Regulation of Fas in response to bortezomib and epirubicin in colorectal cancer cells

Phytochemical profiling, cytotoxic, anti-migration, and anti-angiogenic potential of phenolic-rich fraction from Peganum harmala: in vitro and in ovo studies

Peganum harmala has been extensively employed in Algerian traditional medicine practices. This study aimed to explore the impact of n-butanol (n-BuOH) extract sourced from Peganum harmala seeds on cell proliferation, cell migration, and angiogenesis inhibition. Cytotoxic potential of n-BuOH extract was evaluated using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay against human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells, cell migration was determined using scratch assay, and anti-angiogenic effect was evaluated through macroscopic and histological examinations conducted on chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane. Additionally, this research estimated the phytochemical profile of n-BuOH extract. Fifteen phenolic compounds were identified using Ultra-performance liquid chromatography UPLC-ESI-MS-MS analysis. In addition, the n-BuOH extract of P. harmala exhibited potent antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties. The n-BuOH extract showed potent cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cell with an IC50 value of 8.68 ± 1.58 μg/mL. Furthermore, n-BuOH extract significantly reduced migration. A strong anti-angiogenic activity was observed in the groups treated with n-BuOH extract in comparison to the negative control. Histological analysis confirmed the anti-angiogenic effect of the n-BuOH extract. This activity is probably a result of the synergistic effects produced by different polyphenolic classes.

Combination treatment of bortezomib and epirubicin increases the expression of TNFRSF10 A/B, and induces TRAIL-mediated cell death in colorectal cancer cells

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, affecting the colon and rectum. A major problem in the treatment of colorectal cancer is acquired chemoresistance, including resistance against death receptor-induced apoptosis. Therefore, investigating new biomarkers for the treatment of the disease and sensitization strategies against TRAIL might be of high clinical importance. TNFRSF10A/B are known as death receptors for TRAIL-induced apoptotic cell death. In this study, we used multiple bioinformatic tools and experimental analyses to investigate the role of TRAIL receptors TNFRSF10A and TNFRSF10B in colorectal cancer. We also identified the potential effect of bortezomib and epirubicin in the induction of TRAIL-mediated apoptotic cell death. Here, we showed that TNFRSF10 A/B expressions are upregulated in various tumor types, including COAD, and its high expression is decreased with the different clinicopathological parameters in COAD. We also found an association between TNFRSF10 A/B expression and tumor molecular subtypes. We further detected the association between the expression of TNFRSF10 A/B and immune cell tumor infiltration, including B cells, CD8+ T cells, neutrophils and dendritic cells. In addition, we showed that combining bortezomib and epirubicin treatment leads to the upregulation of TNFRSF10 A/B in colorectal cancer cells in vitro. The increase in the expression of death receptors was correlated with higher active caspase-3 levels following the incubation of cells with recombinant TRAIL protein, which is a ligand for TNFRSF10 A/B receptors. Our results suggest that TNFRSF10 A/B may be a marker to differentiate tumor molecular subtypes in colorectal cancer. The expression of TNFRSF10 A/B may be associated with the recruitment of immune cells into tumors and the development of tumor suppression. The combination of bortezomib and epirubicin treatment might sensitize colorectal cancer cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis via the upregulation of death receptor.

Trial watch: chemotherapy-induced immunogenic cell death in oncology

Immunogenic cell death (ICD) refers to an immunologically distinct process of regulated cell death that activates, rather than suppresses, innate and adaptive immune responses. Such responses culminate into T cell-driven immunity against antigens derived from dying cancer cells. The potency of ICD is dependent on the immunogenicity of dying cells as defined by the antigenicity of these cells and their ability to expose immunostimulatory molecules like damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and cytokines like type I interferons (IFNs). Moreover, it is crucial that the host's immune system can adequately detect the antigenicity and adjuvanticity of these dying cells. Over the years, several well-known chemotherapies have been validated as potent ICD inducers, including (but not limited to) anthracyclines, paclitaxels, and oxaliplatin. Such ICD-inducing chemotherapeutic drugs can serve as important combinatorial partners for anti-cancer immunotherapies against highly immuno-resistant tumors. In this Trial Watch, we describe current trends in the preclinical and clinical integration of ICD-inducing chemotherapy in the existing immuno-oncological paradigms.

