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Bugide S, Reddy DS, Malvi P, Gupta R, Wajapeyee N. ALK inhibitors suppress HCC and synergize with anti-PD-1 therapy and ABT-263 in preclinical models. iScience 2024; 27:109800. [PMID: 38741708 PMCID: PMC11089374 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) currently lacks effective therapies, leaving a critical need for new treatment options. A previous study identified the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) amplification in HCC patients, raising the question of whether ALK inhibitors could be a viable treatment. Here, we showed that both ALK inhibitors and ALK knockout effectively halted HCC growth in cell cultures. Lorlatinib, a potent ALK inhibitor, suppressed HCC tumor growth and metastasis across various mouse models. Additionally, in an advanced immunocompetent humanized mouse model, when combined with an anti-PD-1 antibody, lorlatinib more potently suppressed HCC tumor growth, surpassing individual drug efficacy. Lorlatinib induced apoptosis and senescence in HCC cells, and the senolytic agent ABT-263 enhanced the efficacy of lorlatinib. Additional studies identified that the apoptosis-inducing effect of lorlatinib was mediated via GGN and NRG4. These findings establish ALK inhibitors as promising HCC treatments, either alone or in combination with immunotherapies or senolytic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suresh Bugide
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
| | - Dhana Sekhar Reddy
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
| | - Parmanand Malvi
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
| | - Romi Gupta
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
- O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
| | - Narendra Wajapeyee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
- O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
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Myint KZ, Balasubramanian B, Venkatraman S, Phimsen S, Sripramote S, Jantra J, Choeiphuk C, Mingphruedhi S, Muangkaew P, Rungsakulkij N, Tangtawee P, Suragul W, Farquharson WV, Wongprasert K, Chutipongtanate S, Sanvarinda P, Ponpuak M, Poungvarin N, Janvilisri T, Suthiphongchai T, Yacqub-Usman K, Grabowska AM, Bates DO, Tohtong R. Therapeutic Implications of Ceritinib in Cholangiocarcinoma beyond ALK Expression and Mutation. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2024; 17:197. [PMID: 38399413 PMCID: PMC10892566 DOI: 10.3390/ph17020197] [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: 01/08/2024] [Revised: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a difficult-to-treat cancer, with limited therapeutic options and surgery being the only curative treatment. Standard chemotherapy involves gemcitabine-based therapies combined with cisplatin, oxaliplatin, capecitabine, or 5-FU with a dismal prognosis for most patients. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are aberrantly expressed in CCAs encompassing potential therapeutic opportunity. Hence, 112 RTK inhibitors were screened in KKU-M213 cells, and ceritinib, an approved targeted therapy for ALK-fusion gene driven cancers, was the most potent candidate. Ceritinib's cytotoxicity in CCA was assessed using MTT and clonogenic assays, along with immunofluorescence, western blot, and qRT-PCR techniques to analyze gene expression and signaling changes. Furthermore, the drug interaction relationship between ceritinib and cisplatin was determined using a ZIP synergy score. Additionally, spheroid and xenograft models were employed to investigate the efficacy of ceritinib in vivo. Our study revealed that ceritinib effectively killed CCA cells at clinically relevant plasma concentrations, irrespective of ALK expression or mutation status. Ceritinib modulated multiple signaling pathways leading to the inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and activated both apoptosis and autophagy. Additionally, ceritinib and cisplatin synergistically reduced CCA cell viability. Our data show ceritinib as an effective treatment of CCA, which could be potentially explored in the other cancer types without ALK mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyaw Zwar Myint
- Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (K.Z.M.); (B.B.); (S.V.); (T.J.)
| | - Brinda Balasubramanian
- Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (K.Z.M.); (B.B.); (S.V.); (T.J.)
- Translational Medical Sciences Unit, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Simran Venkatraman
- Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (K.Z.M.); (B.B.); (S.V.); (T.J.)
| | - Suchada Phimsen
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand; (S.P.); (C.C.)
| | - Supisara Sripramote
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.S.); (J.J.); (T.S.)
| | - Jeranan Jantra
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.S.); (J.J.); (T.S.)
| | - Chaiwat Choeiphuk
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand; (S.P.); (C.C.)
| | - Somkit Mingphruedhi
- Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.M.); (P.M.); (N.R.); (P.T.); (W.S.); (W.V.F.)
| | - Paramin Muangkaew
- Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.M.); (P.M.); (N.R.); (P.T.); (W.S.); (W.V.F.)
| | - Narongsak Rungsakulkij
- Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.M.); (P.M.); (N.R.); (P.T.); (W.S.); (W.V.F.)
| | - Pongsatorn Tangtawee
- Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.M.); (P.M.); (N.R.); (P.T.); (W.S.); (W.V.F.)
| | - Wikran Suragul
- Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.M.); (P.M.); (N.R.); (P.T.); (W.S.); (W.V.F.)
| | - Watoo Vassanasiri Farquharson
- Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.M.); (P.M.); (N.R.); (P.T.); (W.S.); (W.V.F.)
| | - Kanokpan Wongprasert
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand;
| | - Somchai Chutipongtanate
- Division of Epidemiology, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
| | - Pimtip Sanvarinda
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand;
| | - Marisa Ponpuak
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand;
| | - Naravat Poungvarin
- Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand;
| | - Tavan Janvilisri
- Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (K.Z.M.); (B.B.); (S.V.); (T.J.)
