation and contributes to liver-specific features such as metabolic zonation and regeneration. In contrast, abnormalities in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway promote the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Similarly, hepatoblastoma, the most common childhood liver cancer, is frequently associated with β-catenin mutations, which activate Wnt/β-catenin signaling. HCCs with activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway have unique gene expression patterns and pathological and clinical features. Accordingly, they are highly differentiated with retaining hepatocyte-like characteristics and tumorigenic. Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in HCC also alters the state of immune cells, causing "immune evasion" with inducing resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors, which have recently become widely used to treat HCC. Activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling exhibits these phenomena in liver tumorigenesis through the expression of downstream target genes, and the molecular basis is still poorly understood. In this review, we describe the physiological roles of Wnt/b-catenin signaling and then discuss their characteristic changes by the abnormal activation of Wnt/b-catenin signaling. Clarification of the mechanism would contribute to the development of therapeutic agents in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shinji Matsumoto
- Departments of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
- Integrated Frontier Research for Medical Science Division, Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives (OTRI), 2-2 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
| | - Akira Kikuchi
- Departments of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
- Center of Infectious Disease Education and Research (CiDER), Osaka University, 2-8 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
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2
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Nevskaya KV, Pershina AG, Hmelevskaya ES, Efimova LV, Ibragimova MK, Dolgasheva DS, Tsydenova IA, Ufandeev AA, Buyko EE, Perina EA, Gaptulbarova KA, Kravtsova EA, Krivoshchekov SV, Ivanov VV, Guriev AM, Udut EV, Litviakov NV. Prevention of Metastasis by Suppression of Stemness Genes Using a Combination of microRNAs. J Med Chem 2024; 67:5591-5602. [PMID: 38507819 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c02199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
We propose an original strategy for metastasis prevention using a combination of three microRNAs that blocks the dedifferentiation of cancer cells in a metastatic niche owing to the downregulation of stemness genes. Transcriptome microarray analysis was applied to identify the effects of a mixture of microRNAs on the pattern of differentially expressed genes in human breast cancer cell lines. Treatment of differentiated CD44- cancer cells with the microRNA mixture inhibited their ability to form mammospheres in vitro. The combination of these three microRNAs encapsulated into lipid nanoparticles prevented lung metastasis in a mouse model of spontaneous metastasis. The mixture of three microRNAs (miR-195-5p/miR-520a/miR-630) holds promise for the development of an antimetastatic therapeutic that blocks tumor cell dedifferentiation, which occurs at secondary tumor sites and determines the transition of micrometastases to macrometastases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kseniya V Nevskaya
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Alexandra G Pershina
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Research School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lenin Ave. 30, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Ekaterina S Hmelevskaya
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Lina V Efimova
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Marina K Ibragimova
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Oncovirology Lab, Cancer Research Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pereulok Kooperativnyi 5, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Tomsk State University, Lenin Ave. 36, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Darya S Dolgasheva
- Oncovirology Lab, Cancer Research Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pereulok Kooperativnyi 5, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Research School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lenin Ave. 30, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Irina A Tsydenova
- Oncovirology Lab, Cancer Research Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pereulok Kooperativnyi 5, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Tomsk State University, Lenin Ave. 36, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Alexander A Ufandeev
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Evgeny E Buyko
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Ekaterina A Perina
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Ksenia A Gaptulbarova
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Oncovirology Lab, Cancer Research Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pereulok Kooperativnyi 5, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Research School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lenin Ave. 30, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Ekaterina A Kravtsova
- Oncovirology Lab, Cancer Research Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pereulok Kooperativnyi 5, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Tomsk State University, Lenin Ave. 36, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Sergei V Krivoshchekov
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Vladimir V Ivanov
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Artem M Guriev
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Elena V Udut
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Nikolai V Litviakov
- Central Research Laboratory, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovsky Trakt 2, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Oncovirology Lab, Cancer Research Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pereulok Kooperativnyi 5, Tomsk 634050, Russia
- Research School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lenin Ave. 30, Tomsk 634050, Russia
