Kinome-wide analysis of the effect of statins in colorectal cancer

Regulatory effects of statins on Akt signaling for prevention of cancers

Statins, which are primarily used as lipid-lowering drugs, have been found to exhibit anti-tumor effects through modulating and interfering with various signaling pathways. In observational studies, statin use has been associated with a significant reduction in the progression of various cancers, including colon, lung, prostate, pancreas, and esophagus cancer, as well as melanoma and B and T cell lymphoma. The mevalonate pathway, which is affected by statins, plays a crucial role in activating Rho, Ras, and Rab proteins, thereby impacting the proliferation and apoptosis of tumor cells. Statins block this pathway, leading to the inhibition of isoprenoid units, which are critical for the activation of these key proteins, thereby affecting cancer cell behavior. Additionally, statins affect MAPK and Cdk2, which in turn reduce the expression of p21 and p27 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors. Akt signaling plays a crucial role in key cancer cell features like proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis by activating multiple effectors in downstream pathways such as FOXO, PTEN, NF-κB, GSK3β, and mTOR. The PI3K/Akt signaling is necessary for many events in the metastatic pathway and has been implicated in the resistance to cytostatic drugs. The Akt/PTEN axis is currently attracting great interest for its role in carcinogenesis. Statins have been shown to activate the purinergic receptor P2X7 and affect Akt signaling, which may have important anti-cancer effects. Hence, targeting Akt shows promise as an effective approach to cancer prevention and therapy. This review aims to provide a comprehensive discussion on the specific impact of statins through Akt signaling in different types of cancer.

Stromal BMP signaling regulates mucin production in the large intestine via interleukin-1/17

Bone morphogenic protein (BMP) signaling is critical for intestinal development, homeostasis, and function performance. Although the function of BMP signaling in the intestinal epithelium is well appreciated, the direct effect of BMP on intestinal stromal cells is poorly understood. Here, we show that disruption of BMP signaling by genetic ablation of Alk3 or Smad4 expands the stromal cell pool, the mucosa tumefaction, and colonic polyposis in the large intestine. Interleukin (IL) secretion by stromal cells is notably increased, including IL-1, IL-11, and IL-17. Specifically, IL-1 and IL-17a hyperactivate the mucin production by goblet cells through nuclear factor κB signaling, and abnormal mucin accumulation results in the morphological changes, epithelial barrier destruction, and polyposis development. Together, our results provide an insight into the role of BMP signaling in intestinal stromal cells to regulate epithelium function. This study further highlights the role of mucin-producing goblet cells in intestinal homeostasis and colitis development.

The Sterol Transporter Npc2c Controls Intestinal Stem Cell Mitosis and Host-Microbiome Interactions in Drosophila

Cholesterol is necessary for all cells to function. The intracellular cholesterol transporters Npc1 and Npc2 control sterol trafficking and their malfunction leads to Neimann-Pick Type C disease, a rare disorder affecting the nervous system and the intestine. Unlike humans that encode single Npc1 and Npc2 transporters, flies encompass two Npc1 (Npc1a-1b) and eight Npc2 (Npc2a-2h) members, and most of the Npc2 family genes remain unexplored. Here, we focus on the intestinal function of Npc2c in the adult. We find that Npc2c is necessary for intestinal stem cell (ISC) mitosis, maintenance of the ISC lineage, survival upon pathogenic infection, as well as tumor growth. Impaired mitosis of Npc2c-silenced midguts is accompanied by reduced expression of Cyclin genes, and genes encoding ISC regulators, such as Delta, unpaired1 and Socs36E. ISC-specific Npc2c silencing induces Attacin-A expression, a phenotype reminiscent of Gram-negative bacteria overabundance. Metagenomic analysis of Npc2c-depleted midguts indicates intestinal dysbiosis, whereby decreased commensal complexity is accompanied by increased gamma-proteobacteria. ISC-specific Npc2c silencing also results in increased cholesterol aggregation. Interestingly, administration of the non-steroidal ecdysone receptor agonist, RH5849, rescues mitosis of Npc2c-silenced midguts and increases expression of the ecdysone response gene Broad, underscoring the role of Npc2c and sterols in ecdysone signaling. Assessment of additional Npc2 family members indicates potential redundant roles with Npc2c in ISC control and response to ecdysone signaling. Our results highlight a previously unidentified essential role of Npc2c in ISC mitosis, as well as an important role in ecdysone signaling and microbiome composition in the Drosophila midgut.

Beneficial effects of prehospital use of statins in a large United States cohort of hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 patients

AIMS

This large cohort study aimed to assess the role of chronic statin use on COVID-19 disease severity.

