The Effect of a Newly Synthesized Ferrocene Derivative against MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells and Spheroid Stem Cells through ROS Production and Inhibition of JAK2/STAT3 Signaling Pathway

Crosstalk between CXCL12/CXCR4/ACKR3 and the STAT3 Pathway

The reciprocal modulation between the CXCL12/CXCR4/ACKR3 axis and the STAT3 signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the progression of various diseases and neoplasms. Activation of the CXCL12/CXCR4/ACKR3 axis triggers the STAT3 pathway through multiple mechanisms, while the STAT3 pathway also regulates the expression of CXCL12. This review offers a thorough and systematic analysis of the reciprocal regulatory mechanisms between the CXCL12/CXCR4/ACKR3 signaling axis and the STAT3 signaling pathway in the context of diseases, particularly tumors. It explores the potential clinical applications in tumor treatment, highlighting possible therapeutic targets and novel strategies for targeted tumor therapy.

Dual COX-2/15-LOX inhibitors: A new avenue in the prevention of cancer

Dual cyclooxygenase 2/15-lipoxygenase inhibitors constitute a valuable alternative to classical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and selective COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, as well as preventing the cancer. Indeed, these latter present diverse side effects, which are reduced or absent in dual-acting agents. In this review, COX-2 and 15-LOX (15-lipoxygenase) pathways are first described in order to highlight the therapeutic interest of designing such compounds. Various structural families of dual inhibitors are illustrated. This study discloses various structural families of dual 15-LOX/COX-2 inhibitors, thus pave the way to design potentially-active anticancer agents with balanced dual inhibition of these enzymes.

Naringenin and cryptotanshinone shift the immune response towards Th1 and modulate T regulatory cells via JAK2/STAT3 pathway in breast cancer

Background

Use of natural products has been proposed as an efficient method in modulation of immune system and treatment of cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of cryptotanshinone (CPT), naringenin, and their combination in modulating the immune response towards Th1 cells and the involvement of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in these effects.

Methods

Mouse models of delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) were produced and treated with naringenin and CPT. The proliferation of spleen cells were assessed by Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) assay. Flowcytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests were employed to evaluate subpopulation of T-lymphocytes and the levels of cytokines, respectively. The JAK/STAT signaling pathway was analyzed by Western blotting.

Results

We showed higher DTH, increased lymphocyte proliferation, decreased tumor growth and reduced JAK2/STAT3 phosphorylation in mice treated with naringenin and CPT. Moreover, a significant decline in the production of IL-4 and an upsurge in the production of IFN-γ by splenocytes were observed. Additionally, the population of intra-tumor CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ T cells was significantly lower in naringenin + CPT treated animals than that in controls.

Conclusion

Naringenin-CPT combination could exert immunomodulatory effects, suggesting this combination as a novel complementary therapeutic regimen for breast cancer.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12906-022-03625-x.

IL-6/JAK/STAT3 Signaling in Breast Cancer Metastasis: Biology and Treatment

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. Metastasis is the primary cause of mortality for breast cancer patients. Multiple mechanisms underlie breast cancer metastatic dissemination, including the interleukin-6 (IL-6)-mediated signaling pathway. IL-6 is a pleiotropic cytokine that plays an important role in multiple physiological processes including cell proliferation, immune surveillance, acute inflammation, metabolism, and bone remodeling. IL-6 binds to the IL-6 receptor (IL-6Rα) which subsequently binds to the glycoprotein 130 (gp130) receptor creating a signal transducing hexameric receptor complex. Janus kinases (JAKs) are recruited and activated; activated JAKs, in turn, phosphorylate signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) for activation, leading to gene regulation. Constitutively active IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling drives cancer cell proliferation and invasiveness while suppressing apoptosis, and STAT3 enhances IL-6 signaling to promote a vicious inflammatory loop. Aberrant expression of IL-6 occurs in multiple cancer types and is associated with poor clinical prognosis and metastasis. In breast cancer, the IL-6 pathway is frequently activated, which can promote breast cancer metastasis while simultaneously suppressing the anti-tumor immune response. Given these important roles in human cancers, multiple components of the IL-6 pathway are promising targets for cancer therapeutics and are currently being evaluated preclinically and clinically for breast cancer. This review covers the current biological understanding of the IL-6 signaling pathway and its impact on breast cancer metastasis, as well as, therapeutic interventions that target components of the IL-6 pathway including: IL-6, IL-6Rα, gp130 receptor, JAKs, and STAT3.

Naringenin enhances anti-proliferation effect of 1-ferrocenyl-3-(4-methylsulfonylphenyl) propen-1-one on two different cells via targeting calmodulin signaling pathway

BACKGROUND

FMSP is a synthesized ferrocene derivative with anti-cancer characteristics on tumor cells. Naringenin is a polyphenolic flavonoid with anti-tumor ability.

METHODS

Cell viability and proliferation of two cancer cells and a normal cell line after treatment with these agents were determined with MTT assay. To predict the possible interaction between calmodulin (CaM) and FMSP and naringenin, docking studies were performed. By using fluorescence emission spectra, the effects of FMSP and naringenin on CaM structure and activity were studied. CaM-dependent activation of phosphodiesterase 1 (PDE1) by FMSP in relation to naringenin and their combination were compared. Effects of these compounds on PDE1 inhibition, cAMP accumulation, and cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) activation were assayed.

RESULTS

The combination of FMSP and naringenin had more inhibitory effects on CaM structure than FMSP and naringenin alone. Results of docking analyses also confirmed efficient interaction of the two compounds with a hydrophobic pocket of calmodulin active site. Kinetic analyses of these agents' interaction with CaM showed FMSP and naringenin both competitively inhibited PDE1 activation without changing the Vmax parameter. FMSP and naringenin synergistically increased Km values at a higher level compared to FMSP or naringenin alone. The combination of these two agents also had more cytotoxic effects on cancer cells than FMSP alone.

CONCLUSIONS

It was shown that mechanism of proliferation inhibition in both cancer cells by these compounds is based on CaM and consequent PDE inhibition followed by intracellular cAMP level elevation and increased PKA activity in a dose-dependent manner.

Role, molecular mechanism and the potential target of breast cancer stem cells in breast cancer development

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in women globally, and its occurrence has surpassed lung cancer and become the biggest threat for women. At present, breast cancer treatment includes surgical resection or postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, tumor relapse and metastasis usually lead to current therapy failure thanks to breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs)-mediated tumorigenicity and drug resistance. Drug resistance is mainly due to the long-term quiescent G0 phase, strong DNA repairability, and high expression of ABC transporter, and the tumorigenicity is reflected in the activation of various proliferation pathways related to BCSCs. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of BCSCs and their intracellular and extracellular molecular mechanisms is crucial for the development of targeted drugs for BCSCs. To this end, we discussed the latest developments in BCSCs research, focusing on the analysis of specific markers, critical signaling pathways that maintain the stemness of BCSCs，such as NOTCH, Wnt/β-catenin, STAT3, Hedgehog, and Hippo-YAP signaling, immunomicroenviroment and summarizes targeting therapy strategies for stemness maintenance and differentiation, which provides a theoretical basis for further exploration of treating breast cancer and preventing relapse derived from BCSCs.

Downregulation of amine oxidase copper containing 1 inhibits tumor progression by suppressing IL-6/JAK/STAT3 pathway activation in hepatocellular carcinoma

Amine oxidase copper containing 1 (AOC1) is a copper-containing amine oxidase that catalyzes the deamination of polyamines. AOC1 functions as an oncogene in human gastric cancer. There is little information available regarding the function of AOC1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression levels of AOC1 in HCC tissues, and the role of AOC1 in HCC progression was determined using western blot, Cell Counting Kit 8, clone formation, wound-healing and Transwell assays. An AOC1 survival curve was generated with data downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis was performed to investigate the potential biological mechanisms of AOC1 in HCC. AOC1 was found to be upregulated in HCC tissues, which was associated with a poor prognosis. Furthermore, AOC1-knockdown inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration and invasiveness, suppressed IL-6 expression, as well as decreasing JAK2 and STAT3 phosphorylation. Ultimately, the results of the present study illustrate that AOC1 promoted the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of HCC cells by regulating the IL-6/JAK/STAT3 pathway.

