A localized hydrogel-mediated chemotherapy causes immunogenic cell death via activation of ceramide-mediated unfolded protein response

Liposomes-enabled cancer chemoimmunotherapy

Chemoimmunotherapy is an emerging paradigm in the clinic for treating several malignant diseases, such as non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, and large B-cell lymphoma. However, the efficacy of this strategy is still restricted by serious adverse events and a high therapeutic termination rate, presumably due to the lack of tumor-targeted distribution of both chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic agents. Targeted drug delivery has the potential to address this issue. Among the most promising nanocarriers in clinical translation, liposomes have drawn great attention in cancer chemoimmunotherapy in recent years. Liposomes-enabled cancer chemoimmunotherapy has made significant progress in clinics, with impressive therapeutic outcomes. This review summarizes the latest preclinical and clinical progress in liposome-enabled cancer chemoimmunotherapy and discusses the challenges and future directions of this field.

Comprehensive review of drug-mediated ICD inhibition of breast cancer: mechanism, status, and prospects

The escalating incidence of breast cancer (BC) in women underscores its grave health threat. Current molecular insights into BC's post-adjuvant therapy cure remain elusive, necessitating active treatment explorations. Immunotherapy, notably chemotherapy-induced immunogenic cell death (ICD), has emerged as a promising BC therapy. ICD harnesses chemotherapeutics to activate anti-tumor immunity via DAMPs, fostering long-term T-cell memory and primary BC cure. Besides chemotherapy drugs, Nanodrugs, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and ICIs also induce ICD, boosting immune response. ICIs, like PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, revolutionize cancer treatment but face limited success in cold tumors. Thus, ICD induction combined with ICIs is studied extensively for BC immunotherapy. This article reviews the mechanism of ICD related drugs in BC and provides reference for the research and development of BC treatment, in order to explore more effective clinical treatment of BC, we hope to explore more ICD inducers and make ICIs more effective vaccines.

Bioactive sphingolipids as emerging targets for signal transduction in cancer development

Sphingolipids, crucial components of cellular membranes, play a vital role in maintaining cellular structure and signaling integrity. Disruptions in sphingolipid metabolism are increasingly implicated in cancer development. Key bioactive sphingolipids, such as ceramides, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P), and glycosphingolipids, profoundly impact tumor biology. They influence the behavior of tumor cells, stromal cells, and immune cells, affecting tumor aggressiveness, angiogenesis, immune modulation, and extracellular matrix remodeling. Furthermore, abnormal expression of sphingolipids and their metabolizing enzymes modulates the secretion of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (TDEs), which are key players in creating an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, remodeling the extracellular matrix, and facilitating oncogenic signaling within in situ tumors and distant pre-metastatic niches (PMNs). Understanding the role of sphingolipids in the biogenesis of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (TDEs) and their bioactive contents can pave the way for new biomarkers in cancer diagnosis and prognosis, ultimately enhancing comprehensive tumor treatment strategies.

Naringin attenuates inflammatory injury to the bovine endometrium by regulating the endoplasmic reticulum stress-PI3K/AKT-autophagy axis

Background: Endometritis seriously affects maternal reproductive health and fertility. Natural compounds have the characteristics of high efficiency and low residue in disease treatment. We aimed to discover and reveal the pharmacological effects of naringin, which is widely present in food and plants, on endometritis. Methods: Based on network pharmacology, the potential targets and pathways of naringin's actions on endometritis were predicted. Animal in vivo experiments were conducted to examine the inflammatory response of lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) in uterine tissue and the therapeutic effect of naringin. An in vitro primary bovine endometrial epithelial cell inflammation and drug treatment model was constructed. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured using DCFH-DA, and the effect of naringin on LPS-induced endometritis was evaluated using HE staining, real-time quantitative PCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence staining methods. Results: Naringin alleviated LPS-induced inflammatory injury and oxidative stress in the endometrium of mice and bovine endometrial epithelial cells (bEECs). Furthermore, in vitro studies were carried out to reveal the potential anti-inflammatory mechanisms of naringin based on network pharmacology. We found that naringin significantly inhibited LPS-stimulated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-related gene and protein expression, thus reducing the unfolded protein response (UPR). Furthermore, treatment of naringin attenuated the autophagic flux induced by ERS. In a further study, we observed that PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitors or ERS inducers partially reverse naringin's inhibition of autophagy and cell apoptosis. Conclusion: It is demonstrated that naringin suppresses autophagy by directly inhibiting the ERS-PI3K/AKT axis and exerting anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in endometritis. These findings provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of endometritis, highlighting potential therapeutic targets of traditional herbs and compounds.

