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Lu L, Li J, Jiang X, Bai R. CXCR4/CXCL12 axis: "old" pathway as "novel" target for anti-inflammatory drug discovery. Med Res Rev 2024; 44:1189-1220. [PMID: 38178560 DOI: 10.1002/med.22011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Revised: 11/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
Inflammation is the body's defense response to exogenous or endogenous stimuli, involving complex regulatory mechanisms. Discovering anti-inflammatory drugs with both effectiveness and long-term use safety is still the direction of researchers' efforts. The inflammatory pathway was initially identified to be involved in tumor metastasis and HIV infection. However, research in recent years has proved that the CXC chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4)/CXC motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) axis plays a critical role in the upstream of the inflammatory pathway due to its chemotaxis to inflammatory cells. Blocking the chemotaxis of inflammatory cells by CXCL12 at the inflammatory site may block and alleviate the inflammatory response. Therefore, developing CXCR4 antagonists has become a novel strategy for anti-inflammatory therapy. This review aimed to systematically summarize and analyze the mechanisms of action of the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis in more than 20 inflammatory diseases, highlighting its crucial role in inflammation. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory activities of CXCR4 antagonists were discussed. The findings might help generate new perspectives for developing anti-inflammatory drugs targeting the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liuxin Lu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-tumor Chinese Medicines, Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicines of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Junjie Li
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-tumor Chinese Medicines, Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicines of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xiaoying Jiang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-tumor Chinese Medicines, Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicines of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Renren Bai
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-tumor Chinese Medicines, Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicines of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
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Gupta N, Mohan CD, Shanmugam MK, Jung YY, Chinnathambi A, Alharbi SA, Ashrafizadeh M, Mahale M, Bender A, Kumar AP, Putti TC, Rangappa KS, Zhang X, Ahn KS, Sethi G. CXCR4 expression is elevated in TNBC patient derived samples and Z-guggulsterone abrogates tumor progression by targeting CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling axis in mice model. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023:116335. [PMID: 37290620 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Environmental factors such as exposure to ionizing radiations, certain environmental pollutants, and toxic chemicals are considered as risk factors in the development of breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a molecular variant of breast cancer that lacks therapeutic targets such as progesterone receptor, estrogen receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 which makes the targeted therapy ineffective in TNBC patients. Therefore, identification of new therapeutic targets for the treatment of TNBC and the discovery of new therapeutic agents is the need of the hour. In this study, CXCR4 was found to be highly expressed in majority of breast cancer tissues and metastatic lymph nodes derived from TNBC patients. CXCR4 expression is positively correlated with breast cancer metastasis and poor prognosis of TNBC patients suggesting that suppression of CXCR4 expression could be a good strategy in the treatment of TNBC patients. Therefore, the effect of Z-guggulsterone (ZGA) on the expression of CXCR4 in TNBC cells was examined. ZGA downregulated protein and mRNA expression of CXCR4 in TNBC cells and proteasome inhibition or lysosomal stabilization had no effect on the ZGA-induced CXCR4 reduction. CXCR4 is under the transcriptional control of NF-κB, whereas ZGA was found to downregulate transcriptional activity NF-κB. Functionally, ZGA downmodulated the CXCL12-driven migration/invasion in TNBC cells. Additionally, the effect of ZGA on growth of tumor was investigated in the orthotopic TNBC mice model and ZGA presented good inhibition of tumor growth and liver/lung metastasis in this model. Western blotting and immunohistochemical analysis indicated a reduction of CXCR4, NF-κB, and Ki67 in tumor tissues. Computational analysis suggested PXR agonism and FXR antagonism as targets of ZGA. In conclusion, CXCR4 was found to be overexpressed in majority of patient-derived TNBC tissues and ZGA abrogated the growth of TNBC tumors by partly targeting the CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikita Gupta
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117600, Singapore.
