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Feng T, Zeng S, Ding J, Chen G, Wang B, Wang D, Li X, Wang K. Comparative analysis of the effects of opioids in angiogenesis. BMC Anesthesiol 2021; 21:257. [PMID: 34702181 PMCID: PMC8549314 DOI: 10.1186/s12871-021-01475-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Angiogenesis, the formation of blood vessel from pre-existing ones, plays an important role in many pathophysiological diseases, such as cancer. Opioids are often used in clinic for the management of chronic pain in cancer patients at terminal phases. Here, we investigated and compared the effects and mechanisms of four opioids on angiogenesis. METHODS We performed angiogenesis assays on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) that represent an in vitro model to assess the toxicity of drugs to endothelium. RESULTS Morphine and oxycodone at 0.1 μM to 100 μM dose-dependently increased endothelial cell tube formation and proliferation. We observed the same in endothelial cells exposed to fentanyl at 0.1 μM to 10 μM but there was a gradual loss of stimulation by fentanyl at 100 μM and 1000 μM. Morphine and fentanyl reduced endothelial cell apoptosis-induced by serum withdrawal whereas oxycodone did not display anti-apoptotic effect, via decreasing Bax level. Oxycodone at the same concentrations was less potent than morphine and fentanyl. Different from other three opioids, codeine at all tested concentrations did not affect endothelial cell tube formation, proliferation and survival. Mechanism studies demonstrated that opioids acted on endothelial cells via μ-opioid receptor-independent pathway. Although we observed the increased phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in cells exposed to morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone, the rescue studies demonstrated that the stimulatory effects of morphine but not fentanyl nor oxycodone were reversed by a specific MAPK inhibitor. CONCLUSION Our work demonstrates the differential effects and mechanisms of opioids on angiogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Feng
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Baoan Central Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, No 60 Leyuan Road, Baoan Distric of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
| | - Si Zeng
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Science & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Electronic Science and Technology University, 18 Huanhua Road, Chengdu, China.
| | - Jie Ding
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Baoan Central Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, No 60 Leyuan Road, Baoan Distric of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Gong Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Baoan Central Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, No 60 Leyuan Road, Baoan Distric of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Bin Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Baoan Central Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, No 60 Leyuan Road, Baoan Distric of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Daguo Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Baoan Central Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, No 60 Leyuan Road, Baoan Distric of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Xueli Li
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Baoan Central Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, No 60 Leyuan Road, Baoan Distric of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Kunfeng Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Baoan Central Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, No 60 Leyuan Road, Baoan Distric of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
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Wang Z, Jiang L, Wang J, Chai Z, Xiong W. Morphine promotes angiogenesis by activating PI3K/Akt/HIF-1α pathway and upregulating VEGF in hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastrointest Oncol 2021; 12:1761-1772. [PMID: 34532126 DOI: 10.21037/jgo-20-394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by the neo-angiogenesis induced by tumor and adjacent cells. It is a leading cancer-related cause of death. Morphine has effects on angiogenesis with pro-angiogenic or anti-angiogenic phonotypes. This study explores the function of morphine on cancer cell growth, angiogenesis and the underlying mechanism in HCC. Methods Morphine was used to treat BEL-7402 or HCC-LM3 cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were subsequently incubated in the conditioned media (CM) of HCC cells. The potential effects of cell proliferation, migration and tube formation of CM-treated HUVECs were investigated. Furthermore, the angiogenesis regulated factors of VEGFA, PIGF, ANG-1, ANG-2, FGF-1 and FGF-2 were assessed. siRNA and LY294002 were further used to explore the mechanism mediating the effects of morphine on the angiogenesis pathway. The neovascularization effect by morphine was confirmed through the use of human HCC cancer heterotopic mouse model in vivo. Results A significantly increased cell proliferation, migration, and tube formation effect of HUVECs induced by the CM from HCC cell lines treated with morphine was observed. More VEGFA secretion in CM from LM3 or BEL-7402 cell lines was found than the controls (P=0.03 and P=0.027, respectively). VEGFA knock-down could significantly reverse cell proliferation, migration and tube formation induced by the CM from HCC cell lines with morphine treatment. Further molecular experiments indicated that VEGFA secretion was activated by morphine potentially through the PI3K/Akt/HIF-1α pathway. Morphine-induced neovascularization was also observed by the IHC of CD31 and VEGFA. Conclusions Morphine promotes angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma possibly through the activation of the PI3K/Akt/HIF-1α pathway and VEGFA stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyao Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Linghui Jiang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zongtao Chai
- Department of Hepatic Surgery VI, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wanxia Xiong
- Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Liu W, Chen Y, Xu W, Wang W, Tang L, Xia R, Zhu Q. Fentanyl stimulates tumor angiogenesis via activating multiple pro-angiogenic signaling pathways. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2020; 532:225-230. [PMID: 32861420 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.08.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Angiogenesis plays a vital role in tumor progression and metastasis. To better understand the role of anesthesia in tumor biology, we previously reported that bupivacaine displayed the inhibitory effects in endothelial cells. In this work, we demonstrated that fentanyl, an opioid medication commonly used in cancer patients, stimulated tumor angiogenesis. We found that fentanyl at nanomolar concentrations significantly stimulated capillary network formation of human lung tumor-associated endothelial cell (HLT-EC) in a similar manner as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and furthermore that the stimulatory effect of fentanyl was mainly involved in early stage of HLT-EC vascular structure assembly. Particularly, fentanyl significantly increased HLT-EC growth and migration. Fentanyl also protected HLT-EC from apoptosis induced by growth factor withdrawal. In contrast, the same concentrations of fentanyl did not affect human lung cancer cell growth and survival. Fentanyl stimulated migration of some but not all tested human lung cancer cells. Mechanism analysis suggested that fentanyl activates multiple pro-angiogenic signaling pathways, including VEGFR2/FAK/PI3K/Akt and small GTPases. Our work systematically demonstrates that fentanyl stimulates tumor angiogenesis via activating multiple pro-angiogenic signaling pathways. Our findings highlight the potential adverse effect of fentanyl in cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwei Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, The First People's Hospital of Jingzhou, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China
| | - Yi Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, The First People's Hospital of Jingzhou, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China
| | - Wei Xu
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, The First People's Hospital of Jingzhou, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, The First People's Hospital of Jingzhou, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China
| | - Li Tang
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, The First People's Hospital of Jingzhou, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China
| | - Rui Xia
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, The First People's Hospital of Jingzhou, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China.
| | - Qiong Zhu
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, The First People's Hospital of Jingzhou, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China.
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