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Coveñas R, Rodríguez FD, Robinson P, Muñoz M. The Repurposing of Non-Peptide Neurokinin-1 Receptor Antagonists as Antitumor Drugs: An Urgent Challenge for Aprepitant. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:15936. [PMID: 37958914 PMCID: PMC10650658 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242115936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The substance P (SP)/neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) system is involved in cancer progression. NK-1R, activated by SP, promotes tumor cell proliferation and migration, angiogenesis, the Warburg effect, and the prevention of apoptosis. Tumor cells overexpress NK-1R, which influences their viability. A typical specific anticancer strategy using NK-1R antagonists, irrespective of the tumor type, is possible because these antagonists block all the effects mentioned above mediated by SP on cancer cells. This review will update the information regarding using NK-1R antagonists, particularly Aprepitant, as an anticancer drug. Aprepitant shows a broad-spectrum anticancer effect against many tumor types. Aprepitant alone or in combination therapy with radiotherapy or chemotherapy could reduce the sequelae and increase the cure rate and quality of life of patients with cancer. Current data open the door to new cancer research aimed at antitumor therapeutic strategies using Aprepitant. To achieve this goal, reprofiling the antiemetic Aprepitant as an anticancer drug is urgently needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Coveñas
- Laboratory of Neuroanatomy of the Peptidergic Systems, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León (INCYL), University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain;
- Group GIR-BMD (Bases Moleculares del Desarrollo), University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain;
| | - Francisco D. Rodríguez
- Group GIR-BMD (Bases Moleculares del Desarrollo), University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain;
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Chemical Sciences, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
| | - Prema Robinson
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control, and Employee Health, MD Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Miguel Muñoz
- Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Research Laboratory on Neuropeptides (IBIS), Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, 41013 Seville, Spain;
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Sánchez ML, Rodríguez FD, Coveñas R. Involvement of the Opioid Peptide Family in Cancer Progression. Biomedicines 2023; 11:1993. [PMID: 37509632 PMCID: PMC10377280 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11071993] [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: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Peptides mediate cancer progression favoring the mitogenesis, migration, and invasion of tumor cells, promoting metastasis and anti-apoptotic mechanisms, and facilitating angiogenesis/lymphangiogenesis. Tumor cells overexpress peptide receptors, crucial targets for developing specific treatments against cancer cells using peptide receptor antagonists and promoting apoptosis in tumor cells. Opioids exert an antitumoral effect, whereas others promote tumor growth and metastasis. This review updates the findings regarding the involvement of opioid peptides (enkephalins, endorphins, and dynorphins) in cancer development. Anticancer therapeutic strategies targeting the opioid peptidergic system and the main research lines to be developed regarding the topic reviewed are suggested. There is much to investigate about opioid peptides and cancer: basic information is scarce, incomplete, or absent in many tumors. This knowledge is crucial since promising anticancer strategies could be developed alone or in combination therapies with chemotherapy/radiotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Lisardo Sánchez
- Laboratory of Neuroanatomy of the Peptidergic Systems, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla and León (INCYL), University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
| | - Francisco D Rodríguez
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Chemical Sciences, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
- Group GIR-USAL: BMD (Bases Moleculares del Desarrollo), University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
| | - Rafael Coveñas
- Laboratory of Neuroanatomy of the Peptidergic Systems, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla and León (INCYL), University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
- Group GIR-USAL: BMD (Bases Moleculares del Desarrollo), University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
