Protein Kinase Targets in Breast Cancer

CDK2-activated TRIM32 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation promotes radioresistance in triple-negative breast cancer

INTRODUCTION

Despite radiotherapy being one of the major treatments for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), new molecular targets for its treatment are still required due to radioresistance. CDK2 plays a critical role in TNBC. However, the mechanism by which CDK2 promotes TNBC radioresistance remains to be clearly elucidated.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to elucidate the relationship between CDK2 and TRIM32 and the regulation mechanism in TNBC.

METHODS

We performed immunohistochemical staining to detect nuclear TRIM32, CDK2 and STAT3 on TNBC tissues. Western blot assays and PCR were used to detect the protein and mRNA level changes. CRISPR/Cas9 used to knock out CDK2. shRNA-knockdown and transfection assays also used to knock out target genes. GST pull-down analysis, immunoprecipitation (IP) assay and in vitro isomerization analysis also used. Tumorigenesis studies also used to verify the results in vitro.

RESULTS

Herein, tripartite motif-containing protein 32 (TRIM32) is revealed as a substrate of CDK2. Radiotherapy promotes the binding of CDK2 and TRIM32, thus leading to increased CDK2-dependent phosphorylation of TRIM32 at serines 328 and 339. This causes the recruitment of PIN1, involved in cis-trans isomerization of TRIM32, resulting in importin α3 binding to TRIM32 and contributing to its nuclear translocation. Nuclear TRIM32 inhibits TC45-dephosphorylated STAT3, Leading to increased transcription of STAT3 and radioresistance in TNBC. These results were validated by clinical prognosis confirmed by the correlative expressions of the critical components of the CDK2/TRIM32/STAT3 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings demonstrate that regulating the CDK2/TRIM32/STAT3 pathway is a promising strategy for reducing radioresistance in TNBC.

Clinicopathologic features and genomic profiling of female axillary lymph node metastases from adenocarcinoma or poorly differentiated carcinoma of unknown primary

PURPOSE

Axillary lymph node metastases from adenocarcinoma or poorly differentiated carcinoma of unknown primary (CUPAx) is a rare disease in women. This retrospective study intended to examine the clinicopathological features of CUPAx and compared CUPAx genetically with axillary lymph node metastases from breast cancer (BCAx), investigating differences in their biological behavior.

METHODS

We conducted the clinical and prognostic analysis of 58 CUPAx patients in West China Hospital spanning from 2009 to 2021. Gemonic profiling of 12 CUPAx patients and 16 BCAx patients was conducted by the FoundationOne CDx (F1CDx) platform. Moreover, we also compared the gene mutation spectrum and relevant pathways between the two groups and both TCGA and COSMIC databases.

RESULTS

The majority of the 58 CUPAx patients were HR-/HER2- subtype. Most patients received mastectomy combined radiotherapy (50 Gy/25f). CUPAx patients who received mastectomy instead of breast-conserving surgery had a more favorable overall prognosis. Radiotherapy in chest wall/breast and supraclavicular/infraclavicular fossa was the independent prognostic factor (HR = 0.05, 95%CI = 0.00-0.93, P = 0.04). In 28 sequencing samples (CUPAx, n = 12, BCAx, n = 16) and 401 TCGA-BRCA patients, IRS2 only mutated in CUPAx (33.33%) but amplified in BCAx (11.11%) and TCGA-BRCA (1.5%). Pathway analysis revealed that BCAx had more NOTCH pathway mutations than CUPAx. Enrichment analysis showed that CUPAx enriched more in mammary development and PML bodies than BCAx, but less in the positive regulation of kinase activity.

CONCLUSIONS

More active treatment methods, like chemotherapy, mastectomy and postoperative radiotherapy, could improve the prognosis of CUPAx. The differential mutation genes of CUPAx and BCAx might be associated with their respective biological behaviors like invasiveness and prognosis.

Thiazolyl-isatin derivatives: Synthesis, in silico studies, in vitro biological profile against breast cancer cells, mRNA expression, P-gp modulation, and interactions of Akt2 and VIM proteins

The literature reports that thiazole and isatin nuclei present a range of biological activities, with an emphasis on anticancer activity. Therefore, our proposal was to make a series of compounds using the molecular hybridization strategy, which has been used by our research group, producing hybrid molecules containing the thiazole and isatin nuclei. After structural planning and synthesis, the compounds were characterized and evaluated in vitro against breast cancer cell lines (T-47D, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and against normal cells (PBMC). The activity profile on membrane proteins involved in chemoresistance and tumorigenic signaling proteins was also evaluated. Among the compounds tested, the compounds 4c and 4a stood out with IC50 values of 1.23 and 1.39 μM, respectively, against the MDA-MB-231 cell line. Both compounds exhibited IC50 values of 0.45 μM for the MCF-7 cell line. Compounds 4a and 4c significantly decreased P-gp mRNA expression levels in MCF-7, 4 and 2 folds respectively. Regarding the impact on tumorigenic signaling proteins, compound 4a inhibited Akt2 in MDA-MB-231 and compound 4c inhibited the mRNA expression of VIM in MCF-7.

Novel sulfonamide-indolinone hybrids targeting mitochondrial respiration of breast cancer cells

Breast cancer (BC) still poses a threat worldwide which demands continuous efforts to present safer and efficacious treatment options via targeted therapy. Beside kinases' aberrations as Aurora B kinase which controls cell division, BC adopts distinct metabolic profiles to meet its high energy demands. Accordingly, targeting both aurora B kinase and/or metabolic vulnerability presents a promising approach to tackle BC. Based on a previously reported indolinone-based Aurora B kinase inhibitor (III), and guided by structural modification and SAR investigation, we initially synthesized 11 sulfonamide-indolinone hybrids (5a-k), which showed differential antiproliferative activities against the NCI-60 cell line panel with BC cells displaying preferential sensitivity. Nonetheless, modest activity against Aurora B kinase (18-49% inhibition) was noted at 100 nM. Screening of a representative derivative (5d) against 17 kinases, which are overexpressed in BC, failed to show significant activity at 1 μM concentration, suggesting that kinase inhibitory activity only played a partial role in targeting BC. Bioinformatic analyses of genome-wide transcriptomics (RNA-sequencing), metabolomics, and CRISPR loss-of-function screens datasets suggested that indolinone-completely responsive BC cell lines (MCF7, MDA-MB-468, and T-47D) were more dependent on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) compared to partially responsive BC cell lines (MDA-MB-231, BT-549, and HS 578 T). An optimized derivative, TC11, obtained by molecular hybridization of 5d with sunitinib polar tail, manifested superior antiproliferative activity and was used for further investigations. Indeed, TC11 significantly reduced/impaired the mitochondrial respiration, as well as mitochondria-dependent ROS production of MCF7 cells. Furthermore, TC11 induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of MCF7 BC cells. Notably, anticancer doses of TC11 did not elicit cytotoxic effects on normal cardiomyoblasts and hepatocytes. Altogether, these findings emphasize the therapeutic potential of targeting the metabolic vulnerability of OXPHOS-dependent BC cells using TC11 and its related sulfonamide-indolinone hybrids. Further investigation is warranted to identify their precise/exact molecular target.