Synthesis of novel pyrazole acetals of andrographolide and isoandrographolide as potent anticancer agents

Globally, cancer is the most prevalent chronic disease-related cause of death. Although there are many anticancer drugs, some of them have adverse effects. Due to their limited side effects, natural products are preferred over synthetic drugs. Andrographolide and its derivatives are known to be potent anticancer agents. In this context, sixteen novel 3,19-(NH-3-aryl-pyrazole) acetals of andrographolide and isoandrographolide (1a-1h, 2a-2g, 2i) from 3-aryl-1-H-pyrazole-4-carboxaldehydes (a-i) were synthesized. All the synthesized compounds were characterized using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HRMS, FT-IR, and UV-vis spectroscopy. All the compounds were evaluated against a panel of 60 different human cancer cell lines for their anticancer potential at NCI, USA. Four compounds, having promising GI50s (50% growth inhibitory activity) on all 60-cell lines were selected for further in vitro studies. Out of these four compounds, compound 1g exhibited the best IC50 (3.08 μM) against the colon cancer cell line, HCT-116. Cell cycle analysis, annexin V-FITC/PI, and ROS assays revealed that the apoptosis of HCT-116 cells induced by compound 1g could be mainly attributed to the elevated levels of intracellular ROS. Further, the structure-activity relationship revealed that the pyrazole moiety of andrographolide plays a key role in their anticancer properties. These compounds were further examined for in silico ADMET and Lipinski characteristics to assess their potential as lead compounds.

Bibliometric and visualized analysis of cancer nanomedicine from 2013 to 2023

Cancer nanomedicine has been an emerging field for drug development against malignant tumors during the past three decades. A bibliometric analysis was performed to characterize the current international trends and present visual representations of the evolution and emerging trends in the research and development of nanocarriers for cancer treatment. This study employed bibliometric analysis and visualization techniques to analyze the literature on antitumor nanocarriers published between 2013 and 2023. A total of 98,980 articles on antitumor nanocarriers were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database and analyzed using the Citespace software for specific characteristics such as publication year, countries/regions, organizations, keywords, and references. Network visualization was constructed by VOSviewer and Citespace. From 2013 to 2023, the annual global publications increased 7.39 times, from 1851 to 13,683. People's Republic of China (2588 publications) was the most productive country. Chinese Academy of Sciences (298 publications) was the most productive organization. The top 5 high-frequency keywords were "nanoparticles," "drug delivery," "nanomedicine," "cancer," and "nanocarriers." The keywords with the strongest citation bursts recently were "cancer immunotherapy," "microenvironment," "antitumor immunity," etc., which indicated the emerging frontiers of antitumor nanomedicine. The co-occurrence cluster analysis of the keywords formed 6 clusters, and most of the top 10 publications by citation counts focused on cluster #1 (nanocarriers) and cluster #2 (cancer immunotherapy). We further provided insightful discussions into the identified subtopics to help researchers gain more details of current trends and hotspots in this field. The present study processes a macro-level literature analysis of antitumor nanocarriers and provides new perspectives and research directions for future development in cancer nanomedicine.