Pilot proteomic study of locally advanced rectal cancer before and after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy indicates high metabolic activity in non-responders' tumor tissue

PURPOSE

In the search for candidate predictive biomarkers to evaluate response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) in rectal cancer, only a few studies report proteomic profiles of tumor tissue before and after nCRT. The aim of our study was to determine differentially expressed proteins between responders and non-responders before and after the therapy in order to identify candidate molecules for prediction and follow-up of response to nCRT.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

The study has included tissue sections of rectal tumor and non-tumor mucosa from five responders and five non-responders taken before and after nCRT from patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Extracted proteins were analyzed by LC-MS/MS analysis followed by a set of bioinformatics analyses.

RESULT

Proteomics analysis provided a mean of approximately 1050 protein identifications per sample. A comparison of proteomic profiles between responders and non-responders has identified 18 differentially expressed proteins. Pathway analysis demonstrated high metabolic activity in non-responders' tumors before nCRT, indicating the presence of intrinsic chemoradioresistance in these subjects. Two proteins associated with poor prognosis in colorectal cancer, ADAM10 and CAD, were identified as candidate predictive biomarkers as they were present in non-responders only.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Shortlisted proteins from our study should be further validated as candidate biomarkers for response to routinely applied nCRT protocols.

Electrochemical determination of epirubicin in the presence of topotecan as essential anti-cancer compounds using paste electrode amplified with Pt/SWCNT nanocomposite and a deep eutectic solvent

Epirubicin (EP) and topotecan (TP) are two major anti-cancer compounds for the treatment of breast cancer with serious side effects. Hence herein, a carbon paste electrode (CPE) amplified with Pt/SWCNT nanocomposite and a deep eutectic solvent (CPE/DES/Pt-SWCNT) were proposed as an analytical tool for the monitoring of EP in the presence of TP in the real samples. Amplification of sensor was improve EP oxidation signal about 2.73 times. Under the optimized conditions, EP determined by using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique with linear dynamic range of 0.001-500 μM with limit of detection (LOD) of 0.8 nM. The CPE/DES/Pt-SWCNT offered influential ability for monitoring of EP in injection and dextrose saline samples with a recovery range of 97.4%-104.9%.

Bioinformatics approaches identified dasatinib and bortezomib inhibit the activity of MCM7 protein as a potential treatment against human cancer

Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 7 (MCM7) is a key component of the DNA replication licensing factor and hexamer MCM (MCM2–7) complex that regulates the DNA replication process. The MCM7 protein is associated with tumor cell proliferation that plays an important role in different human cancer progression. As the protein is highly expressed during the cancer development process, therefore, inhibition of the protein can be utilized as a treatment option for different human cancer. However, the study aimed to identify potential small molecular drug candidates against the MCM7 protein that can utilize treatment options for human cancer. Initially, the compounds identified from protein-drugs network analysis have been retrieved from NetworkAnalyst v3.0 server and screened through molecular docking, MM-GBSA, DFT, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation approach. Two compounds namely Dasatinib (CID_3062316) and Bortezomib (CID_387447) have been identified throughout the screening process, which have the highest negative binding affinity (Kcal/mol) and binding free energy (Kcal/mol). The pharmacokinetics and toxicity analysis identified drug-like properties and no toxicity properties of the compounds, where 500 ns MD simulation confirmed structural stability of the two compounds to the targeted proteins. Therefore, we can conclude that the compounds dasatinib and bortezomib can inhibit the activity of the MCM7 and can be developed as a treatment option against human cancer.

