A Multi-Omics Study Revealing the Metabolic Effects of Estrogen in Liver Cancer Cells HepG2

Dihydrotanshinone I targets ESR1 to induce DNA double-strand breaks and proliferation inhibition in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Due to its high incidence and elevated mortality, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has emerged as a formidable global healthcare challenge. The intricate interplay between gender-specific disparities in both incidence and clinical outcomes has prompted a progressive recognition of the substantial influence exerted by estrogen and its corresponding receptors (ERs) upon HCC pathogenesis. Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) emerged for the treatment of HCC by administering exogenous estrogen. However, the powerful side effects of estrogen, including the promotion of breast cancer and infertility, hinder the further application of ERT. Identifying effective therapeutic targets for estrogen and screening bioactive ingredients without E2-like side effects is of great significance for optimizing HCC ERT.

METHODS

In this study, we employed an integrative approach, harnessing data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, clinical paraffin sections, adenoviral constructs as well as in vivo studies, to unveil the association between estrogen, estrogen receptor α (ESR1) and HCC. Leveraging methodologies encompassing molecular dynamics simulation and cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) were used to confirm whether ESR1 is a molecular target of DHT. Multiple in vitro and in vivo experiments were used to identify whether i) ESR1 is a crucial gene that promotes DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and proliferation inhibition in HCC, ii) Dihydrotanshinone I (DHT), a quinonoid monomeric constituent derived from Salvia miltiorrhiza (Dan shen) exerts anti-HCC effects by regulating ESR1 and subsequent DSBs, iii) DHT has the potential to replace E2.

RESULTS

DHT could target ESR1 and upregulate its expression in a concentration-dependent manner. This, in turn, leads to the downregulation of breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein (BRCA1), a pivotal protein involved in the homologous recombination repair (HRR) process. The consequence of this downregulation is manifested through the induction of DSBs in HCC, subsequently precipitating a cascade of downstream events, including apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Of particular significance is the comparative assessment of DHT and isodose estradiol treatments, which underscores DHT's excellent HCC-suppressive efficacy without concomitant perturbation of endogenous sex hormone homeostasis.

CONCLUSION

Our findings not only confirm ESR1 as a therapeutic target in HCC management but also underscores DHT's role in upregulating ESR1 expression, thereby impeding the proliferation and invasive tendencies of HCC. In addition, we preliminarily identified DHT has the potential to emerge as an agent in optimizing HCC ERT through the substitution of E2.

Equol: a metabolite of gut microbiota with potential antitumor effects

An increasing number of studies have shown that the consumption of soybeans and soybeans products is beneficial to human health, and the biological activity of soy products may be attributed to the presence of Soy Isoflavones (SI) in soybeans. In the intestinal tracts of humans and animals, certain specific bacteria can metabolize soy isoflavones into equol. Equol has a similar chemical structure to endogenous estradiol in the human body, which can bind with estrogen receptors and exert weak estrogen effects. Therefore, equol plays an important role in the occurrence and development of a variety of hormone-dependent malignancies such as breast cancer and prostate cancer. Despite the numerous health benefits of equol for humans, only 30-50% of the population can metabolize soy isoflavones into equol, with individual variation in gut microbiota being the main reason. This article provides an overview of the relevant gut microbiota involved in the synthesis of equol and its anti-tumor effects in various types of cancer. It also summarizes the molecular mechanisms underlying its anti-tumor properties, aiming to provide a more reliable theoretical basis for the rational utilization of equol in the field of cancer treatment.

Multi-omics reveals the molecular mechanism of the combined toxic effects of PFOA and 4-HBP exposure in MCF-7 cells and the key player: mTORC1

With the discovery of evidence that many endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the environment influence human health, their toxic effects and mechanisms have become a hot topic of research. However, investigations into their endocrine-disrupting toxicity under combined binary exposure, especially the molecular mechanism of combined effects, have rarely been documented. In this study, two typical EDCs, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-HBP), were selected to examine their combined effects and molecular mechanism on MCF-7 cell proliferation at environmentally relevant exposure concentrations. We have successfully established a model to evaluate the binary combined toxic effects of endocrine disruptors, presenting combined effects in a simple and direct way. Results indicated that the combined effect changed from additive to synergistic from 1.25 × 10-8 M to 4 × 10-7 M. Metabolomics analyses suggested that exposure to PFOA and 4-HBP caused significant alterations in purine metabolism, arginine, and proline metabolism and had superimposed influences on metabolism. Enhanced combined effects were observed in glycine, serine, and threonine metabolic pathways compared to exposure to PFOS and 4-HBP alone. Additionally, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are primarily involved in Biological Processes, especially protein targeting the endoplasmic reticulum, and significantly impact the oxidative phosphorylation and thermogenesis-related KEGG pathway. By integrating metabolome and transcriptome analyses, PFOA and 4-HBP regulate purine metabolism, the TCA cycle, and endoplasmic reticulum protein synthesis in MCF-7 cells via mTORC1, which provides genetic material, protein, and energy for cell proliferation. Furthermore, molecular docking confirmed the ability of PFOA and 4-HBP to stably bind the estrogen receptor, indicating that they have different binding pockets. Collectively, these findings will offer new insights into understanding the mechanisms by which EDCs produce combined toxicity.

