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Capik O, Gundogdu B, Tatar A, Sahin A, Chen F, Creighton CJ, Karatas OF. Oncogenic miR-1825 promotes head and neck carcinogenesis via targeting FREM1. J Cell Biochem 2023; 124:1628-1645. [PMID: 37683055 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.30473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common malignant cancer type worldwide. Although the therapeutic modalities currently used for patients with HNSCC improved in recent decades, HNSCC prognosis is still poor. Therefore, it is an urgent necessity to understand the pathogenesis of HNSCC, to develop novel and effective treatment strategies, and to characterize and identify the oncogenes that are responsible for an aggressive HNSCC phenotype. In this study, we aimed to better understand the roles of miR-1825 in the pathogenesis of HNSCC. We examined the impacts of miR-1825 deregulation on the cancer-associated phenotypes using in vitro tests evaluating cell viability, clonogenicity, cell migration, invasion, apoptosis, and stem cell characteristics. In addition, we investigated the effects of miR-1825 overexpression on the tumor formation capacity of head and neck cancer cells in vivo using nude mice. We searched for potential targets of miR-1825 using microarray analysis and luciferase assay. We found that miR-1825 expression is upregulated in head and neck cells and clinical tumor samples in comparison to corresponding controls, where it potentially acts as an oncogene. We, then, showed that ectopic miR-1825 overexpression promotes cellular phenotypes related to head and neck cancer progression in vitro and has a stimulating potential on cancer formation in vivo. We also identified FREM1 as a direct target of miR-1825 and demonstrated its reduced expression in HNSCC samples using immunohistochemistry analysis. Collectively, we suggest that the miR-1825/FREM1 axis serves as an important mediator of HNSCC development, where miR-1825 acts as an oncogene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ozel Capik
- Molecular Biology and Genetics Department, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
- Molecular Cancer Biology Laboratory, High Technology Application and Research Center, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Betul Gundogdu
- Department of Medical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Arzu Tatar
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Abdulkadir Sahin
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Fengju Chen
- Department of Medicine and Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Chad J Creighton
- Department of Medicine and Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Omer Faruk Karatas
- Molecular Biology and Genetics Department, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
- Molecular Cancer Biology Laboratory, High Technology Application and Research Center, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
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Direct cell-cell interaction regulates division of stem cells from PC-3 human prostate cancer cell line. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2022; 631:25-31. [PMID: 36162326 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2022.09.004] [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: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subpopulation that can drive recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, therapies targeting CSCs are required. Although previous findings have suggested that non-CSCs regulate the proliferation and differentiation of CSCs in the tumor microenvironment, the precise molecular mechanism is largely unknown. In this study, we found that a direct interaction between CSCs and non-CSCs downregulated CSC division in the PC-3 human prostate cancer cell line. We found that the proliferation of PC-3-derived CSCs (PrSCs) was significantly decreased (∼47%) in the presence of non-CSC-rich parental PC-3 cells compared with that in a culture in which they were absent. We observed no differences in PrSC proliferation when we indirectly cocultured them with PC-3 cells across a Transwell insert, and PrSCs that were transiently bound to immobilized PC-3 cells proliferated more slowly than those bound to PrSCs. The frequency of cell division with prior PrSC-PrSC contact was 2.8 times higher in the PrSC monoculture compared with that in the coculture with PC-3 cells. We found that the PrSCs were approximately 1.3 times more closely associated in the monoculture compared with the coculture with PC-3 cells, as determined by a cell proximity assay. The frequency of asymmetric PrSC division was 6.5% in the monoculture compared with 1.0% in the coculture with PC-3 cells (P < 0.045). By analyzing our data, we determined the importance of PrSC-non-CSC contact in regulating the frequency and mode of PrSC division. This regulation might be a valuable target for treating cancer.
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Tang DG. Understanding and targeting prostate cancer cell heterogeneity and plasticity. Semin Cancer Biol 2022; 82:68-93. [PMID: 34844845 PMCID: PMC9106849 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2021.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 11/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Prostate cancer (PCa) is a prevalent malignancy that occurs primarily in old males. Prostate tumors in different patients manifest significant inter-patient heterogeneity with respect to histo-morphological presentations and molecular architecture. An individual patient tumor also harbors genetically distinct clones in which PCa cells display intra-tumor heterogeneity in molecular features and phenotypic marker expression. This inherent PCa cell heterogeneity, e.g., in the expression of androgen receptor (AR), constitutes a barrier to the long-term therapeutic efficacy of AR-targeting therapies. Furthermore, tumor progression as well as therapeutic treatments induce PCa cell plasticity such that AR-positive PCa cells may turn into AR-negative cells and prostate tumors may switch lineage identity from adenocarcinomas to neuroendocrine-like tumors. This induced PCa cell plasticity similarly confers resistance to AR-targeting and other therapies. In this review, I first discuss PCa from the perspective of an abnormal organ development and deregulated cellular differentiation, and discuss the luminal progenitor cells as the likely cells of origin for PCa. I then focus on intrinsic PCa cell heterogeneity in treatment-naïve tumors with the presence of prostate cancer stem cells (PCSCs). I further elaborate on PCa cell plasticity induced by genetic alterations and therapeutic interventions, and present potential strategies to therapeutically tackle PCa cell heterogeneity and plasticity. My discussions will make it clear that, to achieve enduring clinical efficacy, both intrinsic PCa cell heterogeneity and induced PCa cell plasticity need to be targeted with novel combinatorial approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dean G Tang
- Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA; Experimental Therapeutics (ET) Graduate Program, The University at Buffalo & Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA.
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Pacifico F, Mellone S, D'Incalci M, Stornaiuolo M, Leonardi A, Crescenzi E. Trabectedin suppresses escape from therapy-induced senescence in tumor cells by interfering with glutamine metabolism. Biochem Pharmacol 2022; 202:115159. [PMID: 35780827 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2022.115159] [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: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Conventional and targeted cancer therapies may induce a cellular senescence program termed therapy-induced senescence. However, unlike normal cells, cancer cells are able to evade the senescence cell cycle arrest and to resume proliferation, driving tumor recurrence after treatments. Cells that escape from therapy-induced senescence are characterized by a plastic, cancer stem cell-like phenotype, and recent studies are beginning to define their unique metabolic features, such as glutamine dependence. Here, we show that the antineoplastic drug trabectedin suppresses escape from therapy-induced senescence in all cell lines studied, and reduces breast cancer stem-like cells, at concentrations that do not affect the viability of senescent tumor cells. We demonstrate that trabectedin downregulates both the glutamine transporter SLC1A5 and glutamine synthetase, thereby interfering with glutamine metabolism. On the whole, our results indicate that trabectedin targets a glutamine-dependent cancer stem-like cell population involved in evasion from therapy-induced senescence and suggest a therapeutic potential for trabectedin combined with pro-senescence chemotherapy in tumor treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Pacifico
- Istituto di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale, CNR, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Stefano Mellone
- Istituto di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale, CNR, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Maurizio D'Incalci
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, 20072 Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy
| | - Mariano Stornaiuolo
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, 80149 Naples, Italy
| | - Antonio Leonardi
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy.
| | - Elvira Crescenzi
- Istituto di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale, CNR, 80131 Naples, Italy.
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Cancer Stem Cell Markers for Urinary Carcinoma. Stem Cells Int 2022; 2022:3611677. [PMID: 35342431 PMCID: PMC8941535 DOI: 10.1155/2022/3611677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer stem cell (CSC) refers to cancer cells with stem cell properties, that is, they have the ability of “self-renewal” and “differentiation.” Cancer stem cells exist in cancer cells and are the “culprit” of cancer recurrence and metastasis. It is difficult to be found because of its small amount, and it is difficult for anticancer drugs to produce effects on it. At present, the isolation and identification of cancer stem cells from many solid tumors are still quite difficult, mainly due to the lack of specific molecular markers of cancer stem cells. In this review, cancer stem cell surface markers and functional markers in urinary system were summarized. These markers can provide molecular targets for cancer therapy.
