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Candido MF, Medeiros M, Veronez LC, Bastos D, Oliveira KL, Pezuk JA, Valera ET, Brassesco MS. Drugging Hijacked Kinase Pathways in Pediatric Oncology: Opportunities and Current Scenario. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:pharmaceutics15020664. [PMID: 36839989 PMCID: PMC9966033 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15020664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Childhood cancer is considered rare, corresponding to ~3% of all malignant neoplasms in the human population. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports a universal occurrence of more than 15 cases per 100,000 inhabitants around the globe, and despite improvements in diagnosis, treatment and supportive care, one child dies of cancer every 3 min. Consequently, more efficient, selective and affordable therapeutics are still needed in order to improve outcomes and avoid long-term sequelae. Alterations in kinases' functionality is a trademark of cancer and the concept of exploiting them as drug targets has burgeoned in academia and in the pharmaceutical industry of the 21st century. Consequently, an increasing plethora of inhibitors has emerged. In the present study, the expression patterns of a selected group of kinases (including tyrosine receptors, members of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPK pathways, coordinators of cell cycle progression, and chromosome segregation) and their correlation with clinical outcomes in pediatric solid tumors were accessed through the R2: Genomics Analysis and Visualization Platform and by a thorough search of published literature. To further illustrate the importance of kinase dysregulation in the pathophysiology of pediatric cancer, we analyzed the vulnerability of different cancer cell lines against their inhibition through the Cancer Dependency Map portal, and performed a search for kinase-targeted compounds with approval and clinical applicability through the CanSAR knowledgebase. Finally, we provide a detailed literature review of a considerable set of small molecules that mitigate kinase activity under experimental testing and clinical trials for the treatment of pediatric tumors, while discuss critical challenges that must be overcome before translation into clinical options, including the absence of compounds designed specifically for childhood tumors which often show differential mutational burdens, intrinsic and acquired resistance, lack of selectivity and adverse effects on a growing organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Ferreira Candido
- Department of Cell Biology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14049-900, SP, Brazil
| | - Mariana Medeiros
- Regional Blood Center, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14049-900, SP, Brazil
| | - Luciana Chain Veronez
- Department of Pediatrics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14049-900, SP, Brazil
| | - David Bastos
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters at Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-901, SP, Brazil
| | - Karla Laissa Oliveira
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters at Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-901, SP, Brazil
| | - Julia Alejandra Pezuk
- Departament of Biotechnology and Innovation, Anhanguera University of São Paulo, UNIAN/SP, São Paulo 04119-001, SP, Brazil
| | - Elvis Terci Valera
- Department of Pediatrics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14049-900, SP, Brazil
| | - María Sol Brassesco
- Departament of Biotechnology and Innovation, Anhanguera University of São Paulo, UNIAN/SP, São Paulo 04119-001, SP, Brazil
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +55-16-3315-9144; Fax: +55-16-3315-4886
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Casein kinase TbCK1.2 regulates division of kinetoplast DNA, and movement of basal bodies in the African trypanosome. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0249908. [PMID: 33861760 PMCID: PMC8051774 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The single mitochondrial nucleoid (kinetoplast) of Trypanosoma brucei is found proximal to a basal body (mature (mBB)/probasal body (pBB) pair). Kinetoplast inheritance requires synthesis of, and scission of kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) generating two kinetoplasts that segregate with basal bodies into daughter cells. Molecular details of kinetoplast scission and the extent to which basal body separation influences the process are unavailable. To address this topic, we followed basal body movements in bloodstream trypanosomes following depletion of protein kinase TbCK1.2 which promotes kinetoplast division. In control cells we found that pBBs are positioned 0.4 um from mBBs in G1, and they mature after separating from mBBs by at least 0.8 um: mBB separation reaches ~2.2 um. These data indicate that current models of basal body biogenesis in which pBBs mature in close proximity to mBBs may need to be revisited. Knockdown of TbCK1.2 produced trypanosomes containing one kinetoplast and two nuclei (1K2N), increased the percentage of cells with uncleaved kDNA 400%, decreased mBB spacing by 15%, and inhibited cytokinesis 300%. We conclude that (a) separation of mBBs beyond a threshold of 1.8 um correlates with division of kDNA, and (b) TbCK1.2 regulates kDNA scission. We propose a Kinetoplast Division Factor hypothesis that integrates these data into a pathway for biogenesis of two daughter mitochondrial nucleoids.
