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Jang SK, Kim G, Ahn SH, Hong J, Jin HO, Park IC. Duloxetine enhances the sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cells to EGFR inhibitors by REDD1-induced mTORC1/S6K1 suppression. Am J Cancer Res 2024; 14:1087-1100. [PMID: 38590408 PMCID: PMC10998747 DOI: 10.62347/wmqv6643] [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: 01/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Although epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) have been effective targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), most advanced NSCLC inevitably develop resistance to these therapies. Combination therapies emerge as valuable approach to preventing, delaying, or overcoming disease progression. Duloxetine, an antidepressant known as a serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, is commonly prescribed for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. In the present study, we investigated the combined effects of duloxetine and EGFR-TKIs and their possible mechanism in NSCLC cells. Compared with either monotherapy, the combination of duloxetine and EGFR-TKIs leads to synergistic cell death. Mechanistically, duloxetine suppresses 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (p70S6K1) activity through mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), and this effect is associated with the synergistic induction of cell death of duloxetine combined with EGFR-TKIs. More importantly, activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4)-induced regulated in development and DNA damage response 1 (REDD1) is responsible for the suppression of mTORC1/S6K1 activation. Additionally, we found that the combination effect was significantly attenuated in REDD1 knockout NSCLC cells. Taken together, our findings reveal that the ATF4/REDD1/mTORC1/S6K1 signaling axis, as a novel mechanism, is responsible for the synergistic therapeutic effect of duloxetine with EGFR-TKIs. These results suggest that combining EGFR-TKIs with duloxetine appears to be a promising way to improve EGFR-TKI efficacy against NSCLC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Se-Kyeong Jang
- Division of Fusion Radiology Research, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences75 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01812, Republic of Korea
- Department of Food and Microbial Technology, Seoul Women’s University621 Hwarangro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01797, Republic of Korea
| | - Gyeongmi Kim
- Division of Fusion Radiology Research, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences75 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01812, Republic of Korea
| | - Se Hee Ahn
- Division of Fusion Radiology Research, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences75 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01812, Republic of Korea
| | - Jungil Hong
- Department of Food and Microbial Technology, Seoul Women’s University621 Hwarangro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01797, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyeon-Ok Jin
- KIRAMS Radiation Biobank, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences75 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01812, Republic of Korea
| | - In-Chul Park
- Division of Fusion Radiology Research, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences75 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01812, Republic of Korea
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Zhao L, Wang Y, Sun X, Zhang X, Simone N, He J. ELK1/MTOR/S6K1 Pathway Contributes to Acquired Resistance to Gefitinib in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:2382. [PMID: 38397056 PMCID: PMC10888698 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25042382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The development of acquired resistance to small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling has hindered their efficacy in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Our previous study showed that constitutive activation of the 70 kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) contributes to the acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs in NSCLC cell lines and xenograft tumors in nude mice. However, the regulatory mechanisms underlying S6K1 constitutive activation in TKI-resistant cancer cells have not yet been explored. In this study, we recapitulated this finding by taking advantage of a gefitinib-resistant patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model established through a number of passages in mice treated with increasing doses of gefitinib. The dissociated primary cells from the resistant PDX tumors (PDX-R) displayed higher levels of phosphor-S6K1 expression and were resistant to gefitinib compared to cells from passage-matched parental PDX tumors (PDX-P). Both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of S6K1 increased sensitivity to gefitinib in PDX-R cells. In addition, both total and phosphorylated mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase (MTOR) levels were upregulated in PDX-R and gefitinib-resistant PC9G cells. Knockdown of MTOR by siRNA decreased the expression levels of total and phosphor-S6K1 and increased sensitivity to gefitinib in PDX-R and PC9G cells. Moreover, a transcription factor ELK1, which has multiple predicted binding sites on the MTOR promoter, was also upregulated in PDX-R and PC9G cells, while the knockdown of ELK1 led to decreased expression of MTOR and S6K1. The chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-PCR assay showed the direct binding between ELK1 and the MTOR promoter, and the luciferase reporter assay further indicated that ELK1 could upregulate MTOR expression through tuning up its transcription. Silencing ELK1 via siRNA transfection improved the efficacy of gefitinib in PDX-R and PC9G cells. These results support the notion that activation of ELK1/MTOR/S6K1 signaling contributes to acquired resistance to gefitinib in NSCLC. The findings in this study shed new light on the mechanism for acquired EGFR-TKI resistance and provide potential novel strategies by targeting the ELK1/MTOR/S6K1 pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Zhao
- Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; (L.Z.); (Y.W.); (X.S.)
