Fisetin inhibits proliferation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma by inducing DNA damage via RFXAP/KDM4A-dependent histone H3K36 demethylation

MISP-mediated enhancement of pancreatic cancer growth through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is suppressed by Fisetin

Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant tumor characterized by high mortality and low survival rates. The mitotic interactor and substrate of Plk1 (MISP) is a cancer-associated protein that regulates mitotic spindle localization and is highly expressed in several malignant tumors, contributing to tumor development. However, the function and regulatory mechanisms of MISP in pancreatic cancer remain unclear. In this study, we analyzed RNA sequencing data related to pancreatic cancer from the TCGA and GEO databases, identifying MISP as a potential prognostic marker for the disease. MISP was significantly upregulated in pancreatic cancer cells and tissues compared to normal pancreatic cells and tissues. Notably, in pancreatic cancer cells, high MISP protein expression promoted cell proliferation and growth. Mechanistically, the upregulation of MISP facilitated the nuclear accumulation of β-catenin, thereby activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and promoting pancreatic cancer growth. In search of effective inhibitors of MISP expression, we screened an FDA-approved drug library and identified Fisetin as a potential suppressor of MISP expression. Fisetin was found to downregulate the transcription factor MYB, thereby reducing MISP expression. Further experiments demonstrated that Fisetin effectively inhibited the in vitro and in vivo growth of pancreatic cancer by suppressing the MISP/Wnt/β-catenin signaling axis. In summary, our research has identified MISP as a novel therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer and uncovered its associated regulatory mechanisms.

Pan-cancer investigation of RFX family and associated genes identifies RFX8 as a therapeutic target in leukemia

Background

Several transcription factors and co-factors are encoded by the RFX (Regulatory Factor X) family (RFX1-8) and associated genes (RFXAP and RFXANK). Increasing evidence suggests that the RFX family and associated genes are involved in the development and progression of cancer. However, no prior research has focused on a multi-omic analysis of these genes to evaluate their role in tumor progression.

Methods

Using combined TCGA and GTEx pan-cancer data, we investigated the expression patterns and survival profiles of these ten genes. We then focused on RFX8 to analyze its clinicopathological and therapeutic features. Finally, we conducted experimental validation of RFX8 function in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Results

RFX5 and RFXANK showed higher expression levels, while RFX6 showed lower expression levels in most types of cancer, with RFX8 being the most upregulated in LAML. RFX2 and RFXAP demonstrated prognostic significance in eight types of cancer, and RFX8 showed significance in six types of cancer. The expression of these ten genes exhibited specific characteristics in immune subtypes, tumor microenvironment, and stemness. The expression of RFX8 was correlated with various tumor stages, microsatellite instability (MSI), tumor mutation burden (TMB), immune cell infiltration, and immune-checkpoint expression. Additionally, RFX8 was found to regulate tumorigenesis and sensitivity to chelerythrine in AML.

Conclusions

Our work delineated the landscape of the RFX family and associated genes in the pan-cancer context and the specific role of RFX8 in AML. These findings might offer cues for further investigations of these genes in cancer biology.

Fisetin disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis via superoxide dismutase 2 acetylation in pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignant tumors with an urgent need for precision medicine strategies. The present study seeks to assess the antitumor effects of fisetin, and characterize its impact on PDAC. Multi-omic approaches include proteomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses. Further validation includes the assessment of mitochondria-derived reactive oxygen species (mtROS), mitochondrial membrane potential, as well as ATP generation. Molecular docking, immunoprecipitation, and proximity ligation assay were used to detect the interactions among fiseitn, superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), and sirtuin 2 (SIRT2). We showed that fisetin disrupted mitochondrial homeostasis and induced SOD2 acetylation in PDAC. Further, we produced site mutants to determine that fisetin-induced mtROS were dependent on SOD2 acetylation. Fisetin inhibited SIRT2 expression, thus blocking SOD2 deacetylation. SIRT2 overexpression could impede fisetin-induced SOD2 acetylation. Additionally, untargeted metabolomic analysis revealed an acceleration of folate metabolism with fisetin. Collectively, our findings suggest that fisetin disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis, eliciting an important cancer-suppressive role; thus, fisetin may serve as a promising therapeutic for PDAC.