METHODS

An observational retrospective study from electronic medical records of hospitalized patients (n = 43 950) with COVID-19 between January and September 2020 in 185 hospitals in the United States. A total of 38 875 patients met inclusion criteria; 23 066 were included in the propensity-matched sampling with replacement cohort; 11 533 were prehospital statin users. The primary outcome was all-cause death; secondary outcomes were death from COVID-19 and serious complications. Mean, standard deviation, chi-square test, Student's t-test, linear regression, and binary and multinomial logistic regressions were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Among 38 875 patients, 30% were chronic statin users [mean age, 70.82 (±12.25); 47.1% women] and 70% were statin nonusers [mean age, 58.44 (±18.27); 48.5% women]. Key propensity-matched outcomes among 11 533 chronic statin users showed 20% lower risk of all-cause mortality (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.74-0.86, P < 0.001), 23% lower risk of mortality from COVID-19 (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.71-0.84, P < 0.001), 16% lower risk of ICU admission (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.79-0.89, P < 0.001), 24% lower risk of critical acute respiratory distress syndrome with COVID-19 (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70-0.83, P < 0.001), 23% lower risk of mechanical ventilation (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.71-0.82, P < 0.001), 20% lower risk of severe sepsis with septic shock (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67-0.93, P = 0.004), shorter hospital length of stay [9.87 (±8.94), P < 0.001] and brief duration of mechanical ventilation [8.90 (±8.94), P < 0.001].

CONCLUSION

Chronic use of statins is associated with reduced mortality and improved clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

Statins block mammalian target of rapamycin pathway: a possible novel therapeutic strategy for inflammatory, malignant and neurodegenerative diseases

Inflammation plays a critical role in several diseases such as cancer, gastric, heart and nervous system diseases. Data suggest that the activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway in epithelial cells leads to inflammation. Statins, the inhibitors of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA), seem to be able to inhibit the mTOR. Statins are considered to have favorable effects on inflammatory diseases by reducing the complications caused by inflammation and by regulating the inflammatory process and cytokines secretion. This critical review collected data on this topic from clinical, in vivo and in vitro studies published between 1998 and June 2022 in English from databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Cochrane libraries.

Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment: A Literature Review of the Novel Anti-Tumor Mechanism of Statins

Statins is widely used in clinical practice as lipid-lowering drugs and has been proven to be effective in the treatment of cardiovascular, endocrine, metabolic syndrome and other diseases. The latest preclinical evidence shows that statins have anti-proliferation, pro-apoptotic, anti-invasion and radiotherapy sensitization effects on tumor cells, suggesting that statins may become a new type of anti-tumor drugs. For a long time, mevalonate pathway has been proved to play a supporting role in the development of tumor cells. As an effective inhibitor of mevalonate pathway, statins have been proved to have a direct auxiliary anti-tumor effect in a large number of studies. In addition, anti-tumor effects of statins through ferroptosis, pyroptosis, autophagy and tumor microenvironment (TME) have also been gradually discovered. However, the specific mechanism of the antitumor effect of statins in the tumor microenvironment has not been clearly elucidated. Herein, we reviewed the antitumor effects of statins in tumor microenvironment, focusing on hypoxia microenvironment, immune microenvironment, metabolic microenvironment, acid microenvironment and mechanical microenvironment.

Decreased USP2a Expression Inhibits Trophoblast Invasion and Associates With Recurrent Miscarriage

An appropriate development of the placenta consisting of trophoblast cell migration, invasion, proliferation, and apoptosis, is essential to establishing and maintaining a successful pregnancy. Ubiquitin‐specific protease 2a (USP2a) regulates the processes of metastasis in multiple tumor cells. Yet, no known research has focused on exploring the effect of USP2a on trophoblasts and its possible mechanism in the pathogenies of recurrent miscarriage (RM). In this study, we first detected the decreased mRNA levels and the protein levels of USP2a in placental villous tissue samples from the RM patients. In vitro assays verified that overexpression of USP2a promoted human trophoblast proliferation, migration, invasion, whereas knockdown of USP2a inhibited these processes. Mechanistically, USP2a activated PI3K/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway to promote nuclear translocation of β‐catenin and further activated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the trophoblasts. Moreover, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) up-regulated USP2a expression in trophoblasts. Interestingly, M2 macrophage secreted TGF-β induced trophoblast migration and invasion, and an anti-TGF-β antibody alleviated this effect. Collectively, this study indicated that USP2a regulated trophoblast invasion and that abnormal USP2a expression might lead to aberrant trophoblast invasion, thus contributing to RM.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Increases the Risk of Mortality among Patients with Colorectal Cancer: A Nationwide Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Taiwan. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with CRC mortality in several population-based studies. However, this effect of COPD on CRC shows no difference in some studies and remains unclear in Taiwan’s population. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using Taiwan’s nationwide database. Patients newly diagnosed with CRC were identified from 2007 to 2012 via the Taiwan Cancer Registry dataset and linked to the National Health Insurance research database to obtain their medical records. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied at a ratio of 1:2 in COPD and non-COPD patients with CRC. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was analyzed using the Cox regression method. Results: This study included 43,249 patients with CRC, reduced to 13,707 patients after PSM. OS was lower in the COPD group than in the non-COPD group. The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for COPD was 1.26 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.19–1.33). Moreover, patients with CRC plus preexisting COPD showed a higher mortality risk in all stage CRC subgroup analysis. Conclusions: In this 5-year retrospective cohort study, patients with CRC and preexisting COPD had a higher mortality risk than those without preexisting COPD, suggesting these patients need more attention during treatment and follow-up.