| | - Yifang Wang
- Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; (L.Z.); (Y.W.); (X.S.)
| | - Xin Sun
- Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; (L.Z.); (Y.W.); (X.S.)
| | - Xiujuan Zhang
- Department of Medicine, Center for Translational Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA;
| | - Nicole Simone
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA;
| | - Jun He
- Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; (L.Z.); (Y.W.); (X.S.)
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Liu WJ, Wang L, Zhou FM, Liu SW, Wang W, Zhao EJ, Yao QJ, Li W, Zhao YQ, Shi Z, Qiu JG, Jiang BH. Elevated NOX4 promotes tumorigenesis and acquired EGFR-TKIs resistance via enhancing IL-8/PD-L1 signaling in NSCLC. Drug Resist Updat 2023; 70:100987. [PMID: 37392558 DOI: 10.1016/j.drup.2023.100987] [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: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/03/2023]
Abstract
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been widely used for human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment. However, acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs is the major barrier of treatment success, and new resistance mechanism remains to be elucidated. In this study, we found that elevated NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) expression was associated with acquired EGFR-TKIs resistance. Gefitinib is the first-generation FDA-approved EGFR-TKI, and osimertinib is the third-generation FDA-approved EGFR-TKI. We demonstrated that NOX4 knockdown in the EGFR-TKI resistant cells enabled the cells to become sensitive to gefitinib and osimertinib treatment, while forced expression of NOX4 in the sensitive parental cells was sufficient to induce resistance to gefitinib and osimertinib in the cells. To elucidate the mechanism of NOX4 upregulation in increasing TKIs resistance, we found that knockdown of NOX4 significantly down-regulated the expression of transcription factor YY1. YY1 bound directly to the promoter region of IL-8 to transcriptionally activate IL-8 expression. Interestingly, knockdown of NOX4 and IL-8 decreased programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, which provide new insight on TKIs resistance and immune escape. We found that patients with higher NOX4 and IL-8 expression levels showed a shorter survival time compared to those with lower NOX4 and IL-8 expression levels in response to the anti-PD-L1 therapy. Knockdown of NOX4, YY1 or IL-8 alone inhibited angiogenesis and tumor growth. Furthermore, the combination of NOX4 inhibitor GKT137831 and gefitinib had synergistic effect to inhibit cell proliferation and tumor growth and to increase cellular apoptosis. These findings demonstrated that NOX4 and YY1 were essential for mediating the acquired EGFR-TKIs resistance. IL-8 and PD-L1 are two downstream targets of NOX4 to regulate TKIs resistance and immunotherapy. These molecules may be used as potential new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for overcoming TKIs resistance in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Jing Liu
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China
| | - Lin Wang
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China
| | - Feng-Mei Zhou
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China
| | - Shu-Wen Liu
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China
| | - Wei Wang
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China
| | - Er-Jiang Zhao
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China
| | - Quan-Jun Yao
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Pathology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210000, China
| | - Yan-Qiu Zhao
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China
| | - Zhi Shi
- Department of Cell Biology & Institute of Biomedicine, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine, MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Bioengineering Medicine, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632, China
| | - Jian-Ge Qiu
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China.
| | - Bing-Hua Jiang
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, The Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450008, China.
