1
|
Bauso LV, La Fauci V, Munaò S, Bonfiglio D, Armeli A, Maimone N, Longo C, Calabrese G. Biological Activity of Natural and Synthetic Peptides as Anticancer Agents. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:7264. [PMID: 39000371 PMCID: PMC11242495 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25137264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2024] [Revised: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/28/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and death worldwide, making it a serious global health concern. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical treatment are the most used conventional therapeutic approaches, although they show several side effects that limit their effectiveness. For these reasons, the discovery of new effective alternative therapies still represents an enormous challenge for the treatment of tumour diseases. Recently, anticancer peptides (ACPs) have gained attention for cancer diagnosis and treatment. ACPs are small bioactive molecules which selectively induce cancer cell death through a variety of mechanisms such as apoptosis, membrane disruption, DNA damage, immunomodulation, as well as inhibition of angiogenesis, cell survival, and proliferation pathways. ACPs can also be employed for the targeted delivery of drugs into cancer cells. With over 1000 clinical trials using ACPs, their potential for application in cancer therapy seems promising. Peptides can also be utilized in conjunction with imaging agents and molecular imaging methods, such as MRI, PET, CT, and NIR, improving the detection and the classification of cancer, and monitoring the treatment response. In this review we will provide an overview of the biological activity of some natural and synthetic peptides for the treatment of the most common and malignant tumours affecting people around the world.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Luana Vittoria Bauso
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres, 31, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Valeria La Fauci
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres, 31, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Serena Munaò
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres, 31, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Desirèe Bonfiglio
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres, 31, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Alessandra Armeli
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres, 31, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Noemi Maimone
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres, 31, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Clelia Longo
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres, 31, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Giovanna Calabrese
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres, 31, 98168 Messina, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bashi M, Madanchi H, Yousefi B. Investigation of cytotoxic effect and action mechanism of a synthetic peptide derivative of rabbit cathelicidin against MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. Sci Rep 2024; 14:13497. [PMID: 38866982 PMCID: PMC11169400 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64400-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have sparked significant interest as potential anti-cancer agents, thereby becoming a focal point in pursuing novel cancer-fighting strategies. These peptides possess distinctive properties, underscoring the importance of developing more potent and selectively targeted versions with diverse mechanisms of action against human cancer cells. Such advancements would offer notable advantages compared to existing cancer therapies. This research aimed to examine the toxicity and selectivity of the nrCap18 peptide in both cancer and normal cell lines. Furthermore, the rate of cellular death was assessed using apoptosis and acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) double staining at three distinct incubation times. Additionally, the impact of this peptide on the cancer cell cycle and migration was evaluated, and ultimately, the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) genes was investigated. The results obtained from the study demonstrated significant toxicity and selectivity in cancer cells compared to normal cells. Moreover, a strong progressive increase in cell death was observed over time. Furthermore, the peptide exhibited the ability to halt the progression of cancer cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and impede their migration by suppressing the expression of CDK4/6 genes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marzieh Bashi
- Department of Immunology, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
| | - Hamid Madanchi
- Nervous System Stem Cells Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, 35131-38111, Iran.
- Drug Design and Bioinformatics Unit, Medical Biotechnology Department, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, 13198, Iran.
| | - Bahman Yousefi
- Department of Immunology, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
- Cancer Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Appiah C, Chen S, Pori AI, Retyunskiy V, Tzeng C, Zhao Y. Study of alloferon, a novel immunomodulatory antimicrobial peptide (AMP), and its analogues. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15:1359261. [PMID: 38434708 PMCID: PMC10904621 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1359261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are widely distributed throughout the biosphere and represent a class of conserved peptide molecules with intrinsic antimicrobial properties. Their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and low risk to induce resistance have led to increased interest in AMPs as potential alternatives to traditional antibiotics. Among the AMPs, alloferon has been addressed due to its immunomodulatory properties that augment both innate and adaptive immune responses against various pathogens. Alloferon and its analogues have demonstrated pharmaceutical potential through their ability to enhance Natural Killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and stimulate interferon (IFN) synthesis in both mouse and human models. Additionally, they have shown promise in augmenting antiviral and antitumor activities in mice. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the biological effects of alloferon and its analogues, incorporating our own research findings as well. These insights may contribute to a deeper understanding of the therapeutic potential of these novel AMPs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clara Appiah
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | - Shitian Chen
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | - Afia Ibnat Pori
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | | | - Chimeng Tzeng
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Ye Zhao
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Rathnam SS, Deepak T, Sahoo BN, Meena T, Singh Y, Joshi A. Metallic Nanocarriers for Therapeutic Peptides: Emerging Solutions Addressing the Delivery Challenges in Brain Ailments. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2024; 388:39-53. [PMID: 37875308 DOI: 10.1124/jpet.123.001689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 10/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Peptides and proteins have recently emerged as efficient therapeutic alternatives to conventional therapies. Although they emerged a few decades back, extensive exploration of various ailments or disorders began recently. The drawbacks of current chemotherapies and irradiation treatments, such as drug resistance and damage to healthy tissues, have enabled the rise of peptides in the quest for better prospects. The chemical tunability and smaller size make them easy to design selectively for target tissues. Other remarkable properties include antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, protection from hemorrhage stroke, and as therapeutic agents for gastric disorders and Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases. Despite these unmatched properties, their practical applicability is often hindered due to their weak susceptibility to enzymatic digestion, serum degradation, liver metabolism, kidney clearance, and immunogenic reactions. Several methods are adapted to increase the half-life of peptides, such as chemical modifications, fusing with Fc fragment, change in amino acid composition, and carrier-based delivery. Among these, nanocarrier-mediated encapsulation not only increases the half-life of the peptides in vivo but also aids in the targeted delivery. Despite its structural complexity, they also efficiently deliver therapeutic molecules across the blood-brain barrier. Here, in this review, we tried to emphasize the possible potentiality of metallic nanoparticles to be used as an efficient peptide delivery system against brain tumors and neurodegenerative disorders. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: In this review, we have emphasized the various therapeutic applications of peptides/proteins, including antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and neurodegenerative diseases. We also focused on these peptides' challenges under physiological conditions after administration. We highlighted the importance and potentiality of metallic nanocarriers in the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, increasing the stability and half-life of peptides, their efficiency in targeting the delivery, and their diagnostic applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shanmuga Sharan Rathnam
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering (S.S.R., B.N.S., T.M., Y.S., A.J.), Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, India and Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering (T.D.), National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India
| | - Thirumalai Deepak
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering (S.S.R., B.N.S., T.M., Y.S., A.J.), Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, India and Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering (T.D.), National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India
| | - Badri Narayana Sahoo
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering (S.S.R., B.N.S., T.M., Y.S., A.J.), Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, India and Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering (T.D.), National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India
| | - Tanishq Meena
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering (S.S.R., B.N.S., T.M., Y.S., A.J.), Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, India and Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering (T.D.), National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India
| | - Yogesh Singh
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering (S.S.R., B.N.S., T.M., Y.S., A.J.), Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, India and Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering (T.D.), National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India
| | - Abhijeet Joshi
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering (S.S.R., B.N.S., T.M., Y.S., A.J.), Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, India and Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering (T.D.), National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Liu H, Shen W, Liu W, Yang Z, Yin D, Xiao C. From oncolytic peptides to oncolytic polymers: A new paradigm for oncotherapy. Bioact Mater 2024; 31:206-230. [PMID: 37637082 PMCID: PMC10450358 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2023.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Traditional cancer therapy methods, especially those directed against specific intracellular targets or signaling pathways, are not powerful enough to overcome tumor heterogeneity and therapeutic resistance. Oncolytic peptides that can induce membrane lysis-mediated cancer cell death and subsequent anticancer immune responses, has provided a new paradigm for cancer therapy. However, the clinical application of oncolytic peptides is always limited by some factors such as unsatisfactory bio-distribution, poor stability, and off-target toxicity. To overcome these limitations, oncolytic polymers stand out as prospective therapeutic materials owing to their high stability, chemical versatility, and scalable production capacity, which has the potential to drive a revolution in cancer treatment. This review provides an overview of the mechanism and structure-activity relationship of oncolytic peptides. Then the oncolytic peptides-mediated combination therapy and the nano-delivery strategies for oncolytic peptides are summarized. Emphatically, the current research progress of oncolytic polymers has been highlighted. Lastly, the challenges and prospects in the development of oncolytic polymers are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hanmeng Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230012, China
| | - Wei Shen
- School of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230012, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Preparation Technology and Application, Hefei, Anhui, 230012, China
- Engineering Technology Research Center of Modernized Pharmaceutics, Anhui Education Department (AUCM), Hefei, Anhui, 230012, China
| | - Wanguo Liu
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, 130033, China
| | - Zexin Yang
- School of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230012, China
| | - Dengke Yin
- School of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230012, China
- Engineering Technology Research Center of Modernized Pharmaceutics, Anhui Education Department (AUCM), Hefei, Anhui, 230012, China
| | - Chunsheng Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, China
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Yang X, Hua C, Lin L, Ganting Z. Antimicrobial peptides as potential therapy for gastrointestinal cancers. NAUNYN-SCHMIEDEBERG'S ARCHIVES OF PHARMACOLOGY 2023; 396:2831-2841. [PMID: 37249612 DOI: 10.1007/s00210-023-02536-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Since conventional therapy faces limitations in the field of different cancers as well as gastrointestinal cancers, that decrease the survival rate of patients, there is an urgent need to find new effective therapeutic approaches without the adverse effects of the traditional agents. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) attract much attention and are well known for their role in innate immunity. These peptides, in addition to their antimicrobial activity, exhibit strong anticancer potential against various types of malignancy. AMPs specifically target tumor cells and have selective toxicity for these cells without affecting normal cells. Here we aim to comprehensively overview the current knowledge in the field of using AMPs as novel therapeutic agents for gastrointestinal cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxia Yang
- Heping Hospital Attached to Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, China
| | - Cui Hua
- Tangshan Fengnan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Tangshan, 063000, China.
| | - Lin Lin
- Tangshan Hongci Hospital, Tangshan, 063000, China
| | - Zhao Ganting
- Heping Hospital Attached to Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, China
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Tao H, Shan S, Fu H, Zhu C, Liu B. An Augmented Sample Selection Framework for Prediction of Anticancer Peptides. Molecules 2023; 28:6680. [PMID: 37764455 PMCID: PMC10535447 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28186680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Anticancer peptides (ACPs) have promising prospects for cancer treatment. Traditional ACP identification experiments have the limitations of low efficiency and high cost. In recent years, data-driven deep learning techniques have shown significant potential for ACP prediction. However, data-driven prediction models rely heavily on extensive training data. Furthermore, the current publicly accessible ACP dataset is limited in size, leading to inadequate model generalization. While data augmentation effectively expands dataset size, existing techniques for augmenting ACP data often generate noisy samples, adversely affecting prediction performance. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel augmented sample selection framework for the prediction of anticancer peptides (ACPs-ASSF). First, the prediction model is trained using raw data. Then, the augmented samples generated using the data augmentation technique are fed into the trained model to compute pseudo-labels and estimate the uncertainty of the model prediction. Finally, samples with low uncertainty, high confidence, and pseudo-labels consistent with the original labels are selected and incorporated into the training set to retrain the model. The evaluation results for the ACP240 and ACP740 datasets show that ACPs-ASSF achieved accuracy improvements of up to 5.41% and 5.68%, respectively, compared to the traditional data augmentation method.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Huawei Tao
- Key Laboratory of Food Information Processing and Control, Ministry of Education, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China; (H.T.); (S.S.); (H.F.); (C.Z.)
- Henan Engineering Laboratory of Grain IOT Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Shuai Shan
- Key Laboratory of Food Information Processing and Control, Ministry of Education, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China; (H.T.); (S.S.); (H.F.); (C.Z.)
- Henan Engineering Laboratory of Grain IOT Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Hongliang Fu
- Key Laboratory of Food Information Processing and Control, Ministry of Education, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China; (H.T.); (S.S.); (H.F.); (C.Z.)
- Henan Engineering Laboratory of Grain IOT Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Chunhua Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Food Information Processing and Control, Ministry of Education, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China; (H.T.); (S.S.); (H.F.); (C.Z.)
- Henan Engineering Laboratory of Grain IOT Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Boye Liu
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Abdou YT, Saleeb SM, Abdel-Raouf KMA, Allam M, Adel M, Amleh A. Characterization of a novel peptide mined from the Red Sea brine pools and modified to enhance its anticancer activity. BMC Cancer 2023; 23:699. [PMID: 37495988 PMCID: PMC10369728 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-023-11045-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Drug resistance is a major cause of the inefficacy of conventional cancer therapies, and often accompanied by severe side effects. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs with low cytotoxicity, high selectivity and minimal acquired chemical resistance. Peptide-based drugs (less than 0.5 kDa) have emerged as a potential approach to address these issues due to their high specificity and potent anticancer activity. In this study, we developed a support vector machine model (SVM) to detect the potential anticancer properties of novel peptides by scanning the American University in Cairo (AUC) Red Sea metagenomics library. We identified a novel 37-mer antimicrobial peptide through SVM pipeline analysis and characterized its anticancer potential through in silico cross-examination. The peptide sequence was further modified to enhance its anticancer activity, analyzed for gene ontology, and subsequently synthesized. To evaluate the anticancer properties of the modified 37-mer peptide, we assessed its effect on the viability and morphology of SNU449, HepG2, SKOV3, and HeLa cells, using an MTT assay. Additionally, we evaluated the migration capabilities of SNU449 and SKOV3 cells using a scratch-wound healing assay. The targeted selectivity of the modified peptide was examined by evaluating its hemolytic activity on human erythrocytes. Treatment with the peptide significantly reduced cell viability and had a critical impact on the morphology of hepatocellular carcinoma (SNU449 and HepG2), and ovarian cancer (SKOV3) cells, with a marginal effect on cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa). The viability of a human fibroblast cell line (1Br-hTERT) was also significantly reduced by peptide treatment, as were the proliferation and migration abilities of SNU449 and SKOV3 cells. The annexin V assay revealed programmed cell death (apoptosis) as one of the potential cellular death pathways in SNU449 cells upon peptide treatment. Finally, the peptide exhibited antimicrobial effects on both gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. The findings presented here suggest the potential of our novel peptide as a potent anticancer and antimicrobial agent.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Youssef T Abdou
- Biotechnology Program, American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt
| | - Sheri M Saleeb
- Biotechnology Program, American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt
| | | | - Mohamed Allam
- Biology Department, American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt
| | - Mustafa Adel
- Biotechnology Program, American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt
| | - Asma Amleh
- Biotechnology Program, American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt.
- Biology Department, American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Răileanu M, Bacalum M. Cancer Wars: Revenge of the AMPs (Antimicrobial Peptides), a New Strategy against Colorectal Cancer. Toxins (Basel) 2023; 15:459. [PMID: 37505728 PMCID: PMC10467133 DOI: 10.3390/toxins15070459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer is a multifaceted health issue that affects people globally and it is considered one of the leading causes of death with a high percentage of victims worldwide. In recent years, research studies have uncovered great advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment. But, there are still major drawbacks of the conventional therapies used including severe side effects, toxicity, and drug resistance. That is why it is critical to develop new drugs with advantages like low cytotoxicity and no treatment resistance to the cancer cells. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have recently attracted attention as a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of various cancers, targeting tumor cells with less toxicity to normal tissues. The aim of the study was to discover alternate treatments that do not lead to cancer resistance and have fewer side effects. Here, we report the effects induced by several AMPs, Melittin, Cecropin A, and a Cecropin A-Melittin hybrid, against two human colorectal cancer-derived spheroids. To study the effects of the peptides, cell viability was investigated using MTT, LDH, and ATP assays. Furthermore, cellular senescence and cell cycle were investigated. We found that using different concentrations of these peptides affected the spheroids, their structure being highly compromised by reducing cell viability, and the increase in ATP and LDH levels. Also, the cells are arrested in the G2/M phase leading to an increase in senescent cells. We show that Melittin and the hybrid are most effective against the 3D colorectal cancer cells compared to Cecropin A.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Mihaela Bacalum
- Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 30 Reactorului Street, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania;
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Chinnadurai RK, Khan N, Meghwanshi GK, Ponne S, Althobiti M, Kumar R. Current research status of anti-cancer peptides: Mechanism of action, production, and clinical applications. Biomed Pharmacother 2023; 164:114996. [PMID: 37311281 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The escalating rate of cancer cases, together with treatment deficiencies and long-term side effects of currently used cancer drugs, has made this disease a global burden of the 21st century. The number of breast and lung cancer patients has sharply increased worldwide in the last few years. Presently, surgical treatment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy strategies are used to cure cancer, which cause severe side effects, toxicities, and drug resistance. In recent years, anti-cancer peptides have become an eminent therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment due to their high specificity and fewer side effects and toxicity. This review presents an updated overview of different anti-cancer peptides, their mechanisms of action and current production strategies employed for their manufacture. In addition, approved and under clinical trials anti-cancer peptides and their applications have been discussed. This review provides updated information on therapeutic anti-cancer peptides that hold great promise for cancer treatment in the near future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raj Kumar Chinnadurai
- Mahatma Gandhi Medical Advanced Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidhyapeeth (Deemed-to-be-University), Pondicherry 607402, India
| | - Nazam Khan
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Medical Science, Shaqra University, Shaqra, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Saravanaraman Ponne
- Department of Biotechnology, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry 605014, India
| | - Maryam Althobiti
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Medical Science, Shaqra University, Shaqra, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
| | - Rajender Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova University Center, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Polinário G, Primo LMDG, Rosa MABC, Dett FHM, Barbugli PA, Roque-Borda CA, Pavan FR. Antimicrobial peptides as drugs with double response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis coinfections in lung cancer. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1183247. [PMID: 37342560 PMCID: PMC10277934 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1183247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis and lung cancer are, in many cases, correlated diseases that can be confused because they have similar symptoms. Many meta-analyses have proven that there is a greater chance of developing lung cancer in patients who have active pulmonary tuberculosis. It is, therefore, important to monitor the patient for a long time after recovery and search for combined therapies that can treat both diseases, as well as face the great problem of drug resistance. Peptides are molecules derived from the breakdown of proteins, and the membranolytic class is already being studied. It has been proposed that these molecules destabilize cellular homeostasis, performing a dual antimicrobial and anticancer function and offering several possibilities of adaptation for adequate delivery and action. In this review, we focus on two important reason for the use of multifunctional peptides or peptides, namely the double activity and no harmful effects on humans. We review some of the main antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory bioactive peptides and highlight four that have anti-tuberculosis and anti-cancer activity, which may contribute to obtaining drugs with this dual functionality.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Polinário
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Paula Aboud Barbugli
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Fernando Rogério Pavan
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Pyrazole-Enriched Cationic Nanoparticles Induced Early- and Late-Stage Apoptosis in Neuroblastoma Cells at Sub-Micromolar Concentrations. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2023; 16:ph16030393. [PMID: 36986492 PMCID: PMC10056113 DOI: 10.3390/ph16030393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroblastoma (NB) is a severe form of tumor occurring mainly in young children and originating from nerve cells found in the abdomen or next to the spine. NB needs more effective and safer treatments, as the chance of survival against the aggressive form of this disease are very small. Moreover, when current treatments are successful, they are often responsible for unpleasant health problems which compromise the future and life of surviving children. As reported, cationic macromolecules have previously been found to be active against bacteria as membrane disruptors by interacting with the negative constituents of the surface of cancer cells, analogously inducing depolarization and permeabilization, provoking lethal damage to the cytoplasmic membrane, and cause loss of cytoplasmic content and consequently, cell death. Here, aiming to develop new curative options for counteracting NB cells, pyrazole-loaded cationic nanoparticles (NPs) (BBB4-G4K and CB1H-P7 NPs), recently reported as antibacterial agents, were assayed against IMR 32 and SHSY 5Y NB cell lines. Particularly, while BBB4-G4K NPs demonstrated low cytotoxicity against both NB cell lines, CB1H-P7 NPs were remarkably cytotoxic against both IMR 32 and SHSY 5Y cells (IC50 = 0.43–0.54 µM), causing both early-stage (66–85%) and late-stage apoptosis (52–65%). Interestingly, in the nano-formulation of CB1H using P7 NPs, the anticancer effects of CB1H and P7 were increased by 54–57 and 2.5–4-times, respectively against IMR 32 cells, and by 53–61 and 1.3–2 times against SHSY 5Y cells. Additionally, based on the IC50 values, CB1H-P7 was also 1-12-fold more potent than fenretinide, an experimental retinoid derivative in a phase III clinical trial, with remarkable antineoplastic and chemopreventive properties. Collectively, due to these results and their good selectivity for cancer cells (selectivity indices = 2.8–3.3), CB1H-P7 NPs represent an excellent template material for developing new treatment options against NB.
Collapse
|
13
|
Yang M, Liu S, Zhang C. Antimicrobial peptides with antiviral and anticancer properties and their modification and nanodelivery systems. CURRENT RESEARCH IN BIOTECHNOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2023.100121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
|
14
|
Ren T, Liu J, Liu K, Zhang Z, Ma Z, Dan SF, Lan Z, Lu M, Fang H, Zhang Y, Zhu P, Liao Y. Cloning and expression of two anti-lipopolysaccharide factors in Eriocheir hepuensis under Vibrio alginolyticus-induced stress. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2023; 102:349-357. [PMID: 36317548 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Anti-lipopolysaccharide factors (ALFs) are small basic proteins that exhibit broad-spectrum antiviral properties and antibacterial activity. In this research, we cloned and studied two Eriocheir hepuensis ALFs, EhALF2 and EhALF3. The results showed that the open reading frame lengths of EhALF2 and EhALF3 were 363 and 372 bp, encoding 120 and 123 amino acids, respectively. Their sequences both contained an Lipopolysaccharide-binding (LPS) domain and were highly similarity to other crab ALFs. qRT-PCR showed that EhALF2 and EhALF3 were detected in nine examined tissues and were expressed the highest in the haemocytes. After challenge with Vibrio alginolyticus, in the hepatopancreas, the expression levels of EhALF2 and EhALF3 reached the highest levels at 48 and 3 h, respectively. In the heart, the expression levels of the two genes were highest at 12 h. These results indicate that EhALF2 and EhALF3 could participate in the resistance of E. hepuensis to V. alginolyticus stress within a short time. They have potential applications in the study of environmental stress markers and disease-resistance factors in E. hepuensis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jinxia Liu
- Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China
| | - Ke Liu
- Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China
- School of Marine Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | | | - Zihang Ma
- Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China
| | | | - Zhenyu Lan
- Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China
| | - Min Lu
- Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China
| | - Huaiyi Fang
- Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China
| | - Peng Zhu
- Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China
- School of Marine Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Selvarathinam K, Subramani P, Thekkumalai M, Vilwanathan R, Selvarajan R, Abia ALK. Wnt Signaling Pathway Collapse upon β-Catenin Destruction by a Novel Antimicrobial Peptide SKACP003: Unveiling the Molecular Mechanism and Genetic Activities Using Breast Cancer Cell Lines. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28030930. [PMID: 36770598 PMCID: PMC9920962 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28030930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite progress in breast cancer treatment, the survival rate for patients with metastatic breast cancer remains low due to chemotherapeutic agent resistance and the lack of specificity of the current generation of cancer drugs. Our previous findings indicated that the antimicrobial peptide SKACP003 exhibited anticancer properties, particularly against the MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-453 breast cancer cell lines. However, the mechanism of SKACP003-induced cancer cell death is unknown. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanism by which SKACP003 inhibits the cell cycle, cell proliferation, and angiogenesis in breast cancer cell lines. The results revealed that all the breast cancer cell lines treated at their IC50 values significantly inhibited the replicative phase of the cell cycle. The SKACP003-induced growth inhibition induced apoptosis, as evidenced by a decrease in BCL-2 and an increase in BAX and caspase gene (Cas-3, Cas-8, and Cas-9) expression. Reduced expression of the β-Catenin signaling pathway was associated with the SKACP003-induced apoptosis. SKACP003-treated breast cancer cells showed decreased expression of Wnt/β-Catenin targeting genes such as C-Myc, P68, and COX-2 and significant downregulation of CDK-4 and CDK-6 genes. Furthermore, cytoplasmic β-catenin protein levels in SKACP003-treated cell lines were significantly lower than in control cell lines. The results of the current study suggest that the newly identified antimicrobial peptide SKACP003 has great potential as a candidate for specifically targeting the β-catenin and thus significantly reducing the progression and prognosis of breast cancer cell lines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kanitha Selvarathinam
- Department of Biochemistry, J.J. College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Pudukkottai 622422, Tamilnadu, India
- Correspondence: (K.S.); (A.L.K.A.)
| | - Prabhu Subramani
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 622422, Tamilnadu, India
| | | | - Ravikumar Vilwanathan
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 622422, Tamilnadu, India
| | - Ramganesh Selvarajan
- Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), University of South Africa (UNISA), Florida—Campus, Florida Park, Roodepoort 1709, South Africa
- Laboratory of Extraterrestrial Ocean Systems (LEOS), Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Sanya 572000, China
| | - Akebe Luther King Abia
- Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), University of South Africa (UNISA), Florida—Campus, Florida Park, Roodepoort 1709, South Africa
- Environmental Research Foundation, Westville 3630, South Africa
- Correspondence: (K.S.); (A.L.K.A.)
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Zeng J, Wang J, Wu J, Deng R, Zhang L, Chen Q, Wang J, Jin X, Gui S, Xu Y, Lu X. A novel antimicrobial peptide M1-8 targets the lysosomal pathway to inhibit autolysosome formation and promote apoptosis in liver cancer cells. J Cell Mol Med 2023; 27:340-352. [PMID: 36628597 PMCID: PMC9889723 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.17644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Revised: 11/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Lysosomes, a central regulator of autophagy, play a critical role in tumour growth. Lysosomal protease cathepsin D can initiate apoptosis when released from lysosomes into the cytosol. In this study, we observed that Musca domestica cecropin (Mdc) 1-8 (M1-8), a small anti-tumour peptide derived from Mdc, inhibits hepatoma cell growth by blocking autophagy-lysosome fusion. This effect is likely achieved by targeting lysosomes to activate lysosomal protease D. Additionally, we examined whether lysosomal content and cathepsin D release were involved in M1-8-induced apoptosis. After exposure to M1-8, human hepatoma HepG2 cells rapidly co-localized with lysosomes, disrupted lysosomal integrity, caused leakage of lysosomal protease cathepsin D, caspase activation and mitochondrial membrane potential changes; and promoted cell apoptosis. Interestingly, in M1-8-treated HepG2 cells, autophagic protein content increased and the lysosome-autophagosome fusion was inhibited, suggesting that M1-8 can cause apoptosis through autophagy and lysosomes. This result indicates that a small accumulation of autophagy and autolysosome inhibition in cells can cause cell death. Taken together, these data suggest a novel insight into the regulatory mechanisms of M1-8 in autophagy and lysosomes, which may facilitate the development of M1-8 as a potential cancer therapeutic agent.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiali Zeng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Jian Wang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Jibin Wu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Rui Deng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Lun Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Qingru Chen
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Jie Wang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Xiaobao Jin
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Shuiqing Gui
- Intensive Care Unit, Shenzhen Second People's HospitalThe First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen UniversityShenzhenChina
| | - Yinghua Xu
- Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Health for Research on Quality and Standardization of Biotech ProductsNational Institutes for Food and Drug ControlBeijingChina
| | - Xuemei Lu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Life Science and BiopharmaceuticsGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina,Central Laboratory of Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and PreventionShenzhenChina
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Gao S, Jiang X, Wang L, Jiang S, Luo H, Chen Y, Peng C. The pathogenesis of liver cancer and the therapeutic potential of bioactive substances. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:1029601. [PMID: 36278230 PMCID: PMC9581229 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1029601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the world and has become an urgent problem for global public health. Bioactive substances are widely used for the treatment of liver cancer due to their widespread availability and reduced side effects. This review summarizes the main pathogenic factors involved in the development of liver cancer, including metabolic fatty liver disease, viral infection, and alcoholic cirrhosis, and focuses on the mechanism of action of bioactive components such as polysaccharides, alkaloids, phenols, peptides, and active bacteria/fungi. In addition, we also summarize transformation methods, combined therapy and modification of bioactive substances to improve the treatment efficiency against liver cancer, highlighting new ideas in this field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Song Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China
- School of Public Health, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Xingyue Jiang
- School of Public Health, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Liang Wang
- School of Public Health, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Shanshan Jiang
- School of Public Health, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Hanyuan Luo
- School of Public Health, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Yan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China
- School of Public Health, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- College of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- *Correspondence: Yan Chen, ; Cheng Peng,
| | - Cheng Peng
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China
- College of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- *Correspondence: Yan Chen, ; Cheng Peng,
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Khoshnood S, Fathizadeh H, Neamati F, Negahdari B, Baindara P, Abdullah MA, Haddadi MH. Bacteria-derived chimeric toxins as potential anticancer agents. Front Oncol 2022; 12:953678. [PMID: 36158673 PMCID: PMC9491211 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.953678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer is one of the major causes of death globally, requiring everlasting efforts to develop novel, specific, effective, and safe treatment strategies. Despite advances in recent years, chemotherapy, as the primary treatment for cancer, still faces limitations such as the lack of specificity, drug resistance, and treatment failure. Bacterial toxins have great potential to be used as anticancer agents and can boost the effectiveness of cancer chemotherapeutics. Bacterial toxins exert anticancer effects by affecting the cell cycle and apoptotic pathways and regulating tumorigenesis. Chimeric toxins, which are recombinant derivatives of bacterial toxins, have been developed to address the low specificity of their conventional peers. Through their targeting moieties, chimeric toxins can specifically and effectively detect and kill cancer cells. This review takes a comprehensive look at the anticancer properties of bacteria-derived toxins and discusses their potential applications as therapeutic options for integrative cancer treatment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Saeed Khoshnood
- Clinical Microbiology Research Centre, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
| | - Hadis Fathizadeh
- Student Research Committee, Sirjan School of Medical Sciences, Sirjan, Iran
- Department of Laboratory Sciences, Sirjan School of Medical Sciences, Sirjan, Iran
| | - Foroogh Neamati
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
| | - Babak Negahdari
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Piyush Baindara
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Mohd Azmuddin Abdullah
- Department of Toxicology, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bertam Campus, Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Mohammad Hossein Haddadi
- Clinical Microbiology Research Centre, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
- *Correspondence: Mohammad Hossein Haddadi,
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Juretić D. Designed Multifunctional Peptides for Intracellular Targets. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11091196. [PMID: 36139975 PMCID: PMC9495127 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11091196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Nature’s way for bioactive peptides is to provide them with several related functions and the ability to cooperate in performing their job. Natural cell-penetrating peptides (CPP), such as penetratins, inspired the design of multifunctional constructs with CPP ability. This review focuses on known and novel peptides that can easily reach intracellular targets with little or no toxicity to mammalian cells. All peptide candidates were evaluated and ranked according to the predictions of low toxicity to mammalian cells and broad-spectrum activity. The final set of the 20 best peptide candidates contains the peptides optimized for cell-penetrating, antimicrobial, anticancer, antiviral, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory activity. Their predicted features are intrinsic disorder and the ability to acquire an amphipathic structure upon contact with membranes or nucleic acids. In conclusion, the review argues for exploring wide-spectrum multifunctionality for novel nontoxic hybrids with cell-penetrating peptides.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Davor Juretić
- Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences, 21000 Split, Croatia;
- Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia;
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Abuei H, Pirouzfar M, Mojiri A, Behzad-Behbahani A, Kalantari T, Bemani P, Farhadi A. Maximizing the recovery of the native p28 bacterial peptide with improved activity and maintained solubility and stability in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). METHODS IN MICROBIOLOGY 2022; 200:106560. [PMID: 36031157 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2022.106560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
p28 is a natural bacterial product, which recently has attracted much attention as an efficient cell penetrating peptide (CPP) and a promising anticancer agent. Considering the interesting biological qualities of p28, maximizing its expression appears to be a prominent priority. The optimization of such bioprocesses might be facilitated by utilizing statistical approaches such as Design of Experiment (DoE). In this study, we aimed to maximize the expression of "biologically active" p28 in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) host by harnessing statistical tools and experimental methods. Using Minitab, Plackett-Burman and Box-Behnken Response Surface Methodology (RSM) designs were generated to optimize the conditions for the expression of p28. Each condition was experimentally investigated by assessing the biological activity of the purified p28 in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Seven independent variables were investigated, and three of them including ethanol concentration, OD600 of the culture at the time of induction, and the post-induction temperature were demonstrated to significantly affect the p28 expression in E. coli. The cytotoxicity, penetration efficiency, and total process time were measured as dependent variables. The optimized expression conditions were validated experimentally, and the final products were investigated in terms of expression yield, solubility, and stability in vitro. Following the optimization, an 8-fold increase of the concentration of p28 expression was observed. In this study, we suggest an optimized combination of effective factors to produce soluble p28 in the E. coli host, a protocol that results in the production of a significantly high amount of the biologically active peptide with retained solubility and stability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Haniyeh Abuei
- Division of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Mohammad Pirouzfar
- Human and Animal Cell Bank, Iranian Biological Resource Center (IBRC), ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - Anahita Mojiri
- Center for Cardiovascular Regeneration, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston 77030, TX, USA
| | - Abbas Behzad-Behbahani
- Diagnostic Laboratory Sciences and Technology Research Center, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Tahereh Kalantari
- Division of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Diagnostic Laboratory Sciences and Technology Research Center, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Peyman Bemani
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Ali Farhadi
- Division of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Diagnostic Laboratory Sciences and Technology Research Center, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Zhang CY, Liu S, Yang M. Regulatory T cells and their associated factors in hepatocellular carcinoma development and therapy. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28:3346-3358. [PMID: 36158267 PMCID: PMC9346458 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i27.3346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide with primary type hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Factors, including carcinogens, infection of hepatitis viruses, alcohol abuse, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), can induce HCC initiation and promote HCC progression. The prevalence of NAFLD accompanying the increased incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes becomes the most increasing factor causing HCC worldwide. However, the benefit of current therapeutic options is still limited. Intrahepatic immunity plays critically important roles in HCC initiation, development, and progression. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and their associated factors such as metabolites and secreting cytokines mediate the immune tolerance of the tumor microenvironment in HCC. Therefore, targeting Tregs and blocking their mediated factors may prevent HCC progression. This review summarizes the functions of Tregs in HCC-inducing factors including alcoholic and NAFLD, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and viral infections. Overall, a better understanding of the role of Tregs in the development and progression of HCC provides treatment strategies for liver cancer treatment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Ye Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, United States
| | - Shuai Liu
- The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China
| | - Ming Yang
- Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, United States
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Bellotti D, Remelli M. Lights and Shadows on the Therapeutic Use of Antimicrobial Peptides. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27144584. [PMID: 35889455 PMCID: PMC9317528 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27144584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant infections is still a major concern for public health worldwide. The number of pathogenic microorganisms capable of resisting common therapeutic treatments are constantly increasing, highlighting the need of innovative and more effective drugs. This phenomenon is strictly connected to the rapid metabolism of microorganisms: due to the huge number of mutations that can occur in a relatively short time, a colony can “adapt” to the pharmacological treatment with the evolution of new resistant species. However, the shortage of available antimicrobial drugs in clinical use is also caused by the high costs involved in developing and marketing new drugs without an adequate guarantee of an economic return; therefore, the pharmaceutical companies have reduced their investments in this area. The use of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represents a promising strategy for the design of new therapeutic agents. AMPs act as immune defense mediators of the host organism and show a poor ability to induce antimicrobial resistance, coupled with other advantages such as a broad spectrum of activity, not excessive synthetic costs and low toxicity of both the peptide itself and its own metabolites. It is also important to underline that many antimicrobial peptides, due to their inclination to attack cell membranes, have additional biological activities, such as, for example, as anti-cancer drugs. Unfortunately, they usually undergo rapid degradation by proteolytic enzymes and are characterized by poor bioavailability, preventing their extensive clinical use and landing on the pharmaceutical market. This review is focused on the strength and weak points of antimicrobial peptides as therapeutic agents. We give an overview on the AMPs already employed in clinical practice, which are examples of successful strategies aimed at overcoming the main drawbacks of peptide-based drugs. The review deepens the most promising strategies to design modified antimicrobial peptides with higher proteolytic stability with the purpose of giving a comprehensive summary of the commonly employed approaches to evaluate and optimize the peptide potentialities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Denise Bellotti
- Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy;
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wrocław, 50-383 Wrocław, Poland
| | - Maurizio Remelli
- Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Anticancer therapeutic potential of 5-fluorouracil and nisin co-loaded chitosan coated silver nanoparticles against murine skin cancer. Int J Pharm 2022; 620:121744. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2022.121744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2021] [Revised: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
|
24
|
Kang Y, Cai Y, Yang Y. The Gut Microbiome and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Implications for Early Diagnostic Biomarkers and Novel Therapies. Liver Cancer 2022; 11:113-125. [PMID: 35634424 PMCID: PMC9109080 DOI: 10.1159/000521358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks the third place among all causes inducing cancer-associated mortality, worldwide. HCC nearly exclusively occurs in cases suffering from chronic liver disease (CLD), which results from the vicious cycle of liver damage, inflammation, and regeneration possibly lasting for dozens of years. Recently, more and more investigation on microbiome-gut-liver axis enhances our understanding toward how gut microbiota promotes liver disease and even HCC development. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms underlying the effect of gut microbiota on promoting HCC occurrence, with the focus on key pathways such as bacterial dysbiosis, leaky gut, bacterial metabolites, and microorganism-related molecular patterns, which promote liver inflammation, genotoxicity, and fibrosis that finally lead to cancer occurrence. Furthermore, we discuss gut microbiota's important potential to be the early diagnostic biomarker for HCC. Gut microbiota may be the candidate targets to simultaneously prevent CLD and HCC occurrence among advanced liver disease cases. We outlook the gut microbiota-targeting treatments in detail to prevent CLD and HCC progression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yongbo Kang
- Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China
- *Yongbo Kang,
| | - Yue Cai
- Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Ying Yang
- Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- *Yongbo Kang,
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Jafari A, Babajani A, Sarrami Forooshani R, Yazdani M, Rezaei-Tavirani M. Clinical Applications and Anticancer Effects of Antimicrobial Peptides: From Bench to Bedside. Front Oncol 2022; 12:819563. [PMID: 35280755 PMCID: PMC8904739 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.819563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer is a multifaceted global health issue and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In recent years, medical science has achieved great advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Despite the numerous advantages of conventional cancer therapies, there are major drawbacks including severe side effects, toxicities, and drug resistance. Therefore, the urgency of developing new drugs with low cytotoxicity and treatment resistance is increasing. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have attracted attention as a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of various cancers, targeting tumor cells with less toxicity to normal tissues. In this review, we present the structure, biological function, and underlying mechanisms of AMPs. The recent experimental studies and clinical trials on anticancer peptides in different cancer types as well as the challenges of their clinical application have also been discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ameneh Jafari
- Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.,Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Tehran, Iran
| | - Amirhesam Babajani
- School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ramin Sarrami Forooshani
- Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohsen Yazdani
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Drug Design, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mostafa Rezaei-Tavirani
- Proteomics Research Center, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Zhang C, Yang M. Antimicrobial Peptides: From Design to Clinical Application. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11030349. [PMID: 35326812 PMCID: PMC8944448 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11030349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Infection of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli, brings public health issues and causes economic burden. Pathogenic bacteria develop several methods to resist antibiotic killing or inhibition, such as mutation of antibiotic function sites, activation of drug efflux pumps, and enzyme-mediated drug degradation. Antibiotic resistance components can be transferred between bacteria by mobile genetic elements including plasmids, transposons, and integrons, as well as bacteriophages. The development of antibiotic resistance limits the treatment options for bacterial infection, especially for MDR bacteria. Therefore, novel or alternative antibacterial agents are urgently needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) display multiple killing mechanisms against bacterial infections, including directly bactericidal activity and immunomodulatory function, as potential alternatives to antibiotics. In this review, the development of antibiotic resistance, the killing mechanisms of AMPs, and especially, the design, optimization, and delivery of AMPs are reviewed. Strategies such as structural change, amino acid substitution, conjugation with cell-penetration peptide, terminal acetylation and amidation, and encapsulation with nanoparticles will improve the antimicrobial efficacy, reduce toxicity, and accomplish local delivery of AMPs. In addition, clinical trials in AMP studies or applications of AMPs within the last five years were summarized. Overall, AMPs display diverse mechanisms of action against infection of pathogenic bacteria, and future research studies and clinical investigations will accelerate AMP application.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chunye Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA;
| | - Ming Yang
- Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Gianvito PD, Englezos V, Rantsiou K, Cocolin L. Bioprotection strategies in winemaking. Int J Food Microbiol 2022; 364:109532. [PMID: 35033974 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2022.109532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2021] [Revised: 12/31/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Worldwide the interest for biological control of food spoilage microorganisms has significantly increased over the last decade. Wine makes no exception to this trend, as consumer demands for wines free of preservatives that are considered negative for human health, increase. Biological control during wine fermentation aims at producing high quality wines, while minimizing, or even eliminating, the use of chemical additives. Its success lies in the inoculation of microorganisms to prevent, inhibit or kill undesired microbes, therefore maintaining wine spoilage at the lowest level. The food industry already makes use of this practice, with dedicated commercial microbes already on the market. In winemaking, there are commercial microbes currently under investigation, particularly with the aim to reduce or replace the use of sulphur dioxide. In this review, the potential of wine yeasts and lactic acid bacteria as bioprotection agents and their mechanisms of action during wine fermentation are presented.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paola Di Gianvito
- Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Largo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
| | - Vasileios Englezos
- Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Largo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
| | - Kalliopi Rantsiou
- Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Largo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
| | - Luca Cocolin
- Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Largo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Kamilova AT, Azizova GK, Umarnazarova ZE, Abdullaeva DA, Geller SI. The Activity of Antimicrobial Peptides in Pediatric Celiac Disease. Front Pediatr 2022; 10:873793. [PMID: 35733815 PMCID: PMC9208658 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2022.873793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated disorder of the gut in which innate and adaptive responses are involved. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) constitute an arsenal of innate immunity regulators of paramount importance in the gut. However, the role of AMPs in CD is unclear. AIMS To evaluate the levels of fecal β-defensin-2, fecal calprotectin (FC), and antibodies against bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) in the serum of children with active CD and to compare them with those of healthy controls (HCs). METHODS We examined 76 children with recently diagnosed CD between the age of 2-10 years (average age: 6.1 ± 1.2 years) and 32 HC (average age: 6.2 ± 3.8 years) in this study. We evaluated the level of fecal β-defensin-2 and FC levels in coprofiltrates, and the level of anti-BPI antibodies in blood serum. Correlation relationships between the parameters were assessed according to Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS Fecal β-defensin-2 concentration was greater in the CD group than in HC group, amounting to 99.6 ± 15.5 ng/mL and 64.0 ± 2.4 ng/mL, respectively (p < 0.02). The level of FC in the CD children was 35.4 ± 8.1 μg/g, while that in the control group was 19.1 ± 1.1 μg/g, (p < 0.05), representing a slightly increase. The concentration of anti-BPI antibodies in the CD and HC groups was 35.9 ± 10.1 U/mL and 5.2 ± 3.2 U/mL, respectively (p < 0.002). There was a strong and direct correlation between fecal β-defensin-2 and FC (r = 0.69), as well as a direct but weak relationship between fecal β-defensin-2 and anti-BPI antibodies (r = 0.35). CONCLUSIONS Our data reinforce that fecal β-defensin-2 and anti-BPI antibodies are greatly increased in patients with active CD. These biomarkers may be components of epithelial innate immunity in the intestine, with each having a distinct functional role in intestinal6 mucosal defense.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Altinoy T Kamilova
- Gastroenterology Department of Republican Specialized Scientific-Practical Medical Center of Pediatrics Ministry of Health of Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| | - Gulnoza K Azizova
- Gastroenterology Department of Republican Specialized Scientific-Practical Medical Center of Pediatrics Ministry of Health of Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| | - Zulkhumar E Umarnazarova
- Gastroenterology Department of Republican Specialized Scientific-Practical Medical Center of Pediatrics Ministry of Health of Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| | - Dilrabo A Abdullaeva
- Gastroenterology Department of Republican Specialized Scientific-Practical Medical Center of Pediatrics Ministry of Health of Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| | - Svetlana I Geller
- Gastroenterology Department of Republican Specialized Scientific-Practical Medical Center of Pediatrics Ministry of Health of Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Tian T, Xie W, Liu L, Fan S, Zhang H, Qin Z, Yang C. Industrial application of antimicrobial peptides based on their biological activity and structure-activity relationship. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2021:1-16. [PMID: 34955061 DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2021.2019673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Last several years, a rapid increase in drug resistance to traditional antibiotics has driven the emergence and development of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs have also gained considerable attention from scientists due to their high potency in combatting infectious pathogens. A subset of analogues and their derivatives with specific targets have been successfully designed based on natural peptide patterns. In this review, scientific knowledge on the mechanisms of action related to biological activity and structure-activity relationship (SAR) of AMPs are summarized, and the biological applications in several important fields are critically discussed. SAR shows that the positive charge, secondary structure, special amino acid residues, hydrophobicity, and helicity of AMPs are closely related to their biological activities. The combination of nanotechnology, bioinformatics, and genetic engineering can accelerate to achieve the application of AMPs as effective, safe, economical, and nonresistant antimicrobial agents in medicine, the food and feed industries, and agriculture in coming years. Given the intense interest in AMPs, further investigations are needed in the future to evaluate the specific structure and function that make their use favorable in several industries. This review may provide a comprehensive reference for future studies on chemical modifications, mechanistic exploration, and applications of AMPs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tiantian Tian
- Center for Biological Science and Technology, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, Guangdong 519087, China
| | - Wansheng Xie
- Hainan Center for Drug and Medical Device Evaluation and Service, Hainan Provincial Drug Administration, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Luxuan Liu
- Center for Biological Science and Technology, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, Guangdong 519087, China
| | - Siting Fan
- Center for Biological Science and Technology, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, Guangdong 519087, China
| | - Heqian Zhang
- Center for Biological Science and Technology, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, Guangdong 519087, China
| | - Zhiwei Qin
- Center for Biological Science and Technology, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, Guangdong 519087, China
| | - Chao Yang
- Center for Biological Science and Technology, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, Guangdong 519087, China.,State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine/Macau Institute for Applied research in Medicine and Health, University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macao, China
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Jastrząb R, Graczyk D, Siedlecki P. Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Influenced by Postbiotics. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms222413475. [PMID: 34948270 PMCID: PMC8707144 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222413475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, commensal bacteria colonizing the human body have been recognized as important determinants of health and multiple pathologic conditions. Among the most extensively studied commensal bacteria are the gut microbiota, which perform a plethora of functions, including the synthesis of bioactive products, metabolism of dietary compounds, and immunomodulation, both through attenuation and immunostimulation. An imbalance in the microbiota population, i.e., dysbiosis, has been linked to many human pathologies, including various cancer types and neurodegenerative diseases. Targeting gut microbiota and microbiome-host interactions resulting from probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics is a growing opportunity for the effective treatment of various diseases. As more research is being conducted, the microbiome field is shifting from simple descriptive analysis of commensal compositions to more molecular, cellular, and functional studies. Insight into these mechanisms is of paramount importance for understanding and modulating the effects that microbiota, probiotics, and their derivatives exert on host health.
Collapse
|
31
|
Li F, Wu S, Chen N, Zhu J, Zhao X, Zhang P, Zeng Y, Liu Z. Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma Cells. Toxins (Basel) 2021; 13:toxins13120867. [PMID: 34941705 PMCID: PMC8708390 DOI: 10.3390/toxins13120867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Revised: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Spider venom is a valuable resource for the development of novel anticancer drugs. In this study, we focused on novel linear amphipathic α-helical anticancer peptide LVTX-9, which was derived from the cDNA library of the venom gland of the spider Lycosa vittata. The cytotoxicity of LVTX-9 against murine melanoma cells in the range of 1.56-200 μM was tested and found to be significantly lower than those of most anticancer peptides reported. Its IC50 was determined to be 59.2 ± 19.8 μM in a serum or 76.3 ± 12.7 μM in serum-free medium. Fatty acid modification is a promising strategy for improving peptide performance. Therefore, to enhance the cytotoxic activity of LVTX-9, fatty acid modification of this peptide was performed, and five different carbon chain length lipopeptides named LVTX-9-C12-C20 were produced. Among them, the lipopeptide LVTX-9-C18 showed the highest cytotoxic activity in relation to B16-F10 cells, whether in a serum or serum-free medium. Most importantly, the cytotoxic activity of LVTX-9-C18 was improved by about 12.9 times in a serum medium or 19.3 times in a serum-free medium compared to that of LVTX-9. Subsequently, assays including scanning electron microscopy, trypan blue staining, lactate dehydrogenase leakage assay, and hemolytic activity could indicate that the potential direct cell membrane disruption is the main mechanism of LVTX-9-C18 to induce cancer cell death. Furthermore, the LVTX-9-C18 also showed strong cytotoxicity in relation to 3D B16-F10 spheroids, which indicates it might be a promising lead for developing anticancer drugs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fengjiao Li
- The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China; (F.L.); (S.W.); (N.C.); (J.Z.); (X.Z.)
| | - Saizhi Wu
- The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China; (F.L.); (S.W.); (N.C.); (J.Z.); (X.Z.)
| | - Ninglin Chen
- The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China; (F.L.); (S.W.); (N.C.); (J.Z.); (X.Z.)
| | - Jingyu Zhu
- The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China; (F.L.); (S.W.); (N.C.); (J.Z.); (X.Z.)
| | - Xinxin Zhao
- The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China; (F.L.); (S.W.); (N.C.); (J.Z.); (X.Z.)
| | - Peng Zhang
- The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China; (F.L.); (S.W.); (N.C.); (J.Z.); (X.Z.)
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Hunan Normal University), Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Changsha 410081, China
- Correspondence: (P.Z.); (Y.Z.); (Z.L.)
| | - Youlin Zeng
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Hunan Normal University), Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Changsha 410081, China
- Correspondence: (P.Z.); (Y.Z.); (Z.L.)
| | - Zhonghua Liu
- The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China; (F.L.); (S.W.); (N.C.); (J.Z.); (X.Z.)
- Correspondence: (P.Z.); (Y.Z.); (Z.L.)
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Zhang QY, Yan ZB, Meng YM, Hong XY, Shao G, Ma JJ, Cheng XR, Liu J, Kang J, Fu CY. Antimicrobial peptides: mechanism of action, activity and clinical potential. Mil Med Res 2021; 8:48. [PMID: 34496967 PMCID: PMC8425997 DOI: 10.1186/s40779-021-00343-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 203] [Impact Index Per Article: 67.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The management of bacterial infections is becoming a major clinical challenge due to the rapid evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria. As an excellent candidate to overcome antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that are produced from the synthetic and natural sources demonstrate a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity with the high specificity and low toxicity. These peptides possess distinctive structures and functions by employing sophisticated mechanisms of action. This comprehensive review provides a broad overview of AMPs from the origin, structural characteristics, mechanisms of action, biological activities to clinical applications. We finally discuss the strategies to optimize and develop AMP-based treatment as the potential antimicrobial and anticancer therapeutics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qi-Yu Zhang
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Silkworm Bioreactor and Biomedicine, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, No. 928, Street 2, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhi-Bin Yan
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Silkworm Bioreactor and Biomedicine, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, No. 928, Street 2, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yue-Ming Meng
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Silkworm Bioreactor and Biomedicine, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, No. 928, Street 2, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xiang-Yu Hong
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Silkworm Bioreactor and Biomedicine, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, No. 928, Street 2, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China
| | - Gang Shao
- Department of Oncology, The 903rd Hospital of PLA, Hangzhou, 310013, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jun-Jie Ma
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Silkworm Bioreactor and Biomedicine, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, No. 928, Street 2, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xu-Rui Cheng
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Silkworm Bioreactor and Biomedicine, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, No. 928, Street 2, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jun Liu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California San Francisco, 555 Mission Bay Blvd. South, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Jian Kang
- Oncogenic Signaling and Growth Control Program, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia.,Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Cai-Yun Fu
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Silkworm Bioreactor and Biomedicine, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, No. 928, Street 2, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China.
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Zhang C, Yang M. The Emerging Factors and Treatment Options for NAFLD-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13153740. [PMID: 34359642 PMCID: PMC8345138 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13153740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/24/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease, and it is an increasing factor in the cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The incidence of NAFLD has increased in recent decades, accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of other metabolic diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, current treatment options are limited. Both genetic factors and non-genetic factors impact the initiation and progression of NAFLD-related HCC. The early diagnosis of liver cancer predicts curative treatment and longer survival. Some key molecules play pivotal roles in the initiation and progression of NAFLD-related HCC, which can be targeted to impede HCC development. In this review, we summarize some key factors and important molecules in NAFLD-related HCC development, the latest progress in HCC diagnosis and treatment options, and some current clinical trials for NAFLD treatment. Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer, followed by cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). HCC is the third most common cause of cancer death worldwide, and its incidence is rising, associated with an increased prevalence of obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, current treatment options are limited. Genetic factors and epigenetic factors, influenced by age and environment, significantly impact the initiation and progression of NAFLD-related HCC. In addition, both transcriptional factors and post-transcriptional modification are critically important for the development of HCC in the fatty liver under inflammatory and fibrotic conditions. The early diagnosis of liver cancer predicts curative treatment and longer survival. However, clinical HCC cases are commonly found in a very late stage due to the asymptomatic nature of the early stage of NAFLD-related HCC. The development of diagnostic methods and novel biomarkers, as well as the combined evaluation algorithm and artificial intelligence, support the early and precise diagnosis of NAFLD-related HCC, and timely monitoring during its progression. Treatment options for HCC and NAFLD-related HCC include immunotherapy, CAR T cell therapy, peptide treatment, bariatric surgery, anti-fibrotic treatment, and so on. Overall, the incidence of NAFLD-related HCC is increasing, and a better understanding of the underlying mechanism implicated in the progression of NAFLD-related HCC is essential for improving treatment and prognosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chunye Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA;
| | - Ming Yang
- Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Hayashida PY, da Silva Junior PI. Insights into Antimicrobial Peptides from Limacus flavus Mucus. Curr Microbiol 2021; 78:2970-2979. [PMID: 34086076 DOI: 10.1007/s00284-021-02552-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides have been a major research subject since the rise of antimicrobial resistance as a major public health problem. These molecules are considered a potential therapeutic source of antibiotics with broad-spectrum activity against microorganisms. Two antimicrobial peptides were isolated from the mucus of the Limacus flavus slug. The mucus was obtained by thermal shock, lyophilized and extracted with acetic acid. The supernatant was prefractionated in Sep-Pak and shortly thereafter fractionated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The manually obtained fractions were used in antimicrobial and cytotoxic assays and finally subjected to mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Characterization was performed by bioinformatics analysis with the tool Peaks®X + and by comparison with the NCBI and UniProt-SwissProt databases. Additionally, the physicochemical parameters of the samples were evaluated with online programs. Two fractions comtained antimicrobial peptides with the ability to inhibit Micrococcus luteus A270; both samples, LFMP-001 and LFMP-002, were hydrophilic molecules consisting of fewer than 20 residues. Comparison of the SDS-PAGE and Peaks®X + data showed that both had Mw < 3 kDa. In summary, this study presents data on the isolation and characterization of antimicrobial peptides from a slug and shows their potential against gram-positive bacteria.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Yumi Hayashida
- Laboratory for Applied Toxinology (LETA) - Center of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling - CeTICS/CEPID, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil
- Interunit Postgraduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pedro Ismael da Silva Junior
- Laboratory for Applied Toxinology (LETA) - Center of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling - CeTICS/CEPID, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil.
- Interunit Postgraduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Yang M, Zhang CY. G protein-coupled receptors as potential targets for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease treatment. World J Gastroenterol 2021; 27:677-691. [PMID: 33716447 PMCID: PMC7934005 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i8.677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a broad-spectrum disease, ranging from simple hepatic steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, which can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Abnormal hepatic lipid accumulation is the major manifestation of this disease, and lipotoxicity promotes NAFLD progression. In addition, intermediate metabolites such as succinate can stimulate the activation of hepatic stellate cells to produce extracellular matrix proteins, resulting in progression of NAFLD to fibrosis and even cirrhosis. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been shown to play essential roles in metabolic disorders, such as NAFLD and obesity, through their function as receptors for bile acids and free fatty acids. In addition, GPCRs link gut microbiota-mediated connections in a variety of diseases, such as intestinal diseases, hepatic steatosis, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. The latest findings show that gut microbiota-derived acetate contributes to liver lipogenesis by converting dietary fructose into hepatic acetyl-CoA and fatty acids. GPCR agonists, including peptides and natural products like docosahexaenoic acid, have been applied to investigate their role in liver diseases. Therapies such as probiotics and GPCR agonists may be applied to modulate GPCR function to ameliorate liver metabolism syndrome. This review summarizes the current findings regarding the role of GPCRs in the development and progression of NAFLD and describes some preclinical and clinical studies of GPCR-mediated treatment. Overall, understanding GPCR-mediated signaling in liver disease may provide new therapeutic options for NAFLD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ming Yang
- Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, United States
| | - Chun-Ye Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, United States
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
de Oliveira Costa B, Franco OL. Cryptic Host Defense Peptides: Multifaceted Activity and Prospects for Medicinal Chemistry. Curr Top Med Chem 2021; 20:1274-1290. [PMID: 32209042 DOI: 10.2174/1568026620666200325112425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2019] [Revised: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Host defense peptides (HDPs) comprise a heterogeneous group of evolutionarily conserved and biologically active small molecules that are produced by different organisms. HDPs are widely researched because they often have multiple biological activities, for example antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and anticancer activity. In this context, in this review we focus on cryptic HDPs, molecules derived specifically from proteolytic processing of endogenous precursor proteins. Here, we explore the biological activity of such molecules and we further discuss the development of optimized sequences based on these natural cryptic HDPs. In addition, we present clinical-phase studies of cryptic HDPs (natural or optimized), and point out the possible applicability of these molecules in medicinal chemistry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bruna de Oliveira Costa
- S-inova Biotech, Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Universidade Catolica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
| | - Octávio Luiz Franco
- S-inova Biotech, Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Universidade Catolica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.,Department of Genomic Sciences and Biotechnology, Center for Analysis of Proteomics and Biochemistry, Catholic University of Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil.,Department of Molecular Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Brasília, Brasília-DF, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Casciaro B, Cappiello F, Verrusio W, Cacciafesta M, Mangoni ML. Antimicrobial Peptides and their Multiple Effects at Sub-Inhibitory Concentrations. Curr Top Med Chem 2021; 20:1264-1273. [PMID: 32338221 DOI: 10.2174/1568026620666200427090912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2019] [Revised: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The frequent occurrence of multidrug-resistant strains to conventional antimicrobials has led to a clear decline in antibiotic therapies. Therefore, new molecules with different mechanisms of action are extremely necessary. Due to their unique properties, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a valid alternative to conventional antibiotics and many of them have been characterized for their activity and cytotoxicity. However, the effects that these peptides cause at concentrations below the minimum growth inhibitory concentration (MIC) have yet to be fully analyzed along with the underlying molecular mechanism. In this mini-review, the ability of AMPs to synergize with different antibiotic classes or different natural compounds is examined. Furthermore, data on microbial resistance induction are reported to highlight the importance of antibiotic resistance in the fight against infections. Finally, the effects that sub-MIC levels of AMPs can have on the bacterial pathogenicity are summarized while showing how signaling pathways can be valid therapeutic targets for the treatment of infectious diseases. All these aspects support the high potential of AMPs as lead compounds for the development of new drugs with antibacterial and immunomodulatory activities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Casciaro
- Center For Life Nano Science @ Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Floriana Cappiello
- Laboratory affiliated to Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro 5, Rome 00185, Italy
| | - Walter Verrusio
- Department of Clinical Internal, Anesthesiological and Cardiovascular Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00185, Italy
| | - Mauro Cacciafesta
- Department of Clinical Internal, Anesthesiological and Cardiovascular Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00185, Italy
| | - Maria Luisa Mangoni
- Laboratory affiliated to Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro 5, Rome 00185, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Zhong C, Zhang L, Yu L, Huang J, Huang S, Yao Y. A Review for Antimicrobial Peptides with Anticancer Properties: Re-purposing of Potential Anticancer Agents. BIO INTEGRATION 2021. [DOI: 10.15212/bioi-2020-0013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract In recent years, various research on cancer treatment has achieved significant progress. However, some of these treatments remain disputable because of the emergence and development of drug resistance, and the toxic side effects that were brought about by the lack
of selectivity displayed by the treatments. Hence, there is considerable interest in a new class of anticancer molecules that is currently still under investigation termed the cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs are a group of pervasive components of the innate immunity which can
be found throughout all classes of life. The small innate peptides cover a broad spectrum of antibacterial activities due to their electrostatic interactions with the negatively charged bacterial membrane. Compared with normal cells, cancer cells have increased proportions of negatively charged
molecules, including phosphatidylserine, glycoproteins, and glycolipids, on the outer plasma membrane. This provides an opportunity for exploiting the interaction between AMPs and negatively charged cell membranes in developing unconventional anticancer strategies. Some AMPs may also be categorized
into a group of potential anticancer agents called cationic anticancer peptides (ACPs) due to their relative selectivity in cell membrane penetration and lysis, which is similar to their interaction with bacterial membranes. Several examples of ACPs that are used in tumor therapy for their
ability in penetrating or lysing tumor cell membrane will be reviewed in this paper, along with a discussion on the recent advances and challenges in the application of ACPs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cuiyu Zhong
- Breast Tumor Center, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Lei Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Lin Yu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Jiandong Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Songyin Huang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Yandan Yao
- Breast Tumor Center, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Zhang C, Yang M, Ericsson AC. The Potential Gut Microbiota-Mediated Treatment Options for Liver Cancer. Front Oncol 2020; 10:524205. [PMID: 33163393 PMCID: PMC7591398 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.524205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Primary liver cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Surgical and non-surgical treatments are optional for liver cancer therapy based on the cancer stage. Accumulating studies show that the gut–liver axis influences the progression of liver diseases, including liver inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and cancer. However, the role of gut microbiota and their derived components and metabolites in liver cancer remains to be further clarified. In this review, we discuss the roles of gut microbiota and specific bacterial species in HCC and the strategies to modulate gut microbiota to improve antitumor therapy. Given the limitation of current treatments, gut microbiota-mediated therapy is a potential option for HCC treatment, including fiber diet and vegetable diet, antimicrobials, probiotics, and pharmaceutical inhibitors. Also, gut microbiota can be used as a marker for early diagnosis of HCC. HCC occurs dependent on various environmental and genetic factors, including diet and sex. Furthermore, gut microbiota impacts the immunotherapy of HCC treatment. Therefore, a better understanding of the role of the gut–liver axis in liver cancer is critically important to improve therapeutic efficacy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chunye Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Ming Yang
- Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Aaron C Ericsson
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States.,University of Missouri Metagenomics Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Wu F, Xue H, Li X, Diao W, Jiang B, Wang W, Yu W, Bai J, Wang Y, Lian B, Feng W, Sun T, Qu M, Zhao C, Wang Y, Wu J, Gao Z. Enhanced targeted delivery of adenine to hepatocellular carcinoma using glycyrrhetinic acid-functionalized nanoparticles in vivo and in vitro. Biomed Pharmacother 2020; 131:110682. [PMID: 32947204 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 08/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common malignancy in China and globally, is primarily treated through surgical resection and liver transplantation, with chemotherapy as a significant synergistic option. Adenine (Ade), a nucleobase, exhibits antitumor effects by blocking human hepatic carcinoma cells in S phase and inhibiting tumor cell proliferation. However, its use is limited owing to its low solubility, poor targeting ability, and nephrotoxicity. Therefore, liver-targeting drug delivery systems have attracted considerable attention for the treatment of HCC. In this study, we explored the liver-targeting efficacy and antitumor effect of adenine-loaded glycyrrhetinic acid-modified hyaluronic acid (Ade/GA-HA) nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo. The GA-HA nanoparticles possessed obvious targeting specificity toward liver cancer cells, which was mainly achieved by the specific binding of the GA ligand to the GA receptor that was highly expressed on the liver cell membrane. In vitro and in vivo results showed that Ade/GA-HA nanoparticles could inhibit liver cancer cell proliferation and migration, promote apoptosis, and significantly inhibit the growth of tumor tissues. Altogether, this study is the first to successfully demonstrate that the targeting activity and antitumor effect of Ade against HCC are enhanced by using GA-HA nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fei Wu
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Hantao Xue
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Xiaocheng Li
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Wenbin Diao
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Bin Jiang
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Weiyu Wang
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Wenjing Yu
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Jingkun Bai
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Yi Wang
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Bo Lian
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Weiguo Feng
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Tongyi Sun
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Meihua Qu
- Translational Medical Center, Weifang Second People's Hospital, Weifang Respiratory Disease Hospital, Weifang 261041, China
| | - Chunling Zhao
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
| | - Yubing Wang
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China.
| | - Jingliang Wu
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China.
| | - Zhiqin Gao
- School of Bioscience and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China.
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Liu YX, Li ZF, Lv YJ, Dong B, Fan ZC. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii-expressed multimer of Bacteriocin LS2 potently inhibits the growth of bacteria. Process Biochem 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.procbio.2020.05.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
|
42
|
Câmara GA, Nishiyama-Jr MY, Kitano ES, Oliveira UC, da Silva PI, Junqueira-de-Azevedo IL, Tashima AK. A Multiomics Approach Unravels New Toxins With Possible In Silico Antimicrobial, Antiviral, and Antitumoral Activities in the Venom of Acanthoscurria rondoniae. Front Pharmacol 2020; 11:1075. [PMID: 32774304 PMCID: PMC7388414 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2020.01075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The Araneae order is considered one of the most successful groups among venomous animals in the world. An important factor for this success is the production of venoms, a refined biological fluid rich in proteins, short peptides and cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs). These toxins may present pharmacologically relevant biological actions, as antimicrobial, antiviral and anticancer activities, for instance. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in the exploration of venom toxins for therapeutic reasons, such as drug development. However, the process of peptide sequencing and mainly the evaluation of potential biological activities of these peptides are laborious, considering the low yield of venom extraction and the high variability of toxins present in spider venoms. Here we show a robust methodology for identification, sequencing, and initial screening of potential bioactive peptides found in the venom of Acanthoscurria rondoniae. This methodology consists in a multiomics approach involving proteomics, peptidomics and transcriptomics analyses allied to in silico predictions of antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anticancer activities. Through the application of this strategy, a total of 92,889 venom gland transcripts were assembled and 84 novel toxins were identified at the protein level, including seven short peptides and 10 fully sequenced CRPs (belonging to seven toxin families). In silico analysis suggests that seven CRPs families may have potential antimicrobial or antiviral activities, while two CRPs and four short peptides are potentially anticancer. Taken together, our results demonstrate an effective multiomics strategy for the discovery of new toxins and in silico screening of potential bioactivities. This strategy may be useful in toxin discovery, as well as in the screening of possible activities for the vast diversity of molecules produced by venomous animals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme A Câmara
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Milton Y Nishiyama-Jr
- Laboratório Especial de Toxinologia Aplicada, Center of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Eduardo S Kitano
- Laboratory of Immunology, Heart Institute (InCor), Faculty of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ursula C Oliveira
- Laboratório Especial de Toxinologia Aplicada, Center of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pedro I da Silva
- Laboratório Especial de Toxinologia Aplicada, Center of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Inácio L Junqueira-de-Azevedo
- Laboratório Especial de Toxinologia Aplicada, Center of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Alexandre K Tashima
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Laboratório Especial de Toxinologia Aplicada, Center of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Tornesello AL, Borrelli A, Buonaguro L, Buonaguro FM, Tornesello ML. Antimicrobial Peptides as Anticancer Agents: Functional Properties and Biological Activities. Molecules 2020; 25:E2850. [PMID: 32575664 PMCID: PMC7356147 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25122850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 200] [Impact Index Per Article: 50.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), or host defense peptides, are small cationic or amphipathic molecules produced by prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms that play a key role in the innate immune defense against viruses, bacteria and fungi. AMPs have either antimicrobial or anticancer activities. Indeed, cationic AMPs are able to disrupt microbial cell membranes by interacting with negatively charged phospholipids. Moreover, several peptides are capable to trigger cytotoxicity of human cancer cells by binding to negatively charged phosphatidylserine moieties which are selectively exposed on the outer surface of cancer cell plasma membranes. In addition, some AMPs, such as LTX-315, have shown to induce release of tumor antigens and potent damage associated molecular patterns by causing alterations in the intracellular organelles of cancer cells. Given the recognized medical need of novel anticancer drugs, AMPs could represent a potential source of effective therapeutic agents, either alone or in combination with other small molecules, in oncology. In this review we summarize and describe the properties and the mode of action of AMPs as well as the strategies to increase their selectivity toward specific cancer cells.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Lucia Tornesello
- Molecular Biology and Viral Oncology Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS “Fondazione G. Pascale”, 80131 Napoli, Italy; (F.M.B.); (M.L.T.)
| | - Antonella Borrelli
- Innovative Immunological Models, Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS “Fondazione G. Pascale”, 80131 Napoli, Italy;
| | - Luigi Buonaguro
- Innovative Immunological Models, Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS “Fondazione G. Pascale”, 80131 Napoli, Italy;
| | - Franco Maria Buonaguro
- Molecular Biology and Viral Oncology Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS “Fondazione G. Pascale”, 80131 Napoli, Italy; (F.M.B.); (M.L.T.)
| | - Maria Lina Tornesello
- Molecular Biology and Viral Oncology Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS “Fondazione G. Pascale”, 80131 Napoli, Italy; (F.M.B.); (M.L.T.)