Explainable cancer factors discovery: Shapley additive explanation for machine learning models demonstrates the best practices in the case of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of digestive tract cancers with high mortality rate. Despite the wide range of available treatments and improvements in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, the five-year prognosis for individuals diagnosed pancreatic cancer remains poor. There is still research to be done to see if immunotherapy may be used to treat pancreatic cancer. The goals of our research were to comprehend the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer, found a useful biomarker to assess the prognosis of patients, and investigated its biological relevance. In this paper, machine learning methods such as random forest were fused with weighted gene co-expression networks for screening hub immune-related genes (hub-IRGs). LASSO regression model was used to further work. Thus, we got eight hub-IRGs. Based on hub-IRGs, we created a prognosis risk prediction model for PAAD that can stratify accurately and produce a prognostic risk score (IRG_Score) for each patient. In the raw data set and the validation data set, the five-year area under the curve (AUC) for this model was 0.9 and 0.7, respectively. And shapley additive explanation (SHAP) portrayed the importance of prognostic risk prediction influencing factors from a machine learning perspective to obtain the most influential certain gene (or clinical factor). The five most important factors were TRIM67, CORT, PSPN, SCAMP5, RFXAP, all of which are genes. In summary, the eight hub-IRGs had accurate risk prediction performance and biological significance, which was validated in other cancers. The result of SHAP helped to understand the molecular mechanism of pancreatic cancer.

The emerging roles of lysine-specific demethylase 4A in cancer: Implications in tumorigenesis and therapeutic opportunities

Lysine-specific demethylase 4 A (KDM4A, also named JMJD2A, KIA0677, or JHDM3A) is a demethylase that can remove methyl groups from histones H3K9me2/3, H3K36me2/3, and H1.4K26me2/me3. Accumulating evidence suggests that KDM4A is not only involved in body homeostasis (such as cell proliferation, migration and differentiation, and tissue development) but also associated with multiple human diseases, especially cancers. Recently, an increasing number of studies have shown that pharmacological inhibition of KDM4A significantly attenuates tumor progression in vitro and in vivo in a range of solid tumors and acute myeloid leukemia. Although there are several reviews on the roles of the KDM4 subfamily in cancer development and therapy, all of them only briefly introduce the roles of KDM4A in cancer without systematically summarizing the specific mechanisms of KDM4A in various physiological and pathological processes, especially in tumorigenesis, which greatly limits advances in the understanding of the roles of KDM4A in a variety of cancers, discovering targeted selective KDM4A inhibitors, and exploring the adaptive profiles of KDM4A antagonists. Herein, we present the structure and functions of KDM4A, simply outline the functions of KDM4A in homeostasis and non-cancer diseases, summarize the role of KDM4A and its distinct target genes in the development of a variety of cancers, systematically classify KDM4A inhibitors, summarize the difficulties encountered in the research of KDM4A and the discovery of related drugs, and provide the corresponding solutions, which would contribute to understanding the recent research trends on KDM4A and advancing the progression of KDM4A as a drug target in cancer therapy.

Role of bio-flavonols and their derivatives in improving mitochondrial dysfunctions associated with pancreatic tumorigenesis

Mitochondria, a cellular metabolic center, efficiently fulfill cellular energy needs and regulate crucial metabolic processes, including cellular proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and generation of reactive oxygen species. Alteration in the mitochondrial functions leads to metabolic imbalances and altered extracellular matrix dynamics in the host, utilized by solid tumors like pancreatic cancer (PC) to get energy benefits for fast-growing cancer cells. PC is highly heterogeneous and remains unidentified for a longer time because of its complex pathophysiology, retroperitoneal position, and lack of efficient diagnostic approaches, which is the foremost reason for accounting for the seventh leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. PC cells often respond poorly to current therapeutics because of dense stromal barriers in the pancreatic tumor microenvironment, which limit the drug delivery and distribution of antitumor immune cell populations. As an alternative approach, various natural compounds like flavonoids are reported to possess potent antioxidant and anticancerous properties and are less toxic than current chemotherapeutic drugs. Therefore, we aim to summarize the current state of knowledge regarding the pharmacological properties of flavonols in PC in this review from the perspective of mitigating mitochondrial dysfunctions associated with cancer cells. Our literature survey indicates that flavonols efficiently regulate cellular metabolism by scavenging reactive oxygen species, mitigating inflammation, and arresting the cell cycle to promote apoptosis in tumor cells via intrinsic mitochondrial pathways. In particular, flavonols proficiently inhibit the cancer-associated proliferation and inflammatory pathways such as EGFR/MAPK, PI3K/Akt, and nuclear factor κB in PC. Overall, this review provides in-depth evidence about the therapeutic potential of flavonols for future anticancer strategies against PC; still, more multidisciplinary human interventional studies are required to dissect their pharmacological effect accurately.

