Knockdown of Aurora-B inhibits the growth of non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells

microRNA-486-5p Regulates DNA Damage Inhibition and Cisplatin Resistance in Lung Adenocarcinoma by Targeting AURKB

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) severely affects human health, and cisplatin (DDP) resistance is the main obstacle in LUAD treatment, the mechanism of which is unknown. Bioinformatics methods were utilized to predict expression and related pathways of AURKB in LUAD tissues, as well as the upstream regulated microRNAs. qRT-PCR assayed expression of AURKB and microRNA-486-5p. RIP and dual-luciferase experiments verified the binding and interaction between the two genes. CCK-8 was used to detect cell proliferation ability and IC50 values. Flow cytometry was utilized to assess the cell cycle. Comet assay and western blot tested DNA damage and γ-H2AX protein expression, respectively. In LUAD, AURKB was upregulated, but microRNA-486-5p was downregulated. The targeted relationship between the two was confirmed by RIP and dual-luciferase experiments. Cell experiments showed that AURKB knock-down inhibited cell proliferation, reduced IC50 values, induced cell cycle arrest, and caused DNA damage. The rescue experiment presented that high expression of microRNA-486-5p could weaken the impact of AURKB overexpression on LUAD cell behavior and DDP resistance. microRNA-486-5p regulated DNA damage to inhibit DDP resistance in LUAD by targeting AURKB, implying that microRNA-486-5p/AURKB axis may be a possible therapeutic target for DDP resistance in LUAD patients.

Expression and clinical significance of AURKB gene in lung adenocarcinoma: Analysis based on the data-mining of bioinformatic database

This study aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of aurora B kinase (AURKB) gene in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) by collecting relevant data in Oncomine database.Firstly, mRNA expression level of AURKB in LUAD was systematically analyzed using the ONCOMINE and the cancer genome atlas databases. Then, the association between AURKB expression and clinical parameters was investigated by UALCAN. The Kaplan-Meier Plotter was used to assess the prognostic significance of AURKB.Pooled analysis showed that AURKB was frequently up-regulated expression in LUAD. In addition, immunohistochemistry showed that AURKB was highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues, while it was weakly expressed in normal tissues. Subsequently, AURKB expression was identified to be negatively associated with Overall survival (P < 1e-16), post-progression survival (P = .017), first progression (P = 9.8e-09).This study confirms that increased expression of AURKB in LUAD is associated with poor prognosis, suggesting that AURKB might be used as a promising prognostic biomarker and novel therapeutic target for LUAD.

Heteroarene-fused anthraquinone derivatives as potential modulators for human aurora kinase B

The quest for effective anticancer therapeutics continues to be extensively pursued. Over the past century, several drugs have been developed, however, a majority of these drugs have a poor therapeutic index and increased toxicity profile. Hence, there still exists ample opportunity to discover safe and effective anticancer drugs. Aurora Kinase B (AurB), a member of the Aurora kinase family and a key regulator of mitotic cell division, is found to be frequently overexpressed in a variety of human cancers and has thus emerged as an attractive target for the design of anticancer therapeutics. In the present study, a structure-based scaffold hopping approach was utilized to modify the heterocyclic moiety of (S)-3-(3-aminopyrrolidine-1-carbonyl)-4,11-dihydroxy-2-methylanthra [2,3-b]furan-5,10-dione (anthrafuran 1) to generate a series of heteroarene-fused anthraquinone derivatives, which were then subjected to virtual screening for the identification of potential AurB inhibitors. The obtained hits were subsequently synthesized and evaluated by using a combination of in silico and biophysical techniques for elucidating their in vitro binding and inhibition activity with recombinantly expressed AurB. Four identified hits presented an improved binding profile as compared to their parent analog anthrafuran 1. One derivative, anthrathiophene 2 demonstrated excellent in vitro inhibition of AurB (7.3 μM).

An Engineered Mouse to Identify Proliferating Cells and Their Derivatives

BACKGROUND

Cell proliferation is a fundamental event during development, disease, and regeneration. Effectively tracking and quantifying proliferating cells and their derivatives is critical for addressing many research questions. Cell cycle expression such as for Ki67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), or aurora kinase B (Aurkb), or measurement of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) or 3H-thymidine incorporation have been widely used to assess and quantify cell proliferation. These are powerful tools for detecting actively proliferating cells, but they do not identify cell populations derived from proliferating progenitors over time.

AIMS

We developed a new mouse tool for lineage tracing of proliferating cells by targeting the Aurkb allele.

RESULTS

In quiescent cells or cells arrested at G1/S, little or no Aurkb mRNA is detectable. In cycling cells, Aurkb transcripts are detectable at G2 and become undetectable by telophase. These findings suggest that Aurkb transcription is restricted to proliferating cells and is tightly coupled to cell proliferation. Accordingly, we generated an Aurkb ER Cre/+ mouse by targeting a tamoxifen inducible Cre cassette into the start codon of Aurkb. We find that the Aurkb ER Cre/+ mouse faithfully labels proliferating cells in developing embryos and regenerative adult tissues such as intestine but does not label quiescent cells such as post-mitotic neurons.

CONCLUSION

The Aurkb ER Cre/+ mouse faithfully labels proliferating cells and their derivatives in developing embryos and regenerative adult tissues. This new mouse tool provides a novel genetic tracing capability for studying tissue proliferation and regeneration.

High expression of Aurora-B is correlated with poor prognosis and drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer

Objective:

Aurora kinase B (Aurora-B) is a crucial regulator of accurate mitosis. Abnormal Aurora-B expression is associated with aneuploidy and has been implicated in the pathogenesis and drug resistance in a variety of human cancers. However, little evidence is available regarding the role of Aurora-B in regulating drug response in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is the most common type of lung cancer, and is characterized with poor prognosis and high mortality.

Method:

In the current study, we investigated the association of Aurora-B with the prognosis of NSCLC patients, and we also used the latest CRISPR/Cas9 system to explore the regulatory role of Aurora-B in NSCLC cells developing resistance to cisplatin (CDDP) and paclitaxel.

Results:

We found that Aurora-B was correlated with significantly reduced overall survival and disease-free survival in NSCLC patients. Aurora-B overexpression was also observed in NSCLC cells developing impaired response to both CDDP and paclitaxel. Moreover, we found, for the first time, that Aurora-B may impair NSCLC drug response by disturbing cell proliferation and inhibiting p53-related DNA damage response and apoptotic pathway, while the knockout of Aurora-B resensitized NSCLC cells to chemo drugs by ensuring correct chromosome segregation and restoring p53 expression.

Conclusions:

Our results demonstrated the association of Aurora-B with chemoresistance in NSCLC, which may finally contribute to the poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. We also suggested Aurora-B as a promising therapeutic target in NSCLC treatment.

Quercetin suppresses lung cancer growth by targeting Aurora B kinase

aurora B kinase is highly expressed in several cancer cells and promotes tumorigenesis and progression, and therefore, it is an important target for drug to treat tumors. Quercetin was identified to be an antitumor agent. Herein, we report for the first time that quercetin inhibited aurora B activities by directly binding with aurora B in vitro and in vivo. Ex vivo studies showed that quercetin inhibited aurora B activities in JB6 Cl41 cells and A549 lung cancer cells. Moreover, knockdown of aurora B in A549 cells decreased their sensitivities to quercetin. In vivo study demonstrated that injection of quercetin in A549 tumor‐bearing mice effectively suppressed cancer growth. The phosphorylation of histone 3 in tumor tissues was also decreased after quercetin treatment. In short, quercetin can suppress growth of lung cancer cells as an aurora B inhibitor both in vitro and in vivo.