Insights into molecular mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in cancer

Cancer heterogeneity poses a significant hurdle to the successful treatment of the disease, and is being influenced by genetic inheritance, cellular and tissue biology, disease development, and response to therapy. While chemotherapeutic drugs have demonstrated effectiveness, their efficacy is impeded by challenges such as presence of resilient cancer stem cells, absence of specific biomarkers, and development of drug resistance. Often chemotherapy leads to a myriad of epigenetic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional alterations in gene expression as well as changes in protein expression, thereby leading to massive metabolic reprogramming. This review seeks to provide a detailed account of various transcriptional regulations, proteomic changes, and metabolic reprogramming in various cancer models in response to three primary chemotherapeutic interventions, docetaxel, carboplatin, and doxorubicin. Discussing the molecular targets of some of these regulatory events and highlighting their contribution in sensitivity to chemotherapy will provide insights into drug resistance mechanisms and uncover novel perspectives in cancer treatment.

Immunogenic cell stress and death in the treatment of cancer

The successful treatment of oncological malignancies which results in long-term disease control or the complete eradication of cancerous cells necessitates the onset of adaptive immune responses targeting tumor-specific antigens. Such desirable anticancer immunity can be triggered via the induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD) of cancer cells, thus converting malignant cells into an in situ vaccine that elicits T cell mediated adaptive immune responses and establishes durable immunological memory. The exploration of ICD for cancer treatment has been subject to extensive research. However, functional heterogeneity among ICD activating therapies in many cases requires specific co-medications to achieve full-blown efficacy. Here, we described the hallmarks of ICD and classify ICD activators into three distinct functional categories namely, according to their mode of action: (i) ICD inducers, which increase the immunogenicity of malignant cells, (ii) ICD sensitizers, which prime cellular circuitries for ICD induction by conventional cytotoxic agents, and (iii) ICD enhancers, which improve the perception of ICD signals by antigen presenting dendritic cells. Altogether, ICD induction, sensitization and enhancement offer the possibility to convert well-established conventional anticancer therapies into immunotherapeutic approaches that activate T cell-mediated anticancer immunity.

Perspective: Therapeutic Implications for Sphingolipids in Health and Disease

Long thought to be structural components of cell membranes, sphingolipids (SLs) have emerged as bioactive molecules whose metabolism is tightly regulated. These bioactive lipids and their metabolic enzymes have been implicated in numerous disease states, including lysosomal storage disorders, multiple sclerosis, inflammation, and cancer as well as metabolic syndrome and obesity. In addition, the indications for many of these lipids to potentially serve as biomarkers for disease continue to emerge with increasing metabolomic and lipidomic studies. The implications of these studies have, in turn, led to the examination of SL enzymes and their bioactive lipids as potential therapeutic targets and as markers for therapeutic efficacy. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Many sphingolipids (SLs) and their metabolizing enzymes have been implicated in disease. This perspective highlights the potential for SLs to serve as therapeutic targets and diagnostic markers and discusses the implications for the studies and reviews highlighted in this Special Section on Therapeutic Implications for Sphingolipids in Health and Disease.

Decoding immunogenic cell death from a dendritic cell perspective

Dendritic cells (DCs) are myeloid cells bridging the innate and adaptive immune system. By cross-presenting tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) liberated upon spontaneous or therapy-induced tumor cell death to T cells, DCs occupy a pivotal position in the cancer immunity cycle. Over the last decades, the mechanisms linking cancer cell death to DC maturation, have been the focus of intense research. Growing evidence supports the concept that the mere transfer of TAAs during the process of cell death is insufficient to drive immunogenic DC maturation unless this process is coupled with the release of immunomodulatory signals by dying cancer cells. Malignant cells succumbing to a regulated cell death variant called immunogenic cell death (ICD), foster a proficient interface with DCs, enabling their immunogenic maturation and engagement of adaptive immunity against cancer. This property relies on the ability of ICD to exhibit pathogen-mimicry hallmarks and orchestrate the emission of a spectrum of constitutively present or de novo-induced danger signals, collectively known as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). In this review, we discuss how DCs perceive and decode danger signals emanating from malignant cells undergoing ICD and provide an outlook of the major signaling and functional consequences of this interaction for DCs and antitumor immunity.