Molecular docking, ADMET profiling of gallic acid and its derivatives (N-alkyl gallamide) as apoptosis agent of breast cancer MCF-7 Cells

Background

In 2020, breast cancer has become the most common cancer in the world and in Indonesia. Searching for anticancer drugs using computational methods is considered more effective and selective than other methods. Gallic acid and its derivatives (esters and amides) are compounds that have biological activities such as anticancer effects. The purpose of this study was to analyse the molecular modelling and ADMET (Adsorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion and Toxicity) profile of gallic acid derivative compounds (N-alkyl gallamides) as anticancer agents.

Methods

Target proteins were selected by analysis of protein-protein and drug-protein interactions. Molecular modelling was done by molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation. Predictive analysis of the ADMET profile of gallic acid and its derivatives (N-alkyl gallamide) was conducted using Marvin Sketch, Swissadme, protox II, and pkCSM pharmacokinetics. The selected target proteins were JUN, AKT1, CASP3, and CASP7.

Results

Compounds N-octyl gallamide, N-ters-butyl gallamide, and N-isoamil gallamide were the three best gallic acid derivatives based on molecular modelling analysis of target proteins associated with breast cancer. The ADMET profile of the N-alkyl gallamide compound is predictable and shows a good profile as a candidate for anticancer drugs.

Conclusion

N-octyl gallamide, N-ters-butyl gallamide, and N-isoamil gallamide have potential as anti-breast cancer agents.

Colorectal cancer: Genetic alterations, novel biomarkers, current therapeutic strategies and clinical trials

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly detected cancer with a serious global health issue. The rates for incidence and mortality for CRC are alarming, especially since the prognosis is abysmal when the CRC is diagnosed at an advanced or metastatic stage. Both type of (modifiable/ non-modifiable) types of risk factors are established for CRC. Despite the advances in recent technology and sophisticated research, the survival rate is still meager due to delays in diagnosis. Therefore, there is urgently required to identify critical biomarkers aiming at early diagnosis and improving effective therapeutic strategies. Additionally, a complete understanding of the dysregulated pathways like PI3K/Akt, Notch, and Wnt associated with CRC progression and metastasis is very beneficial in designing a therapeutic regimen. This review article focused on the dysregulated signaling pathways, genetics and epigenetics alterations, and crucial biomarkers of CRC. This review also provided the list of clinical trials targeting signaling cascades and therapies involving small molecules. This review discusses up-to-date information on novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies alongside specific clinical trials.

Screening of natural product libraries in MCF7 cell line reveals the pro-apoptotic properties of β tetralone

Despite the exponential increase in research toward better treatment options for breast cancer patients, developing an effective drug with fewer side effects continues to remain a challenge. Natural compounds have emerged as a viable option and several drugs have been derived or inspired from them. In this study, we screened a library of natural compounds with diverse chemical structures against selected kinase proteins using in silico methods such as molecular docking and dynamics simulation. The best results were obtained between β tetralone and MDM2 E3 ubiquitin ligase protein. In vitro experiments such as cytotoxicity, scratch assays and flow cytometry analysis using an MCF7 cell line were performed to determine the anti-cancer potential of the compound. As the treatment resulted in cell death and apoptosis, β tetralone was screened in silico against anti-apoptotic targets where the best results were obtained between Bcl-w and β tetralone. This comprehensive study suggests that the anti-cancer activity of β tetralone is probably through the dual targeting of MDM2 E3 ubiquitin kinase and Bcl-w anti-apoptotic protein.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Multi-omics analysis of fecal samples in colorectal cancer Egyptians patients: a pilot study

BACKGROUND

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a public health concern and the second most common disease worldwide. This is due to genetic coding and is influenced by environmental aspects, in which the gut microbiota plays a significant role. The purpose of this study was to compare the microbiota makeup of CRC patients with that of healthy control and to identify upregulated and downregulated proteins and metabolites in CRC patients. Using a next-generation sequencing approach, fecal samples of five females (4 CRC patients and one healthy control) were analyzed by BGI DNBSEQ-T7, Hong Kong, China. Furthermore, proteomics and metabolomics analysis were performed using LC-MS/MS technique.

RESULTS

Dysbiosis of gut microbiota has been observed in patients with CRC, with an increase in microbiota diversity at all taxonomic levels relative to healthy control. Where, at the functional level the bacterial species participate in many different pathways among them de novo nucleotide synthesis and amino acids pathways were aberrantly upregulated in CRC patients. Proteomics and metabolomics profiles of CRC patients showed different proteins and metabolites, a total of 360 and 158 proteins and metabolites, respectively were highly expressed compared to healthy control with fold change ≥ 1.2. Among the highly expressed proteins were transketolase, sushi domain-containing protein, sulfide quinone oxidoreductase protein, AAA family ATPase protein, carbonic anhydrase, IgG Fc-binding protein, nucleoside diphosphate kinase protein, arylsulfatase, alkaline phosphatase protein, phosphoglycerate kinase, protein kinase domain-containing protein, non-specific serine/threonine protein kinase, Acyl-CoA synthetase and EF-hand domain-containing protein. Some of the differential metabolites, Taurine, Taurocholic acid, 7-ketodeoxycholic acid, Glycochenodeoxycholic acid, Glycocholic acid, and Taurochenodeoxycholic acid that belong to bile acids metabolites.

CONCLUSIONS

Some bacterial species, proteins, and metabolites could be used as diagnostic biomarkers for CRC. Our study paves an insight into using multi-omics technology to address the relationship between gut microbiota and CRC.

Omics-Based Investigations of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is characterized by an extensive genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity. In-depth investigations into the molecular bases of BC phenotypes, carcinogenesis, progression, and metastasis are necessary for accurate diagnoses, prognoses, and therapy assessments in predictive, precision, and personalized oncology. This review discusses both classic as well as several novel omics fields that are involved or should be used in modern BC investigations, which may be integrated as a holistic term, onco-breastomics. Rapid and recent advances in molecular profiling strategies and analytical techniques based on high-throughput sequencing and mass spectrometry (MS) development have generated large-scale multi-omics datasets, mainly emerging from the three "big omics", based on the central dogma of molecular biology: genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. Metabolomics-based approaches also reflect the dynamic response of BC cells to genetic modifications. Interactomics promotes a holistic view in BC research by constructing and characterizing protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks that provide a novel hypothesis for the pathophysiological processes involved in BC progression and subtyping. The emergence of new omics- and epiomics-based multidimensional approaches provide opportunities to gain insights into BC heterogeneity and its underlying mechanisms. The three main epiomics fields (epigenomics, epitranscriptomics, and epiproteomics) are focused on the epigenetic DNA changes, RNAs modifications, and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) affecting protein functions for an in-depth understanding of cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Novel omics fields, such as epichaperomics or epimetabolomics, could investigate the modifications in the interactome induced by stressors and provide PPI changes, as well as in metabolites, as drivers of BC-causing phenotypes. Over the last years, several proteomics-derived omics, such as matrisomics, exosomics, secretomics, kinomics, phosphoproteomics, or immunomics, provided valuable data for a deep understanding of dysregulated pathways in BC cells and their tumor microenvironment (TME) or tumor immune microenvironment (TIMW). Most of these omics datasets are still assessed individually using distinct approches and do not generate the desired and expected global-integrative knowledge with applications in clinical diagnostics. However, several hyphenated omics approaches, such as proteo-genomics, proteo-transcriptomics, and phosphoproteomics-exosomics are useful for the identification of putative BC biomarkers and therapeutic targets. To develop non-invasive diagnostic tests and to discover new biomarkers for BC, classic and novel omics-based strategies allow for significant advances in blood/plasma-based omics. Salivaomics, urinomics, and milkomics appear as integrative omics that may develop a high potential for early and non-invasive diagnoses in BC. Thus, the analysis of the tumor circulome is considered a novel frontier in liquid biopsy. Omics-based investigations have applications in BC modeling, as well as accurate BC classification and subtype characterization. The future in omics-based investigations of BC may be also focused on multi-omics single-cell analyses.