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Robinson P, Rosso M, Muñoz M. Neurokinin-1 Receptor Antagonists as a Potential Novel Therapeutic Option for Osteosarcoma Patients. J Clin Med 2023; 12:2135. [PMID: 36983138 PMCID: PMC10058854 DOI: 10.3390/jcm12062135] [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: 12/26/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Osteosarcoma is a bone tumor predominantly affecting children and adolescents with high malignant potential. It is a cause of serious public health challenges due to its high morbidity rates and metastatic potential. Metastasis in osteosarcoma may manifest either during treatment of the primary tumor, shortly after treatment, or a long time after the end of the treatment. So far, there are no therapeutics that can prevent or treat osteosarcoma metastasis. The peptide substance P (SP) and its high-affinity receptor, Neurokinin-1 (NK-1R), are known to positively correlate with osteosarcoma progression. Osteosarcoma cells overexpress NK-1R. SP is known to elicit the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells and induce angiogenesis and migration, leading to the invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. In contrast, NK-1R antagonists, such as aprepitant, inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells. Aprepitant is also known to inhibit the migration of osteosarcoma cells, as well as reduce the expression levels and activities of transcriptional regulators of metastasis-related genes such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). These preceding studies highlighted the antimetastatic role of aprepitant in osteosarcoma Moreover, combination therapy consisting of chemotherapy and NK-1R antagonist increases the chemosensitization of osteosarcoma cells. Interestingly, this combination therapy in vitro and in vivo decreases the severe side-effects of chemotherapy and produces neuroprotection, hepatoprotection, nephroprotection, and cardioprotection. In this review, we provide an update on existing data and suggest the need to repurpose aprepitant for use as an antitumor drug for treatment of osteosarcoma, and they suggest the need for phase I and II clinical trials for assessment of its safety/efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prema Robinson
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Marisa Rosso
- Research Laboratory on Neuropeptides (IBIS), Neonatology Unit, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, 41012 Seville, Spain
| | - Miguel Muñoz
- Research Laboratory on Neuropeptides (IBIS), Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, 41012 Seville, Spain
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Al-Keilani MS, Bdeir R, Elstaty RI, Alqudah MA. Expression of substance P, neurokinin 1 receptor, Ki-67 and pyruvate kinase M2 in hormone receptor negative breast cancer and evaluation of impact on overall survival. BMC Cancer 2023; 23:158. [PMID: 36797689 PMCID: PMC9936699 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-023-10633-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of cancer, and it can be stimulated by many factors. Substance P (SP), through binding to neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R), and pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) play critical roles in cancer development and progression via modulating the tumor microenvironment. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of SP and PKM2 in combination with NK1R and Ki-67 in hormone receptor negative (HR-ve) breast cancer. METHODS Immunohistochemical expression levels of SP, NK1R, PKM2, and Ki-67 were measured in 144 paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues (77 h -ve and 67 h + ve). SP, NK1R, and PKM2 were scored semiquantitatively, while Ki-67 was obtained by the percentage of total number of tumor cells with nuclear staining. The optimal cutoff value for SP, NK1R, PKM2, and Ki-67 were assessed by Cutoff Finder. RESULTS High SP expression in HR -ve breast cancer was associated with TNM stage (p = 0.020), pT stage (p = 0.035), pN stage (p = 0.002), axillary lymph node metastasis (p = 0.003), and NK1R expression level (p = 0.010). In HR + ve breast cancer, SP expression was associated with HER2 status (p = 0.001) and PKM2 expression level (p = 0.012). Regarding PKM2 expression level, it significantly associated with HER2 status (p = 0.001) and history of DCIS (p = 0.046) in HR-ve tumors, and with HER2 status (p < 0.001) and SP expression level (p = 0.012) in HR + ve tumors. Survival analysis revealed that high SP level negatively impacted overall survival in HR-ve tumors that had low NK1R level (p = 0.021). Moreover, high SP negatively impacted overall survival in HR-ve tumors that had low Ki-67 level (p = 0.005). High PKM2 negatively impacted overall survival in HR-ve cases with low SP (p = 0.047). CONCLUSION Combined expression levels of SP with NK1R or Ki-67, and PKM2 with SP could be used to predict survival in breast cancer patients with HR-ve tumors. Our findings suggest a role of SP/NK1R pathway and PKM2 in HR-ve breast cancer pathogenesis which should be further investigated to unveil the underlying molecular mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maha S. Al-Keilani
- grid.37553.370000 0001 0097 5797College of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, 22110 Irbid, Jordan
| | - Roba Bdeir
- grid.443749.90000 0004 0623 1491College of Nursing, Department of Allied Health Sciences, Al-Balqa Applied University, Al-Salt 19117, P.O. Box 206, Salt, Jordan
| | - Rana I. Elstaty
