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Lohman RJ, Reddy Tupally K, Kandale A, Cabot PJ, Parekh HS. Design and development of novel, short, stable dynorphin-based opioid agonists for safer analgesic therapy. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1150313. [PMID: 36937883 PMCID: PMC10020352 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1150313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Kappa opioid receptors have exceptional potential as an analgesic target, seemingly devoid of many problematic Mu receptor side-effects. Kappa-selective, small molecule pharmaceutical agents have been developed, but centrally mediated side-effects limit clinical translation. We modify endogenous dynorphin peptides to improve drug-likeness and develop safer KOP receptor agonists for clinical use. Using rational, iterative design, we developed a series of potent, selective, and metabolically stable peptides from dynorphin 1-7. Peptides were assessed for in vitro cAMP-modulation against three opioid receptors, metabolic stability, KOP receptor selectivity, desensitisation and pERK-signalling capability. Lead peptides were evaluated for in vivo efficacy in a rat model of inflammatory nociception. A library of peptides was synthesised and assessed for pharmacological and metabolic stability. Promising peptide candidates showed low nanomolar KOP receptor selectivity in cAMP assay, and improved plasma and trypsin stability. Selected peptides showed bias towards cAMP signalling over pERK activity, also demonstrating reduced desensitisation. In vivo, two peptides showed significant opioid-like antinociception comparable to morphine and U50844H. These highly potent and metabolically stable peptides are promising opioid analgesic leads for clinical translation. Since they are somewhat biased peptide Kappa agonists they may lack many significant side-effects, such as tolerance, addiction, sedation, and euphoria/dysphoria, common to opioid analgesics.
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Leopold AV, Thankachan S, Yang C, Gerashchenko D, Verkhusha VV. A general approach for engineering RTKs optically controlled with far-red light. Nat Methods 2022; 19:871-880. [PMID: 35681062 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-022-01517-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Regulation of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) activity is necessary for studying cell signaling pathways in health and disease. We developed a generalized approach for engineering RTKs optically controlled with far-red light. We targeted the bacterial phytochrome DrBphP to the cell surface and allowed its light-induced conformational changes to be transmitted across the plasma membrane via transmembrane helices to intracellular RTK domains. Systematic optimization of these constructs has resulted in optically regulated epidermal growth factor receptor, HER2, TrkA, TrkB, FGFR1, IR1, cKIT and cMet, named eDrRTKs. eDrRTKs induced downstream signaling in mammalian cells in tens of seconds. The ability to activate eDrRTKs with far-red light enabled spectral multiplexing with fluorescent probes operating in a shorter spectral range, allowing for all-optical assays. We validated eDrTrkB performance in mice and found that minimally invasive stimulation in the neocortex with penetrating via skull far-red light-induced neural activity, early immediate gene expression and affected sleep patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna V Leopold
- Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Chun Yang
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, West Roxbury, MA, USA
| | | | - Vladislav V Verkhusha
- Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. .,Department of Genetics and Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
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Jung BC, Lim J, Kim SH, Kim YS. Caspase-8 Potentiates Triglyceride (TG)-Induced Cell Death of THP-1 Macrophages via a Positive Feedback Loop. KOREAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.15324/kjcls.2021.53.2.158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Byung Chul Jung
- Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, University of California, Berkeley, United States
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea
| | - Jaewon Lim
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Rehabilitation and Health, Daegu Haany University, Gyeongsan, Korea
| | - Sung Hoon Kim
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Korea Nazarene University, Cheonan, Korea
| | - Yoon Suk Kim
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea
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Wen L, Zhang X, Zhang J, Chen S, Ma Y, Hu J, Yue T, Wang J, Zhu J, Wu T, Wang X. Paxillin knockdown suppresses metastasis and epithelial‑mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer via the ERK signalling pathway. Oncol Rep 2020; 44:1105-1115. [PMID: 32705241 PMCID: PMC7388420 DOI: 10.3892/or.2020.7687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Paxillin (PXN) is a cytoplasmic protein that plays an important role in regulating focal adhesion, cytoskeletal rearrangements and cell motility. The present study aimed to investigate the role of PXN in the metastasis of human colorectal cancer (CRC) and its possible mechanisms. Immunohistochemical staining of tissues from 102 surgical CRC patients revealed that high PXN expression was positively correlated with tumour‑node‑metastasis (TNM) stage, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and recurrence at distant sites after radical surgery. In 24 cases of stage IV CRC, PXN expression in liver metastasis was higher than that in the matched primary tumour. The knockdown of PXN inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion potential of SW480 cells in vitro and in vivo. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the effect of PXN on ultrastructural characteristics, observed mainly in microvilli and desmosomes. The downregulation of PXN decreased the activation of extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK) and suppressed the epithelial‑mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. Following the downregulation of PXN, the addition of an ERK activator or inhibitor restored or further suppressed EMT, respectively, accompanied by corresponding changes in cell migration and invasion. Collectively, the present results confirmed the important role of PXN in CRC metastasis and revealed that PXN regulated EMT progression via the ERK signalling pathway. PXN may represent a future therapeutic strategy to prevent the EMT‑associated progression and invasion of CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long Wen
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Xiaoqian Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Junling Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Shanwen Chen
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Yongchen Ma
- Department of Endoscopic Center, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Jianwen Hu
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Taohua Yue
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Jingui Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Jing Zhu
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Tao Wu
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
| | - Xin Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China
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Lim J, Kim HK, Kim SH, Rhee KJ, Kim YS. Caspase-2 mediates triglyceride (TG)-induced macrophage cell death. BMB Rep 2018; 50:510-515. [PMID: 28768565 PMCID: PMC5683820 DOI: 10.5483/bmbrep.2017.50.10.106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Triglyceride (TG) accumulation causes macrophage cell death, which affects the development of atherosclerosis. Here, we examined whether caspase-2 is implicated in TG-induced macrophage cell death. We found that caspase-2 activity is increased in TG-treated THP-1 macrophages, and that inhibition of caspase-2 activity drastically inhibits TG-induced cell death. We previously reported that TG-induced macrophage cell death is triggered by caspase-1, and thus investigated the relationship between caspase-2 and caspase-1 in TG-induced macrophage cell death. Inhibition of caspase-2 activity decreased caspase-1 activity in TG-treated macrophages. However, caspase-1 inhibition did not affect caspase-2 activity, suggesting that caspase-2 is upstream of caspase-1. Furthermore, we found that TG induces activation of caspase-3, -7, -8, and -9, as well as cleavage of PARP. Inhibition of caspase-2 and -1 decreased TG-induced caspase-3, -7, -8, and -9 activation and PARP cleavage. Taken together, these results suggest that TG-induced macrophage cell death is mediated via the caspase-2/caspase-1/apoptotic caspases/PARP pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaewon Lim
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493; Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Medical Sciences, Daegu Haany University, Gyeongsan 38610, Korea
| | - Hyun-Kyung Kim
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Korea; Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Natural Science, Gimcheon University, Gimcheon 39528, Korea
| | - Sung Hoon Kim
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Korea
| | - Ki-Jong Rhee
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Korea
| | - Yoon Suk Kim
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Korea
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Dong W, Li N, Pei X, Wu X. Differential expression of DUSP2 in left- and right-sided colon cancer is associated with poor prognosis in colorectal cancer. Oncol Lett 2018; 15:4207-4214. [PMID: 29541187 PMCID: PMC5835964 DOI: 10.3892/ol.2018.7881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Dual-specificity phosphatase-2 (DUSP2), a negative regulator of extracellular-regulated kinase activity, has been identified as an important kinase with emerging roles in cancer. However, the clinical significance of DUSP2 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains to be fully elucidated. In the present study, the expression of DUSP2 was investigated using immunohistochemistry in 96 patients with CRC. Cell viability was estimated using a cell counting kit-8 assay, and cell apoptosis by flow cytometry. The relationship between DUSP2 expression and patient characteristics, including overall survival, were studied retrospectively in these patients. It was found that DUSP2 was differentially expressed between left-sided colon carcinoma (LSCC) and right-sided colon carcinoma (RSCC). It was also found that decreased expression of DUSP2 was correlated with significantly shorter overall survival (P=0.001) and short distant-metastasis-free survival (P=0.002). In univariate comparisons, the decreased expression of DUSP2 was found to be an independent risk factor for poor survival rate (HR 3.55, CI 1.092-9.896; P=0.002). It was also found that the enforced overexpression of DUSP2 sensitized CRC cells to cetuximab. In conclusion, the findings demonstrated that DUSP2 was differentially expressed between RSCC and LSCC, and that the overexpression of DUSP2 increased the inhibitory effect of cetuximab in CRC, suggesting that DUSP2 may be a novel biomarker and therapeutic target in CRC therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjie Dong
