circ-ATAD1 as Competing Endogenous RNA for miR-191-5p Forces Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Progression

Salidroside Enhances the Sensitivity of Lung Cancer Cells to Paclitaxel by Regulating the Wnt/β-catenin Signaling Pathway

OBJECTIVE

Chemoresistance, such as paclitaxel (PTX) resistance, has become a great obstacle in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment. The natural agent salidroside (SAL) has been shown to exert an antitumor effect on NSCLC. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether SAL can decrease the resistance of NSCLC to PTX.

METHODS

PTX-resistant NSCLC cells (H1299/PTX and A549/PTX) were generated. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to detect cell viability. Colony formation assay and flow cytometry were utilized to assess cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. Immunofluorescence staining and TOP/FOP flash luciferase assay were employed to estimate β-catenin activation. Western blotting was implemented to estimate the protein levels of apoptosis-, proliferation-, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling-associated markers. A xenograft mouse model was established to investigate the impact of SAL on PTX resistance in vivo.

RESULTS

SAL increased PTX-induced suppression of proliferation and promoted apoptosis in PTX-resistant NSCLC cells. SAL blocked the Wnt/β-catenin signaling in A549/PTX cells and in tumor-bearing mice. Activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling reversed the SAL-mediated increase in the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to PTX. SAL attenuated PTX resistance in NSCLC in the xenograft mouse model.

CONCLUSION

SAL enhances the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to PTX by blocking the Wnt/β-catenin signal transduction.

Extracellular Vesicles in Lung Cancer: Implementation in Diagnosis and Therapeutic Perspectives

Lung cancer represents the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with around 1.8 million deaths in 2020. For this reason, there is an enormous interest in finding early diagnostic tools and novel therapeutic approaches, one of which is extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs are nanoscale membranous particles that can carry proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), mediating various biological processes, especially in cell-cell communication. As such, they represent an interesting biomarker for diagnostic analysis that can be performed easily by liquid biopsy. Moreover, their growing dataset shows promising results as drug delivery cargo. The aim of our work is to summarize the recent advances in and possible implications of EVs for early diagnosis and innovative therapies for lung cancer.