Influences of CCK-8 on expressions of apoptosis-related genes in prefrontal cortex neurons of morphine-relapse rats

20- Deoxyingenol attenuate morphine-induced hippocampus neurotoxicity and memory impairments in rats

Objective

The present study aimed to see if 20-Deoxyingenol(20-DOI) could protect hippocampus neurons from the neurotoxic effects of morphine and reduce memory loss in rats.

Method

Male Wistar rats were given morphine hydrochloride (45 mg/kg, sc, four weeks) and 20-DOI (10, 20 mg/kg, ip., coadministered with morphine) for the Morris Water Maze (MWM) test to investigate the effects of 20-DOI on spatial learning and memory. Western blotting was used to evaluate the expression of the hippocampal CA1 region of the cleaved caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl2 proteins and so on. Moreover, these assays were used to evaluate the expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD)2, heme oxygenase 1(HO1) protein, and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity within the hippocampus CA1 area.

Results

The administration of 20-DOI (10 and 20 mg/kg) to morphine-treated mice enhanced spatial learning and reduced memory deficits. Additionally, 20-DOI treatment reduced apoptosis and oxidative stress in the hippocampal CA1 region of morphine-treated rats. Moreover, 20-DOI improved the autophagy level of the hippocampal CA1 area of morphine-treated rats using Transcription factor EB (TFEB), and 20-DOI prevented spatial learning and memory impairment in morphine-treated rats. The current observation could be partially due to the inhibition of neuronal apoptosis and oxidative stress in the hippocampal CA1 region of rats treated with morphine and the improved autophagy in this region.

Conclusions

20-DOI attenuated morphine administration in rats with chronic disease caused spatial learning and memory dysfunction. These mechanistic effects could be partially related to 20-DOI protecting the CA1 region of rat hippocampal neurons from the morphine-induced oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy through TFEB.

HERC4 modulates ovarian cancer cell proliferation by regulating SMO-elicited hedgehog signaling

BACKGROUND

HERC4 has been reported to have functions in several types of tumors, but its roles in ovarian cancer have not been studied yet.

METHODS

Primary tissues from ovarian cancer patients and cell lines were collected for real-time PCR. Kaplan-Meier Plotter was used to predict the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients. HERC4 was overexpressed in cells by lentivirus, and CCK-8 assay was performed to evaluate cell viability. Real-time PCR and Western blot were carried out to analyze the mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Xenograft tumor models were established to analyze HERC4 function in vivo.

RESULTS

Firstly, we found that HERC4 was significantly downregulated in ovarian cancer. We then found that ovarian cancer patients with high HERC4 expression had significantly higher overall survival and progression-free survival rates compared with patients with low expression. Then, HERC4 was overexpressed in ovarian cancer cells, and we found that overexpression of HERC4 significantly inhibited ovarian cancer cell growth, as well as the expression of the target protein SMO, and the key proteins in the downstream hedgehog signaling pathway. Finally, the xenograft tumor models revealed that overexpression of HERC4 significantly inhibited tumor growth in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, these results indicate that overexpression of HERC4 inhibits cell proliferation of ovarian cancer in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that HERC4 may serve as an effective target for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

A convergent fabrication of pH and redox dual-responsive hybrids of mesoporous silica nanoparticles for the treatment of breast cancer

Mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN), sodium hyaluronate (SH), silk fibroin (SS), and oxidized sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (O-CMC) hybrids were used to develop an intelligent drug delivery platform that may be employed for pH and redox-responsive bi-drug administration. The first drug, cytarabine (Cyt), was loaded with amino-functionalized mesoporous silica (MSN-NH₂) encased by the hydrogel of cystamine (Cys) and SH cross-linked by amide bonds. Hydrophobic doxorubicin (DOX) was co-loaded with Cyt/MSN-NH₂/SA in the hydrogel of SS and O-CMC in the Cyt- loaded hydrogel. Dual-responsive drug delivery may be achieved by encapsulating SS and O-CMC in a hydrogel, including Cyt/MSN-NH₂/SA/DOX/SS/O-CMC, which has acyl hydrazone bonds (-HC = N) and disulfide bond (-S-S-) exchange reaction with glutathione (GSH). Compared to hydrogels encapsulating only one drug (Cyt or DOX), cell survival analysis revealed that the newly fabricated hydrogels have significantly greater chemotherapeutic efficacy. The cell proliferation of the fabricated nanoparticles was examined in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, which indicates that the nanoparticles effectively kill the cancer cells without affecting non-cancerous cells. Further, we effectively investigated the morphological changes, and various biochemical staining methods examined nuclear fragmentation/condensation. Furthermore, the biosafety of the nanoparticles was investigated by the in vivo animal model, which reveals that they remarkably enhanced the safety profile in various organs. These outcomes demonstrated that this nanoparticle platform was a promising beneficial agent for improving breast cancer treatment.

Precise engineering of Gemcitabine prodrug cocktails into single polymeric nanoparticles delivery for metastatic thyroid cancer cells

GLOBOCAN estimates 36 types of cancers in 185 countries based on the incidence, mortality, and prevalence in the year 2019. Nowadays, chemotherapy is the most widely used cancer treatment among immune, radio, hormone, and gene therapies. Here, we describe a very simple yet cost-effective approach that synergistically combines drug reconstitution, supramolecular nano-assembly, and tumor-specific targeting to address the multiple challenges posed by the delivery of the chemotherapeutic Gemcitabine (GEM) drug. The GEM prodrugs were gifted to impulsively self-assemble into excellent steady nanoparticles size on covalent conjugation of linoleic acid hydrophobic through amide group with ∼100 nm. Newly synthesized GEM-NPs morphology was confirmed by various electron microscopic techniques. After successful synthesis, we have evaluated the anticancer property of GEM and GEM-NPs against B-CPAP (papillary thyroid carcinoma) and FTC-133 (human follicular thyroid carcinoma) cancer cell lines. Further studies such as AO-EB (acridine orange-ethidium bromide), nuclear staining and flow cytometry analyses on cell death mechanism signified that the cytotoxicity was associated with apoptosis in thyroid cancer cells. GEM-NPs show excellent biocompatibility compared to GEM. The present study explained that GEM-NPs as a safe and hopeful strategy for chemotherapeutics of thyroid cancer therapy and deserve for further clinical evaluations.