Never in mitosis gene A-related kinase-8 promotes proliferation, migration, invasion, and stemness of breast cancer cells via β-catenin signalling activation

Never in mitosis gene A (NIMA)-related kinase-8 (NEK8) is involved in cell cycle progression, cytoskeleton development, and DNA damage repair. However, its role in breast cancer has not yet been explored. To investigate this, NEK8 was knocked down in MDA-MB-231, BT549, and HCC38 breast cancer cell lines. We observed a decrease in cell proliferation and colony formation owing to regulation of the G1/S and G2/M transitions. Furthermore, the expression of several cell cycle regulatory proteins was altered, including that of cyclin D1, cyclin B1, CDK4, CDK2, and surviving. NEK8 knockdown impaired cell migration and invasion as well as reduced the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers. Regarding stem-cell characteristics, NEK8 knockdown decreased the tumour sphere formation, aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, and stem-cell marker expression, including that of CD44, Sox2, Oct4a, and Nanog. Further analysis revealed that NEK8 interacts with β-catenin. Also, NEK8 knockdown promoted β-catenin degradation. NEK8-silenced MDA-MB-231 cells inhibited xenograft tumour growth, metastasis, and tumour initiation in vivo. Using the Oncomine and TNMplot public databases, we found a significant correlation between NEK8 overexpression and poor clinical outcomes in breast cancer patients. Thus, NEK8 may be a crucial regulator of breast cancer progression and a potential therapeutic target.

Ethnic and racial-specific differences in levels of centrosome-associated mitotic kinases, proliferative and epithelial-to-mesenchymal markers in breast cancers

Molecular epidemiology evidence indicates racial and ethnic differences in the aggressiveness and survival of breast cancer. Hispanics/Latinas (H/Ls) and non-Hispanic Black women (NHB) are at higher risk of breast cancer (BC)-related death relative to non-Hispanic white (NHW) women in part because they are diagnosed with hormone receptor-negative (HR) subtype and at higher stages. Since the cell cycle is one of the most commonly deregulated cellular processes in cancer, we propose that the mitotic kinases TTK (or Mps1), TBK1, and Nek2 could be novel targets to prevent breast cancer progression among NHBs and H/Ls. In this study, we calculated levels of TTK, p-TBK1, epithelial (E-cadherin), mesenchymal (Vimentin), and proliferation (Ki67) markers through immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of breast cancer tissue microarrays (TMAs) that includes samples from 6 regions in the Southeast of the United States and Puerto Rico -regions enriched with NHB and H/L breast cancer patients. IHC analysis showed that TTK, Ki67, and Vimentin were significantly expressed in triple-negative (TNBC) tumors relative to other subtypes, while E-cadherin showed decreased expression. TTK correlated with all of the clinical variables but p-TBK1 did not correlate with any of them. TCGA analysis revealed that the mRNA levels of multiple mitotic kinases, including TTK, Nek2, Plk1, Bub1, and Aurora kinases A and B, and transcription factors that are known to control the expression of these kinases (e.g. FoxM1 and E2F1-3) were upregulated in NHBs versus NHWs and correlated with higher aneuploidy indexes in NHB, suggesting that these mitotic kinases may be future novel targets for breast cancer treatment in NHB women.

Harnessing the Immunogenic Potential of Gold Nanoparticle-Based Platforms as a Therapeutic Strategy in Breast Cancer Immunotherapy: A Mini Review

Breast cancer remains the most common malignancy among women worldwide. Although the implementation of mammography has dramatically increased the early detection rate, conventional treatments like chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery, have significantly improved the prognosis for breast cancer patients. However, about a third of treated breast cancer patients are known to suffer from disease recurrences and progression to metastasis. Immunotherapy has recently gained traction due to its ability to establish long-term immune surveillance, and response for the prevention of disease recurrence and extension of patient survival. Current research findings have revealed that gold nanoparticles can enhance the safety and efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, through their unique intrinsic properties of good biocompatibility, durability, convenient surface modification, as well as enhanced permeability and retention effect. Gold nanoparticles are also able to induce innate immune responses through the process of immunogenic cell death, which can lead to the establishment of lasting adaptive immunity. As such gold nanoparticles are considered as good candidates for next generation immunotherapeutic strategies. This mini review gives an overview of gold nanoparticles and their potential applications in breast cancer immunotherapeutic strategies.

Antitumor and multikinase inhibition activities of some synthesized coumarin and benzofuran derivatives

Two new series of coumarin and benzofuran derivatives were designed, synthesized, and assessed for their in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities against breast cancer. Compounds 8, 9, 14, 15, and 17 exhibited the best antiproliferative activities (IC₅₀ : 0.07-2.94 μM) against the MCF-7 cell line, compared with lapatinib (IC₅₀ : 4.69 μM). Compound 14, with the most potent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 cells, was capable of enhancing preG1 apoptosis and triggering cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. The kinase inhibitory activity of compound 14 against a panel of 22 kinases was examined to reveal multikinase inhibition within -39% to -97%. Furthermore, compound 14 exhibited potent in vivo Ehrlich (mammary adenocarcinoma) tumor regression, positive caspase-3, and negative EGFR immunoreaction, and was capable of elevating the catalase level. The physicochemical properties and pharmacokinetic parameters of compound 14 were investigated in silico for its druglikeness.

Gefitinib-Tamoxifen Hybrid Ligands as Potent Agents against Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Anticancer drug conjugates may benefit from simultaneous action at two targets potentially overcoming the drawbacks of current cancer treatment, such as insufficient efficacy, high toxicity, and development of resistance. Compared to a combination of two single-target drugs, they may offer an advantage of pharmacokinetic simplicity and fewer drug-drug interactions. Here, we report a series of compounds connecting tamoxifen or endoxifen with the EGFR-inhibitor gefitinib via a covalent linkage. These hybrid ligands retain both ER antagonist activity and EGFR inhibition. The most potent analogues exhibited single-digit nanomolar activities at both targets. The amide-linked endoxifen-gefitinib drug conjugates 17b and 17c demonstrated the most favorable anti-cancer profile in cellular viability assays on MCF7, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, and BT-549 breast cancer cells. Most importantly, in TNBC cells 17b and 17c displayed nanomolar IC₅₀-values (380 nM - 970 nM) and were superior in their anti-cancer activity compared to their control compounds and combinations thereof.

