Enhancement of death receptor 4-mediated apoptosis and cytotoxicity in renal cell carcinoma cells by anisomycin

Polyphenols in Ilex latifolia Thunb. inhibit human lung cancer cell line A549 by regulation of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway

Background

The leaves of the plant Ilex latifolia Thunb. can be made into Kuding tea, which is a drink rich in polyphenols. This study aimed to observe the effect of Ilex latifolia Thunb. polyphenols (ILTPs) on human lung cancer cell line A549 (A549 cells) by regulating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway.

Methods

In vitro cultured cells were treated with ILTPs; the proliferation of A549 cells and BEAS-2B human normal lung epithelial cells (Beas-2B cells) was observed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and the survival status of A549 cells was observed by fluorescence staining. The expression of A549 cells was observed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay and Western blot analysis, while the compound composition of ILTPs was detected using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Results

The experimental results showed that the proliferation of Beas-2B cells was unaffected by treatment with 0–500 μg/mL of ILTPs, whereas the decreased proliferation of A549 cells was observed with the increasing concentrations of ILTPs. Additionally, ILTPs elevated the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and promoted apoptosis in A549 cells. The results of qPCR experiments showed that ILTPs upregulated caspase-9 mRNA expression and downregulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in A549 cells. The Western blot analysis results also showed that ILTPs could reduce the protein expression of PI3K and Akt. The HPLC results showed that the main compounds present in the ILTPs were rutin, kaempferol, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid B, and isochlorogenic acid C.

Conclusions

Thus, this study indicated that the polyphenols of I. latifolia act as a class of natural functional food materials that potently suppress cancer by exerting their inhibitory effects on A549 cell proliferation through five key polyphenolic compounds.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12906-022-03568-3.

Anisomycin is active in preclinical models of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia via specifically inhibiting mitochondrial respiration

The poor outcomes in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) necessitate new treatments. In this work, we identified that anisomycin is a potential selective anti-AML candidate, particularly for those with FLT3-ITD mutation. We found that anisomycin potently inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in multiple AML cell lines. Anisomycin was effective in targeting progenitor cells isolated from all tested pediatric AML patients, while sparing normal counterparts. Using AML xenograft mouse models, anisomycin exhibited inhibitory effect on tumor growth throughout the whole duration without causing toxicity in mice. The combination of anisomycin with standard of care drugs is synergistic and selective in AML cell culture system and mouse model. In addition, FLT3-ITD cells were more sensitive to anisomycin than FLT3 WT cells. Mechanistic studies revealed that anisomycin acted on AML in a p38-independent manner. We found that anisomycin decreased mitochondrial respiration by disrupting complex I activity, leading to intracellular oxidative stress. AML ρ⁰ cells that lack of mitochondrial respiration exhibited resistance to anisomycin. Finally, we showed that mitochondrial biogenesis contributes to differential sensitivity of FLT3-ITD and FLT3 WT cells to anisomycin. Our work is the first to systematically demonstrate that anisomycin is a useful addition to the treatment armamentarium for AML. Our findings highlight the therapeutic value of mitochondrial respiration inhibition in AML patients harboring FLT3-ITD mutation.

Integrative Analysis of a Novel Eleven-Small Nucleolar RNA Prognostic Signature in Patients With Lower Grade Glioma

Objective

The present study used the RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) dataset to identify prognostic snoRNAs and construct a prognostic signature of The Cancer Genome Atla (TCGA) lower grade glioma (LGG) cohort, and comprehensive analysis of this signature.

Methods

RNA-seq dataset of 488 patients from TCGA LGG cohort were included in this study. Comprehensive analysis including function enrichment, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), immune infiltration, cancer immune microenvironment, and connectivity map (CMap) were used to evaluate the snoRNAs prognostic signature.

Results

We identified 21 LGG prognostic snoRNAs and constructed a novel eleven-snoRNA prognostic signature for LGG patients. Survival analysis suggests that this signature is an independent prognostic risk factor for LGG, and the prognosis of LGG patients with a high-risk phenotype is poor (adjusted P = 0.003, adjusted hazard ratio = 2.076, 95% confidence interval = 1.290–3.340). GSEA and functional enrichment analysis suggest that this signature may be involved in the following biological processes and signaling pathways: such as cell cycle, Wnt, mitogen-activated protein kinase, janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of tran-ions, T cell receptor, nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathway. CMap analysis screened out ten targeted therapy drugs for this signature: 15-delta prostaglandin J2, MG-262, vorinostat, 5155877, puromycin, anisomycin, withaferin A, ciclopirox, chloropyrazine and megestrol. We also found that high- and low-risk score phenotypes of LGG patients have significant differences in immune infiltration and cancer immune microenvironment.

Conclusions

The present study identified a novel eleven-snoRNA prognostic signature of LGG and performed a integrative analysis of its molecular mechanisms and relationship with tumor immunity.

