Discretionary Transduction of MMP-Sensitized Tousled in Head and Neck Cancer

Effects of lactalbumin enzymatic hydrolysate on human squamous cell carcinoma cells-an in vitro study

Objectives

Alpha-lactalbumin, the protein from human and bovine milk has been found to be promising as an alternative of anticancer agent. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of lactalbumin enzymatic hydrolysate (LAH) on cell proliferation, migration, and mRNA expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) on human squamous cell carcinoma (hSCC) cell lines, in vitro.

Methods

Tongue (HSC-4 and 7) and pharyngeal (HN-30 and 31) hSCC cell lines were treated with a two-fold dilution of LAH (0.39-100 mg/ml). Cell viability and cell proliferation were examined by MTT assay. Colony forming unit (CFU) was assessed by crystal violet blue staining. Cell migration was investigated by scratch wound healing assay. Gene expression of metastasis-associated MMPs was assessed by RT-qPCR. Statistical analyses were evaluated at p value = 0.05.

Results

LAH at concentration of 50 and 100 mg/ml exhibited cytotoxicity on hSCC cells. The proliferation and CFU ability of hSCC cells were significantly attenuated after LAH treatment. The mRNA expression of MMP2, MMP9, and MMP14 was reduced in HN-30 and HN-31 cells while expression of MMP2 and MMP14 was downregulated in HSC-7 cells. Only MMP1 mRNA level was reduced in HSC-4 cells. However, cell migration of all hSCC cell lines did not alter after LAH treatment.

Conclusion

LAH treatment exhibits inhibitory effects on hSCC cell growth, proliferation and MMPs gene expression. Thus, LAH should be the promising alternative agent to develop the prospective anti-cancer drug.

Disorder at the Start: The Contribution of Dysregulated Translation Initiation to Cancer Therapy Resistance

Translation of cellular RNA to protein is an energy-intensive process through which synthesized proteins dictate cellular processes and function. Translation is regulated in response to extracellular effectors and availability of amino acids intracellularly. Most eukaryotic mRNA rely on the methyl 7-guanosine (m7G) nucleotide cap to recruit the translation machinery, and the uncoupling of translational control that occurs in tumorigenesis plays a significant role in cancer treatment response. This article provides an overview of the mammalian translation initiation process and the primary mechanisms by which it is regulated. An outline of how deregulation of initiation supports tumorigenesis and how initiation at a downstream open reading frame (ORF) of Tousled-like kinase 1 (TLK1) leads to treatment resistance is discussed.