Boron Derivatives Inhibit the Proliferation of Breast Cancer Cells and Affect Tumor-Specific T Cell Activity In Vitro by Distinct Mechanisms

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. Despite the initial clinical response obtained with the widely used conventional chemotherapy, an improved prognosis for breast cancer patients has been missing in the clinic because of the high toxicity to normal cells, induction of drug resistance, and the potential immunosuppressive effects of these agents. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the potential anti-carcinogenic effect of some boron derivatives (sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (SPP) and sodium perborate tetrahydrate (SPT)), which showed a promising effect on some types of cancers in the literature, on breast cancer cell lines, as well as immuno-oncological side effects on tumor-specific T cell activity. These findings suggest that both SPP and SPT suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines through downregulation of the monopolar spindle-one-binder (MOB1) protein. On the other hand, these molecules increased the expression of PD-L1 protein through their effect on the phosphorylation level of Yes-associated protein (Phospho-YAP (Ser127). In addition, they reduced the concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IFN-γ and cytolytic effector cytokines such as sFasL, perforin, granzyme A, Granzyme B, and granulysin and increased the expression of PD-1 surface protein in activated T cells. In conclusion, SPP, SPT, and their combination could have growth inhibitory (antiproliferative) effects and could be a potential treatment for breast cancer. However, their stimulatory effects on the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway and their effects on cytokines could ultimately account for the observed repression of the charging of specifically activated effector T cells against breast cancer cells.

Cannabinoid compounds in combination with curcumin and piperine display an anti-tumorigenic effect against colon cancer cells

Currently, use of cannabinoids is limited to improve adverse effects of chemotherapy and their palliative administration during treatment is curiously concomitant with improved prognosis and regressed progression in patients with different tumor types. Although, non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) display antineoplastic effects by repressing tumor growth and angiogenesis both in cell line and animal models, their use as chemotherapeutic agents is awaiting further investigation. Both clinical and epidemiological evidence supported by experimental findings suggest that micronutrients such as curcumin and piperine may present a safer strategy in preventing tumorigenesis and its recurrence. Recent studies demonstrated that piperine potentiates curcumin's inhibitory effect on tumor progression via enhancing its delivery and therapeutic activity. In this study, we investigated a plausible therapeutic synergism of a triple combination of CBD/CBG, curcumin, and piperine in the colon adenocarcinoma using HCT116 and HT29 cell lines. Potential synergistic effects of various combinations including these compounds were tested by measuring cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis. Our findings revealed that different genetic backgrounds of HCT116 and HT29 cell lines resulted in divergent responses to the combination treatments. Triple treatment showed synergism in terms of exhibiting anti-tumorigenic effects by activating the Hippo YAP signaling pathway in the HCT116 cell line.

Neurons from human mesenchymal stem cells display both spontaneous and stimuli responsive activity

Mesenchymal stem cells have the ability to transdifferentiate into neurons and therefore one of the potential adult stem cell source for neuronal tissue regeneration applications and understanding neurodevelopmental processes. In many studies on human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) derived neurons, success in neuronal differentiation was limited to neuronal protein expressions which is not statisfactory in terms of neuronal activity. Established neuronal networks seen in culture have to be investigated in terms of synaptic signal transmission ability to develop a culture model for human neurons and further studying the mechanism of neuronal differentiation and neurological pathologies. Accordingly, in this study, we analysed the functionality of bone marrow hMSCs differentiated into neurons by a single step cytokine-based induction protocol. Neurons from both primary hMSCs and hMSC cell line displayed spontaneous activity (≥75%) as demonstrated by Ca++ imaging. Furthermore, when electrically stimulated, hMSC derived neurons (hMd-Neurons) matched the response of a typical neuron in the process of maturation. Our results reveal that a combination of neuronal inducers enhance differentiation capacity of bone marrow hMSCs into high yielding functional neurons with spontaneous activity and mature into electrophysiologically active state. Conceptually, we suggest these functional hMd-Neurons to be used as a tool for disease modelling of neuropathologies and neuronal differentiation studies.

Synthesis, Molecular Docking and Anticancer Activity of Diflunisal Derivatives as Cyclooxygenase Enzyme Inhibitors

Cyclooxygenase enzymes play a vital role in inflammatory pathways in the human body. Apart from their relation with inflammation, the additional involvement of COX-2 enzyme with cancer activity was recently discovered. In some cancer types the level of COX-2 enzyme is increased indicating that this enzyme could be a suitable target for cancer therapy. Based on these findings, we have synthesized some new diflunisal thiosemicarbazides and 1,2,4-triazoles and tested them against androgen-independent prostate adenocarcinoma (PC-3), colon carcinoma (HCT-116), human breast cancer (T47D), breast carcinoma (MCF7) and human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cell lines. Specifically, the diflunisal and thiosemicarbazide functionality are combined during the synthesis of original compounds anticipating a potency enhancement. Compounds 6, 10, 15 and 16 did not show cytotoxic effects for the HEK293 cell line. Among them, compounds 15 and 16 demonstrated anticancer activity for the breast cancer cell line T47D, whereas compounds 6 and 10 which are thiosemicarbazide derivatives displayed anti-tumourigenic activity against the PC-3 cell line, consistent with the literature. However, no activity was observed for the HCT-116 cancer cell line with the tested thiosemicarbazide derivatives. Only compound 16 displayed activity against the HCT-116 cell line. Therefore, it was speculated that the diflunisal and thiosemicarbazide functionalities potentiate anticancer activity on prostate cancer and the thiosemicarbazide functionality decreases the anticancer activity of diflunisal on colon cancer cell lines. In order to gain insight into the anticancer activity and COX-2 inhibition, molecular docking studies were carried out for COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes utilizing the newly synthesized compounds 15, and 16. Both 15 and 16 showed high selectivity and affinity toward COX-2 isozyme over COX-1, which is in agreement with the experimental results.