Sensitizing chemotherapy for glioma with fisetin mediated by a microenvironment-responsive nano-drug delivery system

Drug resistance has become an obstacle to successful cancer chemotherapies, with therapeutic agents effectively traversing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) remaining a great challenge. A microenvironment responsive and active targeting nanoparticle was constructed to enhance the penetration of drugs, leading to improved therapeutic effects. Dynamic light scattering demonstrated that the prepared nanoparticle had a uniform size. The cRGD modification renders the nanoparticle with active targeting capabilities to traverse the BBB for chemotherapy. The disulfide-bond-containing nanoparticle can be disintegrated in response to a high concentration of endogenous glutathione (GSH) within the tumor microenvironment (TME) for tumor-specific drug release, resulting in more effective accumulation. Notably, the released fisetin further increased the uptake of doxorubicin by glioma cells and exerted synergistic effects to promote apoptosis, induce cellular G2/M cycle arrest, and inhibit cell proliferation and migration in vitro. Moreover, the nanoparticle showed favorable anti-glioma effects in vivo. Our study provides a new strategy to overcome drug resistance by utilizing a natural product to sensitize conventional chemotherapeutics with well-designed targeted nanodelivery systems for cancer treatment.

Post-translational modification of CDK1-STAT3 signaling by fisetin suppresses pancreatic cancer stem cell properties

BACKGROUND

Pancreatic cancer stem cells (CSCs) promote pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumorigenesis and chemoresistance. Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) plays an important role in tumor initiation in other tumors, but the function of CDK1 in PDAC remains unclear. Fisetin is a bioactive flavonoid with anti-tumor properties in multiple tumors, while its function in CSCs remains elusive.

RESULTS

In this study, we demonstrated that CDK1 was correlated with prognosis and was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissue and gemcitabine-resistant cells. Silencing CDK1 impaired tumor stemness and reduced a subset of CSCs. We found that fisetin blocked the kinase pocket domain of CDK1 and inhibited pancreatic CSC characteristics. Using acetylation proteomics analysis and phosphorylation array assay, we confirmed that fisetin reduced CDK1 expression and increased CDK1 acetylation at lysine 33 (K33), which resulted in the suppression of CDK1 phosphorylation. Silencing CDK1 or STAT3 suppressed tumor stemness properties, while overexpressing CDK1 or STAT3 showed the opposite effect. Mutation or acetylation of CDK1 at K33 weakened STAT3 phosphorylation at Y705, impairing the expression of stem-related genes and pancreatic cancer stemness. In addition, lack of histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), which deacetylates CDK1, contributed to weakening STAT3 phosphorylation by regulating the post-translational modification of CDK1, thereby decreasing the stemness of PDAC. Moreover, our results revealed that fisetin enhanced the effect of gemcitabine through eliminating a subpopulation of pancreatic CSCs by inhibiting the CDK1-STAT3 axis in vitro and in vivo.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight the role of post-translational modifications of CDK1-STAT3 signaling in maintaining cancer stemness of PDAC, and indicated that targeting the CDK1-STAT3 axis with inhibitors such as fisetin is a potential therapeutic strategy to diminish drug resistance and eliminate PDAC.

Deoxyribonucleic acid methylation driven aberrations in pancreatic cancer-related pathways

Pancreatic cancer (PanCa) presents a catastrophic disease with poor overall survival at advanced stages, with immediate requirement of new and effective treatment options. Besides genetic mutations, epigenetic dysregulation of signaling pathway-associated enriched genes are considered as novel therapeutic target. Mechanisms beneath the deoxyribonucleic acid methylation and its utility in developing of epi-drugs in PanCa are under trails. Combinations of epigenetic medicines with conventional cytotoxic treatments or targeted therapy are promising options to improving the dismal response and survival rate of PanCa patients. Recent studies have identified potentially valid pathways that support the prediction that future PanCa clinical trials will include vigorous testing of epigenomic therapies. Epigenetics thus promises to generate a significant amount of new knowledge of biological and medical importance. Our review could identify various components of epigenetic mechanisms known to be involved in the initiation and development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and related precancerous lesions, and novel pharmacological strategies that target these components could potentially lead to breakthroughs. We aim to highlight the possibilities that exist and the potential therapeutic interventions.