Restoring FAS Expression via Lipid-Encapsulated FAS DNA Nanoparticle Delivery Is Sufficient to Suppress Colon Tumor Growth In Vivo

Simple Summary

A key feature of human colorectal tumor is loss of FAS expression. FAS is the death receptor for FASL of activated T cells. Loss of FAS expression therefore may promote tumor cell immune escape. We aimed at determining whether restoring FAS expression is sufficient to suppress colorectal tumor growth. Mouse and human FAS cDNA was synthesized and encapsulated into cationic lipid nanoparticle DOTAP-Cholesterol to formulate DOTAP-Chol-mFAS and DOTAP-Chol-hFAS, respectively. Restoring FAS expression in metastatic mouse colon-tumor cells enabled FASL-induced elimination of FAS⁺ tumor cells in vitro and suppressed colon-tumor growth and progression in tumor-bearing mice in vivo. Restoring FAS expression induced FAS receptor auto-oligomerization and tumor cell auto-apoptosis in metastatic human colon-tumor cells in vitro. DOTAP-Chol-hFAS therapy is also sufficient to suppress metastatic human colon tumor xenograft growth in athymic mice. Tumor-selective delivery of FAS DNA nanoparticle is potentially an effective therapy for human colorectal cancer.

Abstract

A hallmark of human colorectal cancer is lost expression of FAS, the death receptor for FASL of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). However, it is unknown whether restoring FAS expression alone is sufficient to suppress csolorectal-cancer development. The FAS promoter is hypermethylated and inversely correlated with FAS mRNA level in human colorectal carcinomas. Analysis of single-cell RNA-Seq datasets revealed that FAS is highly expressed in epithelial cells and immune cells but down-regulated in colon-tumor cells in human colorectal-cancer patients. Codon usage-optimized mouse and human FAS cDNA was designed, synthesized, and encapsulated into cationic lipid to formulate nanoparticle DOTAP-Chol-mFAS and DOTAP-Chol-hFAS, respectively. Overexpression of codon usage-optimized FAS in metastatic mouse colon-tumor cells enabled FASL-induced elimination of FAS⁺ tumor cells in vitro, suppressed colon tumor growth, and increased the survival of tumor-bearing mice in vivo. Overexpression of codon-optimized FAS-induced FAS receptor auto-oligomerization and tumor cell auto-apoptosis in metastatic human colon-tumor cells. DOTAP-Chol-hFAS therapy is also sufficient to suppress metastatic human colon tumor xenograft growth in athymic mice. DOTAP-Chol-mFAS therapy exhibited no significant liver toxicity. Our data determined that tumor-selective delivery of FAS DNA nanoparticles is sufficient for suppression of human colon tumor growth in vivo.

Expression profiles of Natural Killer Group 2D Ligands (NGK2DLs) in colorectal carcinoma and changes in response to chemotherapeutic agents

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Natural Killer Group 2D Receptor (NKG2D) and their ligands (NKG2DLs) play crucial roles in natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Tumorigeneses cause increased NKG2DLs expression on tumor cell surfaces, thereby these cells individually eliminated by NK cells. However, CRC cells can reduce their NKG2DL expression to escape from NK-mediated immune surveillance which is associated with poor prognosis. Therefore, previous studies suggest that up-regulation of NKG2DLs can contribute to promising NK cell-mediated immunotherapy strategies. We aimed to analyze NKG2DLs expression profiles in response to chemotherapeutic drugs and increased MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence A (MICA) expression, which is related to favorable prognosis in CRC, using low doses of bortezomib and epirubicin combination without causing direct cytotoxicity. Results showed that MICA expression  sligthly increased following drug treatment in the CRC cells but not for the normal cells. Also, we enriched our study with Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets including expression profiles of various NKG2DLs using in silico analyses. Accordingly, NKG2DL expression in CRC was screened in proportion to other cancers, histologic subtypes, TNM stages and metastatic samples to compare with our data. Overall, the analyzed data showed that NKG2DLs demonstrate different expression profiles in response to chemotherapeutic agents and a combination of low-dose bortezomib and epirubicin slightly increased MICA mRNA expression in CRC cell lines. However, performing further analysis of the combination therapy for MICA protein expression and studying its interaction with NK cells will make the results more meaningful.