Centrosome misorientation reduces stem cell division during ageing

Asymmetric division of adult stem cells generates one self-renewing stem cell and one differentiating cell, thereby maintaining tissue homeostasis. A decline in stem cell function has been proposed to contribute to tissue ageing, although the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Here we show that changes in the stem cell orientation with respect to the niche during ageing contribute to the decline in spermatogenesis in the male germ line of Drosophila. Throughout the cell cycle, centrosomes in germline stem cells (GSCs) are oriented within their niche and this ensures asymmetric division. We found that GSCs containing misoriented centrosomes accumulate with age and that these GSCs are arrested or delayed in the cell cycle. The cell cycle arrest is transient, and GSCs appear to re-enter the cell cycle on correction of centrosome orientation. On the basis of these findings, we propose that cell cycle arrest associated with centrosome misorientation functions as a mechanism to ensure asymmetric stem cell division, and that the inability of stem cells to maintain correct orientation during ageing contributes to the decline in spermatogenesis. We also show that some of the misoriented GSCs probably originate from dedifferentiation of spermatogonia.

The association of dehydroepiandrosterone, obesity, waist-hip ratio and insulin resistance with fatty liver in postmenopausal women--a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic insulin clamp study

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The relationship between insulin resistance and the occurrence of fatty acid has been documented. Recently DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) was shown to have a protective effect against development of fatty liver in rats. We aimed to investigate the association of nonalcoholic fatty liver and serum levels of DHEA, obesity, fat distribution and insulin resistance and to evaluate the effect of DHEA on fatty liver, obesity and insulin resistance.

METHODOLOGY

Thirteen postmenopausal women with nonalcoholic fatty liver and 14 postmenopausal women with normal liver histology were included into the study. Body mass index, waist-hip ratio, serum DHEA, DHEAS, triglyceride, cholesterol levels and insulin resistance were determined. Fatty liver was determined by ultrasound and established by liver biopsy and histology. Hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp studies were performed.

RESULTS

The subjects in both groups were age matched (p > 0.05). Body mass index showed obesity in patients with fatty liver but not in control group (p = 0.01). Central obesity was present in women with fatty liver (p = 0.039). As expected, insulin resistance was significantly present in patients with fatty liver (p = 0.001). DHEA and DHEAS levels of women with fatty liver were greater than those of control group (p1 = 0.001 and p2 = 0.0001, respectively). DHEA and DHEAS were positively correlated with both body mass index and waist-hip ratio. However, glucose disposal rate was inversely and significantly correlated with DHEA and DHEAS levels.

CONCLUSIONS

These data do not support the hypothesis that DHEA or DHEAS protect post-menopausal women against fatty liver, diabetes and obesity. Indeed, DHEA and DHEAS may be the cause of fatty liver, obesity (especially abdominal obesity) and diabetes in estrogen-deficient women.

Influence of an abrupt increase in blood pressure on the blood-brain barrier permeability during acute hypertension and epileptic seizures

The interrelationship between the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier according to the Evans-blue passage and an abrupt increase in blood pressure (DeltaP) was studied in rats subjected to adrenaline-induced acute hypertension and also pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures. Arterial blood pressure was increased by adrenaline, then immediately i.v. nifedipine was injected and subsequently decreased to the control value in the acute hypertensive group. Arterial blood pressure was increased by pentylenetetrazol, then immediately GABA (gamma-aminobutiric acid) was injected and the blood pressure was decreased to the control value in the seizure group. The animals were divided into five groups. Group I: control; Group II: acute hypertension; Group III: acute hypertension + nifedipine; Group IV: seizure; Group V: seizure + GABA. The Evans-blue dye content was found to be 0.25 +/- 0.01 mg% in the whole brain in the control animals, and 0.803 +/- 0.1 mg% in the acute hypertensive group. This difference between these groups was found to be significant: P< 0.01. In the nifedipine group (Group III) the Evans-blue content was 0.30 +/- 0.1 mg% in the whole brain; and there was no significant difference between control values and nifedipine-treated animals (P> 0.5). The Evans-blue content was 1.6 +/- 0.2 mg% in the whole brain during seizure, and decreased to 0.36 +/- 0.1 mg% after GABA injection was administered. There was also no significant difference between the control value and the GABA-treated animals (P> 0.5). These results have shown that an abrupt increase in blood pressure (DeltaP) did not change the blood-brain barrier permeability in both acute hypertension and seizures.

Salicylic acid derivatives form stable complexes with scandium(III) ion in aqueous solution

The stability constants of 5-nitrosalicylic acid (5-NSA) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid (5-SSA) complexes of Sc(III) were determined by potentiomeric pH titration. ML and ML2 type first and second complexes were observed in the solutions of 5-NSA and 5-SSA with Sc(III) at 25 degrees C in I=0.1 M ionic medium. The stability constants of Sc(III)-5NSA and Sc(III)-5SSA systems were also investigated by spectrophotometry to determine the stoichiometries of the complexes formed in the reactions. Our results showed that Sc(III)-5SSA complexes are more stable than the Sc(III)-5NSA complexes in aqueous solutions.