Combined cytotoxicity of phthalate esters on HepG2 cells: A comprehensive analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics

Phthalate esters (PAEs), widely used as plasticizers, may pose a potential environmental and human hazard. The aim of this study was to compare the cytotoxicity of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalates (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP)) after their exposure to HepG2 cells alone or in combination. HepG2 cells treated with individual/combined DEHP and DBP at a dose of 10-2 M for 24 h were selected for metabolome and transcriptome analysis. The results demonstrated that exposure to the mixtures of DEHP and DBP caused enhanced or reduced toxic effects regarding 8 pathways with 1065 downregulated genes and 643 upregulated genes, in comparison with those of single chemicals. The combined toxicity of mixture revealed both synergistic and antagonistic interactions between DEHP and DBP. Besides, combined exposure to DEHP and DBP promoted TCA cycle, pyrimidine, and purine metabolism, while an antagonistic effect on fatty acid derangement should require further investigation. To summarize, our results suggest that DEHP exposed alone or combined with DBP caused a variety of metabolic disorders, and the type of combination effects varied among metabolic pathways.

17-β Estradiol up-regulates energy metabolic pathways, cellular proliferation and tumor invasiveness in ER+ breast cancer spheroids

Several biological processes related to cancer malignancy are regulated by 17-β estradiol (E2) in ER+-breast cancer. To establish the role of E2 on the atypical cancer energy metabolism, a systematic study analyzing transcription factors, proteins, and fluxes associated with energy metabolism was undertaken in multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS) from human ER+ MCF-7 breast cancer cells. At E2 physiological concentrations (10 and 100 nM for 24 h), both ERα and ERβ receptors, and their protein target pS2, increased by 0.6-3.5 times vs. non-treated MCTS, revealing an activated E2/ER axis. E2 also increased by 30-470% the content of several transcription factors associated to mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) (p53, PGC1-α) and glycolytic pathways (HIF1-α, c-MYC). Several OxPhos and glycolytic proteins (36-257%) as well as pathway fluxes (48-156%) significantly increased being OxPhos the principal ATP cellular supplier (>75%). As result of energy metabolism stimulation by E2, cancer cell migration and invasion processes and related proteins (SNAIL, FN, MM-9) contents augmented by 24-189% vs. non-treated MCTS. Celecoxib at 10 nM blocked OxPhos (60%) as well as MCTS growth, cell migration and invasiveness (>40%); whereas the glycolytic inhibitor iodoacetate (0.5 µM) and doxorubicin (70 nM) were innocuous. Our results show for the first time using a more physiological tridimensional cancer model, resembling the initial stages of solid tumors, that anti-mitochondrial therapy may be useful to deter hormone-dependent breast carcinomas.

Quercetin attenuates viral infections by interacting with target proteins and linked genes in chemicobiological models

Medicinally active compounds in the flavonoid class of phytochemicals are being studied for antiviral action against various DNA and RNA viruses. Quercetin is a flavonoid present in a wide range of foods, including fruits and vegetables. It is said to be efficient against a wide range of viruses. This research investigated the usefulness of Quercetin against Hepatitis C virus, Dengue type 2 virus, Ebola virus, and Influenza A using computational models. A molecular docking study using the online tool PockDrug was accomplished to identify the best binding sites between Quercetin and PubChem-based receptors. Network-pharmacological assay to opt to verify function-specific gene-compound interactions using STITCH, STRING, GSEA, Cytoscape plugin cytoHubba. Quercetin explored tremendous binding affinity against NS5A protein for HCV with a docking score of - 6.268 kcal/mol, NS5 for DENV-2 with a docking score of - 5.393 kcal/mol, VP35 protein for EBOV with a docking score of - 4.524 kcal/mol, and NP protein for IAV with a docking score of - 6.954 kcal/mol. In the network-pharmacology study, out of 39 hub genes, 38 genes have been found to interact with Quercetin and the top interconnected nodes in the protein-protein network were (based on the degree of interaction with other nodes) AKT1, EGFR, SRC, MMP9, MMP2, KDR, IGF1R, PTK2, ABCG2, and MET. Negative binding energies were noticed in Quercetin-receptor interaction. Results demonstrate that Quercetin could be a potential antiviral agent against these viral diseases with further study in in-vivo models.

