1
|
Ha DP, Shin WJ, Liu Z, Doche ME, Lau R, Leli NM, Conn CS, Russo M, Lorenzato A, Koumenis C, Yu M, Mumenthaler SM, Lee AS. Targeting stress induction of GRP78 by cardiac glycoside oleandrin dually suppresses cancer and COVID-19. Cell Biosci 2024; 14:115. [PMID: 39238058 PMCID: PMC11378597 DOI: 10.1186/s13578-024-01297-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 08/27/2024] [Indexed: 09/07/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite recent therapeutic advances, combating cancer resistance remains a formidable challenge. The 78-kilodalton glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), a key stress-inducible endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone, plays a crucial role in both cancer cell survival and stress adaptation. GRP78 is also upregulated during SARS-CoV-2 infection and acts as a critical host factor. Recently, we discovered cardiac glycosides (CGs) as novel suppressors of GRP78 stress induction through a high-throughput screen of clinically relevant compound libraries. This study aims to test the possibility that agents capable of blocking stress induction of GRP78 could dually suppress cancer and COVID-19. RESULTS Here we report that oleandrin (OLN), is the most potent among the CGs in inhibiting acute stress induction of total GRP78, which also results in reduced cell surface and nuclear forms of GRP78 in stressed cells. The inhibition of stress induction of GRP78 is at the post-transcriptional level, independent of protein degradation and autophagy and may involve translational control as OLN blocks stress-induced loading of ribosomes onto GRP78 mRNAs. Moreover, the human Na+/K+-ATPase α3 isoform is critical for OLN suppression of GRP78 stress induction. OLN, in nanomolar range, enhances apoptosis, sensitizes colorectal cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents, and reduces the viability of patient-derived colon cancer organoids. Likewise, OLN, suppresses GRP78 expression and impedes tumor growth in an orthotopic breast cancer xenograft model. Furthermore, OLN blocks infection by SARS-CoV-2 and its variants and enhances existing anti-viral therapies. Notably, GRP78 overexpression mitigates OLN-mediated cancer cell apoptotic onset and suppression of virus release. CONCLUSION Our findings validate GRP78 as a target of OLN anti-cancer and anti-viral activities. These proof-of-principle studies support further investigation of OLN as a readily accessible compound to dually combat cancer and COVID-19.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dat P Ha
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Woo-Jin Shin
- Florida Research and Innovation Center, Cleveland Clinic, Port St. Lucie, FL, 34987, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Infection Biology Program, and Global Center for Pathogen and Human Health Research, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Ze Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Michael E Doche
- Ellison Institute of Technology, Los Angeles, CA, 90064, USA
| | - Roy Lau
- Ellison Institute of Technology, Los Angeles, CA, 90064, USA
| | - Nektaria Maria Leli
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Crystal S Conn
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Mariangela Russo
- Dipartimento di Oncologia, Molecular Biotechnology Center, Università di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Annalisa Lorenzato
- Dipartimento di Oncologia, Molecular Biotechnology Center, Università di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Constantinos Koumenis
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Min Yu
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Shannon M Mumenthaler
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Ellison Institute of Technology, Los Angeles, CA, 90064, USA
- Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Amy S Lee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Zhang Y, Gu X, Huang L, Yang Y, He J. Enhancing precision medicine: Bispecific antibody-mediated targeted delivery of lipid nanoparticles for potential cancer therapy. Int J Pharm 2024; 654:123990. [PMID: 38467208 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2024.123990] [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: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
The precise delivery of therapeutic agents to specific cell populations, including cancer cells, remains a target in modern medicine, to enhance treatment efficacy, while minimizing unintended side effects. This study presents a strategy utilizing bispecific antibodies for the targeted delivery of nucleic acid drugs to the surface of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78)-overexpressing cancer cells. Strong binding affinity of the bispecific antibodies to GRP78-overexpressing cancer cells, including HEPG2 cells, confirmed the tumor-targeting potential of this platform. Functional analyses demonstrated the role of the bispecific antibodies in enhancing lipid nanoparticle (LNP) uptake, causing increased gene expression levels of nucleic acid drugs loaded within LNPs. In vivo imaging confirmed the potency of the bispecific-antibody-modified LNPs in delivering nucleic acid drugs to tumors and sustaining therapeutic expression levels. In vivo therapy results indicated that the bispecific antibodies improved the antitumor activity of PE38-loaded LNPs in tumors overexpressing surface GRP78. This study pioneered a bispecific-antibody-centered platform for the targeted delivery of nucleic acid drugs. The robust antigen-antibody binding affinity, tumor-selective interactions, enhanced cellular uptake, and proficient gene expression promise to advance precision therapeutics in oncology. Continued refinement and translation of this drug delivery strategy are important to unlock its full clinical potential.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yue Zhang
- National Advanced Medical Engineering Research Center, China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, 285 Gebaini Road, Shanghai 201203, PR China
| | - Xiaoyan Gu
- National Advanced Medical Engineering Research Center, China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, 285 Gebaini Road, Shanghai 201203, PR China
| | - Lili Huang
- National Advanced Medical Engineering Research Center, China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, 285 Gebaini Road, Shanghai 201203, PR China
| | - Yani Yang
- National Advanced Medical Engineering Research Center, China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, 285 Gebaini Road, Shanghai 201203, PR China
| | - Jun He
