Cleaved caspase-3 expression is a potential prognostic factor for endometrial cancer with positive peritoneal cytology

OTX1 silencing suppresses ovarian cancer progression through inhibiting the JAK/STAT signaling

BACKGROUND

The aim of our study was to investigate the roles and the underlying mechanisms of orthodenticle homolog 1 (OTX1) in ovarian cancer.

METHODS

OTX1 expression was obtained from TCGA database. OTX1 expression in ovarian cancer cells was detected using qRT-PCR and western blot assay. The cell viability and proliferation was detected by CCK-8 and EdU assays. Cell invasion and migration were detected by transwell assay. Flow cytometry was utilized to determine cell apoptosis and cycle. In addition, western blot assay was used to detect the expression of cell cycle related protein (Cyclin D1 and p21), epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related protein (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Vimentin, and Snail), apoptosis related protein (Bcl-2, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3), and JAK/STAT pathway related protein (p-JAK2, JAK2, STAT3, and p-STAT3).

RESULTS

OTX1 was highly expressed in ovarian cancer tissues and cells. OTX1 silencing blocked the cell cycle and repressed cell viability, proliferation, invasion, and migration, while OTX1 silencing facilitated the apoptosis of OVCAR3 and Caov3 cells. OTX1 silencing increased the protein levels of p21, E-cadherin, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3, while the protein levels of Cyclin D1, Bcl-2, N-cadherin, Vimentin, and Snail were decreased by OTX1 silencing. Furthermore, OTX1 silencing suppressed the protein levels of p-JAK2/JAK2 and p-STAT3/STAT3 in OVCAR3 and Caov3 cells. Moreover, overexpression of OTX1 promoted cell proliferation and invasion and inhibited apoptosis in Caov3 cells, but AG490 (an inhibitor of JAK/STAT pathway) reversed the influences on cell biological behavior induced by overexpression of OTX1.

CONCLUSIONS

OTX1 silencing repressed ovarian cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and migration and induced cell apoptosis, which might be involved in JAK/STAT signaling pathway. OTX1 may be considered as a novel therapeutic target for ovarian cancer.

Discovery of highly potent and selective 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin-glucose conjugates as potential anti-colorectal cancer agents

7-Ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN38), a highly potent metabolite of irinotecan, has an anticancer efficacy 100-1000 folds more than irinotecan in vitro. However, the clinical application of SN38 has been limited due to the very narrow therapeutic window and poor water solubility. Herein, we report the SN38-glucose conjugates (Glu-SN38) that can target cancer cells due to their selective uptake via glucose transporters, which are overexpressed in most cancers. The in vitro antiproliferative activities against human cancer cell lines and normal cells of Glu-SN38 were investigated. One of the conjugates named 5b showed high potency and selectivity against human colorectal cancer cell line HCT116. Furthermore, 5b remarkably inhibited the growth of HCT116 in vivo. These results suggested that 5b could be a promising drug candidate for treating colorectal cancer.

Application of Jianpi Xiaoai Recipe Combined with Cisplatin and Adriamycin in the Treatment of Endometrial Cancer and Its Effect on Disease Control Rate

OBJECTIVE

To explore the application of Jianpi Xiaoai recipe combined with cisplatin and Adriamycin in the treatment of endometrial cancer (EC) and its effect on the disease control rate (DCR).

METHODS

The data of 120 EC patients treated in People's Hospital of Rizhao from February 2019 to February 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. They were equally split into experimental group and control group according to the order of admission. All patients were treated with neoadjuvant intra-arterial chemotherapy (continuous infusion of the uterine artery for 5 days before surgery, with 20 mg of cisplatin mixed with 2000 mg of normal saline and 10 mg of Adriamycin mixed with 500 ml of normal saline daily), while the experimental group was treated with Jianpi Xiaoai recipe at the same time to compare the short-term efficacy, immune function indexes, incidence of adverse reactions, and HEC-1-B (human endometrial adenocarcinoma cells) cell inhibition rates between the two groups.

RESULTS

The DCR and objective remission rate (ORR) in the experimental group were markedly higher compared with the control group (P < 0.05). The immune function indexes after treatment were remarkably better in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the incidence of adverse reactions in the experimental group was notably lower (P < 0.05), while the HEC-1-B inhibition rates after treatment were obviously higher (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Jianpi Xiaoai recipe combined with cisplatin and Adriamycin can increase the HEC-1-B cell inhibition rate in EC patients, improve their immune function, reduce the possibility of adverse reactions, and enhance the therapeutic effect, which is worthy of clinical application and popularization.

Tumor cell endogenous HIF-1α activity induces aberrant angiogenesis and interacts with TRAF6 pathway required for colorectal cancer development

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Findings provide evidence that hypoxia response deficient tumors show more functionally perfused vasculature and that TRAF6, an upstream effector of NF-κB, is directly interacting with HIF-1α thereby contributing to enhanced angiogenesis.