A Ferrocene Derivative Reduces Cisplatin Resistance in Breast Cancer Cells through Suppression of MDR-1 Expression and Modulation of JAK2/STAT3 Signaling Pathway

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer among women in the world. Despite major cancer therapy successes in recent years, cancer cells usually develop mechanisms to survive chemotherapy- induced cell death. Therefore, new strategies are needed to reverse cancer chemoresistance.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a recently-synthesized ferrocene derivative named 1-ferrocenyl-3-(4-methylsulfonylphenyl)propen-1-one (FMSP) on cisplatin resistance in MCF-7 cells, focusing on its inhibitory effects on Multi-Drug Resistance-1 (MDR-1) and inflammatory-related STAT3 pathway.

METHODS

Cisplatin-resistant MCF-7 cells were developed and the effect of cisplatin and FMSP on cell viability was examined by MTT assay. RT-PCR and Western blotting analyses were performed to assess the gene and protein expression of MDR-1 as well as phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3.

RESULTS

Overexpression of MDR1 as well as a marked increase in the level of phosphorylated STAT3 was observed in cisplatin-resistant MCF-7 (MCF-7R) cells. FMSP successfully reduced the MCF-7R cell viability and reversed both MDR1 expression and STAT3 phosphorylation status through which sensitivity of MCF-7R cells to cisplatin treatment was regained.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicated that FMSP may be considered as a promising therapeutic agent for the prevention and management of chemoresistance in breast cancer cells.

The Breast Cancer Stem Cells Traits and Drug Resistance

Drug resistance is a major challenge in breast cancer (BC) treatment at present. Accumulating studies indicate that breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are responsible for the BC drugs resistance, causing relapse and metastasis in BC patients. Thus, BCSCs elimination could reverse drug resistance and improve drug efficacy to benefit BC patients. Consequently, mastering the knowledge on the proliferation, resistance mechanisms, and separation of BCSCs in BC therapy is extremely helpful for BCSCs-targeted therapeutic strategies. Herein, we summarize the principal BCSCs surface markers and signaling pathways, and list the BCSCs-related drug resistance mechanisms in chemotherapy (CT), endocrine therapy (ET), and targeted therapy (TT), and display therapeutic strategies for targeting BCSCs to reverse drug resistance in BC. Even more importantly, more attention should be paid to studies on BCSC-targeted strategies to overcome the drug resistant dilemma of clinical therapies in the future.

Activated coagulation time in monitoring heparinized dogs

Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are the minor population of breast cancer (BC) cells that exhibit several phenotypes such as migration, invasion, self-renewal, and chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy resistance. Recently, BCSCs have been more considerable due to their capacity for recurrence of tumors after treatment. Recognition of signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms involved in stemness phenotypes of BCSCs could be effective for discovering novel treatment strategies to target BCSCs. This review introduces BCSC markers, their roles in stemness phenotypes, and the dysregulated signaling pathways involved in BCSCs such as mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, PI3K/Akt/nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB), TGF-β, hedgehog (Hh), Notch, Wnt/β-catenin, and Hippo pathway. In addition, this review presents recently discovered molecular mechanisms implicated in chemotherapy and radiotherapy resistance, migration, metastasis, and angiogenesis of BCSCs. Finally, we reviewed the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in BCSCs as well as several other therapeutic strategies such as herbal medicine, biological agents, anti-inflammatory drugs, monoclonal antibodies, nanoparticles, and microRNAs, which have been more considerable in the last decades.