Curcumin as a Potential Therapeutic Agent in Certain Cancer Types

Cancer is a devastating disease condition and is the second most common etiology of death globally. After decades of research in the field of hematological malignancies and cellular therapeutics, we are still looking for therapeutic agents with the most efficacies and least toxicities. Curcumin is one of the cancer therapeutic agents that is derived from the Curcuma longa (turmeric) plant, and still in vitro and in vivo research is going on to find its beneficial effects on various cancers. Due to its potency to affect multiple targets of different cellular pathways, it is considered a promising agent to tackle various cancers alone or in combination with the existing chemotherapies. This review covers basic properties, mechanism of action, potential targets (molecules and cell-signaling pathways) of curcumin, as well as its effect on various solid and hematological malignancies. 

Emerging trends in developing biosensor techniques to undertake plant phosphoproteomic analysis

Protein modifications particularly phosphorylation is governed by a complex array of mechanisms to attain a functional conformation and regulate important biological processes in organisms during external environmental stimuli and hormone signaling. Phosphoproteomics is a promising field of proteomics for identification of proteins with phosphate groups and their impact on structure, function and localization of proteins. Techniques that allow quantitative detection of proteins and their post-translational modifications (PTMs) have immensely led to understand the structural and functional dynamics of proteins. Biosensor systems are a relatively new biotechnological approach that works on the principle of transforming the interactions of different biological samples viz proteins, enzymes, aptamers, nucleic acids and so on into the signals such as electrochemical, colorimetric, optical or magnetic which have been effectively useful in the detection and characterization of phosphoproteins. The focus of our review is to provide a comprehensive account of the critical role and utility of novel biosensors such as, fluorescence based, enrichment based, nanobody based biosensors, as promising technical intercessions to identify phosphoproteins and their influence on structural dynamics of proteins. Furthermore, by studying the innovative phosphoprotein biosensors we will be able to identify the aberrant phosphorylation patterns to precisely diagnose diseases.

System analysis of VEGFA in renal cell carcinoma: The expression, prognosis, gene regulation network and regulation targets

BACKGROUND

VEGFA is one of the most important regulators of angiogenesis and plays a crucial role in cancer angiogenesis and progression. Recent studies have highlighted a relationship between VEGFA expression and renal cell carcinoma occurrence. However, the expression level, gene regulation network, prognostic value, and target prediction of VEGFA in renal cell carcinoma remain unclear. Therefore, system analysis of the expression, gene regulation network, prognostic value, and target prediction of VEGFA in patients with renal cell carcinoma is of great theoretical significance as there is a clinical demand for the discovery of new renal cell carcinoma treatment targets and strategies to further improve renal cell carcinoma treatment efficacy.

METHODS

This study used multiple free online databases, including cBioPortal, TRRUST, GeneMANIA, GEPIA, Metascape, UALCAN, LinkedOmics, Metascape, and TIMER for the abovementioned analysis.

RESULTS

VEGFA was upregulated in patients with kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) and kidney chromophobe (KICH), and downregulated in patients with kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma (KIRP). Moreover, genetic alterations of VEGFA were found in patients with renal cell carcinoma as follows: 4% (KIRC), 8% (KICH), and 4% (KIRP). The promoter methylation of VEGFA was lower and higher in patients with clinical stages of KIRC and stage 1 KIRP, respectively. VEGFA expression significantly correlated with KIRC and KIRP pathological stages. Furthermore, patients with KICH and KIRP having low VEGFA expression levels had a longer survival than those having high VEGFA expression levels. VEGFA and its neighboring genes functioned in the regulation of protein methylation and glycosylation, as well as muscle fiber growth and differentiation in patients with renal cell carcinoma. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis revealed that the functions of VEGFA and its neighboring genes in patients with renal cell carcinoma are mainly related to cell adhesion molecule binding, catalytic activity, acting on RNA, ATPase activity, actin filament binding, protease binding, transcription coactivator activity, cysteine-type peptidase activity, and calmodulin binding. Transcription factor targets of VEGFA and its neighboring genes in patients with renal cell carcinoma were found: HIF1A, TFAP2A, and ESR1 in KIRC; STAT3, NFKB1, and HIPK2 in KICH; and FOXO3, TFAP2A, and ETS1 in KIRP. We further explored the VEGFA-associated kinase (ATM in KICH as well as CDK1 and AURKB in KIRP) and VEGFA-associated microRNA (miRNA) targets (MIR-21 in KICH as well as MIR-213, MIR-383, and MIR-492 in KIRP). Furthermore, the following genes had the strongest correlation with VEGFA expression in patients with renal cell carcinoma: NOTCH4, GPR4, and TRIB2 in KIRC; CKMT2, RRAGD, and PPARGC1A in KICH; and FLT1, C6orf223, and ESM1 in KIRP. VEGFA expression in patients with renal cell carcinoma was positively associated with immune cell infiltration, including CD8+T cells, CD4+T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed VEGFA expression and potential gene regulatory network in patients with renal cell carcinoma, thereby laying a foundation for further research on the role of VEGFA in renal cell carcinoma occurrence. Moreover, the study provides new renal cell carcinoma therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers as a reference for fundamental and clinical research.

Reconstituting Immune Surveillance in Breast Cancer: Molecular Pathophysiology and Current Immunotherapy Strategies

Over the past 50 years, breast cancer immunotherapy has emerged as an active field of research, generating novel, targeted treatments for the disease. Immunotherapies carry enormous potential to improve survival in breast cancer, particularly for the subtypes carrying the poorest prognoses. Here, we review the mechanisms by which cancer evades immune destruction as well as the history of breast cancer immunotherapies and recent developments, including clinical trials that have shaped the treatment of the disease with a focus on cell therapies, vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors, and oncolytic viruses.

A novel screening approach comparing kinase activity of small molecule inhibitors with similar molecular structures and distinct biologic effects in triple-negative breast cancer to identify targetable signaling pathways

Breast cancer affects women globally; the majority of breast cancer-related mortalities are due to metastasis. Acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype has been implicated in the progression of breast cancer cells to an invasive, metastatic state. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes have high rates of metastases, recurrence, and have poorer prognoses compared to other breast cancer types, partially due to lack of commonly targeted receptors. Kinases have diverse and pivotal functions in metastasis in TNBC, and discovery of new kinase targets for TNBC is warranted. We previously used a screening approach to identify intermediate-synthesis nonpotent, nonselective small-molecule inhibitors from the Published Kinase Inhibitor Set that reversed the mesenchymal phenotype in TNBC cells. Two of these inhibitors (GSK346294A and GSK448459A) are structurally similar, but have unique kinase activity profiles and exhibited differential biologic effects on TNBC cells, specifically on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Here, we further interrogate these effects and compare activity of these inhibitors on transwell migration, gene (qRT-PCR) and protein (western blot) expressions, and cancer stem cell-like behavior. We incorporated translational patient-derived xenograft models in these studies, and we focused on the lead inhibitor hit, GSK346294A, to demonstrate the utility of our comparative analysis as a screening modality to identify novel kinase targets and signaling pathways to pursue in TNBC. This study introduces a new method for discovering novel kinase targets that reverse the EMT phenotype; this screening approach can be applied to all cancer types and is not limited to breast cancer.

Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast cancer, as a heterogeneous disease, includes a wide range of pathological and clinical behaviors. Current treatment protocols, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and hormone replacement therapy, are mainly associated with poor response and high rate of recurrence. Therefore, more efforts are needed to develop alternative therapies for this type of cancer. Immunotherapy, as a novel strategy in cancer treatment, has a potential in treating breast cancer patients. Although breast cancer has long been considered problematic to treat with immunotherapy, as it is immunologically "cold," numerous newer preclinical and clinical reports now recommend that immunotherapy has the capability to treat breast cancer patients. In this review, we highlight the different immunotherapy strategies in breast cancer treatment.

Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast cancer, as a heterogeneous disease, includes a wide range of pathological and clinical behaviors. Current treatment protocols, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and hormone replacement therapy, are mainly associated with poor response and high rate of recurrence. Therefore, more efforts are needed to develop alternative therapies for this type of cancer. Immunotherapy, as a novel strategy in cancer treatment, has a potential in treating breast cancer patients. Although breast cancer has long been considered problematic to treat with immunotherapy, as it is immunologically "cold," numerous newer preclinical and clinical reports now recommend that immunotherapy has the capability to treat breast cancer patients. In this review, we highlight the different immunotherapy strategies in breast cancer treatment.

Mechanisms of Pharmaceutical Therapy and Drug Resistance in Esophageal Cancer

Pharmaceutical therapies are essential for esophageal cancer (EC). For the advanced EC, the neoadjuvant therapy regimen, including chemotherapy plus radiotherapy and/or immunotherapy, is effective to achieve clinical benefit, even pathological complete response. For the unresectable, recurrent, and metastatic EC, the pharmaceutical therapy is the limited effective regimen to alleviate the disease and prolong the progression-free survival and overall survival. In this review, we focus on the pharmaceutical applications in EC treatment including cytotoxic agents, molecular targeted antibodies, and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The chemotherapy regimen is based on cytotoxic agents such as platinum-based complexes, fluorinated pyrimidines and taxenes. Although the cytotoxic agents have been developed in past decades, the standard chemotherapy regimen is still the cisplatin and 5-FU or paclitaxel because the derived drugs have no significant advantages of overcoming the shortcomings of side effects and drug resistance. The targeted molecular therapy is an essential supplement for chemotherapy; however, there are only a few targeted therapies available in clinical practice. Trastuzumab and ramucirumab are the only two molecular therapy drugs which are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat advanced and/or metastatic EC. Although the targeted therapy usually achieves effective benefits in the early stage therapy of EC, the patients will always develop drug resistance during treatment. ICIs have had a significant impact on routine clinical practice in cancer treatment. The anti-programmed cell death-1 monoclonal antibodies pembrolizumab and nivolumab, as the ICIs, are recommended for advanced EC by several clinical trials. However, the significant issues of pharmaceutical treatment are still the dose-limiting side effects and primary or secondary drug resistance. These defects of pharmaceutical therapy restrain the clinical application and diminish the effectiveness of treatment.

Treatment Experiences with CDK4&6 Inhibitors Among Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Qualitative Study

PURPOSE

To describe patients' perspectives on the use of and potential challenges and barriers with adherence/persistence to cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitors (CDK4&6i's) to treat metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

METHODS

This qualitative study consisted of 60-minute semi-structured telephone interviews with patients with MBC in the US who were either current or recent CDK4&6i users, identified from administrative claims of survey-eligible commercial and Medicare Advantage patients in the HealthCore Integrated Research Database between November 1, 2018 and November 1, 2019. Patients were recruited by email and/or mailed letter. The 60-minute telephone interviews were conducted by a trained facilitator using a study-developed interview discussion guide that included topics impacting treatment choice and adherence/persistence. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed.

RESULTS

All 462 eligible patients were sent a recruitment email and/or letter to which 36 patients responded, consented to participate, and met study inclusion criteria; 25 patients scheduled interviews, and 24 completed them. Study participants were predominately white, non-Hispanic (96%) with a mean age of 59.5 years. Participants reported a largely positive experience and mentioned very few adherence/persistence issues. They further reported appreciating the ease and convenience of oral oncolytics, coped with side effects, had strong medical and social support, and experienced few cost issues.

CONCLUSION

The few adherence/persistence issues reported by participants contrasts with other findings of suboptimal oral oncolytic use. Interview themes indicated several factors that likely contributed to the lack of adherence/persistence issues: trusted relationship with oncologist, belief in importance of medication, positive medication views, strong medical and social support, and minimal personal drug cost. Future research should focus on whether and how much these factors impact adherence/persistence in more diverse populations. If adherence/persistence issues are identified in these populations, then it would be appropriate to study the development of interventions that target factors associated with better adherence/persistence.

Carbazole Derivatives as Kinase-Targeting Inhibitors for Cancer Treatment

Protein Kinases (PKs) are a heterogeneous family of enzymes that modulate several biological pathways, including cell division, cytoskeletal rearrangement, differentiation and apoptosis. In particular, due to their crucial role during human tumorigenesis and cancer progression, PKs are ideal targets for the design and development of effective and low toxic chemotherapeutics and represent the second group of drug targets after G-protein-coupled receptors. Nowadays, several compounds have been claimed to be PKs inhibitors, and some of them, such as imatinib, erlotinib and gefitinib, have already been approved for clinical use, whereas more than 30 others are in various phases of clinical trials. Among them, some natural or synthetic carbazole-based molecules represent promising PKs inhibitors due to their capability to interfere with PK activity by different mechanisms of action including the ability to act as DNA intercalating agents, interfere with the activity of enzymes involved in DNA duplication, such as topoisomerases and telomerases, and inhibit other proteins such as cyclindependent kinases or antagonize estrogen receptors. Thus, carbazoles can be considered a promising this class of compounds to be adopted in targeted therapy of different types of cancer.

Comprehensive Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Dysregulated Competing Endogenous RNA Network in Endocrine Resistant Breast Cancer Cells

Background

Tamoxifen and fulvestrant, both approved for endocrine therapy, have remarkably increased the prognosis of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients. However, acquired resistance to endocrine therapy greatly reduces its clinical efficacy. Accumulating evidence suggests a pivotal role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in breast cancer endocrine resistance, but the specific functions of ncRNAs in tamoxifen and fulvestrant resistance remain largely unknown.

Methods

Microarray analysis was performed for endocrine therapy sensitive (MCF-7), tamoxifen-resistant (LCC2), and dual tamoxifen and fulvestrant-resistant (LCC9) breast cancer cells. Gene ontology and pathway analysis were conducted for functional prediction of the unannotated differentially expressed ncRNAs. Competing endogenous RNA regulatory networks were constructed.

Results

We discovered a total of 3,129 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), 13,556 circular RNAs (circRNAs), 132 microRNAs, and 3358 mRNAs that were significantly differentially expressed. We constructed co-expression networks for lncRNA-mRNA, circRNA-mRNA, and microRNA-mRNA. In addition, we established lncRNA-microRNA-mRNA and circRNA-microRNA-mRNA regulatory networks to depict ncRNA crosstalk and transcriptomic regulation of endocrine resistance.

Conclusions

Our study delineates a comprehensive profiling of ncRNAs in tamoxifen and fulvestrant resistant breast cancer cells, which enriches our understanding of endocrine resistance and sheds new light on identifying novel endocrine resistance biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets to overcome endocrine resistance.