Exploring the therapeutic mechanisms of Gleditsiae Spina acting on pancreatic cancer via network pharmacology, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive tumors and also has a low survival rate. The dried spines of Gleditsia sinensis Lam are known as "Gleditsiae Spina" and they mostly contain flavonoids, phenolic acids, terpenoids, steroids, and other chemical components. In this study, the potential active components and molecular mechanisms of Gleditsiae Spina for treating pancreatic cancer were systematically revealed by network pharmacology, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations (MDs). RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase (AKT1), cellular tumor antigen p53 (TP53), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), interleukin-6 (IL6) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) were common targets of Gleditsiae Spina, human cytomegalovirus infection signaling pathway, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, and MAPK signaling pathway were critical pathways of fisetin, eriodyctiol, kaempferol and quercetin in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Molecular dynamics simulations (MDs) results showed that eriodyctiol and kaempferol have long-term stable hydrogen bonds and high binding free energy for TP53 (-23.64 ± 0.03 kcal mol-1 and -30.54 ± 0.02 kcal mol-1, respectively). Collectively, our findings identify active components and potential targets in Gleditsiae Spina for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, which may help to explore leading compounds and potential drugs for pancreatic cancer.

Histone Modifications Represent a Key Epigenetic Feature of Epithelial-to-Mesenchyme Transition in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignant diseases due to its high invasiveness, early metastatic properties, rapid disease progression, and typically late diagnosis. Notably, the capacity for pancreatic cancer cells to undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is key to their tumorigenic and metastatic potential, and is a feature that can explain the therapeutic resistance of such cancers to treatment. Epigenetic modifications are a central molecular feature of EMT, for which histone modifications are most prevalent. The modification of histones is a dynamic process typically carried out by pairs of reverse catalytic enzymes, and the functions of these enzymes are increasingly relevant to our improved understanding of cancer. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms through which histone-modifying enzymes regulate EMT in pancreatic cancer.

Fisetin induces DNA double-strand break and interferes with the repair of radiation-induced damage to radiosensitize triple negative breast cancer cells

Background

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with aggressiveness and a poor prognosis. Besides surgery, radiotherapy serves as the major treatment modality for TNBC. However, response to radiotherapy is limited in many patients, most likely because of DNA damage response (DDR) signaling mediated radioresistance. Y-box binding protein-1 (YB-1) is a multifunctional protein that regulates the cancer hallmarks among them resisting to radiotherapy-induced cell death. Fisetin, is a plant flavonol of the flavonoid family of plant polyphenols that has anticancer properties, partially through inhibition of p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK)-mediated YB-1 phosphorylation. The combination of fisetin with radiotherapy has not yet been investigated.

Methods

Activation status of the RSK signaling pathway in total cell lysate and in the subcellular fractions was analyzed by Western blotting. Standard clonogenic assay was applied to test post-irradiation cell survival. γH2AX foci assay and 3 color fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses were performed to study frequency of double-strand breaks (DSB) and chromosomal aberrations, respectively. The underlying repair pathways targeted by fisetin were studied in cells expressing genomically integrated reporter constructs for the DSB repair pathways via quantifying the expression of green fluorescence protein by flow cytometry. Flow cytometric quantification of sub-G1 cells and the protein expression of LC3-II were employed to measure apoptosis and autophagy, respectively. Kinase array and phosphoproteomics were performed to study the effect of fisetin on DDR response signaling.

Results

We showed that the effect of fisetin on YB-1 phosphorylation in TNBC cells is comparable to the effect of the RSK pharmacological inhibitors. Similar to ionizing radiation (IR), fisetin induces DSB. Additionally, fisetin impairs repair of IR-induced DSB through suppressing the classical non-homologous end-joining and homologous recombination repair pathways, leading to chromosomal aberration as tested by metaphase analysis. Effect of fisetin on DSB repair was partially dependent on YB-1 expression. Phosphoproteomic analysis revealed that fisetin inhibits DDR signaling, which leads to radiosensitization in TNBC cells, as shown in combination with single dose or fractionated doses irradiation.

Conclusion

Fisetin acts as a DSB-inducing agent and simultaneously inhibits repair of IR-induced DSB. Thus, fisetin may serve as an effective therapeutic strategy to improve TNBC radiotherapy outcome.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-022-02442-x.

Cantharidin Inhibits Proliferation of Liver Cancer by Inducing DNA Damage via KDM4A-Dependent Histone H3K36 Demethylation

Objective

To investigate the effect of cantharidin on DNA damage in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and its possible mechanism.

Methods

Cell proliferation assay and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay were used to analyze the effects of cantharidin on cell proliferation and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The expression levels of DNA damage markers H2AX and P21 were analyzed by qRT-PCR. The expression of KDM4A and H3K36me3 was observed by western blot. The expression of KDM4A was regulated by siRNA or plasmid transfection. The effect of KDM4A on DNA damage induced by cantharidin in liver cancer was observed after overexpression and addiction of KDM4A.

Results

Cantharidin can significantly inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and induce apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Cantharidin enhances the chemotherapy sensitivity of liver cancer by targeting the upregulation of KDM4A and the regulation of DNA damage induced by H3K36me3. Overexpression of KDM4A enhances DNA damage induced by cantharidin in HCC. KDM4A silencing attenuated the damage of cantharidin to the DNA of HCC cells.

Conclusion

Cantharidin can inhibit the growth and promote apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Meanwhile, cantharidin can induce DNA damage in HCC cells. Mechanism studies have shown that cantharidin induces DNA damage through the demethylation of KDM4A-dependent histone H3K36.

Recent advances in potential of Fisetin in the management of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury-A systematic review

BACKGROUND

The primary therapeutic strategy in managing ischemic heart diseases is to restore the perfusion of the myocardial ischemic area by surgical methods that often result in an unavoidable injury called ischemia-reperfusion injury (IR). Fisetin is an effective flavonoid with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, proven to be cardioprotective against IR injury in both in-vitro and invivo models, apart from its promising health benefits against cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative ailments.

PURPOSE

The potential of fisetin in attenuating myocardial IR is inconclusive as the effectiveness of fisetin needs more understanding in terms of its possible target sites and underlying different mechanisms. Considering the surge in recent scientific interests in fisetin as a pharmacological agent, this review not only updates the existing preclinical and clinical studies with fisetin and its underlying mechanisms but also summarizes its possible targets during IR protection.

METHODS

We performed a literature survey using search engines Pubmed, PMC, Science direct, Google, and research gate published across the years 2006-2021. The relevant studies were extracted from the databases with the combinations of the following keywords and summarized: myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, natural products, flavonoid, fisetin, PI3K, JAK-STAT, Nrf2, PKC, JNK, autophagy.

RESULTS

Fisetin is reported to be effective in attenuating IR injury by delaying the clotting time, preserving the mitochondrial function, reducing oxidative stress, and inhibiting GSK 3β. But it failed to protect diseased cardiomyocytes challenged to IR. As discussed in the current review, fisetin not only acts as a conventional antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent to exert its biological effect but may also exert modulatory action on the cellular metabolism and adaptation via direct action on various signalling pathways that comprise PI3K, JAK-STAT, Nrf2, PKC, JNK, and autophagy. Moreover, the dosage of fisetin and co-morbidities like diabetes and obesity are found to be detrimental factors for cardioprotection.

CONCLUSION

For further evaluation and smooth clinical translation of the fisetin molecule in IR treatment, researchers should pay close attention to the potential of fisetin to possibly alter the key cardioprotective pathways and dosage, as the efficacy of fisetin is tissue and cell type-specific and varies with different doses.

Fisetin, a Potent Anticancer Flavonol Exhibiting Cytotoxic Activity against Neoplastic Malignant Cells and Cancerous Conditions: A Scoping, Comprehensive Review

Diet plays a crucial role in homeostasis maintenance. Plants and spices containing flavonoids have been widely used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. Flavonols present in our diet may prevent cancer initiation, promotion and progression by modulating important enzymes and receptors in signal transduction pathways related to proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, inflammation, angiogenesis, metastasis and reversal of multidrug resistance. The anticancer activity of fisetin has been widely documented in numerous in vitro and in vivo studies. This review summarizes the worldwide, evidence-based research on the activity of fisetin toward various types of cancerous conditions, while describing the chemopreventive and therapeutic effects, molecular targets and mechanisms that contribute to the observed anticancer activity of fisetin. In addition, this review synthesized the results from preclinical studies on the use of fisetin as an anticancer agent. Based on the available literature, it might be suggested that fisetin has a bioactive potential to become a complementary drug in the prevention and treatment of cancerous conditions. However, more in-depth research is required to validate current data, so that this compound or its derivatives can enter the clinical trial phase.

Current clinical trials for epigenetic targets and therapeutic inhibitors for pancreatic cancer therapy

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is an aggressive disease characterized by high mortality. Diagnosis at advanced stage, resistance, and recurrence are major hurdles for PC therapy and contribute to poor survival rate. Mutations in tumor-promoting kinases and epigenetic dysregulation in tumor suppressor genes are hallmarks of PC and can be used for diagnosis and therapy. In this review, we highlight dysregulated genes associated with epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation and histone acetylation, involved in PC progression and resistance. We also explore epigenetic drugs currently in clinical trials. Combining epigenetic drugs and targeted therapies might represent a promising approach for PC.