Expression level of long non-coding RNA colon adenocarcinoma hypermethylated serves as a novel prognostic biomarker in patients with thyroid carcinoma

The present study attempts to identify the prognostic value and potential mechanism of action of colorectal adenocarcinoma hypermethylated (CAHM) in thyroid carcinoma (THCA) by using the RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The functional mechanism of CAHM was explored by using RNA-seq dataset and multiple functional enrichment analysis approaches. Connectivity map (CMap) online analysis tool was also used to predict CAHM targeted drugs. Survival analysis suggests that THCA patients with high CAHM expression have lower risk of death than the low CAHM expression (log-rank P=0.022, adjusted P=0.011, HR = 0.187, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.051–0.685). Functional enrichment of CAHM co-expression genes suggests that CAHM may play a role in the following biological processes: DNA repair, cell adhesion, DNA replication, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, Erb-B2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2, ErbB and thyroid hormone signaling pathways. Functional enrichment of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between low- and high-CAHM phenotype suggests that different CAHM expression levels may have the following differences in biological processes in THCA: cell adhesion, cell proliferation, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1 (ERK1) and ERK2 cascade, G-protein coupled receptor, chemokine and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-Akt signaling pathways. Connectivity map have identified five drugs (levobunolol, NU-1025, quipazine, anisomycin and sulfathiazole) for CAHM targeted therapy in THCA. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) suggest that low CAHM phenotype were notably enriched in p53, nuclear factor κB, Janus kinase-signal transducer and activators of transcription, tumor necrosis factor, epidermal growth factor receptor and other signaling pathways. In the present study, we have identified that CAHM may serve as novel prognostic biomarkers for predicting overall survival (OS) in patients with THCA.

Anisomycin sensitizes non-small-cell lung cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents and epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor via suppressing PI3K/Akt/mTOR

The poor outcomes in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) necessitate new treatments. Recent studies emphasize anisomycin as a promising anti-cancer drug candidate. In this work, we systematically investigated the efficacy of anisomycin alone and its combination with the standard-of-care drugs in NSCLC. We showed that anisomycin inhibited growth, migration, and survival in NSCLC cells regardless of genetic mutation status, and to a greater extent than in normal lung epithelial cells. Isobologram analysis showed that the combination of anisomycin with cisplatin, paclitaxel, or gefitinib was synergistic in NSCLC but not normal lung cells. We further demonstrated that anisomycin inhibited NSCLC growth in mice. The combination of anisomycin with cisplatin was more effective than cisplatin alone and completely arrested NSCLC growth throughout the whole duration of treatment. JNK and p38 MAPK were not required for anisomycin's action. In contrast, anisomycin inhibits PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Overexpression of constitutively active Akt reversed the pro-apoptotic effect of anisomycin. Our work demonstrates the selective anti-NSCLC activity of anisomycin via suppressing PI3K/Akt/mTOR. Our findings provide preclinical evidence to initialize the clinical trial of using anisomycin to sensitize NSCLC to current therapy.

Novel natural killer cell-mediated cancer immunotherapeutic activity of anisomycin against hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Despite advances in the clinical management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), this form of cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Currently, there are few treatment options for advanced HCC. Therefore, novel treatment strategies for HCC are required. Here, we described the promising antitumour effects of anisomycin, which exerts both direct killing effects and natural killer cell (NK)-mediated immunotherapeutic effects in HCC. To better elucidate the mechanisms through which anisomycin mediates its antitumour effects, we performed a genome-scale transcriptional analysis. We found that anisomycin treatment of HCC differentially modulated a broad range of immune regulation-associated genes. Among these immune regulation-associated genes, we found that lymphocyte function-associated antigen-3 (LFA-3, also called CD58), whose expression was significantly increased in anisomycin-treated HCC cells, was a critical player in NK-mediated immunotherapeutic effects. Furthermore major histocompatibility complex molecules class I (MHC-I) on HCC cells were also significantly regulated by treatment of anisomycin. Those adhesion molecules like CD58, MHC-I, and ICAM4 should be important for immune synapse formation between NK cells and HCC cells to boost NK-mediated immunotherapeutic effects. Notably, this is the first report of NK-dependent immunomodulatory effects of anisomycin suggesting anisomycin as a novel therapeutic drug for treatment of HCC.

Antibiotic anisomycin induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through inhibiting mitochondrial biogenesis in osteosarcoma

The anti-cancer activities of antibiotic anisomycin have been demonstrated in kidney, colon and ovarian cancers whereas its underlying mechanisms are not well elucidated. In this work, we investigated whether anisomycin is effective in sensitizes osteosarcoma cell response to chemotherapy. We show that anisomycin inhibits proliferation via inducing osteosarcoma cell arrest at G2/M phase, accompanied by the increased levels of mitotic marker cyclin B and the decreased levels of Rb and E2F-1. Anisomycin also induces apoptosis in a caspase-dependent manner in osteosarcoma cells. Importantly, anisomycin is less effective in normal control NIH3T3 cells compared to osteosarcoma cells. In addition, anisomycin inhibits osteosarcoma growth in xenograft mouse model and enhances the inhibitory effects of doxorubicin in osteosarcoma in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, anisomycin targets mitochondrial biogenesis in osteosarcoma as shown by the decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, suppressed mitochondrial respiration via decreasing complex I activity, reduced ATP production. Furthermore, mitochondrial biogenesis stimulator acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR) significantly rescues the inhibitory effects of anisomycin in osteosarcoma cells. Our work demonstrates that anisomycin is active against osteosarcoma cells and the molecular mechanism of its action is the inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis.