Marigold Supercritical Extract as Potential Co-adjuvant in Pancreatic Cancer: The Energetic Catastrophe Induced via BMP8B Ends Up With Autophagy-Induced Cell Death

In vitro anticancer efficacy of Calendula Officinalis extract-loaded chitosan nanoparticles against gastric and colon cancer cells

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed the anticancer activities of calendula officinalis-loaded chitosan nanoparticles in gastric and colon cancer cells compared to fibroblast cells and examined the balance between ROS and antioxidants.

METHODS

Considering this information, we synthesized Calendula officinalis-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CO-CSNPs) via the ionic gelation method. Their characterizations were carried out with ZetaSizer, UV-Vis, FTIR and SEM devices including size, morphology and surface zeta potential analysis, loading capacity, encapsulation efficiency, in vitro drug release, and chemical interactions. The anticancer activities of CO, CSNPs, and CO-CSNPs were tested against AGS, Caco-2, and normal NIH-3T3 cells using an XTT assay. The anticancer effects were evaluated with the DAPI staining, scratch assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection and CUPRAC method on cellular and non-cellular processes that promote anticancer mechanisms.

RESULTS

Results showed that CO and CO-CNPs exhibited anticancer activity against AGS and Caco-2. Further, the formulation of CO with CSNPs enhanced the anticancer activity of CO while having no cytotoxicity on NIH-3T3. DAPI staining, scratch assay, ROS, and CUPRAC method confirmed the anticancer activity of CO and CO-CSNPs, which resulted in a reduction in the number of apoptotic cells, inhibited migration, triggered apoptotic pathway via ROS, and higher antioxidant activity.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the study indicate that CO-CSNPs are a promising therapeutic formulation for gastric and colon cancer treatment. We consider that this study will lead to the investigation of molecular mechanisms of CO-CSNPs in cancer treatment and their investigation in clinical studies.

Novel bioactive extract from yarrow obtained by the supercritical antisolvent-assisted technique inhibits lipid metabolism in colorectal cancer

Background: Altered lipid metabolism in cancer is associated to dissemination and prognosis. Bioactive compounds naturally occurring in Achillea millefolium L. (yarrow) have been reported to exert antitumour activities. Food biotechnology may provide on-demand mixtures of bioactive compounds with complementary activities in cancer treatment. Methods: Supercritical-antisolvent-precipitation (SAS) has been applied to fractionate the bioactive compounds from an Ultrasound-Assisted-Extraction yarrow extract resulting in two extracts with distinct polarity, yarrow-precipitate-(PP) and yarrow-separator-(Sep). Total phenolic content and relevant essential oils have been characterized. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative activities have been compared. Moreover, the effect on the inhibition of colorectal cancer cells' bioenergetics has been evaluated. Results: Yarrow-PP exerted the highest antioxidant activity, even higher than the complete UAE-yarrow extract, meanwhile yarrow-Sep showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity, even higher than the complete UAE-yarrow extract. Interestingly, yarrow-Sep inhibited key lipid metabolic targets in CRC cells extensively shown to be implicated in cancer dissemination and prognosis -SREBF1, FASN, ABCA1 and HMGCR- and epithelial to mesenchymal targets-CDH1, ATP1B1, CDH2 and Vimentin-augmenting cell adhesion. Conclusions: In summary, SAS technology has been applied to provide a novel combination of bioactive compounds, yarrow-Sep, which merits further research to be proposed as a potential complementary nutraceutical in the treatment of CRC.

Implications of cancer stem cells in diabetes and pancreatic cancer

This review provides a detailed study of pancreatic cancer (PC) and the implication of different types of cancers concerning diabetes. The combination of anti-diabetic drugs with other anti-cancer drugs and phytochemicals can help prevent and treat this disease. PC cancer stem cells (CSCs) and how they migrate and develop into malignant tumors are discussed. A detailed explanation of the different mechanisms of diabetes development, which can enhance the pancreatic CSCs' proliferation by increasing the IGF factor levels, epigenetic modifications, DNA damage, and the influence of lifestyle factors like obesity, and inflammation, has been discussed. It also explains how cancer due to diabetes is associated with high mortality rates. One of the well-known diabetic drugs, metformin, can be combined with other anti-cancer drugs and prevent the development of PC and has been taken as one of the prime focus in this review. Overall, this paper provides insight into the relationship between diabetes and PC and the methods that can be employed to diagnose this disease at an earlier stage successfully.

OMICS Applications for Medicinal Plants in Gastrointestinal Cancers: Current Advancements and Future Perspectives

Gastrointestinal cancers refer to a group of deadly malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract and organs of the digestive system. Over the past decades, considerable amounts of medicinal plants have exhibited potent anticancer effects on different types of gastrointestinal cancers. OMICS, systems biology approaches covering genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, are broadly applied to comprehensively reflect the molecular profiles in mechanistic studies of medicinal plants. Single- and multi-OMICS approaches facilitate the unravelling of signalling interaction networks and key molecular targets of medicinal plants with anti-gastrointestinal cancer potential. Hence, this review summarizes the applications of various OMICS and advanced bioinformatics approaches in examining therapeutic targets, signalling pathways, and the tumour microenvironment in response to anticancer medicinal plants. Advances and prospects in this field are also discussed.

A pharmacognostic approach for mitigating pancreatic cancer: emphasis on herbal extracts and phytoconstituents

Background

Pancreatic cancer is studied as one of the most lethal cancers with currently no control of its lethality, mainly due to its late diagnosis and lack of foolproof treatment processes. Despite continuous efforts being made in looking for therapies to deal with cancer, it keeps on being a labyrinth for the researchers. Efforts like discovering new treatment options, repurposing existing drugs, are continuously made to deal with this cancer.

Main body

With the urge to get answers and the fact that nature has all roots of therapeutics, efforts are made in the direction of finding those answers for providing ministrations for pancreatic cancer from plant products. Plant products are used as treatment options either directly in the form of extracts or an alternative to them is individual phytochemicals that are either isolated from the plants or are commercially synthesized for various purposes. In this review, we put forward such pharmacognostic initiatives made in combating pancreatic cancer, focusing mainly on plant extracts and various phytochemicals; along with the mechanisms which they triggered to fulfill the need for cytotoxicity to pancreatic cancer cells (in vitro and in vivo).

Conclusion

This study will thus provide insights into new combination therapy that can be used and also give a clue on which plant product and phytoconstituent can be used in dealing with pancreatic cancer.

Graphical abstract

Regulation and function of autophagy in pancreatic cancer

Oncogenic KRAS mutation-driven pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is currently the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Macroautophagy (hereafter "autophagy") is one of the lysosome-dependent degradation systems that can remove abnormal proteins, damaged organelles, or invading pathogens by activating dynamic membrane structures (e.g., phagophores, autophagosomes, and autolysosomes). Impaired autophagy (including excessive activation and defects) is a pathological feature of human diseases, including pancreatic cancer. However, dysfunctional autophagy has many types and plays a complex role in pancreatic tumor biology, depending on various factors, such as tumor stage, microenvironment, immunometabolic state, and death signals. As a modulator connecting various cellular events, pharmacological targeting of nonselective autophagy may lead to both good and bad therapeutic effects. In contrast, targeting selective autophagy could reduce potential side effects of the drugs used. In this review, we describe the advances and challenges of autophagy in the development and therapy of pancreatic cancer.Abbreviations: AMPK: AMP-activated protein kinase; CQ: chloroquine; csc: cancer stem cells; DAMP: danger/damage-associated molecular pattern; EMT: epithelial-mesenchymal transition; lncRNA: long noncoding RNA; MIR: microRNA; PanIN: pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia; PDAC: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; PtdIns3K: phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; SNARE: soluble NSF attachment protein receptor; UPS: ubiquitin-proteasome system.

Antioxidant and anticancer potentials of edible flowers: where do we stand?

Edible flowers are attracting special therapeutic attention and their administration is on the rise. Edible flowers play pivotal modulatory roles on oxidative stress and related interconnected apoptotic/inflammatory pathways toward the treatment of cancer. In this review, we highlighted the phytochemical content and therapeutic applications of edible flowers, as well as their modulatory potential on the oxidative stress pathways and apoptotic/inflammatory mediators, resulting in anticancer effects. Edible flowers are promising sources of phytochemicals (e.g., phenolic compounds, carotenoids, terpenoids) with several therapeutic effects. They possess anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-microbial, anti-depressant, anxiolytic, anti-obesity, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective effects. Edible flowers potentially modulate oxidative stress by targeting erythroid nuclear transcription factor-2/extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase (Nrf2/ERK/MAPK), reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA) and antioxidant response elements (AREs). As the interconnected pathways to oxidative stress, inflammatory mediators, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), interleukins (ILs) as well as apoptotic pathways such as Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), Bcl-2, caspase and cytochrome C are critical targets of edible flowers in combating cancer. In this regard, edible flowers could play promising anticancer effects by targeting oxidative stress and downstream dysregulated pathways.

