p38 MAPK Inhibition Mitigates Hypoxia-Induced AR Signaling in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

1,3-Disubstituted-1,2,4-triazin-6-ones with potent activity against androgen receptor-dependent prostate cancer cells

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a small, focused library of 1,3-disubstituted-1,2,4-triazin-6-ones for in vitro inhibitory activity against androgen-receptor-dependent (22Rv1) and androgen-receptor independent (PC3) castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells led to highly active compounds with in vitro IC50 values against 22Rv1 cells of <200 nM, and with apparent selectivity for this cell type over PC3 cells. From metabolic/PK evaluations of these compounds, a 3-benzyl-1-(2,4-dichlorobenzyl) derivative had superior properties and showed considerably stronger activity, by nearly an order of magnitude, against AR-dependent LNCaP and C4-2B cells compared to AR-independent DU145 cells. This lead compound decreased AR expression in a dose and time dependent manner and displayed promising therapeutic effects in a 22Rv1 CRPC xenograft mouse model. Computational target prediction and subsequent docking studies suggested three potential known prostate cancer targets: p38a MAPK, TGF-β1, and HGFR/c-Met, with the latter case of c-Met appearing stronger, owing to close structural similarity of the lead compound to known pyridazin-3-one derivatives with potent c-Met inhibitory activity. RNA-seq analysis showed dramatic reduction of AR signalling pathway and/or target genes by the lead compound, subsequently confirmed by quantitative PCR analysis. The lead compound was highly inhibitory against HGF, the c-Met ligand, which fitted well with the computational target prediction and docking studies. These results suggest that this compound could be a promising starting point for the development of an effective therapy for the treatment of CRPC.

Emerging proteins involved in castration‑resistant prostate cancer via the AR‑dependent and AR‑independent pathways (Review)

Despite achieving optimal initial responses to androgen deprivation therapy, most patients with prostate cancer eventually progress to a poor prognosis state known as castration‑resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Currently, there is a notable absence of reliable early warning biomarkers and effective treatment strategies for these patients. Although androgen receptor (AR)‑independent pathways have been discovered and acknowledged in recent years, the AR signaling pathway continues to play a pivotal role in the progression of CRPC. The present review focuses on newly identified proteins within human CRPC tissues. These proteins encompass both those involved in AR‑dependent and AR‑independent pathways. Specifically, the present review provides an in‑depth summary and analysis of the emerging proteins within AR bypass pathways. Furthermore, the significance of these proteins as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for treating CRPC is discussed. Therefore, the present review offers valuable theoretical insights and clinical perspectives to comprehensively enhance the understanding of CRPC.

Theranostic applications of selenium nanomedicines against lung cancer

The incidence and mortality rates of lung cancer are among the highest in the world. Traditional treatment methods include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Although rapid progress has been achieved in the past decade, treatment limitations remain. It is therefore imperative to identify safer and more effective therapeutic methods, and research is currently being conducted to identify more efficient and less harmful drugs. In recent years, the discovery of antitumor drugs based on the essential trace element selenium (Se) has provided good prospects for lung cancer treatments. In particular, compared to inorganic Se (Inorg-Se) and organic Se (Org-Se), Se nanomedicine (Se nanoparticles; SeNPs) shows much higher bioavailability and antioxidant activity and lower toxicity. SeNPs can also be used as a drug delivery carrier to better regulate protein and DNA biosynthesis and protein kinase C activity, thus playing a role in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. SeNPs can also effectively activate antigen-presenting cells to stimulate cell immunity, exert regulatory effects on innate and regulatory immunity, and enhance lung cancer immunotherapy. This review summarizes the application of Se-based species and materials in lung cancer diagnosis, including fluorescence, MR, CT, photoacoustic imaging and other diagnostic methods, as well as treatments, including direct killing, radiosensitization, chemotherapeutic sensitization, photothermodynamics, and enhanced immunotherapy. In addition, the application prospects and challenges of Se-based drugs in lung cancer are examined, as well as their forecasted future clinical applications and sustainable development.