- grid.37553.370000 0001 0097 5797College of Science and Art, Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, 22110 Irbid, Jordan
| | - Mohammad A. Alqudah
- grid.33801.390000 0004 0528 1681College of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Pathology, and Forensic Medicine, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, 13133 Zarqa, Jordan
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Szallasi A. Capsaicin and cancer: Guilty as charged or innocent until proven guilty? Temperature (Austin) 2022; 10:35-49. [PMID: 37187832 PMCID: PMC10177684 DOI: 10.1080/23328940.2021.2017735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
With an estimated 2 billion chili pepper connoisseurs worldwide, the human exposure to capsaicin is enormous. Therefore, the question whether nutritional capsaicin is a cancer causing or cancer preventive agent is of utmost importance. The gamut of human epidemiology studies suggests that capsaicin in modest, "restaurant-like" doses is not only safe to eat, but it may even provide health benefits, such as lower cancer-related death rate. Very "hot" food is, however, probably better avoided. Importantly, no increased cancer risk was reported in patients following topical (skin or intravesical) capsaicin therapy. Aberrant capsaicin receptor TRPV1 expression was noted in various cancers with potential implications for cancer therapy, diagnosis and prognostication. Indeed, capsaicin can kill cancer cells by a combination of on- and off-target mechanisms, though it remains unclear if this can be exploited for therapeutic purposes. The literature on capsaicin and cancer is vast and controversial. This review aims to find answers to questions that are relevant for our daily life and medical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arpad Szallasi
- Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
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Erratum: Rodriguez et al. Substance P Antagonism as a Novel Therapeutic Option to Enhance Efficacy of Cisplatin in Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Protect PC12 Cells against Cisplatin-Induced Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis. Cancers 2021, 13, 3871. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13205178. [PMID: 34680400 PMCID: PMC8533910 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13205178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
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An JH, Li CY, Chen CY, Wu JB, Shen H. Raloxifene Protects Cisplatin-Induced Renal Injury in Mice via Inhibiting Oxidative Stress. Onco Targets Ther 2021; 14:4879-4890. [PMID: 34588782 PMCID: PMC8473575 DOI: 10.2147/ott.s314810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Cisplatin is one of the most widely used antineoplastic drugs but has limited therapeutic effects due to nephrotoxicity. The aim of this study was to determine the possible renoprotective effect of the antioxidant raloxifene on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in mice. Materials and Methods Cisplatin-induced acute renal injury was established in female C57 mice that were treated with saline (normal control) or raloxifene over a 7-day period. The body weight of the mice was recorded. Histopathological examinations of the kidney tissues were performed using H&E, PAS staining and TEM. The histomorphology of liver and other organs was observed by H&E staining. The serum levels of creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), alanine transaminase (ALT) and glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (AST) were analyzed by specific kits. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) activity, and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the kidney, liver homogenates and HK-2 cells were measured by WST-8 and thiobarbituric acid colorimetric methods. Moreover, the mitochondrial structures of HK-2 cells were performed using TEM. The viability and proliferation of HK-2 cells were examined by CCK-8 and EdU incorporation assays. The mitochondrial membrane potential was measured by JC-1 fluorescence. Results Raloxifene significantly reduced the levels of serum creatinine, urea, ALT and AST in the cisplatin-treated mice, and alleviated cisplatin-induced renal and hepatic tissue injury. Furthermore, raloxifene also increased the activity of GSH and SOD in the renal tissues and HK-2 cells, and reduced MDA levels, thereby limiting oxidative stress in the kidney. Conclusion Raloxifene protected against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity by activating the antioxidant system, along with alleviating liver damage. It should be considered as a potential adjuvant in cisplatin-based chemotherapeutic protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian-Hong An
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Chun-Yan Li
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Chun-Ya Chen
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Jian-Bin Wu
- Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, People's Republic of China
| | - Hong Shen
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.,Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China
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