Hypoxia and inflammation are key factors for colorectal cancer tumorigenesis. The colonic epithelium belongs to the tissues with the lowest partial pressure of oxygen in the body, and chronic inflammation is associated with an increased chance to develop colon cancer. How the colonic epithelium responds to hypoxia and inflammation during tumorigenesis remains to be elucidated. Here we show, that murine colon adenocarcinoma cells with attenuated response to hypoxia, due to a knock-down (KD) of HIF-1α, produce smaller and less hypoxic tumors in an orthotopic mouse model when compared to tumors induced with control cells. HIF-1α-KD tumors showed more functional perfused vasculature associated with increased levels of vessel-stabilizing factors and reduced levels of proangiogenic factors, including extracellular matrix protein Cyr61/CCN1. Intratumoral injection of Cyr61 in HIF-1α-KD tumors revealed an in increased vessel permeability and tumor hypoxia. Further bioinformatics analysis identified a possible interaction between HIF-1α and TRAF6, an upstream effector of the NF-κB pathway that was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation in MC-38 and CT26 colon adenocarcinoma cells and in situ by proximity ligation assay. Down-regulation of TRAF6 resulted in virtual abrogation of orthotopic tumor growth. Subcutaneous TRAF6-KD tumors were smaller and contained reduced vessel size and differently polarized macrophages. These data demonstrate that the tumor cell response to increased hypoxia in the colon leads to promotion of nonfunctional angiogenesis, regulated by both hypoxia and TRAF6 pathways.

GHR knockdown enhances the sensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib

Sorafenib is approved for treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by the Drug Administration. However, the efficacy of sorafenib has become very limited because most tumors have developed resistance to this drug. In this study, we found that sorafenib stimulated GHR expression in HCC cell lines. Thus, GHR might be linked to sorafenib resistance. To verify this hypothesis, we researched the roles of GHR knockdown and sorafenib combination in cell viability, apoptosis, cycle, and migration. The results showed that GHR blockage enhanced sorafenib blocking of cell cycle progression, leading to inhibition of this drug on HCC cell viability, and the improved promoting ability of sorafenib on cell apoptosis. In addition, it was found that GHR knockdown enhanced sorafenib inhibition of cell migration. The synergistic antitumor effects of sorafenib and GHR knockdown combination may be attributed to inhibition of PI3K/AKT/ERK1/2 signaling pathway. In conclusion, the findings suggest that GHR knockdown enhances the sensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib. and the inactivation of PI3K/AKT/ERK1/2 signaling pathway may be the underlying mechanisms. This highlights the absence of GHR as a promising way to enhance sorafenib efficacy in HCC.

AMPH1 functions as a tumour suppressor in ovarian cancer via the inactivation of PI3K/AKT pathway

AMPH1, an abundant protein in nerve terminals, plays a critical role in the recruitment of dynamin to sites of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Recently, it is reported to be involved in breast cancer and lung cancer. However, the impact of AMPH1 on ovarian cancer is unclear. In this study, we used gain-of-function and loss-of-function methods to explore the role of AMPH1 in ovarian cancer cells. AMPH1 inhibited ovarian cancer cell growth and cell migration, and promoted caspase-3 activity, resulting in the increase of cell apoptosis. In xenograft mice model, AMPH1 prevented tumour progression. The anti-oncogene effects of AMPH1 on ovarian cancer might be partially due to the inhibition of PI3K/AKT signalling pathway after overexpression of AMPH1. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the staining of AMPH1 was remarkably reduced in ovarian cancer tissues compared with normal ovarian tissues. In conclusion, our study identifies AMPH1 as a tumour suppressor in ovarian cancer in vitro and in vivo. This is the first evidence that AMPH1 inhibited cell growth and migration, and induced apoptosis via the inactivation of PI3K/AKT signalling pathway on ovarian cancer, which may be used as an effective strategy.

Preponderance of endometrial carcinoma in elderly patients

Elderly patients with endometrial carcinoma (EMC) are considered to have a poor clinical outcome. The present study included 79 patients aged ≥70 years with EMC stage I or II according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics classification, and it was conducted to analyse the clinicopathological significance of histological type (I or II), depth of myometrial invasion (<1/2 or ≥1/2), lymphovascular invasion (+ or -) and immunohistochemical profile. The aim of these analyses was to determine whether these factors may adversely affect the patient outcome and the underlying mechanisms. The immunohistochemical markers used were estrogen receptor (ER), Ki-67 and p53. The expression of these markers was evaluated as high (+) or low (-). Accordingly, the patients were divided into groups as follows: 54 cases type I vs. 25 cases type II; 48 cases with myometrial invasion <1/2 vs. 31 cases without myometrial invasion ≥1/2; 63 cases with lymphovascular invasion vs. 16 cases without lymphovascular invasion; 57 cases with ER (+) vs. 22 cases with ER (-); 24 cases with Ki-67 (+) vs. 55 cases with Ki-67 (-); and 29 cases with p53 (+) vs. 50 cases with p53 (-). In conclusion, close attention must be paid to elderly patients with EMC due to the tumor's intrinsic aggressiveness, which may include the ER (-) and p53 (+) pattern as an independent poor prognostic factor.