Scaffold protein MAPK8IP2 expression is a robust prognostic factor in prostate cancer associated with AR signaling activity

Mitogen-activated protein kinase-8-interacting protein 2 (MAPK8IP2) is a scaffold protein that modulates MAPK signal cascades. Although MAPK pathways were heavily implicated in prostate cancer progression, the regulation of MAPK8IP2 expression in prostate cancer is not yet reported. We assessed MAPK8IP2 gene expression in prostate cancer related to disease progression and patient survival outcomes. MAPK8IP2 expression was analyzed using multiple genome-wide gene expression datasets derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) RNA-sequence project and complementary DNA (cDNA) microarrays. Multivariable Cox regressions and log-rank tests were used to analyze the overall survival outcome and progression-free interval. MAPK8IP2 protein expression was evaluated using the immunohistochemistry approach. The quantitative PCR and Western blot methods analyzed androgen-stimulated MAPK8IP2 expression in LNCaP cells. In primary prostate cancer tissues, MAPK8IP2 mRNA expression levels were significantly higher than those in the case-matched benign prostatic tissues. Increased MAPK8IP2 expression was strongly correlated with late tumor stages, lymph node invasion, residual tumors after surgery, higher Gleason scores, and preoperational serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. MAPK8IP2 upregulation was significantly associated with worse overall survival outcomes and progression-free intervals. In castration-resistant prostate cancers, MAPK8IP2 expression strongly correlated with androgen receptor (AR) signaling activity. In cell culture-based experiments, MAPK8IP2 expression was stimulated by androgens in AR-positive prostate cancer cells. However, MAPK8IP2 expression was blocked by AR antagonists only in androgen-sensitive LNCaP but not castration-resistant C4-2B and 22RV1 cells. These results indicate that MAPK8IP2 is a robust prognostic factor and therapeutic biomarker for prostate cancer. The potential role of MAPK8IP2 in the castration-resistant progression is under further investigation.

Research progress of p38 as a new therapeutic target against morphine tolerance and the current status of therapy of morphine tolerance

With the development of the medical industry, new painkillers continue to appear in people's field of vision, but so far no painkiller can replace morphine. While morphine has a strong analgesic effect, it is also easy to produce pain sensitivity and tolerance. Due to the great inter-individual differences in patient responses, there are few clear instructions on how to optimise morphine administration regimens, which complicates clinicians' treatment strategies and limits the effectiveness of morphine in long-term pain therapy. P38MAPK is a key member of the MAPK family. Across recent years, it has been discovered that p38MAPK rises dramatically in a wide range of morphine tolerance animal models. Morphine tolerance can be reduced or reversed by inhibiting p38MAPK. However, the role and specific mechanism of p38MAPK are not clear. In this review, we synthesise the relevant findings, highlight the function and potential mechanism of p38MAPK in morphine tolerance, as well as the present status and efficacy of morphine tolerance therapy, and underline the future promise of p38MAPK targeted morphine tolerance treatment.

Identification of a novel senescence-associated signature to predict biochemical recurrence and immune microenvironment for prostate cancer

Background

Prostate cancer (PCa) is an age-associated malignancy with high morbidity and mortality rate, posing a severe threat to public health. Cellular senescence, a specialized cell cycle arrest form, results in the secretion of various inflammatory mediators. In recent studies, senescence has shown an essential role in tumorigenesis and tumor development, yet the extensive effects of senescence in PCa have not been systematically investigated. Here, we aimed to develop a feasible senescence-associated prognosis model for early identification and appropriate management in patients with PCa.

Method

The RNA sequence results and clinical information available from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and a list of experimentally validated senescence-related genes (SRGs) from the CellAge database were first obtained. Then, a senescence-risk signature related with prognosis was constructed using univariate Cox and LASSO regression analysis. We calculated the risk score of each patient and divided them into high-risk and low-risk groups in terms of the median value. Furthermore, two datasets (GSE70770 and GSE46602) were used to assess the effects of the risk model. A nomogram was built by integrating the risk score and clinical characteristics, which was further verified using ROC curves and calibrations. Finally, we compared the differences in the tumor microenvironment (TME) landscape, drug susceptibility, and the functional enrichment among the different risk groups.

Results

We established a unique prognostic signature in PCa patients based on eight SRGs, including CENPA, ADCK5, FOXM1, TFAP4, MAPK, LGALS3, BAG3, and NOX4, and validated well prognosis-predictive power in independent datasets. The risk model was associated with age and TNM staging, and the calibration chart presented a high consistency in nomogram prediction. Additionally, the prognostic signature could serve as an independent prediction factor due to its high accuracy. Notably, we found that the risk score was positively associated with tumor mutation burden (TMB) and immune checkpoint, whereas negatively correlated with tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE), suggesting that these patients with risk scores were more sensitive to immunotherapy. Drug susceptibility analysis revealed differences in the responses to general drugs (docetaxel, cyclophosphamide, 5-Fluorouracil, cisplatin, paclitaxel, and vincristine) were yielded between the two risk groups.

Conclusion

Identifying the SRG-score signature may become a promising method for predicting the prognosis of patients with PCa and tailoring appropriate treatment strategies.

Androgen-Responsive Oncogenic lncRNA RP11-1023L17.1 Enhances c-Myc Protein Stability in Prostate Cancer

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been found as novel participants in the pathophysiology of prostate cancer (PCa), which is predominantly regulated by androgen and its receptor. The biological function of androgen-responsive lncRNAs remains poorly understood. Here, we identified that lncRNA RP11-1023L17.1, which is highly expressed in PCa. RP11-1023L17.1 expression, can be directly repressed by the androgen receptor in PCa cells. RP11-1023L17.1 depletion inhibited the proliferation, migration, and cell cycle progression, and promoted the apoptosis of PCa cells, indicating that RP11-1023L17.1 acts as an oncogene in PCa cells. Microarray results revealed that RP11-1023L17.1 depletion downregulated the c-Myc transcription signature in PCa cells. RP11-1023L17.1 depletion-induced cellular phenotypes can be overcome by ectopically overexpressed c-Myc. Mechanistically, RP11-1023L17.1 represses FBXO32 mRNA expression, thereby enhancing c-Myc protein stability by blocking FBXO32-mediated c-Myc degradation. Our findings reveal the previously unrecognized roles of RP11-1023L17.1 in c-Myc-dependent PCa tumorigenesis.

Exosome-based nanomedicine for cancer treatment by targeting inflammatory pathways: Current status and future perspectives

Cancer is one of the dreadful diseases worldwide. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, are the three basic standard modes of cancer treatment. However, difficulties in cancer treatment are increasing due to immune escape, spreading of cancer to other places, and resistance of cancer cells to therapies. Various signaling mechanisms, including PI3K/Akt/mTOR, RAS, WNT/β-catenin, TGF-beta, and notch pathways, are involved in cancer resistance. The adaptive inflammatory response is the initial line of defence against infection. However, chronic inflammation can lead to tumorigenesis, malignant transformation, tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. The most commonly dysregulated inflammatory pathways linked to cancer include NF-κB, MAPK, JAK-STAT, and PI3K/AKT. To overcome major hurdles in cancer therapy, nanomedicine is receiving much attention due to its role as a vehicle for delivering chemotherapeutic agents that specifically target tumor sites. Several biocompatible nanocarriers including polymer and inorganic nanoparticles, liposomes, micellar nanoparticles, nanotubes, and exosomes have been extensively studied. Exosome has been reported as an important potential sytem that could be effectively used as a bioinspired, bioengineered, and biomimetic drug delivery solution considering its toxicity, immunogenicity, and rapid clearance by the mononuclear phagocyte system. Exosome-mimetic vesicles are receiving much interest for developing nano-sized delivery systems. In this review, exosomes in detail as well as certain other nanocarriers, and their potential therapeutic roles in cancer therapy has been thoroughly discussed. Additionally, we also reviewed on oncogenic and tumor suppressor proteins, inflammation, and their associated signaling pathways and their interference by exosomes based nanomedicine.

Accurate Three-Dimensional Thermal Dosimetry and Assessment of Physiologic Response Are Essential for Optimizing Thermoradiotherapy

Numerous randomized trials have revealed that hyperthermia (HT) + radiotherapy or chemotherapy improves local tumor control, progression free and overall survival vs. radiotherapy or chemotherapy alone. Despite these successes, however, some individuals fail combination therapy; not every patient will obtain maximal benefit from HT. There are many potential reasons for failure. In this paper, we focus on how HT influences tumor hypoxia, since hypoxia negatively influences radiotherapy and chemotherapy response as well as immune surveillance. Pre-clinically, it is well established that reoxygenation of tumors in response to HT is related to the time and temperature of exposure. In most pre-clinical studies, reoxygenation occurs only during or shortly after a HT treatment. If this were the case clinically, then it would be challenging to take advantage of HT induced reoxygenation. An important question, therefore, is whether HT induced reoxygenation occurs in the clinic that is of radiobiological significance. In this review, we will discuss the influence of thermal history on reoxygenation in both human and canine cancers treated with thermoradiotherapy. Results of several clinical series show that reoxygenation is observed and persists for 24-48 h after HT. Further, reoxygenation is associated with treatment outcome in thermoradiotherapy trials as assessed by: (1) a doubling of pathologic complete response (pCR) in human soft tissue sarcomas, (2) a 14 mmHg increase in pO2 of locally advanced breast cancers achieving a clinical response vs. a 9 mmHg decrease in pO2 of locally advanced breast cancers that did not respond and (3) a significant correlation between extent of reoxygenation (as assessed by pO2 probes and hypoxia marker drug immunohistochemistry) and duration of local tumor control in canine soft tissue sarcomas. The persistence of reoxygenation out to 24-48 h post HT is distinctly different from most reported rodent studies. In these clinical series, comparison of thermal data with physiologic response shows that within the same tumor, temperatures at the higher end of the temperature distribution likely kill cells, resulting in reduced oxygen consumption rate, while lower temperatures in the same tumor improve perfusion. However, reoxygenation does not occur in all subjects, leading to significant uncertainty about the thermal-physiologic relationship. This uncertainty stems from limited knowledge about the spatiotemporal characteristics of temperature and physiologic response. We conclude with recommendations for future research with emphasis on retrieving co-registered thermal and physiologic data before and after HT in order to begin to unravel complex thermophysiologic interactions that appear to occur with thermoradiotherapy.

Unravelling the Role of Kinases That Underpin Androgen Signalling in Prostate Cancer

The androgen receptor (AR) signalling pathway is the key driver in most prostate cancers (PCa), and is underpinned by several kinases both upstream and downstream of the AR. Many popular therapies for PCa that target the AR directly, however, have been circumvented by AR mutation, such as androgen receptor variants. Some upstream kinases promote AR signalling, including those which phosphorylate the AR and others that are AR-regulated, and androgen regulated kinase that can also form feed-forward activation circuits to promotes AR function. All of these kinases represent potentially druggable targets for PCa. There has generally been a divide in reviews reporting on pathways upstream of the AR and those reporting on AR-regulated genes despite the overlap that constitutes the promotion of AR signalling and PCa progression. In this review, we aim to elucidate which kinases—both upstream and AR-regulated—may be therapeutic targets and require future investigation and ongoing trials in developing kinase inhibitors for PCa.

Choosing Kinase Inhibitors for Androgen Deprivation Therapy-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a systemic therapy for advanced prostate cancer (PCa). Although most patients initially respond to ADT, almost all cancers eventually develop castration resistance. Castration-resistant PCa (CRPC) is associated with a very poor prognosis, and the treatment of which is a serious clinical challenge. Accumulating evidence suggests that abnormal expression and activation of various kinases are associated with the emergence and maintenance of CRPC. Many efforts have been made to develop small molecule inhibitors to target the key kinases in CRPC. These inhibitors are designed to suppress the kinase activity or interrupt kinase-mediated signal pathways that are associated with PCa androgen-independent (AI) growth and CRPC development. In this review, we briefly summarize the roles of the kinases that are abnormally expressed and/or activated in CRPC and the recent advances in the development of small molecule inhibitors that target kinases for the treatment of CRPC.

Gene Differential Expression and Interaction Networks Illustrate the Biomarkers and Molecular Mechanisms of Atherosclerotic Cerebral Infarction

Atherosclerotic cerebral infarction (ACI) seriously threatens the health of the senile patients, and the strategies are urgent for the diagnosis and treatment of ACI. This study investigated the mRNA profiling of the patients with ischemic stroke and atherosclerosis via excavating the datasets in the GEO database and attempted to reveal the biomarkers and molecular mechanism of ACI. In this study, GES16561 and GES100927 were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and the related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed with R language. Furthermore, the DEGs were analyzed with Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. Besides, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGs was analyzed by STRING database and Cytoscape. The results showed that 133 downregulated DEGs and 234 upregulated DEGs were found in GES16561, 25 downregulated DEGs and 104 upregulated DEGs were found in GSE100927, and 6 common genes were found in GES16561 and GES100927. GO enrichment analysis showed that the functional models of the common genes were involved in neutrophil activation, neutrophil degranulation, neutrophil activation, and immune response. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs in both GSE100927 and GSE16561 were connected with the pathways including Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, Phagosome, Antigen processing and presentation, and Staphylococcus aureus infection. The PPI network analysis showed that 9 common DEGs were found in GSE100927 and GSE16561, and a cluster with 6 nodes and 12 edges was also identified by PPI network analysis. In conclusion, this study suggested that FCGR3A and MAPK pathways were connected with ACI.

The Hypoxia-Long Noncoding RNA Interaction in Solid Cancers

Hypoxia is one of the representative microenvironment features in cancer and is considered to be associated with the dismal prognosis of patients. Hypoxia-driven cellular pathways are largely regulated by hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) and notably exert influence on the hallmarks of cancer, such as stemness, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, and the resistance towards apoptotic cell death and therapeutic resistance; therefore, hypoxia has been considered as a potential hurdle for cancer therapy. Growing evidence has demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are dysregulated in cancer and take part in gene regulatory networks owing to their various modes of action through interacting with proteins and microRNAs. In this review, we focus attention on the relationship between hypoxia/HIFs and lncRNAs, in company with the possibility of lncRNAs as candidate molecules for controlling cancer.