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Buľková V, Vargová J, Babinčák M, Jendželovský R, Zdráhal Z, Roudnický P, Košuth J, Fedoročko P. New findings on the action of hypericin in hypoxic cancer cells with a focus on the modulation of side population cells. Biomed Pharmacother 2023; 163:114829. [PMID: 37146419 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The presence of key hypoxia regulators, namely, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α or HIF-2α, in tumors is associated with poor patient prognosis. Hypoxia massively activates several genes, including the one encoding the BCRP transporter that proffers multidrug resistance to cancer cells through the xenobiotic efflux and is a determinant of the side population (SP) associated with cancer stem-like phenotypes. As natural medicine comes to the fore, it is instinctive to look for natural agents possessing powerful features against cancer resistance. Hypericin, a pleiotropic agent found in Hypericum plants, is a good example as it is a BCRP substrate and potential inhibitor, and an SP and HIF modulator. Here, we showed that hypericin efficiently accumulated in hypoxic cancer cells, degraded HIF-1/2α, and decreased BCRP efflux together with hypoxia, thus diminishing the SP population. On the contrary, this seemingly favorable result was accompanied by the stimulated migration of this minor population that preserved the SP phenotype. Because hypoxia unexpectedly decreased the BCRP level and SP fraction, we compared the SP and non-SP proteomes and their changes under hypoxia in the A549 cell line. We identified differences among protein groups connected to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, although major changes were related to hypoxia, as the upregulation of many proteins, including serpin E1, PLOD2 and LOXL2, that ultimately contribute to the initiation of the metastatic cascade was detected. Altogether, this study helps in clarifying the innate and hypoxia-triggered resistance of cancer cells and highlights the ambivalent role of natural agents in the biology of these cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viktória Buľková
- Institute of Biology and Ecology, Department of Cellular Biology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Šrobárova 2, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia
| | - Jana Vargová
- Institute of Biology and Ecology, Department of Cellular Biology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Šrobárova 2, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia.
| | - Marián Babinčák
- Institute of Biology and Ecology, Department of Cellular Biology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Šrobárova 2, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia
| | - Rastislav Jendželovský
- Institute of Biology and Ecology, Department of Cellular Biology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Šrobárova 2, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia
| | - Zbyněk Zdráhal
- Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic; National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Roudnický
- Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Ján Košuth
- Institute of Biology and Ecology, Department of Cellular Biology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Šrobárova 2, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia
| | - Peter Fedoročko
- Institute of Biology and Ecology, Department of Cellular Biology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Šrobárova 2, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia
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Wu JJ, Zhang J, Xia CY, Ding K, Li XX, Pan XG, Xu JK, He J, Zhang WK. Hypericin: A natural anthraquinone as promising therapeutic agent. PHYTOMEDICINE : INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHYTOTHERAPY AND PHYTOPHARMACOLOGY 2023; 111:154654. [PMID: 36689857 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2023.154654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Revised: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hypericin is a prominent secondary metabolite mainly existing in genus Hypericum. It has become a research focus for a quiet long time owing to its extensively pharmacological activities especially the anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and neuroprotective effects. This review concentrated on summarizing and analyzing the existing studies of hypericin in a comprehensive perspective. METHODS The literature with desired information about hypericin published after 2010 was gained from electronic databases including PubMed, SciFinder, Science Direct, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases and Wan Fang DATA. RESULTS According to extensive preclinical and clinical studies conducted on the hypericin, an organized and comprehensive summary of the natural and artificial sources, strategies for improving the bioactivities, pharmacological activities, drug combination of hypericin was presented to explore the future therapeutic potential of this active compound. CONCLUSIONS Overall, this review offered a theoretical guidance for the follow-up research of hypericin. However, the pharmacological mechanisms, pharmacokinetics and structure activity relationship of hypericin should be further studied in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing-Jing Wu
- China-Japan Friendship Hospital (Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100029, China; Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences & Department of Pharmacy, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Jia Zhang
- School of Life Sciences & School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Cong-Yuan Xia
- Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences & Department of Pharmacy, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Kang Ding
- School of Life Sciences & School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Xin-Xin Li
- School of Life Sciences & School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Xue-Ge Pan
- School of Life Sciences & School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Jie-Kun Xu
- School of Life Sciences & School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.
| | - Jun He
- Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences & Department of Pharmacy, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China.
| | - Wei-Ku Zhang
- China-Japan Friendship Hospital (Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100029, China; Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences & Department of Pharmacy, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China.