Graphical abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40203-022-00132-2.

A Novel Nomogram Model to Predict the Recurrence-Free Survival and Overall Survival of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background

Treatments for patients with early‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) include liver transplantation (LT), liver resection (LR), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and microwave ablation (MWA), are critical for their long-term survival. However, a computational model predicting treatment-independent prognosis of patients with HCC, such as overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS), is yet to be developed, to our best knowledge. The goal of this study is to identify prognostic factors associated with OS and RFS in patients with HCC and develop nomograms to predict them, respectively.

Methods

We retrospectively retrieved 730 patients with HCC from three hospitals in China and followed them up for 3 and 5 years after invasive treatment. All enrolled patients were randomly divided into the training cohort and the validation cohort with a 7:3 ratio, respectively. Independent prognostic factors associated with OS and RFS were determined by the multivariate Cox regression analysis. Two nomogram prognostic models were built and evaluated by concordance index (C-index), calibration curves, area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, time-dependent area under the ROC curve (AUC), the Kaplan–Meier survival curve, and decision curve analyses (DCAs), respectively.

Results

Prognostic factors for OS and RFS were identified, and nomograms were successfully built. Calibration discrimination was good for both the OS and RFS nomogram prediction models (C-index: 0.750 and 0.746, respectively). For both nomograms, the AUC demonstrated outstanding predictive performance; the DCA shows that the model has good decision ability; and the calibration curve demonstrated strong predictive power. The nomograms successfully discriminated high-risk and low-risk patients with HCC associated with OS and RFS.

Conclusions

We developed nomogram survival prediction models to predict the prognosis of HCC after invasive treatment with acceptable accuracies in both training and independent testing cohorts. The models may have clinical values in guiding the selection of clinical treatment strategies.

Discovery of Novel Bicyclic Phenylselenyl-Containing Hybrids: An Orally Bioavailable, Potential, and Multiacting Class of Estrogen Receptor Modulators against Endocrine-Resistant Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is a multifactorial disease and is prone to drug resistance during treatment. In this study, we described a new class of multifunctional estrogen receptor (ER) modulators ground on a prerogative indirect antagonism skeleton (OBHS, oxabicycloheptene sulfonate) of ER containing a phenylselenyl group. Compound 34b showed significant antiproliferative activities against tamoxifen-sensitive (MCF-7) and -resistant (LCC2) cells. Moreover, hexokinase 1 (HK1) was identified as a direct target of 34b. Further mechanism investigations proved that 34b induced apoptosis, which was associated with mitochondrial dysfunction caused by the synergistic effects of downregulating mitochondrial-bound HK1 protein and promoting reactive oxygen species generation. In vivo, 34b had a favorable pharmacokinetic profile with a bioavailability of 23.20% and exhibited more potent tumor suppression than tamoxifen both in MCF-7 and LCC2 tumor xenograft models. Collectively, our studies showed that 34b is a promising new multifunctional candidate compound for ERα⁺ BC treatment, particularly for tamoxifen-resistant BC.

Therapeutic Value of Estrogen Receptor α in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Molecular Mechanisms

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is significantly lower in women than men, implying that estrogen receptors (ERs) may play an important role in this sex dimorphism. Recently, considerable progress has been made in expanding our understanding of the mechanisms of ERs in HCC. As one of the most important ERs, ERα functions as a tumor suppressor in the progression of HCC through various pathways, such as STAT3 signaling pathways, lipid metabolism-related signaling pathways, and non-coding RNAs. However, the function of ERα was reduced with the changes of some molecules in the liver, which may develop further into HCC and make it difficult to achieve an effective hormone treatment effect. Intriguingly, there are signs that individualized hormone therapy according to the activity of ERα will overcome this challenge. Based on these observations, it is particularly imperative to reassess and extend the function of ERα. In this review, we mainly elucidated molecular mechanisms associated with ERα in HCC and investigated the individualized hormone therapy based on these mechanisms, with the aim of providing new insights for HCC treatment.