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Xia X, Pi W, Chen M, Wang W, Cai D, Wang X, Lan Y, Yang H. Emerging roles of PHLPP phosphatases in lung cancer. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1216131. [PMID: 37576883 PMCID: PMC10414793 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1216131] [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: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Pleckstrin homologous domain leucine-rich repeating protein phosphatases (PHLPPs) were originally identified as protein kinase B (Akt) kinase hydrophobic motif specific phosphatases to maintain the cellular homeostasis. With the continuous expansion of PHLPPs research, imbalanced-PHLPPs were mainly found as a tumor suppressor gene of a variety of solid tumors. In this review, we simply described the history and structures of PHLPPs and summarized the recent achievements in emerging roles of PHLPPs in lung cancer by 1) the signaling pathways affected by PHLPPs including Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT, RAS/RAF/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and Protein kinase C (PKC) signaling cascades. 2) function of PHLPPs regulatory factor USP46 and miR-190/miR-215, 3) the potential roles of PHLPPs in disease prognosis, Epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR)- tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance and DNA damage, 4) and the possible function of PHLPPs in radiotherapy, ferroptosis and inflammation response. Therefore, PHLPPs can be considered as either biomarker or prognostic marker for lung cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Haihua Yang
- Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology of Taizhou, Radiation Oncology Institute of Enze Medical Health Academy, Department of Radiation Oncology, Taizhou Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China
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5
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Garana BB, Joly JH, Delfarah A, Hong H, Graham NA. Drug mechanism enrichment analysis improves prioritization of therapeutics for repurposing. BMC Bioinformatics 2023; 24:215. [PMID: 37226094 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-023-05343-8] [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: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is a pressing need for improved methods to identify effective therapeutics for diseases. Many computational approaches have been developed to repurpose existing drugs to meet this need. However, these tools often output long lists of candidate drugs that are difficult to interpret, and individual drug candidates may suffer from unknown off-target effects. We reasoned that an approach which aggregates information from multiple drugs that share a common mechanism of action (MOA) would increase on-target signal compared to evaluating drugs on an individual basis. In this study, we present drug mechanism enrichment analysis (DMEA), an adaptation of gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), which groups drugs with shared MOAs to improve the prioritization of drug repurposing candidates. RESULTS First, we tested DMEA on simulated data and showed that it can sensitively and robustly identify an enriched drug MOA. Next, we used DMEA on three types of rank-ordered drug lists: (1) perturbagen signatures based on gene expression data, (2) drug sensitivity scores based on high-throughput cancer cell line screening, and (3) molecular classification scores of intrinsic and acquired drug resistance. In each case, DMEA detected the expected MOA as well as other relevant MOAs. Furthermore, the rankings of MOAs generated by DMEA were better than the original single-drug rankings in all tested data sets. Finally, in a drug discovery experiment, we identified potential senescence-inducing and senolytic drug MOAs for primary human mammary epithelial cells and then experimentally validated the senolytic effects of EGFR inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS DMEA is a versatile bioinformatic tool that can improve the prioritization of candidates for drug repurposing. By grouping drugs with a shared MOA, DMEA increases on-target signal and reduces off-target effects compared to analysis of individual drugs. DMEA is publicly available as both a web application and an R package at https://belindabgarana.github.io/DMEA .
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Affiliation(s)
- Belinda B Garana
- Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, 3710 McClintock Ave., RTH 509, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - James H Joly
- Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, 3710 McClintock Ave., RTH 509, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
- Nautilus Biotechnology, San Carlos, CA, USA
| | - Alireza Delfarah
- Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, 3710 McClintock Ave., RTH 509, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
- Calico Life Sciences, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Hyunjun Hong
- Department of Computer Science, Information Systems, and Applications, Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas A Graham
- Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, 3710 McClintock Ave., RTH 509, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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6
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Kannampuzha S, Mukherjee AG, Wanjari UR, Gopalakrishnan AV, Murali R, Namachivayam A, Renu K, Dey A, Vellingiri B, Madhyastha H, Ganesan R. A Systematic Role of Metabolomics, Metabolic Pathways, and Chemical Metabolism in Lung Cancer. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:vaccines11020381. [PMID: 36851259 PMCID: PMC9960365 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11020381] [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: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer (LC) is considered as one of the leading causes of cancer-associated mortalities. Cancer cells' reprogrammed metabolism results in changes in metabolite concentrations, which can be utilized to identify a distinct metabolic pattern or fingerprint for cancer detection or diagnosis. By detecting different metabolic variations in the expression levels of LC patients, this will help and enhance early diagnosis methods as well as new treatment strategies. The majority of patients are identified at advanced stages after undergoing a number of surgical procedures or diagnostic testing, including the invasive procedures. This could be overcome by understanding the mechanism and function of differently regulated metabolites. Significant variations in the metabolites present in the different samples can be analyzed and used as early biomarkers. They could also be used to analyze the specific progression and type as well as stages of cancer type making it easier for the treatment process. The main aim of this review article is to focus on rewired metabolic pathways and the associated metabolite alterations that can be used as diagnostic and therapeutic targets in lung cancer diagnosis as well as treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Kannampuzha
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore 632014, India
| | - Anirban Goutam Mukherjee
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore 632014, India
| | - Uddesh Ramesh Wanjari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore 632014, India
| | - Abilash Valsala Gopalakrishnan
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore 632014, India
- Correspondence: (A.V.G.); (R.G.)
