Cytotoxicity anticancer activities of anastrozole against breast, liver hepatocellular, and prostate cancer cells

Navigating the Intricacies of Tumor Heterogeneity: An Insight into Potential Prognostic Breast Cancer Biomarkers

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with diverse histological and molecular subtypes. Luminal breast tumors are the most diagnosed subtype. In luminal breast cancer, hormone receptors (including ER, PR, HER2) play a diagnostic and prognostic role. Despite the effectiveness of endocrine therapy in luminal breast tumors, tumor recurrence and resistance occur, and this may highlight evolutionary strategies for survival driven by stemness. In this review we thus consider the association between estrogen signaling and stemness in mediating tumor processes. Many studies report stemness as one of the factors promoting tumor progression. Its association with estrogen signaling warrants further investigation and provides an opportunity for the identification of novel biomarkers which may be used for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic purposes. Breast cancer stem cells have been characterized (CD44+ CD24-) and their role in promoting treatment resistance and tumor recurrence widely studied; however, the complexity of tumor progression which also involve microenvironmental factors suggests the existence of more varied cell phenotypes which mediate stemness and its role in tumor progression.

Recent Advances in the Development of Membrane-derived Vesicles for Cancer Immunotherapy

The surface proteins on cell membranes enable the cells to have different properties, such as high biocompatibility, surface modifiability, and homologous targeting ability. Cell-membrane-derived vesicles have features identical to those of their parental cells, which makes them one of the most promising materials for drug delivery. Recently, as a result of the impressive effects of immunotherapy in cancer treatment, an increasing number of researchers have used cell-membrane-derived vesicles to enhance immune responses. To be more specific, the membrane vesicles derived from immune cells, tumor cells, bacteria, or engineered cells have the antigen presentation capacity and can trigger strong anti-tumor effects of the immune system. In this review, we first indicated a brief description of the vesicles and then introduced the detection technology and drug-loading methods for them. Secondly, we concluded the characteristics and applications of vesicles derived from different sources in cancer immunotherapy.

Research Progress on the Mechanism of Intestinal Barrier Damage and Drug Therapy in a High Altitude Environment

The plateau is a typical extreme environment with low temperature, low oxygen and high ultraviolet rays. The integrity of the intestinal barrier is the basis for the functioning of the intestine, which plays an important role in absorbing nutrients, maintaining the balance of intestinal flora, and blocking the invasion of toxins. Currently, there is increasing evidence that high altitude environment can enhance intestinal permeability and disrupt intestinal barrier integrity. This article mainly focuses on the regulation of the expression of HIF and tight junction proteins in the high altitude environment, which promotes the release of pro-inflammatory factors, especially the imbalance of intestinal flora caused by the high altitude environment. The mechanism of intestinal barrier damage and the drugs to protect the intestinal barrier are reviewed. Studying the mechanism of intestinal barrier damage in high altitude environment is not only conducive to understanding the mechanism of high altitude environment affecting intestinal barrier function, but also provides a more scientific medicine treatment method for intestinal damage caused by the special high altitude environment.

Dual aromatase-steroid sulfatase inhibitors (DASI's) for the treatment of breast cancer: a structure guided ligand based designing approach

Dual aromatase-steroid sulfatase inhibitors (DASIs) lead to significant deprivation of estrogen levels as compared to a single target inhibition and thereby exhibited an additive or synergistic effect in the treatment of hormone-dependent breast cancer (HDBC). Triazole-bearing DASI's having structural features of clinically available aromatase inhibitors are identified as lead structures for optimization as DASI's. To identify the spatial fingerprints of target-specific triazole as DASI's, we have performed molecular docking assisted Gaussian field-based comparative 3D-QSAR studies on a dataset with dual aromatase-STS inhibitory activities. Separate contours were generated for both aromatase and steroid sulphates showing respective pharmacophoric structural requirements for optimal activity. These developed 3D-QSAR models also showed good statistical measures with the excellent predictive ability with PLS-generated validation constraints. Comparative steric, electrostatic, hydrophobic, HBA, and HBD features were elucidated using respective contour maps for selective target-specific favourable activity. Furthermore, the molecular docking was used for elucidating the mode of binding as DASI's along with the MD simulation of 100 ns revealed that all the protease-ligand docked complexes are overall stable as compared to reference ligand (inhibitor ASD or Irosustat) complex. Further, the MM-GBSA study revealed that compound 24 binds to aromatase as well as STS active site with relatively lower binding energy than reference complex, respectively. A comparative study of these developed multitargeted QSAR models along with molecular docking and dynamics study can be employed for the optimization of drug candidates as DASI's.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Guar-Based Injectable Hydrogel for Drug Delivery and In Vitro Bone Cell Growth