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.S.); (J.J.); (T.S.)
| | - Tuangporn Suthiphongchai
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.S.); (J.J.); (T.S.)
| | - Kiren Yacqub-Usman
- Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (K.Y.-U.); (A.M.G.); (D.O.B.)
| | - Anna M. Grabowska
- Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (K.Y.-U.); (A.M.G.); (D.O.B.)
| | - David O. Bates
- Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (K.Y.-U.); (A.M.G.); (D.O.B.)
| | - Rutaiwan Tohtong
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand; (S.S.); (J.J.); (T.S.)
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Wu H, Qian D, Bai X, Sun S. Targeted Pyroptosis Is a Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Cancer. JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2022; 2022:2515525. [PMID: 36467499 PMCID: PMC9715319 DOI: 10.1155/2022/2515525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
As a type of regulated cell death (RCD) mode, pyroptosis plays an important role in several kinds of cancers. Pyroptosis is induced by different stimuli, whose pathways are divided into the canonical pathway and the noncanonical pathway depending on the formation of the inflammasomes. The canonical pathway is triggered by the assembly of inflammasomes, and the activation of caspase-1 and then the cleavage of effector protein gasdermin D (GSDMD) are promoted. While in the noncanonical pathway, the caspase-4/5/11 (caspase 4/5 in humans and caspase 11 in mice) directly cleave GSDMD without the assembly of inflammasomes. Pyroptosis is involved in various cancers, such as lung cancer, gastric cancer, hepatic carcinoma, breast cancer, and colorectal carcinoma. Pyroptosis in gastric cancer, hepatic carcinoma, breast cancer, and colorectal carcinoma is related to the canonical pathway, while both the canonical and noncanonical pathway participate in lung cancer. Moreover, simvastatin, metformin, and curcumin have effect on these cancers and simultaneously promote the pyroptosis of cancer cells. Accordingly, pyroptosis may be an important therapeutic target for cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Wu
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
- Clinical Medicine, Three Class, 2020 Grade, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Dianlun Qian
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Xiangfeng Bai
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Shibo Sun
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
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m6A-Related Angiogenic Genes to Construct Prognostic Signature, Reveal Immune and Oxidative Stress Landscape, and Screen Drugs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. OXIDATIVE MEDICINE AND CELLULAR LONGEVITY 2022; 2022:8301888. [PMID: 36246403 PMCID: PMC9554665 DOI: 10.1155/2022/8301888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Background. m6A modification plays a key role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Angiogenesis-related genes (ARGs) are increasingly being used to define signatures predicting patient prognosis. The correlations between m6A-related ARGs (mARGs), clinical outcomes, and the immune and oxidative stress landscape are unclear. Methods. Univariate Cox regression analysis of 24 mARGs yielded 13 prognostic genes, which were then analyzed for their enriched functions and pathways. After LASSO regression analysis, a prognostic signature was constructed and its reliability validated. Patients were grouped by risk using the signature score, and then the clinical prognosis, the immune landscape, and the oxidative stress landscape between the two groups were analyzed. Drug sensitivity analysis was performed to identify potentially efficient therapeutic agents. Results. Thirteen prognosis-related mARGs consistently clustered patients with HCC into four groups with significantly different prognosis. Four mARGs (EGF, ITGA5, ITGAV, and PLG) were used to construct a prognostic signature and define risk groups. Among them, EGF, ITGA5, and ITGAV, were defined as prognostic risk factors, while PLG was defined as a prognostic protective factor. Compared to low-risk patients, HCC patients in the high-risk group had a poorer prognosis and showed significant differences in clinical characteristics, enriched pathways, tumor stemness, and tumor microenvironment. The drug sensitivity of oxaliplatin and LDK-378 negatively correlated with ITGAV expression. Ten drugs had lower IC50s in the high-risk group, indicating better antitumor efficacy than in the low-risk group, with epothilone B having the lowest IC50 value. Conclusions. A prognostic model consisting of mARGs can be used to predict the prognosis of HCC patients. The risk grouping of our model can be used to reveal differences in the tumor immune microenvironment of patients with HCC. Further in-depth study may provide new targets for future treatment.
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Jaatinen J, Veija T, Salmikangas M, Böhling T, Sihto H, Koljonen V. ALK is frequently phosphorylated in Merkel cell carcinoma and associates with longer survival. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0252099. [PMID: 34029351 PMCID: PMC8143417 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare skin cancer with only limited therapeutic options for advanced disease. We previously showed that oncogene ALK is frequently expressed at the RNA level in MCC and further that ALK positivity by immunohistochemistry is frequent and correlates strongly with Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) positivity. In this study, we investigated whether ALK receptor is active in MCC tumor samples and MCC cell lines, and whether ALK would be a prospective treatment target in MCC. We utilized tissue microarrays constructed from 136 primary MCC tumor samples as well as nine previously established MCC cell lines to determine the presence of ALK and phosphorylated ALK (p-ALK) via immunohistochemistry. Almost half of the analyzed MCC tumors displayed ALK phosphorylation (47.8%). Analysis of MCC tumor samples revealed that the presence of p-ALK correlated to MCPyV positivity, younger age, nonexistence of metastases at diagnosis and ultimately to better MCC-specific survival. In contrast to MCC tumor samples only two out of nine MCC cell lines showed only low ALK phosphorylation by immunohistochemistry. Our study reveals clear disparity in ALK activity between patient derived tumors and cell line samples and therefore, more advanced disease models such as xenografts are necessary to resolve whether ALK is a useful treatment target in MCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenni Jaatinen
- Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tuukka Veija
- Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Tom Böhling
- Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Harri Sihto
- Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Virve Koljonen
- Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
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