| | - Reshma Murali
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore 632014, India
| | - Arunraj Namachivayam
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore 632014, India
| | - Kaviyarasi Renu
- Centre of Molecular Medicine and Diagnostics (COMManD), Department of Biochemistry, Saveetha Dental College & Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai 600077, India
| | - Abhijit Dey
- Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata 700073, India
| | - Balachandar Vellingiri
- Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine/Translational Research, Department of Zoology, School of Basic Sciences, Central University of Punjab (CUPB), Bathinda 151401, India
| | - Harishkumar Madhyastha
- Department of Cardiovascular Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan
| | - Raja Ganesan
- Institute for Liver and Digestive Diseases, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon 24252, Republic of Korea
- Correspondence: (A.V.G.); (R.G.)
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Chen J, Guo B, Liu X, Zhang J, Zhang J, Fang Y, Zhu S, Wei B, Cao Y, Zhan L. Roles of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications in gynecologic cancers: mechanisms and therapeutic targeting. Exp Hematol Oncol 2022; 11:98. [DOI: 10.1186/s40164-022-00357-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractUterine and ovarian cancers are the most common gynecologic cancers. N6−methyladenosine (m6A), an important internal RNA modification in higher eukaryotes, has recently become a hot topic in epigenetic studies. Numerous studies have revealed that the m6A-related regulatory factors regulate the occurrence and metastasis of tumors and drug resistance through various mechanisms. The m6A-related regulatory factors can also be used as therapeutic targets and biomarkers for the early diagnosis of cancers, including gynecologic cancers. This review discusses the role of m6A in gynecologic cancers and summarizes the recent advancements in m6A modification in gynecologic cancers to improve the understanding of the occurrence, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of gynecologic cancers.
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p70 S6 kinase as a therapeutic target in cancers: More than just an mTOR effector. Cancer Lett 2022; 535:215593. [PMID: 35176419 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2022.215593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Revised: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K) is best-known for its regulatory roles in protein synthesis and cell growth by phosphorylating its primary substrate, ribosomal protein S6, upon mitogen stimulation. The enhanced expression/activation of p70S6K has been correlated with poor prognosis in some cancer types, suggesting that it may serve as a biomarker for disease monitoring. p70S6K is a critical downstream effector of the oncogenic PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and its activation is tightly regulated by an ordered cascade of Ser/Thr phosphorylation events. Nonetheless, it should be noted that other upstream mechanisms regulating p70S6K at both the post-translational and post-transcriptional levels also exist. Activated p70S6K could promote various aspects of cancer progression such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cancer stemness and drug resistance. Importantly, novel evidence showing that p70S6K may also regulate different cellular components in the tumor microenvironment will be discussed. Therapeutic targeting of p70S6K alone or in combination with traditional chemotherapies or other microenvironmental-based drugs such as immunotherapy may represent promising approaches against cancers with aberrant p70S6K signaling. Currently, the only clinically available p70S6K inhibitors are rapamycin analogs (rapalogs) which target mTOR. However, there are emerging p70S6K-selective drugs which are going through active preclinical or clinical trial phases. Moreover, various screening strategies have been used for the discovery of novel p70S6K inhibitors, hence bringing new insights for p70S6K-targeted therapy.