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Hu Q, Zhu L, Li Y, Zhou J, Xu J. ACTA1 is inhibited by PAX3-FOXO1 through RhoA-MKL1-SRF signaling pathway and impairs cell proliferation, migration and tumor growth in Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. Cell Biosci 2021; 11:25. [PMID: 33509264 PMCID: PMC7842031 DOI: 10.1186/s13578-021-00534-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) is a pediatric malignant soft tissue tumor with skeletal muscle phenotype. Little work about skeletal muscle proteins in ARMS was reported. PAX3-FOXO1 is a specific fusion gene generated from the chromosomal translocation t (2;13) (q35; q14) in most ARMS. ACTA1 is the skeletal muscle alpha actin gene whose transcript was detected in ARMS. However, ACTA1 expression and regulation in ARMS have not been well investigated. This work aims to explore the expression, regulation and potential role of ACTA1 in ARMS. Results ACTA1 protein was detected in the studied RH30, RH4 and RH41 ARMS cells. ACTA1 was found to be inhibited by PAX3-FOXO1 at transcription and protein levels by employing western blot, luciferase reporter, qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence assays. The activities of ACTA1 gene reporter induced by RhoA, MKL1, SRF, STARS or Cytochalasin D molecule were reduced in the presence of overexpressed PAX3-FOXO1 protein. CCG-1423 is an inhibitor of RhoA-MKL1-SRF signaling, we observed there was a synergistic effect between this inhibitor and PAX3-FOXO1 to suppress ACTA1 reporter activity. Furthermore, PAX3-FOXO1 overexpression decreased ACTA1 protein level and knockdown of PAX3-FOXO1 by siRNA enhanced ACTA1 expression. In addition, both MKL1 and SRF, but not RhoA were also found to be inhibited by PAX3-FOXO1 gene at protein levels and increased once knockdown of PAX3-FOXO1 expression. The association between MKL1 and SRF in cells was decreased accordingly with ectopic expression of PAX3-FOXO1. However, the distribution of MKL1 and SRF in nuclear or cytoplasm fraction was not changed by PAX3-FOXO1 expression. Finally, we showed that ACTA1 overexpression in RH30 cells could inhibit cell proliferation and migration in vitro and impair tumor growth in vivo compared with the control groups. Conclusions ACTA1 is inhibited by PAX3-FOXO1 at transcription and protein levels through RhoA-MKL1-SRF signaling pathway and this inhibition may partially contribute to the tumorigenesis and development of ARMS. Our findings improved the understanding of PAX3-FOXO1 in ARMS and provided a potential strategy for the treatment of ARMS in future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiande Hu
- Research Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, 150 Jimo Road, Shanghai, 200120, China.
| | - Liang Zhu
- Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200120, China
| | - Yuan Li
- Research Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, 150 Jimo Road, Shanghai, 200120, China
| | - Jianjun Zhou
- Research Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, 150 Jimo Road, Shanghai, 200120, China.
| | - Jun Xu
- Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200120, China.