ZC3H13-mediated N6-methyladenosine modification of PHF10 is impaired by fisetin which inhibits the DNA damage response in pancreatic cancer

DNA damage repair is a major barrier for chemotherapy efficacy of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), including the efficacy of platinum-based and gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel treatments. N6-methyladenosine modifications (m6A) have recently been reported to play a role in homologous recombination (HR) repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs); however, the mechanism of action remains unknown. Our previous work indicated that fisetin may be a promising anti-tumour agent that induces DNA damage. In this study, we reported that fisetin induced DSBs and suppressed HR repair through m6A modification in PDAC cells. The m6A writer ZC3H13 and PHF10, which is a subunit of the PBAF chromatin remodelling complex, were identified as the main molecules affected by fisetin treatment. To our knowledge, it's the first time that PHF10 was found and involved in the DNA damage response. PHF10 loss-of-function resulted in elevated recruitment of γH2AX, RAD51, and 53BP1 to DSB sites and decreased HR repair efficiency. Moreover, ZC3H13 knockdown downregulated the m6A methylation of PHF10 and decreased PHF10 translation in a YTHDF1-dependent manner. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that fisetin enhanced DSBs via ZC3Hl3-mediated m6A modification of PHF10, which may provide insight into novel therapeutic approaches for PDAC.

An Overview of Epigenetic Methylation in Pancreatic Cancer Progression

Over the past decades, the aberrant epigenetic modification, apart from genetic alteration, has emerged as dispensable events mediating the transformation of pancreatic cancer (PC). However, the understanding of molecular mechanisms of methylation modifications, the most abundant epigenetic modifications, remains superficial. In this review, we focused on the mechanistic insights of DNA, histone, and RNA methylation that regulate the progression of PC. The methylation regulators including writer, eraser and reader participate in the modification of gene expression associated with cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis. Some of recent clinical trials on methylation drug targeting were also discussed. Understanding the novel regulatory mechanisms in the methylation modification may offer alternative opportunities to improve therapeutic efficacy to fight against this dismal disease.

Cardamonin Promotes the Apoptosis and Chemotherapy Sensitivity to Gemcitabine of Pancreatic Cancer Through Modulating the FOXO3a-FOXM1 Axis

Cardamonin (CAR), a flavone existing in the Alpinia plant, has been found to modulate multiple biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor effects. Nevertheless, the influence of CAR on pancreatic cancer (PC) is less understood. Here, we conducted in vitro and in vivo experiments to explore the functions of CAR on PC cells’ proliferation, apoptosis and chemosensitivity to gemcitabine (GEM). The growth of PC cells (including PANC-1 and SW1990) was evaluated by the cell counting kit-8 assay, colony formation assay and xenograft tumor experiment. Besides, the apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry and western blot (WB). Moreover, the FOXO3a-FOXM1 pathway expression was tested by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and WB. Our data suggested that CAR restrained cell proliferation, growth and expedited apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, CAR sensitized PC cells to GEM. Mechanistically, CAR heightened FOXO3a while repressed FOXM1. Further loss-of-function assays revealed that down-regulating FOXO3a markedly dampened the anti-tumor effect induced by CAR and accelerated the FOXM1 expression. Our data confirmed that CAR exerted an anti-tumor function in PC dependently by modulating the FOXO3a-FOXM1 axis.

Role of Flavonoids as Epigenetic Modulators in Cancer Prevention and Therapy

Epigenetic regulation involves reversible changes in histones and DNA modifications that can be inherited without any changes in the DNA sequence. Dysregulation of normal epigenetic processes can lead to aberrant gene expression as observed in many diseases, notably cancer. Recent insights into the mechanisms of DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs involved in altered gene expression profiles of tumor cells have caused a paradigm shift in the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches towards cancer. There has been a surge in search for compounds that could modulate the altered epigenetic landscape of tumor cells, and to exploit their therapeutic potential against cancers. Flavonoids are naturally occurring phenol compounds which are abundantly found among phytochemicals and have potentials to modulate epigenetic processes. Knowledge of the precise flavonoid-mediated epigenetic alterations is needed for the development of epigenetics drugs and combinatorial therapeutic approaches against cancers. This review is aimed to comprehensively explore the epigenetic modulations of flavonoids and their anti-tumor activities.

