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He C, Jaffar Ali D, Qi Y, Li Y, Sun B, Liu R, Sun B, Xiao Z. Engineered extracellular vesicles mediated CRISPR-induced deficiency of IQGAP1/FOXM1 reverses sorafenib resistance in HCC by suppressing cancer stem cells. J Nanobiotechnology 2023; 21:154. [PMID: 37202772 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-023-01902-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sorafenib resistance poses therapeutic challenges in HCC treatment, in which cancer stem cells (CSCs) plays a crucial role. CRISPR/Cas9 can be utilized as a potential technique to overcome the drug resistance. However, a safe, efficient and target specific delivery of this platform remains challenging. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), the active components of cell to cell communication, hold promising benefits as delivery platform. RESULTS Herein we report the normal epithelial cell -derived EVs engineered with HN3(HLC9-EVs) show competing tumor targeting ability. Anchoring HN3 to the membrane of the EVs through LAMP2, drastically increased the specific homing of HLC9-EVs to GPC3+Huh-7 cancer cells rather than co-cultured GPC3-LO2 cells. Combination therapy of HCC with sorafenib and HLC9-EVs containing sgIF to silence IQGAP1 (protein responsible for reactivation of Akt/PI3K signaling in sorafenib resistance) and FOXM1 (self-renewal transcription factor in CSCs attributed to sorafenib resistance), exhibited effective synergistic anti-cancer effect both in vitro and in vivo. Our results also showed that disruption of IQGAP1/FOXM1 resulted in the reduction of CD133+ population that contribute to the stemness of liver cancer cells. CONCLUSION By reversing sorafenib resistance using combination therapeutic approach with engineered EVs encapsulated CRISPR/Cas9 and sorafenib, our study foreshadows a path for a better, accurate, reliable and successful anti-cancer therapy in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cong He
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, Jiangsu, China
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, 210008, Jiangsu, China
| | - Doulathunnisa Jaffar Ali
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, Jiangsu, China.
| | - Yuhua Qi
- NHC Key Laboratory of Enteric Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, 210009, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yumin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, Jiangsu, China
| | - Beicheng Sun
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, 210008, Jiangsu, China
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, Anhui, China
| | - Rui Liu
- Department of Genetic Engineering, College of Natural Science, University of Suwon, Kyunggi-Do, 445-743, Republic of Korea
| | - Bo Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, Jiangsu, China.
| | - Zhongdang Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, Jiangsu, China.
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Microvesicles - promising tiny players' of cancer stem cells targeted liver cancer treatments: The interesting interactions and therapeutic aspects. Pharmacol Res 2021; 169:105609. [PMID: 33852962 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2021.105609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Liver cancer is one of the most malignant cancers worldwide with poor prognosis. Intracellular mediators like microvesicles (MVs) and cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered as potential candidates in liver cancer progression. CSCs receive stimuli from the tumor microenvironment to initiate tumor formation in which it's secreted MVs play a noteworthy role. The phenotypic conversion of tumor cells during epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key step in tumor invasion and metastasis which indicates that the diverse cell populations within the primary tumor are in a dynamic balance and can be regulated by cell to cell communication via secreted microvesicles. Thus, in this review, we aim to highlight the evidences that suggest CSCs are crucial for liver cancer development where the microvesicles plays an important part in the maintenance of its stemness properties. In addition, we summarize the existing evidences that support the concept of microvesicles, the tiny particles have a big role behind the rare immortal CSCs which controls the tumor initiation, propagation and metastasis in liver cancer. Identifying interactions between CSCs and microvesicles may offer new insights into precise anti-cancer therapies in the future.
