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Ferraro G, Voli A, Mozzicafreddo M, Pollastro F, Tosco A, Monti MC. Targeting phosphoglycerate kinases by tatridin A, a natural sesquiterpenoid endowed with anti-cancer activity, using a proteomic platform. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1212541. [PMID: 37767160 PMCID: PMC10519794 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1212541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Tatridin A (TatA) is a germacrane sesquiterpenoid containing one E-double bond and one Z-double bond in its 10-membered ring, which is fused to a 3-methylene-dihydrofuran-2-one moiety. Tatridin A bioactivity has been poorly investigated despite its interesting chemical structure. Here, a functional proteomic platform was adapted to disclose its most reliable targets in leukemia monocytic cells, and phosphoglycerate kinases were recognized as the most affine enzymes. Through a combination of limited proteolysis and molecular docking, it has been discovered that tatridin A interacts with the active domains of phosphoglycerate kinase 1, altering its hinge region, and it can be accountable for tatridin A inhibition potency on enzyme activity. A more detailed tatridin A biological profile showed that it is also fully active against gastric cancer cells, downregulating the mRNA levels of chemokine receptor 4 and β-catenin and inhibiting the invasiveness of living KATO III cells as a direct consequence of phosphoglycerate kinase 1 antagonism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giusy Ferraro
- Department of Pharmacy, Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
- PhD Program in Drug Discovery and Development, Department of Pharmacy, Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
| | - Antonia Voli
- Department of Pharmacy, Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
- PhD Program in Drug Discovery and Development, Department of Pharmacy, Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
| | - Matteo Mozzicafreddo
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Università Politecnica Delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Federica Pollastro
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Università Del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
- PlantaChem Srls, Novara, Italy
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Liu S, Suhail Y, Novin A, Perpetua L, Kshitiz. Metastatic Transition of Pancreatic Ductal Cell Adenocarcinoma Is Accompanied by the Emergence of Pro-Invasive Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:2197. [PMID: 35565326 PMCID: PMC9104173 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14092197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are now appreciated as key regulators of cancer metastasis, particularly in cancers with high stromal content, e.g., pancreatic ductal cell carcinoma (PDAC). However, it is not yet well understood if fibroblasts are always primed to be cooperative in PDAC transition to metastasis, if they undergo transformation which ensures their cooperativity, and if such transformations are cancer-driven or intrinsic to fibroblasts. We performed a fibroblast-centric analysis of PDAC cancer, as it transitioned from the primary site to trespass stromal compartment reaching the lymph node using published single-cell RNA sequencing data by Peng et al. We have characterized the change in fibroblast response to cancer from a normal wound healing response in the initial stages to the emergence of subclasses with myofibroblast and inflammatory fibroblasts such as signatures. We have previously posited "Evolved Levels of Invasibility (ELI)", a framework describing the evolution of stromal invasability as a selected phenotype, which explains the large and correlated reduction in stromal invasion by placental trophoblasts and cancer cells in certain mammals. Within PDAC samples, we found large changes in fibroblast subclasses at succeeding stages of PDAC progression, with the emergence of specific subclasses when cancer trespasses stroma to metastasize to proximal lymph nodes (stage IIA to IIB). Surprisingly, we found that the initial metastatic transition is accompanied by downregulation of ELI-predicted pro-resistive genes, and the emergence of a subclass of fibroblasts with ELI-predicted increased invasibility. Interestingly, this trend was also observed in stellate cells. Using a larger cohort of bulk RNAseq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas for PDAC cancers, we confirmed that genes describing this emergent fibroblast subclass are also correlated with lymph node metastasis of cancer cells. Experimental testing of selected genes characterizing pro-resistive and pro-invasive fibroblast clusters confirmed their contribution in regulating stromal invasability as a phenotype. Our data confirm that the complexity of stromal response to cancer is really a function of stage-wise emergence of distinct fibroblast clusters, characterized by distinct gene sets which confer initially a predominantly pro-resistive and then a pro-invasive property to the stroma. Stromal response therefore transitions from being tumor-limiting to a pro-metastatic state, facilitating stromal trespass and the onset of metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaofei Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA; (S.L.); (Y.S.); (A.N.)
- Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
| | - Yasir Suhail
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA; (S.L.); (Y.S.); (A.N.)
- Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
| | - Ashkan Novin
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA; (S.L.); (Y.S.); (A.N.)
| | - Lorrie Perpetua
- Research Tissue Repository, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA;
| | - Kshitiz
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA; (S.L.); (Y.S.); (A.N.)
- Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
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Herbert SL, Fick A, Heydarian M, Metzger M, Wöckel A, Rudel T, Kozjak-Pavlovic V, Wulff C. Establishment of the SIS scaffold-based 3D model of human peritoneum for studying the dissemination of ovarian cancer. J Tissue Eng 2022; 13:20417314221088514. [PMID: 35340423 PMCID: PMC8949747 DOI: 10.1177/20417314221088514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynecological malignancy in women. More than 70% of the cases are diagnosed at the advanced stage, presenting as primary peritoneal metastasis, which results in a poor 5-year survival rate of around 40%. Mechanisms of peritoneal metastasis, including adhesion, migration, and invasion, are still not completely understood and therapeutic options are extremely limited. Therefore, there is a strong requirement for a 3D model mimicking the in vivo situation. In this study, we describe the establishment of a 3D tissue model of the human peritoneum based on decellularized porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) scaffold. The SIS scaffold was populated with human dermal fibroblasts, with LP-9 cells on the apical side representing the peritoneal mesothelium, while HUVEC cells on the basal side of the scaffold served to mimic the endothelial cell layer. Functional analyses of the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and the FITC-dextran assay indicated the high barrier integrity of our model. The histological, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural analyses showed the main characteristics of the site of adhesion. Initial experiments using the SKOV-3 cell line as representative for ovarian carcinoma demonstrated the usefulness of our models for studying tumor cell adhesion, as well as the effect of tumor cells on endothelial cell-to-cell contacts. Taken together, our data show that the novel peritoneal 3D tissue model is a promising tool for studying the peritoneal dissemination of ovarian cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saskia-Laureen Herbert
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Andrea Fick
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | | | - Marco Metzger
- Department of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.,Fraunhofer ISC, Translational Centre Regenerative Medicine TLC-RT, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Achim Wöckel
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Rudel
- Department of Microbiology, Biocentre, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Vera Kozjak-Pavlovic
- Department of Microbiology, Biocentre, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Christine Wulff
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
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Suhail Y, Afzal J. Evolved Resistance to Placental Invasion Secondarily Confers Increased Survival in Melanoma Patients. J Clin Med 2021; 10:jcm10040595. [PMID: 33562461 PMCID: PMC7915120 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10040595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Mammals exhibit large differences in rates of cancer malignancy, even though the tumor formation rates may be similar. In placental mammals, rates of malignancy correlate with the extent of placental invasion. Our Evolved Levels of Invasibility (ELI) framework links these two phenomena identifying genes that potentially confer resistance in stromal fibroblasts to limit invasion, from trophoblasts in the endometrium, and from disseminating melanoma in the skin. Herein, using patient data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we report that these anti-invasive genes may be crucial in melanoma progression in human patients, and that their loss is correlated with increased cancer spread and lowered survival. Our results suggest that, surprisingly, these anti-invasive genes, which have lower expression in humans compared to species with non-invasive placentation, may potentially prevent stromal invasion, while a further reduction in their levels increases the malignancy and lethality of melanoma. Our work links evolution, comparative biology, and cancer progression across tissues, indicating new avenues for using evolutionary medicine to prognosticate and treat human cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasir Suhail
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA;
- Cancer Systems Biology (CaSB@Yale), Yale West Campus, West Haven, CT 06477, USA
- Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06032, USA
| | - Junaid Afzal
- Department of Cardiology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA;
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