Codelivery of Anticancer Drug and Photosensitizer by PEGylated Graphene Oxide and Cell Penetrating Peptide Enhanced Tumor-Suppressing Effect on Osteosarcoma

Objective: Graphene oxide (GO) has been widely used for various biological and biomedical applications due to its unique physiochemical properties. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cell penetrating peptide (CPP) modified and polyethylene-glycol- (PEG-) grafted GO (pGO) loaded with photosensitive agent 2-(1-hexyloxyethyl)-2-devinyl pyropheophorbide-alpha (HPPH) and Epirubicin (EPI) (HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO) on tumor growth in osteosarcoma. Methods: The HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO were prepared, and then in vitro drug release assay was conducted. The detection of singlet oxygen (¹O₂) and cellular uptake of HPPH was performed as well. Next, the effects of control (saline solution), CPP-pGO, EPI, HPPH, HPPH/CPP-pGO, EPI/CPP-pGO, HPPH/EPI/pGO, and HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO were evaluated by MTT assay, colony-forming assay, and cell apoptosis assay in MG-63 cells. Furthermore, the antitumor effects of HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO on osteosarcoma xenograft mice were unraveled. Results: The ¹O₂ generation and cellular uptake of HPPH were significantly increased after CPP and pGO modification compared with free HPPH. In addition, compared with control cells, CPP-pGO treatment had low cytotoxicity in MG-63 cells. Compared with free HPPH or EPI, HPPH/CPP-pGO or EPI/CPP-pGO treatment significantly inhibited cell viability and colony forming number, as well as inducing cell apoptosis. HPPH/EPI-pGO treatment showed stronger inhibition effects on MG-63 cells than HPPH/CPP-pGO or EPI/CPP-pGO, and HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO was the most effective one. Similarly, in vivo experiments revealed that, compared with control group, the tumor size and weight of osteosarcoma xenograft mice were obviously decreased after free HPPH or EPI treatment, which were further reduced in other groups, especially in HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO group. Conclusion: HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO had superior tumor-inhibiting effects in vitro and in vivo on osteosarcoma.

Inflammatory Serum Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer in Kazakhstan Population

Colorectal cancer is a type of oncopathology widespread in Kazakhstan. The genetic component, as well as the possible etiopathogenetic mechanisms, is widely studied. One of the most promising areas is the study of diagnostic and prognostic possibilities of inflammatory biomarkers in patients with different degrees of tumor differentiation. The following biomarkers were included in the study panel: stem cell factor (SCF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF2), interleukin 6 (IL6), interleukin 8 (IL8), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), soluble Fas (SFAS), soluble Fas ligand (sFASL), transforming growth factor β (TGF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1). The data of our study show that most of the basic proinflammatory cytokines are involved in the systemic process and their levels do not depend on the level of tissue differentiation. Serum PD-L1 has shown itself to be a promising marker for tumor growth, which depends on the degree of differentiation.

Role of Deubiquitinases in Human Cancers: Potential Targeted Therapy

Deubiquitinases (DUBs) are involved in various cellular functions. They deconjugate ubiquitin (UBQ) from ubiquitylated substrates to regulate their activity and stability. Studies on the roles of deubiquitylation have been conducted in various cancers to identify the carcinogenic roles of DUBs. In this review, we evaluate the biological roles of DUBs in cancer, including proliferation, cell cycle control, apoptosis, the DNA damage response, tumor suppression, oncogenesis, and metastasis. This review mainly focuses on the regulation of different downstream effectors and pathways via biochemical regulation and posttranslational modifications. We summarize the relationship between DUBs and human cancers and discuss the potential of DUBs as therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. This review also provides basic knowledge of DUBs in the development of cancers and highlights the importance of DUBs in cancer biology.