Injectable hydrogels offer numerous advantages in various areas, which include tissue engineering and drug delivery because of their unique properties such as tunability, excellent carrier properties, and biocompatibility. These hydrogels can be administered with minimal invasiveness. In this study, we synthesized an injectable hydrogel by rehydrating lyophilized mixtures of guar adamantane (Guar-ADI) and poly-β-cyclodextrin (p-βCD) in a solution of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) maintained at pH 7.4. The hydrogel was formed via host-guest interaction between modified guar (Guar-ADI), obtained by reacting guar gum with 1-adamantyl isocyanate (ADI) and p-βCD. Comprehensive characterization of all synthesized materials, including the hydrogel, was performed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and rheology. The in vitro drug release study demonstrated the hydrogel's efficacy in controlled drug delivery, exemplified by the release of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and anastrozole, both of which followed first-order kinetics. Furthermore, the hydrogel displayed excellent biocompatibility and served as an ideal scaffold for promoting the growth of mouse osteoblastic MC3T3 cells as evidenced by the in vitro biocompatibility study.

One-pot multicomponent synthesis of novel pyridine derivatives for antidiabetic and antiproliferative activities

Background: Due to the close relationship of diabetes with hypertension reported in various research, a set of pyridine derivatives with US FDA-approved drug cores were designed and integrated by artificial intelligence. Methods: Novel pyridines were designed and synthesized. Compounds MNS-1-MNS-4 were evaluated for their structure and were screened for their in vitro antidiabetic (α-amylase) activity and anticancer (HepG2) activity by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay. Comparative 3D quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis and pharmacophore generation were carried out. Results: The study revealed MNS-1 and MNS-4 as good alternatives to acarbose as antidiabetic agents, and MNS-2 as a more viable, better alternative to doxorubicin in the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay. Conclusion: This combination of studies identifies new and more active analogs of existing FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of diabetes.

Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 2 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Hematologic Malignancies: Advances and Future Opportunities

Tumor cells frequently reprogram cellular metabolism from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis. Isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) has been intensively studied due to its involvement in the metabolic activity of cancer cells. Mutations in IDH2 promote neomorphic activity through the generation of oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG). The overproduced 2-HG can competitively inhibit α-KG-dependent dioxygenases to trigger cell differentiation disorders, a major cause of blood tumors. This review outlines recent progress in the identification of IDH2 inhibitors in blood cancer to provide a reference for ongoing and future clinical studies.

Plumbagin: A Potential Anti-cancer Compound

Cancer is a deadly disease, which has significantly increased in both developed and developing nations. Treatment of cancer utilizing radiotherapy or chemotherapy actuates a few issues which incorporate spewing, sickness, unpalatable reactions, and so forth. In this specific situation, an alternative drug source, which can effectively treat cancer is of prime importance. Products that are obtained from plant sources are utilized for the treatment of various diseases due to their non-harmful nature. Medicinal plants contain different bioactive compounds, which possess an important role in the prevention of different diseases such as cancer. Plumbagin is a bioactive compound, which is mainly present in Plumbaginaceae family and has been explored for its anticancer activity. Plumbagin basically inactivates the Akt/NF-kB, MMP-9 and VEGF pathways that are essential for cancer cell development. Therefore, it is important to review the role of plumbagin in different cancer cells in order to find an alternative drug to overcome this disease. The present review provides a summary of anticancer activity of plumbagin in various cancers and its mode of action.