- National Advanced Medical Engineering Research Center, China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, 285 Gebaini Road, Shanghai 201203, PR China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Darji S, Aayush A, Estes KM, Strock JD, Thompson DH. Unravelling the Mechanism of Elastin-like Polypeptide-Enzyme Fusion Stabilization in Organic Solvents. Biomacromolecules 2024; 25:272-281. [PMID: 38118170 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
Elastin-like polypeptides (ELP) are a class of materials that are widely used as purification tags and in potential therapeutic applications. We have used the hydrophobic nature of ELP to extract them into organic solvents and precipitate them to obtain highly pure materials. Although many different types of ELP have been rapidly purified in this manner, the underlying mechanism for this process and its ability to retain functional proteins within organic phase-rich media has been unclear. A cleavable ELP-Intein construct fused with the enzyme chorismate mutase (ELP-I-Cm2) was used to better understand the organic solvent extraction process for ELP and the factors impacting the retention of enzyme activity. Our extraction studies indicated that a cell lysis step was essential to stabilize the ELP-I-Cm2 in the organic phase, prevent intein cleavage, and extract the fusion protein with high efficiency and retained activity. Circular dichroism and infrared spectroscopic characterization of ELP-I-Cm2 in organic solvents and aqueous solutions of the extracted and precipitated material indicated that the ELP secondary structure was retained in both environments. Atomic force microscopy and negative stain transmission electron microscopy imaging of ELP-I-Cm2 in organic solvents revealed highly regular circular features that were ∼50 nm in diameter, in contrast to larger (>100 nm) irregular features found in aqueous solutions. Since reverse micelles have often been used in catalytic processes, we evaluated the enzymatic activity of the ELP-I-Cm2 reversed micelles in different organic solvent mixtures and found that Cm2-mediated reactions in organic media were of comparable rate and efficiency to those in aqueous media. Based on these findings, we report an exciting new opportunity for ELP-enzyme fusion applications by exploiting their ability to form catalytically active reverse micelles in organic media.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Saloni Darji
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
- Purdue Institute for Cancer Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - Aayush Aayush
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
- Purdue Institute for Cancer Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - Kiera M Estes
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - Jocie D Strock
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - David H Thompson
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
- Purdue Institute for Cancer Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Amaresan R, Gopal U. Cell surface GRP78: a potential mechanism of therapeutic resistant tumors. Cancer Cell Int 2023; 23:100. [PMID: 37221596 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-023-02931-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023] Open
Abstract
GRP78 is a protein that acts as a chaperone within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and has multiple functions. It is induced by stress and abets cells from survival. Despite, multiple Stress conditions like ER, chronic psychological and nutritional stress, hypoxia, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and drug resistance induce cell surface GRP78 (CS-GRP78) expression in cancer cells. Further, CS-GRP78 is associated with increased malignancy and resistance to anti-cancer therapies and is considered a high-value druggable target. Recent preclinical research suggests that targeting CS-GRP78 with anti-GRP78 monoclonal antibodies (Mab) in combination with other agents may be effective in reversing the failure of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or targeted therapies and increasing the efficacy of solid tumors treatment. This article will review recent evidence on the role of CS-GRP78 in developing resistance to anti-cancer treatments and the potential benefits of combining anti-GRP78 Mab with other cancer therapies for specific patient populations. Furthermore, our limited understanding of how CS-GRP78 regulated in human studies is a major drawback for designing effective CS-GRP78-targeted therapies. Hence, more research is still warranted to translate these potential therapies into clinical applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rajalakshmi Amaresan
- Department of Zoology, Auxilium College, Gandhi Nagar, Vellore, 632 006, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Udhayakumar Gopal
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, 39216, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Jiang A, Guan X, He L, Guan X. Engineered elastin-like polypeptides: An efficient platform for enhanced cancer treatment. Front Pharmacol 2023; 13:1113079. [PMID: 36699056 PMCID: PMC9868590 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1113079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Drug delivery systems (DDSs) have recently gained widespread attention for improving drug loading and delivery efficiency in treating many cancers. Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are synthetic peptides derived from a precursor of elastin (tropoelastin), reserving similar structural and physicochemical properties. ELPs have gained a variety of applications in tissue engineering and cancer therapy due to their excellent biocompatibility, complete degradability, temperature-responsive property, controllable sequence and length, and precisely tuned structure and function. ELPs-based drug delivery systems can improve the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of therapeutic reagents, leading to enhanced antitumor efficacy. In this review, we summarize the recent application of ELPs in cancer treatment, focusing on the delivery of functional peptides, therapeutic proteins, small molecule drugs, and photosensitizers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aiguo Jiang
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Taizhou University Affiliated Wenling Hospital, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Xinqiang Guan
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Lianping He
- Department of Basic Medicine, School of Medicine, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Xingang Guan
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Taizhou University Affiliated Wenling Hospital, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
- Department of Basic Medicine, School of Medicine, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| |
Collapse
|