Entanglement of MAPK pathways with gene expression and its omnipresence in the etiology for cancer and neurodegenerative disorders

Dietary flavonoids modulate the gut microbiota: A new perspective on improving autism spectrum disorder through the gut-brain axis

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with an unknown etiology. It is associated with various factors and causes great inconvenience to the patient's life. The gut-brain axis (GBA), which serves as a bidirectional information channel for exchanging information between the gut microbiota and the brain, is vital in studying many neurodegenerative diseases. Dietary flavonoids provide anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, as well as regulating the structure and function of the gut microbiota. The occurrence and development of ASD are associated with dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. Modulation of gut microbiota can effectively improve the severity of ASD. This paper reviews the links between gut microbiota, flavonoids, and ASD, focusing on the mechanism of dietary flavonoids in regulating ASD through the GBA.

Incorporating Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation to Identify Bioactive Compounds and Potential Mechanisms of Digitalis in Treating Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the most lethal malignant tumors for which there is no effective treatment. There are an increasing number of studies on herbal medicine for treating malignant tumors, and the classic botanical medicine Digitalis and its active ingredients for treating heart failure and arrhythmias have been revealed to have significant antitumor efficacy against a wide range of malignant tumors. However, the main components of Digitalis and the molecular mechanisms of its anti-ATC effects have not been extensively studied. Here, we screened the main components and core targets of Digitalis and verified the relationship between the active components and targets through network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation. These experiments showed that the active ingredients of Digitalis inhibit ATC cell activity and lead to ATC cell death through the apoptotic pathway.

Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: Signaling Pathways and Epigenetic Regulation

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are characterized by dysregulated signaling pathways that are crucial for tumor formation and progression. The efficacy of traditional therapies is limited, particularly in the treatment of PNETs at an advanced stage. Epigenetic alterations profoundly impact the activity of signaling pathways in cancer development, offering potential opportunities for drug development. There is currently a lack of extensive research on epigenetic regulation in PNETs. To fill this gap, we first summarize major signaling events that are involved in PNET development. Then, we discuss the epigenetic regulation of these signaling pathways in the context of both PNETs and commonly occurring-and therefore more extensively studied-malignancies. Finally, we will offer a perspective on the future research direction of the PNET epigenome and its potential applications in patient care.

Aureusidin ameliorates 6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity via activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway and preventing mitochondria-dependent apoptosis pathway in SH-SY5Y cells and Caenorhabditis elegans

Movement disorder Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world after Alzheimer's disease, which severely affects the quality of patients' lives and imposes an increasingly heavy socioeconomic burden. Aureusidin is a kind of natural flavonoid compound with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities, while its pharmacological action and mechanism are rarely reported in PD. This study aimed to explore the neuroprotective effects and potential mechanisms of Aureusidin in PD. The present study demonstrated that Aureusidin protected SH-SY5Y cells from cell damage induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) via inhibiting the mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and activating the Nrf2/HO-1 antioxidant signaling pathway. Additionally, Aureusidin diminished dopaminergic (DA) neuron degeneration induced by 6-OHDA and reduced the aggregation toxicity of α-synuclein (α-Syn) in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans.) In conclusion, Aureusidin showed a neuroprotective effect in the 6-OHDA-induced PD model via activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway and prevented mitochondria-dependent apoptosis pathway, and these findings suggested that Aureusidin may be an effective drug for the treatment of PD.

Vinorelbine Alters lncRNA Expression in Association with EGFR Mutational Status and Potentiates Tumor Progression Depending on NSCLC Cell Lines' Genetic Profile

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as the most common type. In addition, NSCLC has a high mortality rate and an overall adverse patient outcome. Although significant improvements have been made in therapeutic options, effectiveness is still limited in late stages, so the need for a better understanding of the genomics events underlying the current therapies is crucial to aid future drug development. Vinorelbine (VRB) is an anti-mitotic chemotherapy drug (third-generation vinca alkaloid) used to treat several malignancies, including NSCLC. However, despite its widespread clinical use, very little is known about VRB-associated genomic alterations in different subtypes of NSCLC. This article is an in vitro investigation of the cytotoxic effects of VRB on three different types of NSCLC cell lines, A549, Calu-6, and H1792, with a closer focus on post-treatment genetic alterations. Based on the obtained results, VRB cytotoxicity produces modifications on a cellular level, altering biological processes such as apoptosis, autophagy, cellular motility, cellular adhesion, and cell cycle, but also at a genomic level, dysregulating the expression of some coding genes, such as EGFR, and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), including CCAT1, CCAT2, GAS5, MALAT1, NEAT1, NORAD, XIST, and HOTAIR, that are implicated in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Therefore, although extensive validation is required, these results pave the way towards a better understanding of the cellular and genomic alterations underlying the cytotoxicity of VRB.