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Doroshenko A, Tomkova S, Kozar T, Stroffekova K. Hypericin, a potential new BH3 mimetic. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:991554. [PMID: 36267274 PMCID: PMC9577225 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.991554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Many types of cancer such as prostate cancer, myeloid leukemia, breast cancer, glioblastoma display strong chemo resistance, which is supported by enhanced expression of multiple anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-XL and Mcl-1 proteins. The viable anti-cancer strategies are based on developing anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins inhibitors, BH3 mimetics. Our focus in past years has been on the investigating a new potential BH3 mimetic, Hypericin (Hyp). Hyp is a naturally occurring photosensitive compound used in photodynamic therapy and diagnosis. We have demonstrated that Hyp can cause substantial effects in cellular ultrastructure, mitochondria function and metabolism, and distribution of Bcl2 proteins in malignant and non-malignant cells. One of the possible mechanisms of Hyp action could be the direct interactions between Bcl-2 proteins and Hyp. We investigated this assumption by in silico computer modelling and in vitro fluorescent spectroscopy experiments with the small Bcl2 peptide segments designed to correspond to Bcl2 BH3 and BH1 domains. We show here that Hyp interacts with BH3 and BH1 peptides in concentration dependent manner, and shows the stronger interactions than known BH3 mimetics, Gossypol (Goss) and ABT-263. In addition, interactions of Hyp, Goss and ABT263, with whole purified proteins Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 by fluorescence spectroscopy show that Hyp interacts stronger with the Bcl-2 and less with Mcl-1 protein than Goss or ABT-263. This suggest that Hyp is comparable to other BH3 mimetics and could be explore as such. Hyp cytotoxicity was low in human U87 MG glioma, similar to that of ABT263, where Goss exerted sufficient cytotoxicity, suggesting that Hyp acts primarily on Bcl-2, but not on Mcl-1 protein. In combination therapy, low doses of Hyp with Goss effectively decreased U87 MG viability, suggesting a possible synergy effect. Overall, we can conclude that Hyp as BH3 mimetic acts primarily on Bcl-2 protein and can be explored to target cells with Bcl-2 over-expression, or in combination with other BH3 mimetics, that target Mcl-1 or Bcl-XL proteins, in dual therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Doroshenko
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, PJ Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia
| | - Silvia Tomkova
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, PJ Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia
| | - Tibor Kozar
- Center of Interdisciplinary Biosciences, TIP-Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia
| | - Katarina Stroffekova
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, PJ Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia
- *Correspondence: Katarina Stroffekova,
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Pevna V, Wagnières G, Huntosova V. Autophagy and Apoptosis Induced in U87 MG Glioblastoma Cells by Hypericin-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy Can Be Photobiomodulated with 808 nm Light. Biomedicines 2021; 9:biomedicines9111703. [PMID: 34829932 PMCID: PMC8615841 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9111703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive types of tumors. Although few treatment options are currently available, new modalities are needed to improve prognosis. In this context, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising adjuvant treatment modality. In the present work, hypericin-mediated PDT (hypericin-PDT, 2 J/cm2) of U87 MG cells is combined with (2 min, 15 mW/cm2 at 808 nm) photobiomodulation (PBM). We observed that PBM stimulates autophagy, which, in combination with PDT, increases the treatment efficacy and leads to apoptosis. Confocal fluorescence microscopy, cytotoxicity assays and Western blot were used to monitor apoptotic and autophagic processes in these cells. Destabilization of lysosomes, mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus led to an increase in lactate dehydrogenase activity, oxidative stress levels, LC3-II, and caspase-3, as well as a decrease of the PKCα and STAT3 protein levels in response to hypericin-PDT subcellular concentration in U87 MG cells. Our results indicate that therapeutic hypericin concentrations can be reduced when PDT is combined with PBM. This will likely allow to reduce the damage induced in surrounding healthy tissues when PBM-hypericin-PDT is used for in vivo tumor treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viktoria Pevna
- Department of Biophysics, Institute of Physics, Faculty of Science, P.J. Safarik University in Kosice, Jesenna 5, 041 54 Kosice, Slovakia;
| | - Georges Wagnières
- Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Station 6, Building CH, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
| | - Veronika Huntosova
- Center for Interdisciplinary Biosciences, Technology and Innovation Park, P.J. Safarik University in Kosice, Jesenna 5, 041 54 Kosice, Slovakia
- Correspondence:
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Amanda Pedroso de Morais F, Sonchini Gonçalves R, Souza Campanholi K, Martins de França B, Augusto Capeloto O, Lazarin-Bidoia D, Bento Balbinot R, Vataru Nakamura C, Carlos Malacarne L, Caetano W, Hioka N. Photophysical characterization of Hypericin-loaded in micellar, liposomal and copolymer-lipid nanostructures based F127 and DPPC liposomes. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2021; 248:119173. [PMID: 33316657 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.119173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Revised: 10/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/31/2020] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Hypericin (Hy) compound presents a high photoactivity in photodynamic therapy (PDT), photodiagnosis and theranostics applications. The maintenance of this compound in monomeric form could undermine the potential benefits of its photophysical and photodynamic activity. In this study, we demonstrated that the Hy formulated in a system based on the use of the F127 copolymer and the 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-3-glycerol-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) as micelles, liposomal vesicles and Copolymer-Lipid coated systems, have improved its photophysical properties for many clinical modalities. Based on the results of the triplet state lifetime values (τt), the singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ1O2), the fluorescence lifetime (τF) and the fluorescence quantum yield (ΦF), all Hy formulations had its photophysical properties described in different models of drug delivery systems (DDS). In addition, the transient spectra profile of those formulations was unaffected by the Hy incorporation process, except for the liposomal system, which demonstrated to be the less stable one by flash photolysis technique. The cytotoxic effects of those formulations were also investigated for CaCo-2 and HaCat cells line. The cytotoxic concentrations for 50% (CC50) were 0.56, 1.05, 1.33 and 4.80 µmol L-1 for Copolymer-Lipid/Hy, DPPC/Hy, F127/Hy and ethanol/Hy for CaCo-2 cells, respectively, and 0.69, 2.02, 1.45 and 1.16 µmol L-1 for Copolymer-Lipid/Hy, DPPC/Hy, F127/Hy and ethanol/Hy for HaCat cells, respectively. The F127 copolymer had a significant role in many photophysical parameters determined for Copolymer-Lipid/Hy coated system. Although all those formulations had shown satisfactory results, Copolymer-Lipid/Hy proved to be superior in many aspects, being the most promising formulation for PDT, photodiagnosis and theranostics applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Renato Sonchini Gonçalves
- Department of Chemistry, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Katieli Souza Campanholi
- Department of Chemistry, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Bruna Martins de França
- Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 149 Athos da Silveira Ramos Ave., 21941-909 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Otávio Augusto Capeloto
- Department of Physics, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Danielle Lazarin-Bidoia
- Technological Innovation Laboratory in the Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Development, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Rodolfo Bento Balbinot
- Technological Innovation Laboratory in the Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Development, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Celso Vataru Nakamura
- Technological Innovation Laboratory in the Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Development, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Luis Carlos Malacarne
- Department of Physics, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Wilker Caetano
- Department of Chemistry, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Noboru Hioka
- Department of Chemistry, State University of Maringá, 5790 Colombo Ave., 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
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