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Smad7:β-catenin complex regulates myogenic gene transcription. Cell Death Dis 2019; 10:387. [PMID: 31097718 PMCID: PMC6522533 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-019-1615-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2018] [Revised: 03/30/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Recent reports indicate that Smad7 promotes skeletal muscle differentiation and growth. We previously documented a non-canonical role of nuclear Smad7 during myogenesis, independent of its role in TGF-β signaling. Here further characterization of the myogenic function of Smad7 revealed β-catenin as a Smad7 interacting protein. Biochemical analysis identified a Smad7 interaction domain (SID) between aa575 and aa683 of β-catenin. Reporter gene analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated that Smad7 and β-catenin are cooperatively recruited to the extensively characterized ckm promoter proximal region to facilitate its muscle restricted transcriptional activation in myogenic cells. Depletion of endogenous Smad7 and β-catenin in muscle cells reduced ckm promoter activity indicating their role during myogenesis. Deletion of the β-catenin SID substantially reduced the effect of Smad7 on the ckm promoter and exogenous expression of SID abolished β-catenin function, indicating that SID functions as a trans dominant-negative regulator of β-catenin activity. β-catenin interaction with the Mediator kinase complex through its Med12 subunit led us to identify MED13 as an additional Smad7-binding partner. Collectively, these studies document a novel function of a Smad7-MED12/13-β-catenin complex at the ckm locus, indicating a key role of this complex in the program of myogenic gene expression underlying skeletal muscle development and regeneration.
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Pollock RE, Payne JE, Rogers AD, Smith SM, Iwenofu OH, Valerio IL, Zomerlei TA, Howard JH, Dornbos D, Galgano MA, Goulart C, Mendel E, Miller ED, Xu-Welliver M, Martin DD, Haglund KE, Bupathi M, Chen JL, Yeager ND. Multidisciplinary sarcoma care. Curr Probl Surg 2018; 55:517-580. [PMID: 30526918 DOI: 10.1067/j.cpsurg.2018.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Raphael E Pollock
- The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH.
| | - Jason E Payne
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | - Alan D Rogers
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | - Stephen M Smith
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | - O Hans Iwenofu
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | - Ian L Valerio
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | | | | | - David Dornbos
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | | | | | - Ehud Mendel
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | - Eric D Miller
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | | | | | - Karl E Haglund
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | | | - James L Chen
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
| | - Nicholas D Yeager
- Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH
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Preclinical testing of the glycogen synthase kinase-3β inhibitor tideglusib for rhabdomyosarcoma. Oncotarget 2017; 8:62976-62983. [PMID: 28968964 PMCID: PMC5609896 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.18520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 06/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common childhood soft tissue sarcoma. RMS often arise from myogenic precursors and displays a poorly differentiated skeletal muscle phenotype most closely resembling regenerating muscle. GSK3β is a ubiquitously expressed serine-threonine kinase capable of repressing the terminal myogenic differentiation program in cardiac and skeletal muscle. Recent unbiased chemical screening efforts have prioritized GSK3β inhibitors as inducers of myodifferentiation in RMS, suggesting efficacy as single agents in suppressing growth and promoting self-renewal in zebrafish transgenic embryonal RMS (eRMS) models in vivo. In this study, we tested the irreversible GSK3β-inhibitor, tideglusib for in vivo efficacy in patient-derived xenograft models of both alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS) and eRMS. Tideglusib had effective on-target pharmacodynamic efficacy, but as a single agent had no effect on tumor progression or myodifferentiation. These results suggest that as monotherapy, GSK3β inhibitors may not be a viable treatment for aRMS or eRMS.
