Development of cisplatin resistance in breast cancer MCF7 cells by up-regulating aldo-keto reductase 1C3 expression, glutathione synthesis, and proteasomal proteolysis

Babaodan overcomes cisplatin resistance in cholangiocarcinoma via inhibiting YAP1

CONTEXT

Cholangiocarcinoma with highly heterogeneous, aggressive, and multidrug resistance has a poor prognosis. Although babaodan (BBD) combined with cisplatin improved non-small cell lung cancer efficacy, its impact on overcoming resistance in cholangiocarcinoma remains unexplored.

OBJECTIVE

This study explored the role and mechanism of BBD on cisplatin resistance in cholangiocarcinoma cells (CCAs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Cisplatin-resistant CCAs were exposed to varying concentrations of cisplatin (25-400 μg/mL) or BBD (0.25-1.00 mg/mL) for 48 h. IC50 values, inhibition ratios, apoptosis levels, DNA damage, glutathione (GSH) levels, oxidized forms of GSH, total GSH content, and glutaminase relative activity were evaluated using the cell counting kit 8, flow cytometry, comet assay, and relevant assay kits.

RESULTS

BBD-reduced the cisplatin IC50 in CCAs from 118.8 to 61.83 μg/mL, leading to increased inhibition rate, apoptosis, and DNA damage, and decreased expression of B-cell lymphoma-2, p-Yes-associated protein 1/Yes-associated protein 1, solute carrier family 1 member 5, activating transcription factor 4, and ERCC excision repair 1 in a dose-dependent manner with maximum reductions of 78.97%, 51.98%, 54.03%, 56.59%, and 63.22%, respectively; bcl2-associated X and gamma histone levels were increased by 0.43-115.77% and 22.15-53.39%. The impact of YAP1 knockdown on cisplatin-resistant CCAs resembled BBD. GSH, oxidized GSH species, total GSH content, and glutaminase activity in cisplatin-resistant CCAs with BBD treatment also decreased, while YAP1 overexpression countered BBD's effects.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

This study provides a scientific basis for BBD clinical application and provides a new direction for BBD biological mechanism research.

AKR1C3 promotes progression and mediates therapeutic resistance by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition and angiogenesis in small cell lung cancer

OBJECTIVE

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a high-grade neuroendocrine tumor characterized by initial sensitivity to chemotherapy, followed by the development of drug resistance. The underlying mechanisms of resistance in SCLC have not been fully elucidated. Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member C3 (AKR1C3), is known to be associated with chemoradiotherapy resistance in diverse tumors. We aim to evaluate the prognostic significance and immune characteristics of AKR1C3 and investigate its potential role in promoting drug resistance in SCLC.

METHODS

81 postoperative SCLC tissues were used to analyze AKR1C3 prognostic value and immune features. The tissue microarrays were employed to validate the clinical significance of AKR1C3 in SCLC. The effects of AKR1C3 on SCLC cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis and tumor angiogenesis were detected by CCK-8, wound healing assay, transwell assay, flow cytometry and tube formation assay.

RESULTS

AKR1C3 demonstrated the highest expression level compared to other AKR1C family genes, and multivariate cox regression analysis identified it as an independent prognostic factor for SCLC. High AKR1C3 expression patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy experienced significantly shorter overall survival (OS). Furthermore, AKR1C3 was involved in the regulation of the tumor immune microenvironment in SCLC. Silencing of AKR1C3 led to the inhibition of cell proliferation and migration, while simultaneously promoting apoptosis and reducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in SCLC.

CONCLUSION

AKR1C3 promotes cell growth and metastasis, leading to drug resistance through inducing EMT and angiogenesis in SCLC.

AKR1C3 in carcinomas: from multifaceted roles to therapeutic strategies

Aldo-Keto Reductase Family 1 Member C3 (AKR1C3), also known as type 5 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β-HSD5) or prostaglandin F (PGF) synthase, functions as a pivotal enzyme in androgen biosynthesis. It catalyzes the conversion of weak androgens, estrone (a weak estrogen), and PGD2 into potent androgens (testosterone and 5α-dihydrotestosterone), 17β-estradiol (a potent estrogen), and 11β-PGF2α, respectively. Elevated levels of AKR1C3 activate androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathway, contributing to tumor recurrence and imparting resistance to cancer therapies. The overexpression of AKR1C3 serves as an oncogenic factor, promoting carcinoma cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis, and is correlated with unfavorable prognosis and overall survival in carcinoma patients. Inhibiting AKR1C3 has demonstrated potent efficacy in suppressing tumor progression and overcoming treatment resistance. As a result, the development and design of AKR1C3 inhibitors have garnered increasing interest among researchers, with significant progress witnessed in recent years. Novel AKR1C3 inhibitors, including natural products and analogues of existing drugs designed based on their structures and frameworks, continue to be discovered and developed in laboratories worldwide. The AKR1C3 enzyme has emerged as a key player in carcinoma progression and therapeutic resistance, posing challenges in cancer treatment. This review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of AKR1C3's role in carcinoma development, its implications in therapeutic resistance, and recent advancements in the development of AKR1C3 inhibitors for tumor therapies.