An approach using Caenorhabditis elegans screening novel targets to suppress tumour cell proliferation

OBJECTIVES

Tumour cell proliferation requires high metabolism to meet the bioenergetics and biosynthetic needs. Dauer in Caenorhabditis elegans is characterized by lower metabolism, and we established an approach with C elegans to find potential tumour therapy targets.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RNAi screening was used to find dauer-related genes, and these genes were further analysed in glp-1(-) mutants for tumour-suppressing testing. The identified tumour-related genes were verified in clinical tumour tissues.

RESULTS

The lifespan of glp-1(-) mutants was found to be extended by classical dauer formation signalling. Then, 61 of 287 kinase-coding genes in Caenorhabditis elegans were identified as dauer-related genes, of which 27 were found to be homologous to human oncogenes. Furthermore, 12 dauer-related genes were randomly selected for tumour-suppressing test, and six genes significantly extended the lifespan of glp-1(-) mutants. Of these six genes, F47D12.9, W02B12.12 and gcy-21 were newly linked to dauer formation. These three new dauer-related genes significantly suppressed tumour cell proliferation and thus extended the lifespan of glp-1(-) mutants in a longevity- or dauer-independent manner. The mRNA expression profiles indicated that these dauer-related genes trigged similar low metabolism pattern in glp-1(-) mutants. Notably, the expression of homolog gene DCAF4L2/F47D12.9, TSSK6/W02B12.12 and NPR1/gcy-21 was found to be higher in glioma compared with adjacent normal tissue. In addition, the high expression of TSSK6/W02B12.12 and NPR1/gcy-21 correlated with a worse survival in glioma patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Dauer gene screening in combination with tumour-suppressing test in glp-1(-) mutants provided a useful approach to find potential targets for tumour therapy via suppressing tumour cell proliferation and rewiring tumour cell metabolism.

Applying Quality by Design Principles in the Development and Preparation of a New Radiopharmaceutical: Technetium-99m-Imatinib Mesylate

The clinical impact and accessibility of ^99mTc tracers for cancer diagnosis would be greatly enhanced by the availability of a new, simple, and easy labeling process and radiopharmaceuticals. In this study, Technetium-99m-imatinib mesylate ([^99mTc]TcIMT) was developed and prepared as a new radiopharmaceutical for breast cancer diagnosis. The effect of critical process parameters on the product quality and stability of [^99mTc]TcIMT was investigated using the quality by design concept of the ICH Q8 (Pharmaceutical Development) guideline. [^99mTc]TcIMT was subjected to in vitro cell binding studies to determine healthy and cancer cell affinity using HaCaT and MCF-7 cells, respectively. The optimal radiolabeling procedure with 1 mg of IMT, 500 μg of stannous chloride, 0.1 mg of ascorbic acid, and ^1mCi ^99mTc radioactivity was obtained for [^99mTc]TcIMT. The pH of the reaction mixture was adjusted to 10 and allowed to react for 15 min at room temperature. The radiochemical purity of [^99mTc]TcIMT was found to be higher than 90% at room temperature up to 6 h. Chromatography analysis revealed >85% [^99mTc]TcIMT complex formation with promising stability in saline, cell medium, and serum up to 6 h. The radiolabeled complex showed a higher cell-binding ratio to MCF-7 cells (88.90% ± 3.12) than HaCaT cells (45.64 ± 4.72) when compared to ^99mTc. Our findings show that the developed preparation method for [^99mTc]TcIMT falls well within the proven acceptable ranges. Applying quality by design (QbD) principles is feasible and worthwhile for the preparation of [^99mTc]TcIMT. In conclusion, radiochemical purity, stability, and in vitro cell binding evaluation of the [^99mTc]TcIMT complex indicate that the agent can be utilized for imaging of breast cancer cells.

Bioinformatics Analysis of Global Proteomic and Phosphoproteomic Data Sets Revealed Activation of NEK2 and AURKA in Cancers

Tumor heterogeneity attributes substantial challenges in determining the treatment regimen. Along with the conventional treatment, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, targeted therapy has greater impact in cancer management. Owing to the recent advancements in proteomics, we aimed to mine and re-interrogate the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) data sets which contain deep scale, mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic and phosphoproteomic data sets conducted on human tumor samples. Quantitative proteomic and phosphoproteomic data sets of tumor samples were explored and downloaded from the CPTAC database for six different cancers types (breast cancer, clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), colon cancer, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), ovarian cancer, and uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC)). We identified 880 phosphopeptide signatures for differentially regulated phosphorylation sites across five cancer types (breast cancer, colon cancer, LUAD, ovarian cancer, and UCEC). We identified the cell cycle to be aberrantly activated across these cancers. The correlation of proteomic and phosphoproteomic data sets identified changes in the phosphorylation of 12 kinases with unchanged expression levels. We further investigated phosphopeptide signature across five cancer types which led to the prediction of aurora kinase A (AURKA) and kinases-serine/threonine-protein kinase Nek2 (NEK2) as the most activated kinases targets. The drug designed for these kinases could be repurposed for treatment across cancer types.

Profiling of human lymphocytes reveals a specific network of protein kinases modulated by endurance training status

To date, the effects of endurance exercise training on lymphocyte physiology at the kinome level are largely unknown. Therefore, the present study used a highly sensitive peptide-based kinase activity profiling approach to investigate if the basal activity of tyrosine (Tyr) and serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) kinases of human lymphocytes is affected by the aerobic endurance training status. Results revealed that the activity of various tyrosine kinases of the FGFR family and ZAP70 was increased, whereas the activity of multiple Ser/Thr kinases such as IKKα, CaMK4, PKAα, PKCα+δ (among others) was decreased in lymphocytes of endurance trained athletes (ET). Moreover, functional associations between several differentially regulated kinases in ET-derived lymphocytes were demonstrated by phylogenetic mapping and network analysis. Especially, Ser/Thr kinases of the AGC-kinase (protein kinase A, G, and C) family represent exercise-sensitive key components within the lymphocytes kinase network that may mediate the long-term effects of endurance training. Furthermore, KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) and Reactome pathway analysis indicate that Ras as well as intracellular signaling by second messengers were found to be enriched in the ET individuals. Overall, our data suggest that endurance exercise training improves the adaptive immune competence by modulating the activity of multiple protein kinases in human lymphocytes.

Prediction of Protein-Ligand Interaction Based on the Positional Similarity Scores Derived from Amino Acid Sequences

The affinity of different drug-like ligands to multiple protein targets reflects general chemical–biological interactions. Computational methods estimating such interactions analyze the available information about the structure of the targets, ligands, or both. Prediction of protein–ligand interactions based on pairwise sequence alignment provides reasonable accuracy if the ligands’ specificity well coincides with the phylogenic taxonomy of the proteins. Methods using multiple alignment require an accurate match of functionally significant residues. Such conditions may not be met in the case of diverged protein families. To overcome these limitations, we propose an approach based on the analysis of local sequence similarity within the set of analyzed proteins. The positional scores, calculated by sequence fragment comparisons, are used as input data for the Bayesian classifier. Our approach provides a prediction accuracy comparable or exceeding those of other methods. It was demonstrated on the popular Gold Standard test sets, presenting different sequence heterogeneity and varying from the group, including different protein families to the more specific groups. A reasonable prediction accuracy was also found for protein kinases, displaying weak relationships between sequence phylogeny and inhibitor specificity. Thus, our method can be applied to the broad area of protein–ligand interactions.