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Aytatli A, Barlak N, Sanli F, Caglar HO, Gundogdu B, Tatar A, Ittmann M, Karatas OF. AZD4547 targets the FGFR/Akt/SOX2 axis to overcome paclitaxel resistance in head and neck cancer. Cell Oncol (Dordr) 2021; 45:41-56. [PMID: 34837170 DOI: 10.1007/s13402-021-00645-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Development of chemoresistance is one of the major obstacles to the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The PI3K/Akt pathway, involved in drug resistance, has been found to be overactivated in > 90% of HNSCCs. Aberrant activation of the FGF receptors (FGFRs) has been reported to cause overactivation of the PI3K/Akt pathway and to be associated with the maintenance of stem cell features, which is controlled via SOX2 expression. In this study, we aimed at investigating the potential of using AZD4547, an orally bioavailable FGFR inhibitor, to overcome taxol-resistance by targeting the FGFR/Akt/SOX2 axis in HNSCC. METHODS We initially evaluated FGFR2 and SOX2 expression using in silico tools. We analyzed the FGFR/Akt/SOX2 axis in normal/tumor tissue pairs and in recombinant FGF2 treated HNSCC cells. Next, we explored the effects of AZD4547 alone and in combination with taxol on the proliferation, migration and colony forming capacities of parental/taxol-resistant cells using in vitro models. RESULTS We found that the p-FGFR, p-AKT, p-GSK-3β and SOX2 expression levels were higher in tumor tissues than in its corresponding normal tissues, and that AZD4547 effectively suppressed the expression of FGFR and its downstream targets in recombinant FGF2 treated HNSCC cells. We also found that AZD4547 diminished the viability, migration and colony forming capacity of HNSCC cells, and that co-treatment with taxol potentiated the impact of taxol on these cells. Finally, we found that AZD4547 inhibited the overexpressed FGFR/Akt/SOX2 axis and profoundly suppressed cancer-related phenotypes in taxol-resistant HNSCC cells. CONCLUSION From our data we conclude that AZD4547 may increase the impact of taxol during HNSCC treatment. We suggest AZD4547 as a therapeutic agent to overcome taxol-resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdulmelik Aytatli
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Erzurum Technical University, Omer Nasuhi Bilmen Mah. Havaalani Yolu Cad. No: 53 Yakutiye, Erzurum, Turkey
- Molecular Cancer Biology Laboratory, High Technology Application and Research Center, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Neslisah Barlak
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Erzurum Technical University, Omer Nasuhi Bilmen Mah. Havaalani Yolu Cad. No: 53 Yakutiye, Erzurum, Turkey
- Molecular Cancer Biology Laboratory, High Technology Application and Research Center, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Fatma Sanli
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Erzurum Technical University, Omer Nasuhi Bilmen Mah. Havaalani Yolu Cad. No: 53 Yakutiye, Erzurum, Turkey
- Molecular Cancer Biology Laboratory, High Technology Application and Research Center, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Hasan Onur Caglar
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Erzurum Technical University, Omer Nasuhi Bilmen Mah. Havaalani Yolu Cad. No: 53 Yakutiye, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Betul Gundogdu
- Department of Medical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Arzu Tatar
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
| | - Michael Ittmann
- Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
- Michael E. DeBakey VAMC, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Omer Faruk Karatas
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Erzurum Technical University, Omer Nasuhi Bilmen Mah. Havaalani Yolu Cad. No: 53 Yakutiye, Erzurum, Turkey.
- Molecular Cancer Biology Laboratory, High Technology Application and Research Center, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey.
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Glutamine promotes escape from therapy-induced senescence in tumor cells. Aging (Albany NY) 2021; 13:20962-20991. [PMID: 34492636 PMCID: PMC8457561 DOI: 10.18632/aging.203495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Therapy-induced senescence (TIS) is a major cellular response to anticancer therapies. While induction of a persistent growth arrest would be a desirable outcome in cancer therapy, it has been shown that, unlike normal cells, cancer cells are able to evade the senescence cell cycle arrest and to resume proliferation, likely contributing to tumor relapse. Notably, cells that escape from TIS acquire a plastic, stem cell-like phenotype. The metabolic dependencies of cells that evade senescence have not been thoroughly studied. In this study, we show that glutamine depletion inhibits escape from TIS in all cell lines studied, and reduces the stem cell subpopulation. In line with a metabolic reliance on glutamine, escaped clones overexpress the glutamine transporter SLC1A5. We also demonstrate a central role of glutamine synthetase that mediates resistance to glutamine deprivation, conferring independence from exogenous glutamine. Finally, rescue experiments demonstrate that glutamine provides nitrogen for nucleotides biosynthesis in cells that escape from TIS, but also suggest a critical involvement of glutamine in other metabolic and non-metabolic pathways. On the whole, these results reveal a metabolic vulnerability of cancer stem cells that recover proliferation after exposure to anticancer therapies, which could be exploited to prevent tumor recurrence.
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