A Slug-dependent mechanism is responsible for tumor suppression of p53-stabilizing compound CP-31398 in p53-mutated endometrial carcinoma

PROTACs in gynecological cancers: Current knowledge and future potential as a treatment strategy

Cancer continues to threaten human health regardless of novel therapeutic options. Over the last two decades, targeted therapy has emerged as a significant advancement in treating malignancies, surpassing standard chemoradiotherapy and surgical procedures. Gynecological malignancies, including cervical, endometrial, and ovarian carcinoma, have a bad prognosis in advanced or metastatic stages and are difficult to treat. The advancements in understanding the molecular pathways behind cancer development offer valuable insights into promising targeted medicines, and researchers have always searched for a superior and safe technique to target cancer-related oncoproteins because of the limited therapeutic benefit, drug resistance, and off-target effects of current targeted treatments. Recently, proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have been developed to selectively degrade proteins using the natural ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). These approaches have garnered significant attention in the field of cancer research. The rapid progress in PROTACs has also eased the targeting of various oncoproteins in gynecological cancer. Therefore, this review aims to elucidate the mechanism and research advancements of PROTACs and provide a comprehensive overview of their use in gynecological tumors.

p53/MicroRNA-34 axis in cancer and beyond

Cancer is serious endangers human life. After a long period of research and accumulation, people's understanding of cancer and the corresponding treatment methods are constantly developing. p53 is an important tumor suppressor gene. With the more in-depth understanding of the structure and function of p53, the more importance of this tumor suppressor gene is realized in the process of inhibiting tumor formation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulatory molecules with a length of about 22nucleotides (nt), which belong to non-coding RNA and play an important role in the occurrence and development of tumors. miR-34 is currently considered to be a master regulator of tumor suppression. The positive feedback regulatory network formed by p53 and miR-34 can inhibit the growth and metastasis of tumor cells and inhibit tumor stem cells. This review focuses on the latest progress of p53/miR-34 regulatory network, and discusses its application in tumor diagnosis and treatment.

The E3 Ligases in Cervical Cancer and Endometrial Cancer

Endometrial (EC) and cervical (CC) cancers are the most prevalent malignancies of the female reproductive system. There is a global trend towards increasing incidence and mortality, with a decreasing age trend. E3 ligases label substrates with ubiquitin to regulate their activity and stability and are involved in various cellular functions. Studies have confirmed abnormal expression or mutations of E3 ligases in EC and CC, indicating their vital roles in the occurrence and progression of EC and CC. This paper provides an overview of the E3 ligases implicated in EC and CC and discusses their underlying mechanism. In addition, this review provides research advances in the target of ubiquitination processes in EC and CC.

Opposing Roles of Wild-type and Mutant p53 in the Process of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition

The central role of an aberrantly activated EMT program in defining the critical features of aggressive carcinomas is well documented and includes cell plasticity, metastatic dissemination, drug resistance, and cancer stem cell-like phenotypes. The p53 tumor suppressor is critical for leashing off all the features mentioned above. On the molecular level, the suppression of these effects is exerted by p53 via regulation of its target genes, whose products are involved in cell cycle, apoptosis, autophagy, DNA repair, and interactions with immune cells. Importantly, a set of specific mutations in the TP53 gene (named Gain-of-Function mutations) converts this tumor suppressor into an oncogene. In this review, we attempted to contrast different regulatory roles of wild-type and mutant p53 in the multi-faceted process of EMT.

miR‑29b suppresses proliferation and induces apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma ascites H22 cells via regulating TGF‑β1 and p53 signaling pathway

MicroRNA (miR)‑29b is a key tumor regulator. It can inhibit tumor cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, suppress tumor invasion and migration, thus delaying tumor progression. Our previous studies revealed an increased level of miR‑29b in hepatoma 22 (H22) cells in ascites tumor‑bearing mice. The present study investigated the effect of miR‑29b on proliferation and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma ascites H22 cells and its association with the transforming growth factor‑β1 (TGF‑β1) signaling pathway and p53‑mediated apoptotic pathway. Briefly, H22 cells were transfected with miR‑29b‑3p (hereinafter referred to as miR‑29b) mimic or miR‑29b inhibitor. MTS cell proliferation assay and flow cytometry were used to analyze cell viability and apoptosis. The expression change of the TGF‑β1 signaling pathway and p53‑mediated apoptotic pathway were detected by reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR, western blotting and immunofluorescence. Furthermore, cells were treated with exogenous TGF‑β1 and TGF‑β1 small interfering RNA to evaluate the crosstalk between TGF‑β1 and p53 under miR‑29b regulation. The overexpression of miR‑29b decreased cell viability, increased cell apoptosis, activated the TGF‑β1 signaling pathway and p53‑mediated apoptotic pathway. Conversely, these effects were reversed by the miR‑29b inhibitor. Moreover, the effect of miR‑29b mimic was further increased after treating cells with exogenous TGF‑β1. The activation of the TGF‑β1 signaling pathway and p53‑mediated apoptotic pathway induced by miR‑29b overexpression were reversed by TGF‑β1 inhibition. In summary, these data indicated that miR‑29b has an important role in proliferation and apoptosis of H22 cells by regulating the TGF‑β1 signaling pathway, the p53‑dependent apoptotic pathway, and the crosstalk between TGF‑β1 and p53.

The p53 Protein Family in the Response of Tumor Cells to Ionizing Radiation: Problem Development

Survival mechanisms are activated in tumor cells in response to therapeutic ionizing radiation. This reduces a treatment's effectiveness. The p53, p63, and p73 proteins belonging to the family of proteins that regulate the numerous pathways of intracellular signal transduction play a key role in the development of radioresistance. This review analyzes the p53-dependent and p53-independent mechanisms involved in overcoming the resistance of tumor cells to radiation exposure.