Paclitaxel's Mechanistic and Clinical Effects on Breast Cancer

Paclitaxel (PTX), the most widely used anticancer drug, is applied for the treatment of various types of malignant diseases. Mechanisms of PTX action represent several ways in which PTX affects cellular processes resulting in programmed cell death. PTX is frequently used as the first-line treatment drug in breast cancer (BC). Unfortunately, the resistance of BC to PTX treatment is a great obstacle in clinical applications and one of the major causes of death associated with treatment failure. Factors contributing to PTX resistance, such as ABC transporters, microRNAs (miRNAs), or mutations in certain genes, along with side effects of PTX including peripheral neuropathy or hypersensitivity associated with the vehicle used to overcome its poor solubility, are responsible for intensive research concerning the use of PTX in preclinical and clinical studies. Novelties such as albumin-bound PTX (nab-PTX) demonstrate a progressive approach leading to higher efficiency and decreased risk of side effects after drug administration. Moreover, PTX nanoparticles for targeted treatment of BC promise a stable and efficient therapeutic intervention. Here, we summarize current research focused on PTX, its evaluations in preclinical research and application clinical practice as well as the perspective of the drug for future implication in BC therapy.

Immunotherapy: A Challenge of Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and is a leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Despite the significant benefit of the use of conventional chemotherapy and monoclonal antibodies in the prognosis of breast cancer patients and although the recent approval of the anti-PD-L1 antibody atezolizumab in combination with chemotherapy has been a milestone for the treatment of patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, immunologic treatment of breast tumors remains a great challenge. In this review, we summarize current breast cancer classification and standard of care, the main obstacles that hinder the success of immunotherapies in breast cancer patients, as well as different approaches that could be useful to enhance the response of breast tumors to immunotherapies.

Pim1 kinase positively regulates myoblast behaviors and skeletal muscle regeneration

Adult skeletal muscle regeneration after injury depends on normal myoblast function. However, the intrinsic mechanisms for the control of myoblast behaviors are not well defined. Herein, we identified Pim1 kinase as a novel positive regulator of myoblast behaviors in vitro and muscle regeneration in vivo. Specifically, knockdown of Pim1 significantly restrains the proliferation and accelerates the apoptosis of myoblasts in vitro, indicating that Pim1 is critical for myoblast survival and amplification. Meanwhile, we found that Pim1 kinase is increased and translocated from cytoplasm into nucleus during myogenic differentiation. By using Pim1 kinase inhibitor, we proved that inhibition of Pim1 activity prevents myoblast differentiation and fusion, suggesting the necessity of Pim1 kinase activity for proper myogenesis. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that Pim1 kinase interacts with myogenic regulator MyoD and controls its transcriptional activity, inducing the expression of muscle-specific genes, which consequently promotes myogenic differentiation. Additionally, in skeletal muscle injury mouse model, deletion of Pim1 hinders the regeneration of muscle fibers and the recovery of muscle strength. Taken together, our study provides a potential target for the manipulation of myoblast behaviors in vitro and the myoblast-based therapeutics of skeletal muscle injury.

Benchmarking to the Gold Standard: Hyaluronan-Oxime Hydrogels Recapitulate Xenograft Models with In Vitro Breast Cancer Spheroid Culture

Many 3D in vitro models induce breast cancer spheroid formation; however, this alone does not recapitulate the complex in vivo phenotype. To effectively screen therapeutics, it is urgently needed to validate in vitro cancer spheroid models against the gold standard of xenografts. A new oxime-crosslinked hyaluronan (HA) hydrogel is designed, manipulating gelation rate and mechanical properties to grow breast cancer spheroids in 3D. This HA-oxime breast cancer model maintains the gene expression profile most similar to that of tumor xenografts based on a pan-cancer gene expression profile (comprising 730 genes) of three different human breast cancer subtypes compared to Matrigel or conventional 2D culture. Differences in gene expression between breast cancer cultures in HA-oxime versus Matrigel or 2D are confirmed for 12 canonical pathways by gene set variation analysis. Importantly, drug response is dependent on the culture method. Breast cancer cells respond better to the Rac inhibitor (EHT-1864) and the PI3K inhibitor (AZD6482) when cultured in HA-oxime versus Matrigel. This study demonstrates the superiority of an HA-based hydrogel as a platform for in vitro breast cancer culture of both primary, patient-derived cells and cell lines, and provides a hydrogel culture model that closely matches that in vivo.

ATP Inhibits the Transcription Factor STAT5b

Although naturally occurring low-molecular-weight compounds have many known roles within the cell, these do not usually involve the direct inhibition of protein-protein interactions. Based on the results of high-throughput screening of a library of bioactive compounds and neurotransmitters, we report here that the four nucleoside triphosphates ATP, GTP, CTP and UTP inhibit the SH2 domain of the tumor-related transcription factor STAT5b. ATP and GTP are the most active nucleoside triphosphates and show specificity for STAT5b over STAT5a, STAT3, STAT6 and the p53-binding protein HDM2. As the inhibition constant of ATP against STAT5b is significantly lower than published values for the intracellular ATP concentration, our data suggest that ATP might inhibit the protein-protein interactions of STAT5b in living cells.

Targeting Protein Kinases to Enhance the Response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 Immunotherapy

The interaction between programmed cell death protein (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) is one of the main pathways used by some tumors to escape the immune response. In recent years, immunotherapies based on the use of antibodies against PD-1/PD-L1 have been postulated as a great promise for cancer treatment, increasing total survival compared to standard therapy in different tumors. Despite the hopefulness of these results, a significant percentage of patients do not respond to such therapy or will end up evolving toward a progressive disease. Besides their role in PD-L1 expression, altered protein kinases in tumor cells can limit the effectiveness of PD-1/PD-L1 blocking therapies at different levels. In this review, we describe the role of kinases that appear most frequently altered in tumor cells and that can be an impediment for the success of immunotherapies as well as the potential utility of protein kinase inhibitors to enhance the response to such treatments.

Targeting Receptor Kinases in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is the third most common malignancy in men and the second most common cancer in women. Despite the success of screening programs and the development of adjuvant therapies, the global burden of colorectal cancer is expected to increase by 60% to more than 2.2 million new cases and 1.1 million deaths by 2030. In recent years, a great effort has been made to demonstrate the utility of protein kinase inhibitors for cancer treatment. Considering this heterogeneous disease is defined by mutations that activate different Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (RTKs) and affect downstream components of RTK-activated transduction pathways, in this review we analyze the potential utility of different kinase inhibitors for colorectal cancer treatment.