Availability of aldo-keto reductase 1C3 and ATP-binding cassette B1 as therapeutic targets for alleviating paclitaxel resistance in breast cancer MCF7 cells

Paclitaxel (PTX) is frequently utilized for the chemotherapy of breast cancer, but its continuous treatment provokes hyposensitivity. Here, we established a PTX-resistant variant of human breast cancer MCF7 cells and found that acquiring the chemoresistance elicits a remarkable up-regulation of aldo-keto reductase (AKR) 1C3. MCF7 cell sensitivity to PTX toxicity was increased by pretreatment with AKR1C3 inhibitor and knockdown of this enzyme, and decreased by its overexpression, inferring a crucial role of AKR1C3 in the development of PTX resistance. The PTX-resistant cells were much less sensitive to 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and acrolein, cytotoxic reactive aldehydes derived from ROS-mediated lipid peroxidation, compared with the parental cells. Additionally, the resistant cells lowered levels of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal formed during PTX treatment, which was mitigated by pretreating with AKR1C3 inhibitor, suggesting that AKR1C3 procures the chemoresistance through facilitating the metabolism of the cytotoxic aldehyde. The gain of PTX resistance additively promoted the aberrant expression of an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCB1 among the ABC transporter isoforms. The combined treatment with AKR1C3 and ABCB1 inhibitors overcame the PTX resistance and cross-resistance to another taxane-based drug docetaxel. Collectively, combined treatment with AKR1C3 and ABCB1 inhibitors may exert an overcoming effect of PTX resistance in breast cancer.

Comparative Analysis of Coumarin Profiles in Different Parts of Peucedanum japonicum and Their Aldo-Keto Reductase Inhibitory Activities

Peucedanum japonicum (Umbelliferae) is widely distributed throughout Southeast Asian countries. The root of this plant is used in traditional medicine to treat colds and pain, whereas the young leaves are considered an edible vegetable. In this study, the differences in coumarin profiles for different parts of P. japonicum including the flowers, roots, leaves, and stems were compared using ultra-performance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Twenty-eight compounds were tentatively identified, including three compounds found in the genus Peucedanum for the first time. Principal component analysis using the data set of the measured mass values and intensities of the compounds exhibited distinct clustering of the flower, leaf, stem, and root samples. In addition, their anticancer activities were screened using an Aldo-keto reductase (AKR)1C1 assay on A549 human non-small-cell lung cancer cells and the flower extract inhibited AKR1C1 activity. Based on these results, seven compounds were selected as potential markers to distinguish between the flower part versus the root, stem, and leaf parts using an orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis. This study is the first to provide information on the comparison of coumarin profiles from different parts of P. japonicum as well as their AKR1C1 inhibitory activities. Taken together, the flowers of P. japonicum offer a new use related to the efficacy of overcoming anticancer drug resistance, and may be a promising source for the isolation of active lead compounds.

Discovery of Novel Aldo-Keto Reductase 1C3 Inhibitors as Chemotherapeutic Potentiators for Cancer Drug Resistance

As a crucial target which is overexpressed in a variety of cancers, aldo-keto reductase 1C3 (AKR1C3) confers chemotherapeutic resistance to many clinical agents. However, a limited number of AKR1C3-selective inhibitors are applied clinically, which indicates the importance of identifying active compounds. Herein, we report the discovery, synthesis, and evaluation of novel and potent AKR1C3 inhibitors with structural diversity. Molecular dynamics simulations of these active compounds provide reasonable clarification of the interpreted biological data. Moreover, we demonstrate that AKR1C3 inhibitors have the potential to be superior therapeutic agents for re-sensitizing drug-resistant cell lines to chemotherapy, especially the pan-AKR1C inhibitor S07-2010. Our study identifies new structural classes of AKR1C3 inhibitors and enriches the structural diversity, which facilitates the future rational design of inhibitors and structural optimization. Moreover, these compounds may serve as promising therapeutic adjuvants toward new therapeutics for countering drug resistance.