Saponin-Rich Extracts and Their Acid Hydrolysates Differentially Target Colorectal Cancer Metabolism in the Frame of Precision Nutrition

Saponins or their aglycone form, sapogenin, have recently gained interest as bioactive agents due to their biological activities, their antitumoral effects being among them. Metabolic reprogramming has been recognized as a hallmark of cancer and, together with the increased aerobic glycolysis and glutaminolysis, the altered lipid metabolism is considered crucial to support cancer initiation and progression. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the inhibitory effects on colorectal cancer cell lines of saponin-rich extracts from fenugreek and quinoa (FE and QE, respectively) and their hydrolyzed extracts as sapogenin-rich extracts (HFE and HQE, respectively). By mean of the latest technology in the analysis of cell bioenergetics, we demonstrate that FE and HFE diminished mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and aerobic glycolysis; meanwhile, quinoa extracts did not show relevant activities. Distinct molecular mechanisms were identified for fenugreek: FE inhibited the expression of TYMS1 and TK1, synergizing with the chemotherapeutic drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU); meanwhile, HFE inhibited lipid metabolism targets, leading to diminished intracellular lipid content. The relevance of considering the coexisting compounds of the extracts or their hydrolysis transformation as innovative strategies to augment the therapeutic potential of the extracts, and the specific subgroup of patients where each extract would be more beneficial, are discussed in the frame of precision nutrition.

Metabolic enzyme ACSL3 is a prognostic biomarker and correlates with anticancer effectiveness of statins in non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers, still characterized by high mortality rates. As lipid metabolism contributes to cancer metabolic reprogramming, several lipid metabolism genes are considered prognostic biomarkers of cancer. Statins are a class of lipid-lowering compounds used in treatment of cardiovascular disease that are currently studied for their antitumor effects. However, their exact mechanism of action and specific conditions in which they should be administered remains unclear. Here, we found that simvastatin treatment effectively promoted antiproliferative effects and modulated lipid metabolism-related pathways in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and that the antiproliferative effects of statins were potentiated by overexpression of acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 3 (ACSL3). Moreover, ACSL3 overexpression was associated with worse clinical outcome in patients with high-grade NSCLC. Finally, we found that patients with high expression levels of ACSL3 displayed a clinical benefit of statins treatment. Therefore, our study highlights ACSL3 as a prognostic biomarker for NSCLC, useful to select patients who would obtain a clinical benefit from statin administration.

UHPLC Q-Exactive MS-based spleen metabolomics and lipidomics to explore the effect mechanisms of Danggui Buxue Decoction in anemia mice

Danggui Buxue Decoction (DBD), a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is often used to treat anemia in China. However, its underlying therapeutic mechanism is unclear. Through the analysis of body weight, spleen and thymus indexes, peripheral blood routine and pathological section of femur, it was obviously that DBD could significantly improve acetylphenylhydrazine (APH) + cyclophosphamide (CTX) induced anemia mice in the present work. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole - Exactive mass spectrometry (UHPLC Q-Exactive MS) based metabolomics and lipidomics was further utilized to screen out differential spleen metabolites associated with DBD treatment. A total of 26 differential metabolites including 8 polar metabolites and 18 lipids were firstly obtained to relate with anemia mice. 7 polar metabolites and 10 lipids among them were reversed by DBD, which the regulation of pyrimidine metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism were mainly associated to the anti-anemia effect of DBD based on MetaboAnalyst analysis. Through random forest analysis (RF), ROC analysis and pearson matrix correlation, three metabolites, cytosine, uracil and PC (o-16:1(9Z)/20:0), were further screened out as the potential pharmacodynamic biomarkers associated with the efficacy of DBD. This study provided a methodological reference for the study of the mechanism of TCM.