Recent Advances in Protein Kinase Activity Analysis Based on Nanomaterials

Protein phosphorylation regulated by protein kinases, as well as their dephosphorylation, is one of the most common post-translational modifications, and plays important roles in physiological activities, such as intracellular signal communications, gene transcription, cell proliferation and apoptosis. Over-expression of protein kinases is closely associated with various diseases. Consequently, accurate detection of protein kinases activities and their relevant inhibitors screening is critically important, not only to the biochemical research, but also to the clinical diagnosis and therapy. Nanomaterials, taking advantage of large surface areas, as well as excellent electrical, catalytic, magnetic and optical properties, have been utilized as target concentrators, recognition components, signal transducer or amplification elements in protein kinase related assays. This review summarizes the recent representative works to highlight the applications of nanomaterials in different biosensor technologies for protein kinases activities detection and their inhibitors screening. First, different nanomaterials developed for phosphoprotein/phosphopeptide enrichment and phosphate recognition are introduced. Next, representative works are selected that mainly focus on the utilization of nanomaterials as signal transducer or amplification elements in various protein kinases sensing platforms, such as electrochemical, colorimetric, fluorescent, and mass spectroscopy-based approaches. Finally, the major challenges and perspectives of nanomaterials being applied in protein kinases related assays are discussed.

Systemic Delivery of Tumor-Targeting siRNA Nanoparticles against an Oncogenic LncRNA Facilitates Effective Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Therapy

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), by virtue of their versatility and multilevel gene regulation, have emerged as attractive pharmacological targets for treating heterogeneous and complex malignancies like triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Despite multiple studies on lncRNA functions in tumor pathology, systemic targeting of these "undruggable" macromolecules with conventional approaches remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate effective TNBC therapy by nanoparticle-mediated RNAi of the oncogenic lncRNA DANCR, which is significantly overexpressed in TNBC. Tumor-targeting RGD-PEG-ECO/siDANCR nanoparticles were formulated via self-assembly of multifunctional amino lipid ECO, cyclic RGD peptide-PEG, and siDANCR for systemic delivery. MDA-MB-231 and BT549 cells treated with the therapeutic RGD-PEG-ECO/siDANCR nanoparticles exhibited 80-90% knockdown in the expression of DANCR for up to 7 days, indicating efficient intracellular siRNA delivery and sustained target silencing. The RGD-PEG-ECO/siDANCR nanoparticles mediated excellent in vitro therapeutic efficacy, reflected by significant reduction in the invasion, migration, survival, tumor spheroid formation, and proliferation of the TNBC cell lines. At the molecular level, functional ablation of DANCR dynamically impacted the oncogenic nexus by downregulating PRC2-mediated H3K27-trimethylation and Wnt/EMT signaling, and altering the phosphorylation profiles of several kinases in the TNBC cells. Furthermore, systemic administration of the RGD-PEG-ECO/siDANCR nanoparticles at a dose of 1 mg/kg siRNA in nude mice bearing TNBC xenografts resulted in robust suppression of TNBC progression with no overt toxic side-effects, underscoring the efficacy and safety of the nanoparticle therapy. These results demonstrate that nanoparticle-mediated modulation of onco-lncRNAs and their molecular targets is a promising approach for developing curative therapies for TNBC and other cancers.

Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) and Survival of Women with Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC): An Analysis Based on Biologic Subtypes and Demographic Characteristics

In this US-based study of the National Cancer Database (NCDB), we examined 8550 patients diagnosed with non-metastatic, invasive inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) who received surgery from 2004–2013. Patients were grouped into four biologic subtypes (HR⁺/HER_2⁻, HR⁺/HER_2⁺, HR⁻/HER_2⁺, HR⁻/HER_2⁻). On average, women were 56 years of age at diagnosis and were followed for a median of 3.7 years. The majority were white (80%), had private health insurance (50%), and presented with poorly differentiated tumors (57%). Approximately 46% of the cancers were >5 cm. Most patients underwent mastectomy (94%) and received radiotherapy (71%). Differences by biologic subtypes were observed for grade, lymph node invasion, race, and tumor size (p < 0.0001). Patients experiencing pathologic complete response (pCR, 12%) vs. non-pCR had superior 5-year overall survival (OS) (77% vs. 54%) (p < 0.0001). Survival was poor for triple-negative (TN) tumors (37%) vs. other biologic subtypes (60%) (p < 0.0001). On multivariable analysis, TN-IBC, positive margins, and not receiving either chemotherapy, hormonal therapy or radiotherapy were independently associated with poor 5-year survival (p < 0.0001). In this analysis of IBC, categorized by biologic subtypes, we observed significant differential tumor, patient and treatment characteristics, and OS.

Bcl-2 Inhibition to Overcome Resistance to Chemo- and Immunotherapy

Abstract: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. The identification of novel targets for cancer treatment is an area of intense work that has led Bcl-2 over-expression to be proposed as one of the hallmarks of cancer and Bcl-2 inhibition as a promising strategy for cancer treatment. In this review, we describe the different pathways related to programmed cell death, the role of Bcl-2 family members in apoptosis resistance to anti-cancer treatments, and the potential utility of Bcl-2 inhibitors to overcome resistance to chemo- and immunotherapy.

Molecular targets of curcumin in breast cancer (Review)

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), an orange‑yellow component of turmeric or curry powder, is a polyphenol natural product isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma longa. For centuries, curcumin has been used in medicinal preparations and as a food colorant. In recent years, extensive in vitro and in vivo studies have suggested that curcumin possesses activity against cancer, viral infection, arthritis, amyloid aggregation, oxidation and inflammation. Curcumin exerts anticancer effects primarily by activating apoptotic pathways in cancer cells and inhibiting pro‑cancer processes, including inflammation, angiogenesis and metastasis. Curcumin targets numerous signaling pathways associated with cancer therapy, including pathways mediated by p53, Ras, phosphatidylinositol‑3‑kinase, protein kinase B, Wnt‑β catenin and mammalian target of rapamycin. Clinical studies have demonstrated that curcumin alone or combined with other drugs exhibits promising anticancer activity in patients with breast cancer without adverse effects. In the present review, the chemistry and bioavailability of curcumin and its molecular targets in breast cancer are discussed. Future research directions are discussed to further understand this promising natural product.

Antrodia camphorata inhibits epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition by targeting multiple pathways in triple-negative breast cancers

Antrodia camphorata (AC) exhibits potential for engendering cell-cycle arrest as well as prompting apoptosis and metastasis inhibition in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. We performed the current study to explore the anti-epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) properties of fermented AC broth in TNBC cells. Our results illustrated that noncytotoxic concentrations of AC (20-60 μg/ml) reversed the morphological changes (fibroblastic-to-epithelial phenotype) as well as the EMT by upregulating the observed E-cadherin expression. Furthermore, we discovered treatment with AC substantially inhibit the Twist expression in human TNBC (MDA-MB-231) cells as well as in those that were transfected with Twist. In addition, we determined AC to decrease the observed Wnt/β-catenin nuclear translocation through a pathway determined to be dependent on GSK3β. Notably, AC treatment consistently inhibited the EMT by downregulating mesenchymal marker proteins like N-cadherin, vimentin, Snail, ZEB-1, and fibronectin; at that same time upregulating epithelial marker proteins like occludin and ZO-1. Bioluminescence imaging that was executed in vivo demonstrated AC substantially suppressed breast cancer metastasis to the lungs. Notably, we found that western blot analysis confirmed that AC decreased lung metastasis as demonstrated by upregulation of E-cadherin expression in biopsied lung tissue. Together with our results support the anti-EMT activity of AC, indicating AC as having the potential for acting as an anticancer agent for the treatment of human TNBC treatment.