Plant-Derived Compounds as Promising Therapeutics for Vitiligo

Vitiligo is the most common depigmenting disorder characterized by white patches in the skin. The pathogenetic origin of vitiligo revolves around autoimmune destruction of melanocytes in which, for instance, oxidative stress is responsible for melanocyte molecular, organelle dysfunction and melanocyte specific antigen exposure as well as melanocyte cell death and thus serves as an important contributor for vitiligo progression. In recent years, natural products have shown a wide range of pharmacological bioactivities against many skin diseases, and this review focuses on the effects and mechanisms of natural compounds against vitiligo models. It is showed that some natural compounds such as flavonoids, phenols, glycosides and coumarins have a protective role in melanocytes and thereby arrest the depigmentation, and, additionally, Nrf2/HO-1, MAPK, JAK/STAT, cAMP/PKA, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways were reported to be implicated in these protective effects. This review discusses the great potential of plant derived natural products as anti-vitiligo agents, as well as the future directions to explore.

Construction of a ceRNA Network and Analysis of Tumor Immune Infiltration in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is characterized by high malignancy, frequent metastasis, and recurrence with an unfavorable prognosis. This study is aimed at constructing a prognostic model for tumor-infiltrating immune cells and a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in PAAD and analyzing susceptibilities of chemotherapy and immunotherapy of PAAD. Gene expression profiles and clinical information of PAAD were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and divided into the tumor group and the normal group. A total of five PAAD survival-related key genes in the ceRNA network and three survival-related immune infiltrating cells were uncovered, and two survival risk models and nomograms were constructed. The efficiency and performance of the two models were verified using multi-index area under the curve analysis at different time points, decision curve analysis, and calibration curves. Co-expression analysis showed that LRRC1, MIR600HG, and RNF166 in the ceRNA network and tumor-infiltrating immune cells including CD8 T cells and M1 macrophages were likely related to the PAAD prognosis, and the expression of key ceRNA-related genes was experimently validated in tissues and cell lines by RT-qPCR. Patients with low risk scores for key genes in the ceRNA network displayed a positive response to anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) treatment and greater sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs such as docetaxel, lapatinib, and paclitaxel. More importantly, our results suggested that the IC50 values of gemcitabine in PAAD were not significantly different between the high and low risk groups. The expression levels of immune checkpoints were significantly different in the high-risk and low-risk groups. The prognostic model, nomogram, and drug analysis may provide an essential reference for PAAD patient management in the clinic.

Targeting Cancer Stem Cells by Dietary Agents: An Important Therapeutic Strategy against Human Malignancies

As a multifactorial disease, treatment of cancer depends on understanding unique mechanisms involved in its progression. The cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for tumor stemness and by enhancing colony formation, proliferation as well as metastasis, and these cells can also mediate resistance to therapy. Furthermore, the presence of CSCs leads to cancer recurrence and therefore their complete eradication can have immense therapeutic benefits. The present review focuses on targeting CSCs by natural products in cancer therapy. The growth and colony formation capacities of CSCs have been reported can be attenuated by the dietary agents. These compounds can induce apoptosis in CSCs and reduce tumor migration and invasion via EMT inhibition. A variety of molecular pathways including STAT3, Wnt/β-catenin, Sonic Hedgehog, Gli1 and NF-κB undergo down-regulation by dietary agents in suppressing CSC features. Upon exposure to natural agents, a significant decrease occurs in levels of CSC markers including CD44, CD133, ALDH1, Oct4 and Nanog to impair cancer stemness. Furthermore, CSC suppression by dietary agents can enhance sensitivity of tumors to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In addition to in vitro studies, as well as experiments on the different preclinical models have shown capacity of natural products in suppressing cancer stemness. Furthermore, use of nanostructures for improving therapeutic impact of dietary agents is recommended to rapidly translate preclinical findings for clinical use.

Histone methylation in pancreatic cancer and its clinical implications

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is an aggressive human cancer. Appropriate methods for the diagnosis and treatment of PC have not been found at the genetic level, thus making epigenetics a promising research path in studies of PC. Histone methylation is one of the most complicated types of epigenetic modifications and has proved crucial in the development of PC. Histone methylation is a reversible process regulated by readers, writers, and erasers. Some writers and erasers can be recognized as potential biomarkers and candidate therapeutic targets in PC because of their unusual expression in PC cells compared with normal pancreatic cells. Based on the impact that writers have on the development of PC, some inhibitors of writers have been developed. However, few inhibitors of erasers have been developed and put to clinical use. Meanwhile, there is not enough research on the reader domains. Therefore, the study of erasers and readers is still a promising area. This review focuses on the regulatory mechanism of histone methylation, and the diagnosis and chemotherapy of PC based on it. The future of epigenetic modification in PC research is also discussed.