| | | | - Muthu K Shanmugam
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117600, Singapore
| | - Young Yun Jung
- Department of Science in Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, South Korea
| | - Arunachalam Chinnathambi
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, PO Box -2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sulaiman Ali Alharbi
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, PO Box -2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Milad Ashrafizadeh
- Department of General Surgery and Institute of Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Digestive System Tumors, Carson International Cancer Center, Shenzhen University General Hospital, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
| | - Manas Mahale
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Bombay College of Pharmacy, Kalina, Santacruz (E), Mumbai, 400 098, India
| | - Andreas Bender
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, United Kingdom
| | - Alan Prem Kumar
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117600, Singapore
| | - Thomas Choudary Putti
- Department of Pathology, National University of Singapore, National University Hospital, Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119074, Singapore
| | | | - Xianbin Zhang
- Department of General Surgery and Institute of Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Digestive System Tumors, Carson International Cancer Center, Shenzhen University General Hospital, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
| | - Kwang Seok Ahn
- Department of Science in Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, South Korea.
| | - Gautam Sethi
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117600, Singapore.
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Tabana Y, Okoye IS, Siraki A, Elahi S, Barakat KH. Tackling Immune Targets for Breast Cancer: Beyond PD-1/PD-L1 Axis. Front Oncol 2021; 11:628138. [PMID: 33747948 PMCID: PMC7973280 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.628138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The burden of breast cancer is imposing a huge global problem. Drug discovery research and novel approaches to treat breast cancer have been carried out extensively over the last decades. Although immune checkpoint inhibitors are showing promising preclinical and clinical results in treating breast cancer, they are facing multiple limitations. From an immunological perspective, a recent report highlighted breast cancer as an "inflamed tumor" with an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Consequently, researchers have been focusing on identifying novel immunological targets that can tune up the tumor immune microenvironment. In this context, several novel non-classical immune targets have been targeted to determine their ability to uncouple immunoregulatory pathways at play in the tumor microenvironment. This article will highlight strategies designed to increase the immunogenicity of the breast tumor microenvironment. It also addresses the latest studies on targets which can enhance immune responses to breast cancer and discusses examples of preclinical and clinical trial landscapes that utilize these targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasser Tabana
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Isobel S. Okoye
- School of Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Arno Siraki
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Shokrollah Elahi
- School of Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Khaled H. Barakat
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
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Hira VV, Van Noorden CJ, Molenaar RJ. CXCR4 Antagonists as Stem Cell Mobilizers and Therapy Sensitizers for Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Glioblastoma? BIOLOGY 2020; 9:biology9020031. [PMID: 32079173 PMCID: PMC7168055 DOI: 10.3390/biology9020031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Glioblastoma is the most aggressive and malignant primary brain tumor in adults and has a poor patient survival of only 20 months after diagnosis. This poor patient survival is at least partly caused by glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), which are slowly-dividing and therefore therapy-resistant. GSCs are localized in protective hypoxic peri-arteriolar niches where these aforementioned stemness properties are maintained. We previously showed that hypoxic peri-arteriolar GSC niches in human glioblastoma are functionally similar to hypoxic peri-arteriolar hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niches in human bone marrow. GSCs and HSCs express the receptor C-X-C receptor type 4 (CXCR4), which binds to the chemoattractant stromal-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α), which is highly expressed in GSC niches in glioblastoma and HSC niches in bone marrow. This receptor–ligand interaction retains the GSCs/HSCs in their niches and thereby maintains their slowly-dividing state. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), leukemic cells use the SDF-1α–CXCR4 interaction to migrate to HSC niches and become slowly-dividing and therapy-resistant leukemic stem cells (LSCs). In this communication, we aim to elucidate how disruption of the SDF-1α–CXCR4 interaction using the FDA-approved CXCR4 inhibitor plerixafor (AMD3100) may be used to force slowly-dividing cancer stem cells out of their niches in glioblastoma and AML. Ultimately, this strategy aims to induce GSC and LSC differentiation and their sensitization to therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vashendriya V.V. Hira
- Department of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia (R.J.M.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Cornelis J.F. Van Noorden
- Department of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia (R.J.M.)
- Department of Medical Biology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC at the Academic Medical Center, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Remco J. Molenaar
- Department of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia (R.J.M.)
- Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC at the Academic Medical Center, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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