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Qiu Y, Lu G, Li N, Hu Y, Tan H, Jiang C. Exosome-mediated communication between gastric cancer cells and macrophages: implications for tumor microenvironment. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1327281. [PMID: 38455041 PMCID: PMC10917936 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1327281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Gastric cancer (GC) is a malignant neoplasm originating from the epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa. The pathogenesis of GC is intricately linked to the tumor microenvironment within which the cancer cells reside. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) primarily differentiate from peripheral blood monocytes and can be broadly categorized into M1 and M2 subtypes. M2-type TAMs have been shown to promote tumor growth, tissue remodeling, and angiogenesis. Furthermore, they can actively suppress acquired immunity, leading to a poorer prognosis and reduced tolerance to chemotherapy. Exosomes, which contain a myriad of biologically active molecules including lipids, proteins, mRNA, and noncoding RNAs, have emerged as key mediators of communication between tumor cells and TAMs. The exchange of these molecules via exosomes can markedly influence the tumor microenvironment and consequently impact tumor progression. Recent studies have elucidated a correlation between TAMs and various clinicopathological parameters of GC, such as tumor size, differentiation, infiltration depth, lymph node metastasis, and TNM staging, highlighting the pivotal role of TAMs in GC development and metastasis. In this review, we aim to comprehensively examine the bidirectional communication between GC cells and TAMs, the implications of alterations in the tumor microenvironment on immune escape, invasion, and metastasis in GC, targeted therapeutic approaches for GC, and the efficacy of potential GC drug resistance strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Qiu
- Medical Oncology Department of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Guimei Lu
- Department of Laboratory, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Na Li
- Medical Oncology Department of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Yanyan Hu
- Medical Oncology Department of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Hao Tan
- Thoracic Esophageal Radiotherapy Department, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Chengyao Jiang
- Department of Gastric Surgery, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital & Institute, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
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Liu Y, Yang J, Li X, Chen S, Zhu C, Shi Y, Dang S, Zhang W, Li W. Pan-cancer analysis reveals the characteristics and roles of tooth agenesis mutant genes. Medicine (Baltimore) 2023; 102:e36001. [PMID: 38115305 PMCID: PMC10727548 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000036001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Tooth development is regulated by numerous genes and signaling pathways. Some studies suggest that mutations in these genes may be associated with several cancer types. However, the tooth agenesis mutated genes role in the prognosis and their clinical therapeutic potentials in pan-cancer have not been elaborately explored. Moreover, the intrinsic correlation between tooth agenesis and cancers also needs to be further verified. We preliminarily analyzed expression levels and prognostic values of causative genes of tooth agenesis, and explored the correlation between the expression of tooth agenesis mutated genes and TME, Stemness score, clinical characteristic, immune subtype, and drug sensitivity in pan-cancer, which based on updated public databases and integrated some bioinformatics analysis methods. In addition, we conducted the enrichment analysis of tooth agenesis mutant genes from KOBAS database. We observed that TA mutant genes had significant gene expression differences in multiple cancer types compared with normal tissues. The expression of causative genes of TA is associated with the prognosis in several cancers from different databases. For example, AXIN2 and MSX1 were correlated to the overall survival (OS) of uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma. PAX9 and TP63 were related to OS of lung squamous cell carcinoma. And TP63 was associated with OS in breast invasive carcinoma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, the expression of TA mutant genes also has a significant correlation with stromal and immune scores, and RNA stemness score and DNA stemness score in pan-cancer. Besides, we observed that all causative genes of TA were significantly correlated with immune subtypes. Moreover, KEGG pathway analysis showed that causative genes of TA were associated with the development and progression of breast cancer, basal cell carcinoma, gastric cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Finally, AXIN2 expression has a significantly positive or negative correlation with drug sensitivity. Our study indicates the great potential of TA mutant genes as biomarkers for prognosis and provides valuable strategies for further investigation of TA mutant genes as potential therapeutic targets in cancers. Our study can further verify that there may be an intrinsic correlation between tooth agenesis and the occurrence of multiple cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yating Liu
- Cancer Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Yang
- Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Peking University School of Stomatology, Beijing, China
| | - Xinyu Li
- Cancer Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Shanshan Chen
- Cancer Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Changyu Zhu
- Cancer Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Yijun Shi
- Cancer Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Shoutao Dang
- Cancer Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Weitao Zhang
- Cancer Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Wei Li
- Cancer Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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Xu J, Koval A, Katanaev VL. Clofazimine: A journey of a drug. Biomed Pharmacother 2023; 167:115539. [PMID: 37742606 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Among different strategies to develop novel therapies, drug repositioning (aka repurposing) aims at identifying new uses of an already approved or investigational drug. This approach has the advantages of availability of the extensive pre-existing knowledge of the drug's safety, pharmacology and toxicology, manufacturing and formulation. It provides advantages to the risk-versus-rewards trade-off as compared to the costly and time-consuming de novo drug discovery process. Clofazimine, a red-colored synthetic derivative of riminophenazines initially isolated from lichens, was first synthesized in the 1950 s, and passed through several phases of repositioning in its history as a drug. Being initially developed as an anti-tuberculosis treatment, it was repurposed for the treatment of leprosy, prior to re-repositioning for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and other infections. Since 1990 s, reports on the anticancer properties of clofazimine, both in vitro and in vivo, started to appear. Among the diverse mechanisms of action proposed, the activity of clofazimine as a specific inhibitor of the oncogenic Wnt signaling pathway has recently emerged as the promising targeting mechanism of the drug against breast, colon, liver, and other forms of cancer. Seventy years after the initial discovery, clofazimine's journey as a drug finding new applications continues, serving as a colorful illustration of drug repurposing in modern pharmacology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiabin Xu
- Translational Research Center in Oncohaematology, Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Alexey Koval
- Translational Research Center in Oncohaematology, Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Vladimir L Katanaev
- Translational Research Center in Oncohaematology, Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia.
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