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Schleicher SB, Zaborski JJ, Riester R, Zenkner N, Handgretinger R, Kluba T, Traub F, Boehme KA. Combined application of arsenic trioxide and lithium chloride augments viability reduction and apoptosis induction in human rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0178857. [PMID: 28575066 PMCID: PMC5456379 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2016] [Accepted: 05/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) are the most prevalent soft tissue sarcomas affecting children and adolescents. Despite intensive treatment consisting of multimodal chemotherapy and surgery RMS patients diagnosed with metastatic disease expect long term survival rates of only 20%. Often multidrug resistance arises upon initial response emphasizing the need for new therapeutic drugs to improve treatment efficiency. Previously, we demonstrated the efficacy of the FDA approved drug arsenic trioxide (ATO) specifically inhibiting viability and clonal growth as well as inducing cell death in human RMS cell lines of different subtypes. In this study, we combined low dose ATO with lithium chloride (LiCl), which is approved as mood stabilizer for the treatment of bipolar disorder, but also inhibits growth and survival of different cancer cell types in pre-clinical research. Indeed, we could show additive effects of LiCl and ATO on viability reduction, decrease of colony formation as well as cell death induction. In the course of this, LiCl induced inhibitory glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) serine 9 phosphorylation, whereas glioma associated oncogene family 1 (GLI1) protein expression was particularly reduced by combined ATO and LiCl treatment in RD and RH-30 cell lines, showing high rates of apoptotic cell death. These results imply that combination of ATO with LiCl or another drug targeting GSK-3 is a promising strategy to enforce the treatment efficiency in resistant and recurrent RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine B. Schleicher
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Children’s Hospital, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Julian J. Zaborski
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Laboratory of Cell Biology, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Rosa Riester
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Laboratory of Cell Biology, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Natascha Zenkner
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Laboratory of Cell Biology, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Rupert Handgretinger
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Children’s Hospital, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Torsten Kluba
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Frank Traub
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Laboratory of Cell Biology, Tuebingen, Germany
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Karen A. Boehme
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Laboratory of Cell Biology, Tuebingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Inhibiting phosphorylation of the oncogenic PAX3-FOXO1 reduces alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma phenotypes identifying novel therapy options. Oncogenesis 2015; 4:e145. [PMID: 25821947 PMCID: PMC4491609 DOI: 10.1038/oncsis.2015.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2015] [Accepted: 01/21/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Patients with translocation-positive alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS), an aggressive childhood tumor primarily characterized by the PAX3-FOXO1 oncogenic fusion protein, have a poor prognosis because of lack of therapies that specifically target ARMS tumors. This fact highlights the need for novel pharmaceutical interventions. Posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation are becoming attractive biological targets for the development of such interventions. Along these lines, we demonstrated that PAX3-FOXO1 is phosphorylated at three specific sites and that its pattern of phosphorylation is altered relative to wild-type Pax3 throughout early myogenesis and in ARMS tumor cells. However, little work has been performed examining the effect of directly inhibiting phosphorylation at these sites on ARMS development. To address this gap in knowledge, we used small molecule inhibitors or mutational analysis to specifically inhibit phosphorylation of PAX3-FOXO1 to investigate how altering phosphorylation of the oncogenic fusion protein affects ARMS phenotypes. We found that inhibiting the phosphorylation of PAX3-FOXO1 at Ser201 significantly reduced migration, invasion and proliferation in two independent ARMS tumor cell lines. Further, we found that inhibition of phosphorylation at Ser205 also decreased proliferation and anchorage-independent growth. Consistent with these in vitro results, we demonstrate for the first time that PAX3-FOXO1 is phosphorylated at Ser201 and Ser205 in a primary tumor sample and in tumor cells actively invading the surrounding normal tissue. This report is the first to demonstrate that the direct inhibition of PAX3-FOXO1 phosphorylation reduces ARMS tumor phenotypes in vitro and that these phosphorylation events are present in primary human ARMS tumors and invading tumor cells. These results identify phosphorylation of PAX3-FOXO1, especially at Ser201, as a novel biological target that can be explored as a promising avenue for ARMS therapies.
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Zhu B, Davie JK. New insights into signalling-pathway alterations in rhabdomyosarcoma. Br J Cancer 2014; 112:227-31. [PMID: 25211658 PMCID: PMC4453439 DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2014.471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2014] [Revised: 07/14/2014] [Accepted: 07/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in children and young adults. Several recent studies have shed new light on the alterations in signalling pathways and the downstream effects of these pathway alterations in RMS. Many of these effects converge on the fibroblast growth factor and insulin-like growth-factor pathways. These new findings improve the current understanding of RMS, thus offering novel potential therapeutic targets and strategies that may improve the outcome for patients with RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Simmons Cancer Institute, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
| | - J K Davie
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Simmons Cancer Institute, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
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