Inhibitory Effect of Fisetin on α-Glucosidase Activity: Kinetic and Molecular Docking Studies

The inhibition of α-glucosidase is a clinical strategy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and many natural plant ingredients have been reported to be effective in alleviating hyperglycemia by inhibiting α-glucosidase. In this study, the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of fisetin extracted from Cotinus coggygria Scop. was evaluated in vitro. The results showed that fisetin exhibited strong inhibitory activity with an IC₅₀ value of 4.099 × 10⁻⁴ mM. Enzyme kinetic analysis revealed that fisetin is a non-competitive inhibitor of α-glucosidase, with an inhibition constant value of 0.01065 ± 0.003255 mM. Moreover, fluorescence spectrometric measurements indicated the presence of only one binding site between fisetin and α-glucosidase, with a binding constant (lgKa) of 5.896 L·mol⁻¹. Further molecular docking studies were performed to evaluate the interaction of fisetin with several residues close to the inactive site of α-glucosidase. These studies showed that the structure of the complex was maintained by Pi-Sigma and Pi-Pi stacked interactions. These findings illustrate that fisetin extracted from Cotinus coggygria Scop. is a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of T2DM.

Cancer chemopreventive role of fisetin: Regulation of cell signaling pathways in different cancers

It is becoming progressively more understandable that pharmaceutical targeting of drug-resistant cancers is challenging because of intra- and inter-tumor heterogeneity. Interestingly, naturally derived bioactive compounds have unique ability to modulate wide-ranging deregulated oncogenic cell signaling pathways. In this review, we have focused on the available evidence related to regulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR, Wnt/β-catenin, NF-κB and TRAIL/TRAIL-R by fisetin in different cancers. Fisetin has also been shown to inhibit the metastatic spread of cancer cells in tumor-bearing mice. We have also summarized how fisetin regulated autophagy in different cancers. In addition, this review also covers fisetin-mediated regulation of VEGF/VEGFR, EGFR, necroptosis and Hippo pathway. Fisetin has entered into clinical trials particularly in context of COVID19-associated inflammations. Furthermore, fisetin mediated effects are also being tested in clinical trials with reference to osteoarthritis and senescence. These developments will surely pave the way for full-fledge and well-designed clinical trials of fisetin in different cancers. However, we still have to comprehensively analyze and fully unlock pharmacological potential of fisetin against different oncogenic signaling cascades and non-coding RNAs. Fisetin has remarkable potential as chemopreventive agent and future studies must converge on the identification of additional regulatory roles of fisetin for inhibition and prevention of cancers.

Signature Panel of 11 Methylated mRNAs and 3 Methylated lncRNAs for Prediction of Recurrence-Free Survival in Prostate Cancer Patients

Background

Radical prostatectomy is the main treatment for prostate cancer (PCa), a common cancer type among men. Recurrence frequently occurs in a proportion of patients. Therefore, there is a great need to early screen those patients to specifically schedule adjuvant therapy to improve the recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate. This study aims to develop a biomarker to predict RFS for patients with PCa based on the data of methylation, an important heritable contributor to carcinogenesis.

Methods

Methylation expression data of PCa patients were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus database (GSE26126), and the European Bioinformatics Institute (E-MTAB-6131). The stable co-methylation modules were identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis. The genes in modules were overlapped with differentially methylated RNAs (DMRs) screened by MetaDE package in three datasets, which were used to screen the prognostic genes using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator analyses. The prognostic performance of the prognostic signature was assessed by survival curve analysis.

Results

Five co-methylation modules were considered preserved in three datasets. A total of 192 genes in these 5 modules were overlapped with 985 DMRs, from which a signature panel of 11 methylated messenger RNAs and 3 methylated long non-coding RNAs was identified. This signature panel could independently predict the 5-year RFS of PCa patients, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.969 for the training TCGA dataset and 0.811 for the testing E-MTAB-6131 dataset, both of which were higher than the predictive accuracy of Gleason score (AUC = 0.689). Also, the patients with the same Gleason score (6–7 or 8–10) could be further divided into the high-risk group and the low-risk group.

Conclusion

These results suggest that our prognostic model may be a promising biomarker for clinical prediction of RFS in PCa patients.