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
An Anti-Cancer Peptide LVTX-8 Inhibits the Proliferation and Migration of Lung Tumor Cells by Regulating Causal Genes' Expression in p53-Related Pathways. Toxins (Basel) 2020; 12:toxins12060367. [PMID: 32498425 PMCID: PMC7354478 DOI: 10.3390/toxins12060367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Spider venom has been found to show its anticancer activity in a variety of human malignancies, including lung cancer. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer peptide toxin LVTX-8, with linear amphipathic alpha-helical conformation, designed and synthesized from the cDNA library of spider Lycosa vittata. Multiple cellular methods, such as CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry, colony formation assay, Transwell invasion and migration assay, were performed to detect peptide-induced cell growth inhibition and anti-metastasis in lung cancer cells. Our results demonstrated that LVTX-8 displayed strong cytotoxicity and anti-metastasis towards lung cancer in vitro. Furthermore, LVTX-8 could suppress the growth and metastasis of lung cancer cells (A549 and H460) in nude mouse models. Transcriptomics, integrated with multiple bioinformatics analysis, suggested that the molecular basis of the LVTX-8-mediated inhibition of cancer cell growth and metastasis manifested in two aspects: Firstly, it could restrain the activity of cancer cell division and migration through the functional pathways, including "p53 hypoxia pathway" and "integrin signaling". Secondly, it could regulate the expression level of apoptotic-related proteins, which may account for programmed apoptosis of cancer cells. Taken together, as an anticancer peptide with high efficiency and acceptable specificity, LVTX-8 may become a potential precursor of a therapeutic agent for lung cancer in the future.
Collapse
|
45
|
Advances in antimicrobial peptides-based biosensing methods for detection of foodborne pathogens: A review. Food Control 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
|
46
|
Feng X, Jin S, Wang M, Pang Q, Liu C, Liu R, Wang Y, Yang H, Liu F, Liu Y. The Critical Role of Tryptophan in the Antimicrobial Activity and Cell Toxicity of the Duck Antimicrobial Peptide DCATH. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:1146. [PMID: 32670215 PMCID: PMC7326067 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Accepted: 05/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have attracted more attention for their potential candidates for new antibiotic drugs. As a novel identified cathelicidin AMP from duck, dCATH owns broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities but with a noticeable toxicity. To explore dCATH-derived AMPs with reduced cell toxicity and improved cell selectivity, a series of truncated and tryptophan-replaced peptides of dCATH were designed. Two truncated peptides containing one of the two tryptophan (Trp) residues at the positions of 4 and 17 (W4 and W17) of dCATH, dCATH(1-16) and dCATH(5-20), showed strong antibacterial activity, but didn't show obvious hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity. The derived peptides not containing Trp didn't possess obvious antimicrobial activity, and their hemolytic and cytotoxic effect was also diminished. Also as evidence by Trp fluorescence experiment that existence of W4 and W17 was crucially important to the antimicrobial activity, hemolysis and cytotoxicity of dCATH, and one of the two Trp residues was competent and necessary to retain its antimicrobial activity. Antibacterial mechanism analysis showed that dCATH(1-16) and dCATH(5-20) killed bacterial cells by increasing permeability and causing a loss of membrane integrity. dCATH(1-16) and dCATH(5-20) possessed insignificant inhibitory activity against levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and NO in RAW 264.7 cells treated with LPS. In vivo, intraperitoneal administration of the two peptides significantly decreased mortality and provided protection against LPS-induced inflammation in mice challenged with lethal dose of LPS. The two peptides, dCATH(1-16) and dCATH(5-20), which possessed high antibacterial activity and cell selectivity, may herald development prospects as new antibacterial agents in the future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xingjun Feng
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Sanjun Jin
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Min Wang
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Qian Pang
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Chunlong Liu
- Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Ruiqi Liu
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Yingjie Wang
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Hao Yang
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Fangju Liu
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Yueying Liu
- College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Zhang C, Yang M. The Role and Potential Application of Antimicrobial Peptides in Autoimmune Diseases. Front Immunol 2020; 11:859. [PMID: 32457759 PMCID: PMC7225298 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Chunye Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Ming Yang
- Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Chen YF, Shih PC, Kuo HM, Yang SN, Lin YY, Chen WF, Tzou SJ, Liu HT, Chen NF. TP3, an antimicrobial peptide, inhibits infiltration and motility of glioblastoma cells via modulating the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Med 2020; 9:3918-3931. [PMID: 32266797 PMCID: PMC7286473 DOI: 10.1002/cam4.3005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2019] [Revised: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a cancer of the central nervous system with limited therapeutic outcomes. Infiltrating cancer cells are the contributing factor to high GBM malignancy. The intracranial brain cancer cell infiltration is a complex cascade involving adhesion, migration, and invasion. An arsenal of natural products has been under exploration to overcome GBM malignancy. This study applied the antimicrobial peptide tilapia piscidin 3 (TP3) to GBM8401, U87MG, and T98G cells. The cellular assays and microscopic observations showed that TP3 significantly attenuated cell adhesion, migration, and invasion. A live‐cell video clip showed the inhibition of filopodia protrusions and cell attachment. Probing at the molecular levels showed that the proteolytic activities (from secretion), the mRNA and protein expression levels of matrix metalloproteinases‐2 and ‐9 were attenuated. This result strongly evidenced that both invasion and metastasis were inhibited, although metastatic GBM is rare. Furthermore, the protein expression levels of cell‐mobilization regulators focal adhesion kinase and paxillin were decreased. Similar effects were observed in small GTPase (RAS), phosphorylated protein kinase B (AKT) and MAP kinases such as extracellular signal‐regulated kinases (ERK), JNK, and p38. Overall, TP3 showed promising activities to prevent cell infiltration and metastasis through modulating the tumor microenvironment balance, suggesting that TP3 merits further development for use in GBM treatments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ying-Fa Chen
- Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Center for Parkinson's Disease, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Po-Chang Shih
- UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, UK.,Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Hsiao-Mei Kuo
- Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Center for Neuroscience, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - San-Nan Yang
- Department of Internal Medicine, E-DA Hospital and College of Medicine, I-SHOU University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Yen-You Lin
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Ping-Tung Christian Hospital, Pingtung, Taiwan
| | - Wu-Fu Chen
- Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Neurosurgery, Xiamen Chang Gung Hospital, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Shiow-Jyu Tzou
- Department of Nursing, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Institute of Medical Science and Technology, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Tzu Liu
- Department of Medical Research, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan
| | - Nan-Fu Chen
- Institute of Medical Science and Technology, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Neurological Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Yang D, Jiao Y, Li Y, Fang X. Clinical characteristics and prognostic value of MEX3A mRNA in liver cancer. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8252. [PMID: 31998552 PMCID: PMC6979405 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND MEX3A is an RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) that promotes the proliferation, invasion, migration and viability of cancer cells. The aim of this study was to explore the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic significance of MEX3A mRNA expression in liver cancer. METHODS RNA-Seq and clinical data were collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Boxplots were used to represent discrete variables of MEX3A. Chi-square tests were used to analyze the correlation between clinical features and MEX3A expression. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to confirm diagnostic ability. Independent prognostic ability and values were assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox analysis. RESULTS We acquired MEX3A RNA-Seq from 50 normal liver tissues and 373 liver cancer patients along with clinical data. We found that MEX3A was up-regulated in liver cancer which increased according to histological grade (p < 0.001). MEX3A showed moderate diagnostic ability for liver cancer (AUC = 0.837). Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox analysis revealed that the high expression of MEX3A was significantly associated with poor survival (OS and RFS) (p < 0.001). Moreover, MEX3A was identified as an independent prognostic factor of liver cancer (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS MEX3A expression shows promise as an independent predictor of liver cancer prognosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dingquan Yang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Colorectal and Anal Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Yan Jiao
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Yanqing Li
- Department of Pathophysiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Xuedong Fang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Colorectal and Anal Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Wang F, Zhang X, Chen G, Zhao Y. Living Bacterial Microneedles for Fungal Infection Treatment. RESEARCH (WASHINGTON, D.C.) 2020; 2020:2760594. [PMID: 33623902 PMCID: PMC7877375 DOI: 10.34133/2020/2760594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Fungal infections are everlasting health challenges all over the world, bringing about great financial and medical burdens. Here, inspired by the natural competition law of beneficial bacteria against other microbes, we present novel living microneedles (LMNs) with functionalized bacteria encapsulation for efficient fungal infection treatment. The chosen beneficial bacterial components, Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), which are naturally found on the human skin and widely used for food processing, can get nutrients from the skin and escape from the immune system with the help of microneedles. Besides, the encapsulated B. subtilis can continuously produce and secrete various potential antifungal agents which can directly bind to fungal cell surface-associated proteins and destruct the cell membranes, thus avoiding drug resistance. After immobilization in the LMNs, the bacteria can stay within the LMNs without invasion and the encapsulated bacteria together with microneedles can be removed after application. Thus, the side effects, especially the risk for subsequent bacterial infections, are controlled to a minimum to ensure security. In addition, strong penetrability of the microneedles enhances penetration of antifungal agents, and their heights can be adjusted according to the infected depth to acquire better therapeutic effects. These features make the LMNs potentially valuable for clinical applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fengyuan Wang
- Department of Burns & Plastic Surgery, Institute of Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China
- Department of Dermatology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Xiaoxuan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
| | - Guopu Chen
- Department of Burns & Plastic Surgery, Institute of Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Yuanjin Zhao
- Department of Burns & Plastic Surgery, Institute of Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China
- Department of Dermatology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
| |
Collapse
|