The investigation of hyaluronic acid and hyaluronidase-1 levels as tumour marker in larynx cancer

Tumor-derived exosomal hyaluronidase 1 induced M2 macrophage polarization and promoted esophageal cancer progression

The communication between tumor-derived exosomes and macrophages plays an important role in facilitating the progression of tumors. However, the regulatory mechanisms by which exosomes regulate tumor progression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have not been fully elucidated. We constructed a coculture system containing an ESCC cell line and macrophages using a Transwell chamber. We isolated exosomes from the conditioned medium of cancer cells, and characterized them with transmission electron microscopy and western blotting and used then to treat macrophages. We used co-immunoprecipitation to evaluate the interaction between hyaluronidase 1 (HYAL1) and Aurora B kinase (AURKB). We evaluated HYAL1 and AURKB expression in tissues and cells with quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting. We used RT-qPCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and flow cytometry to detect macrophage polarization. We assessed cell viability, invasion and migration with the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), Transwell and wound healing assays. HYAL1 was highly expressed in ESCC tissues and cells and cancer cell-derived exosomes, and exosomes can be delivered to macrophages through the cancer cell-derived exosomes. The exosomes extracted from HYAL1-overexpressed ESCC cells suppressed M1 macrophage polarization and induced M2 macrophage polarization, thereby promoting ESCC cell viability, invasion and migration. HYAL1 silencing in ESCC cells produced the opposite effects on macrophage polarization and cancer cell functions. We found that HYAL1 interacted with AURKB and further activated the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway in macrophages. In conclusion, ESCC-derived exosomes containing HYAL1 facilitate M2 macrophage polarization by targeting AURKB to active the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, which in turn promotes ESCC progression.

Hyaluronic acid: More than a carrier, having an overpowering extracellular and intracellular impact on cancer

Hyaluronic acid (HA), also named hyaluronan, is an omnipresent component of the tissue microenvironment. It is extensively used to formulate targeted drug delivery systems for cancer. Although HA itself has pivotal influences in various cancers, its calibers are somewhat neglected when using it as delivering platform to treat cancer. In the last decade, multiple studies revealed roles of HA in cancer cell proliferation, invasion, apoptosis, and dormancy through pathways like mitogen-activated protein kinase-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK), P³⁸, and nuclear factor kappa-light chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NFκB). A more fascinating fact is that the distinct molecular weight (MW) of HA exerts disparate effects on the same type of cancer. Its overwhelming use in cancer therapy and other therapeutic products make collective research on the sundry impact of it on various types of cancer, an essential aspect to be considered in all of these domains. Even the development of new therapies against cancer needed meticulous studies on HA because of its divergence of activity based on MW. This review will provide painstaking insight into the extracellular and intracellular bioactivity of HA, its modified forms, and its MW in cancers, which may improve the management of cancer.

Hyaluronidase-trigger nanocarriers for targeted delivery of anti-liver cancer compound

Chemotherapy is recognized as one of the significant treatment methods for liver cancer. The compound celastrol (CSL) could effectively inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of liver cancer cells, which is regarded as a promising candidate to become a mainstream anti-liver cancer drug. However, the application of CSL in liver cancer chemotherapy is limited due to its systemic toxicity, poor water solubility, multidrug resistance, premature degradation, and lack of tumor targeting. Meanwhile, in order to comply with the current concept of precision medicine, precisely targeted delivery of the anti-liver compound CSL was desired. This paper takes into account that liver cancer cells were equipped with hyaluronic acid (HA) receptors (CD44) on their surface and overexpressed. Hyaluronidase (HAase) capable of degrading HA, HAase-responsive nanocarriers (NCs), named HA/(MI)₇-β-CD NCs, were prepared based on the electrostatic interaction between HA and imidazole moieties modified β-cyclodextrin (MI)₇-β-CD. HA/(MI)₇-β-CD NCs showed disassembly properties under HAase stimuli, which was utilized to trap, deliver, and the controllable release of the anti-liver cancer compound CSL. Furthermore, cytotoxicity assay experiments revealed that CSL-trapped HA/(MI)₇-β-CD NCs not only reduced cytotoxicity for normal cells but also effectively inhibited the survival for five tumor cells, and even the apoptotic effect of CSL-trapped NCs with a concentration of 5 μg mL^-1 on tumor cells (SMMC-7721) was consistent with free CSL. Cell uptake experiments demonstrated HA/(MI)₇-β-CD NCs possessed the capability of targeted drug delivery to cancerous cells. HA/(MI)₇-β-CD NCs exhibited site-specific and controllable release performance, which is anticipated to proceed further in precision-targeted drug delivery systems.

Hyaluronan as "Agent Smith" in cancer extracellular matrix pathobiology: Regulatory roles in immune response, cancer progression and targeting

Extracellular matrix (ECM) critically regulates cancer cell behavior by governing cell signaling and properties. Hyaluronan (HA) acts as a structural and functional ECM component that mediates critical properties of cancer cells in a molecular size-dependent manner. HA fragments secreted by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) reveal the correlation of HA to CAF-mediated matrix remodeling, a key step for the initiation of metastasis. The main goal of this article is to highlight the vital functions of HA in cancer cell initiation and progression as well as HA-mediated paracrine interactions among cancer and stromal cells. Furthermore, the HA implication in mediating immune responses to cancer progression is also discussed. Novel data on the role of HA in the formation of pre-metastatic niche may contribute towards the improvement of current theranostic approaches that benefit cancer management.