A specific selenium-chelating peptide isolated from the protein hydrolysate of Grifola frondosa

Background: Grifola frondosa is a type of edible medicinal mushroom with abundant proteins. Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for human. Many animal experiments and clinical studies had indicated that Se plays an important role in diverse physiologic actions. Most inorganic selenium compounds are toxic, and the lowest lethal dose is relatively small. Peptide-Se chelate can probably be dietary supplements in functional foods for humans with Se deficiency. Methods: In this study, a specific tripeptide Arg-Leu-Ala (RLA) with strong Se-chelating capacity was purified from Grifola frondosa through ultrafiltration, reversed-phase HPLC and gel filtration chromatography. The UV, SEM, XRD, 1H NMR spectra are shown to provide more information about characterization of RLA-Se chelates. The bioavailability of RLA-Se chelate in Caco-2 cell line was investigated by using human colon cancer Caco-2 cells as model. iTRAQ comparative proteomics approach were used to identify the differentially expressed proteins. Results: The Se binding capacity of RLA was 84.47 ± 1.21 mg g-1. The results of UV, X-ray diffraction (XRD), 1H NMR and SEM structure analysis showed that the binding of selenium in the hydrolysate of Grifola frondosa protein was successful, and the amino and carboxyl groups of RLA were involved in the coordination of Se, which was the main site of chelation. The results of absorption of RLA-Se chelate in Caco-2 cells showed that RLA-Se chelate could be used as selenium supplement source. Using iTRAQ comparative proteomics approach, 40 proteins found significant. RLA-Se treatment had been demonstrated to present a higher accumulation of Se compared with control treatment and show an effective absorption by Caco-2 with the result that E3 protein performed up regulation. RLA-Se may play roles in cell cycle and apoptosis as an essential micronutrient. To sum up, our research results show that Grifola polypeptide-Se chelate is a promising multifunctional organic selenium product, which can be used as a new functional supplement for selenium deficiency.

In Vitro Systematic Drug Testing Reveals Carboplatin, Paclitaxel, and Alpelisib as a Potential Novel Combination Treatment for Adult Granulosa Cell Tumors

Adult granulosa cell tumors (AGCTs) arise from the estrogen-producing granulosa cells. Treatment of recurrence remains a clinical challenge, as systemic anti-hormonal treatment or chemotherapy is only effective in selected patients. We established a method to rapidly screen for drug responses in vitro using direct patient-derived cell lines in order to optimize treatment selection. The response to 11 monotherapies and 12 combination therapies, including chemotherapeutic, anti-hormonal, and targeted agents, were tested in 12 AGCT-patient-derived cell lines and an AGCT cell line (KGN). Drug screens were performed within 3 weeks after tissue collection by measurement of cell viability 72 h after drug application. The potential synergy of drug combinations was assessed. The human maximum drug plasma concentration (Cmax) and steady state (Css) thresholds obtained from available phase I/II clinical trials were used to predict potential toxicity in patients. Patient-derived AGCT cell lines demonstrated resistance to all monotherapies. All cell lines showed synergistic growth inhibition by combination treatment with carboplatin, paclitaxel, and alpelisib at a concentration needed to obtain 50% cell death (IC50) that are below the maximum achievable concentration in patients (IC50 < Cmax). We show that AGCT cell lines can be rapidly established and used for patient-specific in vitro drug testing, which may guide treatment decisions. Combination treatment with carboplatin, paclitaxel, and alpelisib was consistently effective in AGCT cell lines and should be further studied as a potential effective combination for AGCT treatment in patients.

Synthesis, Cytotoxic, Antibacterial and Free Radical Scavenging Activities of Schiff Bases Derived from 1,2,4-Triazole

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A series of new 1,2,4-triazole Schiff bases incorporating a chlorinated indole moiety were prepared from the condensation reaction of 4-amino-5-mercapto-3-[(5-chloro-2-methyl-1H-indol-3- yl)methyl]1,2,4-triazole with substituted benzaldehydes in the presence of (+)-tartaric acid as an acidic catalyst. The structures of Schiff bases were elucidated by FTIR, NMR and mass spectral data. The cytotoxic, antibacterial and free radical scavenging activities of Schiff bases were performed using MTT, 96-well microbroth dilution and DPPH assays, respectively. Schiff bases 3k and 3l with both electron donating groups at meta and para positions of the phenyl ring demonstrated higher cytotoxic activity against COLO-205 and A549 cell lines. On the other hand, Schiff base 3f comprising p-chlorophenyl substituent exhibited significant inhibition against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus at MIC 3.91 μg/ml and 15.63 μg/ml, respectively. The results of the free radical scavenging activity revealed that Schiff bases with the presence of a Cl or OCH3 group in the para position of the phenyl ring act as a better antioxidant than BHT.