- Department of Internal Medicine-Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
| | - Na Li
- Department of Internal Medicine-Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
| | - Xiufeng Pei
- Department of Internal Medical Oncology, Tumor Hospital of Baotou, Baotou, Inner Mongolia 014030, P.R. China
| | - Xinai Wu
- Department of Internal Medicine-Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
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Wu FH, Mu L, Li XL, Hu YB, Liu H, Han LT, Gong JP. Characterization and functional analysis of a slow-cycling subpopulation in colorectal cancer enriched by cell cycle inducer combined chemotherapy. Oncotarget 2017; 8:78466-78479. [PMID: 29108242 PMCID: PMC5667975 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.19638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2016] [Accepted: 05/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The concept of cancer stem cells has been proposed in various malignancies including colorectal cancer. Recent studies show direct evidence for quiescence slow-cycling cells playing a role in cancer stem cells. There exists an urgent need to isolate and better characterize these slow-cycling cells. In this study, we developed a new model to enrich slow-cycling tumor cells using cell-cycle inducer combined with cell cycle-dependent chemotherapy in vitro and in vivo. Our results show that Short-term exposure of colorectal cancer cells to chemotherapy combined with cell-cycle inducer enriches for a cell-cycle quiescent tumor cell population. Specifically, these slow-cycling tumor cells exhibit increased chemotherapy resistance in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo. Notably, these cells are stem-cell like and participate in metastatic dormancy. Further exploration indicates that slow-cycling colorectal cancer cells in our model are less sensitive to cytokine-induced-killer cell mediated cytotoxic killing in vivo and in vitro. Collectively, our cell cycle inducer combined chemotherapy exposure model enriches for a slow-cycling, dormant, chemo-resistant tumor cell sub-population that are resistant to cytokine induced killer cell based immunotherapy. Studying unique signaling pathways in dormant tumor cells enriched by cell cycle inducer combined chemotherapy treatment is expected to identify novel therapeutic targets for preventing tumor recurrence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng-Hua Wu
- Cancer Research Institution, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430032, People's Republic of China.,Department of Physiology, Hubei University of Chinese Medcine, Wuhan 430065, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Mu
- Cancer Research Institution, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430032, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao-Lan Li
- Cancer Research Institution, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430032, People's Republic of China
| | - Yi-Bing Hu
- Cancer Research Institution, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430032, People's Republic of China
| | - Hui Liu
- Department of Physiology, Hubei University of Chinese Medcine, Wuhan 430065, People's Republic of China
| | - Lin-Tao Han
- Department of Physiology, Hubei University of Chinese Medcine, Wuhan 430065, People's Republic of China
| | - Jian-Ping Gong
- Cancer Research Institution, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430032, People's Republic of China
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The expression of keratin 6 is regulated by the activation of the ERK1/2 pathway in arsenite transformed human urothelial cells. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2017; 331:41-53. [PMID: 28501331 DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2017.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Revised: 04/13/2017] [Accepted: 05/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Urothelial cancers have an environmental etiological component, and previous studies from our laboratory have shown that arsenite (As+3) can cause the malignant transformation of the immortalized urothelial cells (UROtsa), leading to the expression of keratin 6 (KRT6). The expression of KRT6 in the parent UROtsa cells can be induced by the addition of epidermal growth factor (EGF). Tumors formed by these transformed cells have focal areas of squamous differentiation that express KRT6. The goal of this study was to investigate the mechanism involved in the upregulation of KRT6 in urothelial cancers and to validate that the As+3-transformed UROtsa cells are a model of urothelial cancer. The results obtained showed that the parent and the As+3-transformed UROtsa cells express EGFR which is phosphorylated with the addition of epidermal growth factor (EGF) resulting in an increased expression of KRT6. Inhibition of the extracellular-signal regulated kinases (ERK1/2) pathway by the addition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 (MEK1) and MEK2 kinase inhibitor U0126 resulted in a decrease in the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and a reduced expression of KRT6. Immuno-histochemical analysis of the tumors generated by the As+3-transformed isolates expressed EGFR and tumors formed by two of the transformed isolates expressed the phosphorylated form of EGFR. These results show that the expression of KRT6 is regulated at least in part by the ERK1/2 pathway and that the As+3-transformed human urothelial cells have the potential to serve as a valid model to study urothelial carcinomas.
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