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Zhang L, Xu S, Cheng X, Zheng J, Wang Y, Wu J, Wang X, Wu L, Yu H, Bao J. Diallyl trisulphide, a H 2 S donor, compromises the stem cell phenotype and restores thyroid-specific gene expression in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cells by targeting AKT-SOX2 axis. Phytother Res 2021; 35:3428-3443. [PMID: 33751676 DOI: 10.1002/ptr.7065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 01/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
It is widely accepted that anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), a rare, extremely aggressive malignant, is enriched by cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are closely related to the pathogenesis of ATC. In the present study, we demonstrated that diallyl trisulphide (DATS), a well-known hydrogen sulphide (H2 S) donor, suppressed sphere formation and restored the expression of iodide-metabolizing genes in human ATC cells, which were associated with H2 S generation. Two other H2 S donors, NaHS and GYY4137, could also suppress the self-renewal properties of ATC cells in vitro. Compared with normal thyroid tissues and papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs), the elevated expressions of SOX2 and MYC, two cancer stem cell markers, in ATCs were validated in the combined Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohort. DATS decreased the expression of SOX2, which was mediated by H2 S generation. Furthermore, knockdown of AKT or inhibition of AKT by DATS led to a decrease of SOX2 expression in ATC cells. AKT knockdown phenocopied restoration of thyroid-specific gene expression in ATC cells. Our data suggest that H2 S donors treatment can compromise the stem cell phenotype and restore thyroid-specific gene expression of ATC cells by targeting AKT-SOX2 pathway, which may serve as a therapeutic strategy to intervene the CSC progression of ATC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Zhang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, China.,Department of Radiopharmaceuticals, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,School of Life Science and Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Shichen Xu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, China
| | - Xian Cheng
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, China
| | - Jiangxia Zheng
- School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Yunping Wang
- School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Jing Wu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, China
| | - Xiaowen Wang
- School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Liying Wu
- School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Huixin Yu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, China
| | - Jiandong Bao
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, China
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Han R, Chen X, Li Y, Zhang S, Li R, Lu L. MicroRNA-34a suppresses aggressiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma by modulating E2F1, E2F3, and Caspase-3. Cancer Manag Res 2019; 11:2963-2976. [PMID: 31114344 PMCID: PMC6489561 DOI: 10.2147/cmar.s202664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Accumulating evidence suggests an antineoplastic role of MicroRNA-34a (miR-34a) in human cancer. However, its precise biological functions stay largely elusive. Purpose: Our study was aimed to investigate the impact of miR-34a on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its underlying apoptosis related mechanisms in vitro, as well as the association of miR-34a, E2F1 and E2F3 expression with patient survival of HCC using publicly accessed datasets. Methods: The HBV-expressing Hep3B and SNU-449 cell lines with or without enforced expression of miR-34a were in vitro cultured for cell proliferation, colony formation, wound healing, cell invasion, and 3D spheroid formation. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) was performed for E2F1, E2F3 expression. Caspase-3 (CASP3) activity was determined using a CaspACETM Assay System. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze the associations of miR-34a, E2F1 and E2F3 expression and overall survival in HCC. Meta-analysis was performed to examine the differential expression of E2F1 and E2F3 between primary HCC vs normal tissues. Results: The results in vitro showed that enforced miR-34a expression significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of both Hep3B and SNU-449. RT-qPCR results demonstrated that miR-34a could significantly suppress E2F1 and E2F3 expression, particularly in SNU-449. CASP3 activity in both Hep3B and SNU-449 increased in miR-34a treatment group. Overexpressed E2F1 and E2F3 were observed in primary HCC vs normal tissues. Survival analyses showed that HCC patients with either high miR-34a, or low E2F1, or low E2F3 expression had better survival than their opposite counterparts, respectively. Conclusion: Our study suggested thatmiR-34a can modulate the expression of E2F1, E2F3, and CASP3 activity, thereby repressing tumor aggressiveness and expediting apoptosis in liver cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Han
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700 People's Republic of China.,Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Xinyi Chen
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700 People's Republic of China
| | - Ya Li
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700 People's Republic of China.,Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Shunjia Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Ruibai Li
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700 People's Republic of China
| | - Lingeng Lu
- Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8034, USA.,Center for Biomedical Data Science, Yale Cancer Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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He B, Peng F, Li W, Jiang Y. Interaction of lncRNA-MALAT1 and miR-124 regulates HBx-induced cancer stem cell properties in HepG2 through PI3K/Akt signaling. J Cell Biochem 2018; 120:2908-2918. [PMID: 30500989 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.26823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 02/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) plays a crucial role in initiating and promoting HBV-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Reports indicated that HBx promotes cancer stem cell (CSC) generation, which may be associated with HBV-related HCC. Noncoding RNA miR-124 and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) were considered to be involved deeply in the progress of HBx-related HCC. Hence, the underlying mechanism of miR-124 and lncRNA-MALAT1 in regulating HBx-promoted CSC needs to be studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS In present study, HepG2-X cell line was induced by transfect HBx into HepG2 cells. Overexpressing of miR-124 or silencing of lncRNA-MALAT1 was completed by transfecting miR-124 mimic or shMALAT1 into HepG2-X cells. HBx-induced CSC properties and tumorigenic potential of HepG2 cells were determined by detecting CSC marker expression, colony formation assay, and xenograft tumorigenesis. The mechanism of HBx-induced CSC properties was explored by PI3K/Akt inhibitor. Interaction of miR-124 and lncRNA-MALAT1 was detected by luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS HBx promoted CSC properties through upregulating stemness markers and reprogramming proteins, and contributed to tumorigenicity of HepG2-X cells both in vivo and in vitro. Inhibition of Akt activation blocked the HBx-stimulated reprogramming proteins and stemness markers. HBx upregulated lncRNA-MALAT1 expression while downregulating miR-124 expression in HepG2-X cells. miR-124 interacts with lncRNA-MALAT1 by direct targeting. Overexpression of miR-124 or silencing of lncRNA-MALAT1 both blocked HBx-induced CSC generation, stemness-related factor activation and tumorigenicity via PI3K/Akt signaling. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that miR-124 interact with lncRNA-MALAT1 and involve in regulating HBx-induced CSC properties via PI3K/Akt signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo He
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, People's Republic of China
| | - Feng Peng
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, People's Republic of China
| | - Yongfang Jiang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, People's Republic of China
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Wei Y, Wang Y, Gong J, Rao L, Wu Z, Nie T, Shi D, Zhang L. High expression of MAGE-A9 contributes to stemness and malignancy of human hepatocellular carcinoma. Int J Oncol 2017; 52:219-230. [PMID: 29138811 DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2017.4198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Accepted: 10/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
MAGE-A9, a well-characterized cancer testis antigen (CTA), belongs to a member of melanoma antigen gene (MAGE) family. In human malignancies, aberrant expression of MAGE genes correlated with poor clinical prognosis, increased tumor growth, metastases, and enrichment in stem cell populations of certain cancers. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been proposed to contribute to the major malignant phenotypes of liver cancer, including recurrence, metastasis and chemoresistance. However, expression and potential role of MAGE-A9 in liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) still remain unclear. In the present study, we first analyzed the expression profiling of MAGE family genes in EpCAM+ and EpCAM- human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), based on public Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Among these examined MAGE members, MAGE-A9 is the only one with significantly higher expression in EpCAM+ HCC specimens as compared with EpCAM- HCC. Quantitative PCR analysis further confirmed that MAGE-A9 expression significantly elevated in a subtype of HCC patients that had features of hepatic stem/progenitor cells with high-level expression of EpCAM and α-fetoprotein (AFP). Moreover, MAGE-A9 displayed remarkably enriched expression in EpCAM+ HCC cells that were sorted by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and cultured HCC cell spheroids with characteristics of stem/progenitor cells. Functional experiments further revealed that MAGE-A9 overexpression promoted cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, chemoresistance, and tumorigenicity in the context of EpCAM+ HCC cells, whereas MAGE-A9 knockdown significantly inhibited anchorage-dependent and spheroid colony formation and in vivo tumorigenicity. Collectively, these data demonstrate that MAGE-A9 functions as an important regulator of LCSCs, and MAGE-A9 may serve as a potential therapeutic target against HCC stem/progenitor cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youping Wei
- Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330003, P.R. China
| | - Yanqin Wang
- Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330003, P.R. China
| | - Jing Gong
- Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330003, P.R. China
| | - Lihua Rao
- Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330003, P.R. China
| | - Zhiwei Wu
- Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330003, P.R. China
| | - Teng Nie
- Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330003, P.R. China
| | - Dongling Shi
- Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330003, P.R. China
| | - Liming Zhang
- Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330003, P.R. China
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