Natural Compounds from Hatikana Extract Potentiate Antidiabetic Actions as Displayed by In Vivo Assays and Verified by Network Pharmacological Tools

BACKGROUND

Hatikana is a traditional medicinal plant used to treat inflammation, urolithiasis, goiter, cancer, wounds and sores, gastrointestinal, tumor, tetanus, arthritis, hepatic damage, neurodegeneration, and other ailments. The goal of this study is to investigate the antidiabetic properties of Hatikana extract (HKEx) and to construct the effects of its natural constituents on the genes and biochemical indices that are connected with them.

METHODS

HKEx was evaluated using GC-MS and undertaken for a three-week intervention in fructose-fed STZ-induced Wistar albino rats at the doses of HKEx50, HKEx100, and HKEx200 mg/kg bw. Following intervention, blood serum was examined for biochemical markers, and liver tissue was investigated for the mRNA expression of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and superoxide dismutase (SOD1) by RTPCR analysis. Most abundant compounds (oleanolic acid, 7α, 28-olean diol, and stigmasterol) from GC-MS were chosen for the network pharmacological assay to verify function-specific gene-compound interactions using STITCH, STRING, GSEA, and Cytoscape plugin cytoHubba.

RESULTS

In vivo results showed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of blood sugar, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine kinase (CK-MB), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and increase of liver glycogen, glucose load, and serum insulin. Out of three antioxidative genes, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD1) were found to be few fold increased. Oleanolic acid and stigmasterol were noticed to strongly interact with 27 target proteins. Oleanolic acid interacted with the proteins AKR1B10, CASP3, CASP8, CYP1A2, CYP1A2, HMGB1, NAMPT, NFE2L2, NQO1, PPARA, PTGIR, TOP1, TOP2A, UGT2B10, and UGT2B11 and stigmasterol with ABCA1, ABCG5, ABCG8, CTSE, HMGCR, IL10, CXCL8, NR1H2, NR1H3, SLCO1B1, SREBF2, and TNF. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis revealed the involvement of 25 target proteins out of twenty seven. Cytoscape plugin cytoHubba identified TNF, CXCL8, CASP3, PPARA, SREBF2, and IL10 as top hub genes. Pathway analysis identified 31 KEGG metabolic, signaling, and immunogenic pathways associated with diabetes. Notable degree of PPI enrichment showed that SOD1 and CAT are responsible for controlling signaling networks and enriched pathways.

CONCLUSION

The findings show that antioxidative genes have regulatory potential, allowing the HKEx to be employed as a possible antidiabetic source pending further validation.

Untargeted Metabolomics in Forensic Toxicology: A New Approach for the Detection of Fentanyl Intake in Urine Samples

The misuse of fentanyl, and novel synthetic opioids (NSO) in general, has become a public health emergency, especially in the United States. The detection of NSO is often challenged by the limited diagnostic time frame allowed by urine sampling and the wide range of chemically modified analogues, continuously introduced to the recreational drug market. In this study, an untargeted metabolomics approach was developed to obtain a comprehensive "fingerprint" of any anomalous and specific metabolic pattern potentially related to fentanyl exposure. In recent years, in vitro models of drug metabolism have emerged as important tools to overcome the limited access to positive urine samples and uncertainties related to the substances actually taken, the possible combined drug intake, and the ingested dose. In this study, an in vivo experiment was designed by incubating HepG2 cell lines with either fentanyl or common drugs of abuse, creating a cohort of 96 samples. These samples, together with 81 urine samples including negative controls and positive samples obtained from recent users of either fentanyl or "traditional" drugs, were subjected to untargeted analysis using both UHPLC reverse phase and HILIC chromatography combined with QTOF mass spectrometry. Data independent acquisition was performed by SWATH in order to obtain a comprehensive profile of the urinary metabolome. After extensive processing, the resulting datasets were initially subjected to unsupervised exploration by principal component analysis (PCA), yielding clear separation of the fentanyl positive samples with respect to both controls and samples positive to other drugs. The urine datasets were then systematically investigated by supervised classification models based on soft independent modeling by class analogy (SIMCA) algorithms, with the end goal of identifying fentanyl users. A final single-class SIMCA model based on an RP dataset and five PCs yielded 96% sensitivity and 74% specificity. The distinguishable metabolic patterns produced by fentanyl in comparison to other opioids opens up new perspectives in the interpretation of the biological activity of fentanyl.