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Wang L, Ji XB, Wang LH, Xia ZK, Xie YX, Liu WJ, Qiu JG, Jiang BH, Liu LZ. MiRNA-30e downregulation increases cancer cell proliferation, invasion and tumor growth through targeting RPS6KB1. Aging (Albany NY) 2021; 13:24037-24049. [PMID: 34727092 PMCID: PMC8610128 DOI: 10.18632/aging.203665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Human esophagus carcinoma (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumors, especially in Africa and Asia including China. In EC initiation and progression, genetic and epigenetic aberrations have been reported to play a major role, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, the miR-30e levels were analyzed in human EC tissues and TCGA databases, and the results demonstrated that miR-30e expression in EC tissues was significantly decreased compared to adjacent normal tissues. To further investigate the role of miR-30e in cancer cells, we found that forced expression of miR-30e dramatically inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, tube formation, and colony formation of cancer cells. To determine the underlying mechanism of miR-30e, we found that RPS6KB1 was a direct target of miR-30e by binding to its 3′-UTR, which was verified by luciferase activity assay using reporters with wild-type miR-30e and its seed sequence mutant constructs and Western blotting assay. In vivo experiment showed that miR-30e overexpression significantly inhibited tumor growth and decreased RPS6KB1 expression in xenografts. In EC, high expression of RPS6KB1 in tumor tissues indicated poor prognosis of patients with less survival rate. High levels of RPS6KB1 and low levels of miR-30e closely correlated poor survival of patients with several other types of cancer. These findings show that miR-30e and its target RPS6KB1 are important in cancer development and clinical outcomes, and miR-30e/RPS6KB1 is a potential future therapeutic pathway for EC intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Wang
- BGI College and Henan Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Xiang-Bo Ji
- BGI College and Henan Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Li-Hong Wang
- BGI College and Henan Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Zhong-Kun Xia
- Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yun-Xia Xie
- Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Wen-Jing Liu
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Jian-Ge Qiu
- Academy of Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Bing-Hua Jiang
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Ling-Zhi Liu
- Department of Medical Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
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10
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Nie S, Zhang L, Liu J, Wan Y, Jiang Y, Yang J, Sun R, Ma X, Sun G, Meng H, Xu M, Cheng W. ALKBH5-HOXA10 loop-mediated JAK2 m6A demethylation and cisplatin resistance in epithelial ovarian cancer. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH : CR 2021; 40:284. [PMID: 34496932 PMCID: PMC8425158 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-021-02088-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Background Chemotherapy resistance remains a barrier to improving the prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). ALKBH5 has recently been shown to be one of the RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) demethyltransferases associated with various cancers, but its role in cancer therapeutic resistance remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of AlkB homolog 5 (ALKBH5) in cisplatin-resistant EOC. Methods Functional assays were performed both in vitro and in vivo. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), m6A-modified RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq), chromatin immunoprecipitation, RNA immunoprecipitation, and luciferase reporter and actinomycin-D assays were performed to investigate RNA/RNA interaction and m6A modification of the ALKBH5-HOXA10 loop. Results ALKBH5 was upregulated in cisplatin-resistant EOC and promoted cancer cell cisplatin resistance both in vivo and in vitro. Notably, HOXA10 formed a loop with ALKBH5 and was found to be the upstream transcription factor of ALKBH5. HOXA10 overexpression also facilitated EOC cell chemoresistance both in vivo and in vitro. Collective results of MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq showed that JAK2 is the m6A-modified gene targeted by ALKBH5. The JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway was activated by overexpression of the ALKBH5-HOXA10 loop, resulting in EOC chemoresistance. Cell sensitivity to cisplatin was rescued by ALKBH5 and HOXA10 knockdown or inhibition of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in EOC cells overexpressing ALKBH5-HOXA10. Conclusions The ALKBH5-HOXA10 loop jointly activates the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway by mediating JAK2 m6A demethylation, promoting EOC resistance to cisplatin. Thus, inhibition of the expression of the ALKBH5-HOXA10 loop may be a potential strategy to overcome cisplatin resistance in EOC. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-021-02088-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sipei Nie
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Lin Zhang
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jinhui Liu
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yicong Wan
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yi Jiang
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jing Yang
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Rui Sun
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xiaolling Ma
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Guodong Sun
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Huangyang Meng
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Mengting Xu
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Wenjun Cheng
- Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China.
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