Water extract of sporoderm-broken spores of Ganoderma lucidum enhanced pd-l1 antibody efficiency through downregulation and relieved complications of pd-l1 monoclonal antibody

Antrodia cinnamomea Formula Suppresses Prostate Cancer Progression via Immune Modulation and PD-1/PD-L1 Pathway Inhibition

Prostate cancer remains a significant global health challenge, necessitating the development of novel therapeutic approaches. This study investigated the therapeutic potential of the Antrodia cinnamomea formula (XIANZHIFANG formula, XZF), comprising Antrodia cinnamomea, Sanghuangporus sanghuang, Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma sinense, and Inonotus obliquus, in prostate cancer treatment. HPLC analysis confirmed the presence of key triterpenoids, including Antcin A, B, C, K, and Zhankuic acid B, C, and 4,7-dimethoxy-5-methyl-1,3-benzodioxole. Cytotoxicity assays demonstrated that XZF (50-200 μg/mL) exhibited selective activity, maintaining viability in non-cancerous 293T-cells while enhancing the viability of activated CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells in a dose-dependent manner. XZF significantly reduced PD-1 expression in CD8+ T-cells but not in CD4+ T-cells and inhibited the PD-L1/PD-1 interaction, achieving 93% inhibition at 200 μg/mL. Furthermore, when combined with atezolizumab (1 μg/mL), XZF demonstrated complete blockade of PD-L1/PD-1 interaction. In prostate cancer cells, XZF exhibited differential antiproliferative effects. In PC-3 cells, XZF significantly reduced viability across a concentration range of 25-200 μg/mL, whereas DU145 cells showed only partial inhibition at higher concentrations (100-200 μg/mL). LNCaP cells exhibited a dose-dependent reduction in viability, mirroring the response pattern of PC-3 cells. Conditioned medium from XZF-treated macrophages, particularly human THP-1 cells, significantly suppressed the viability and migration of prostate cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. Notably, the conditioned medium from XZF-treated THP-1 cells exhibited a stronger inhibitory effect on prostate cancer cell viability and migration compared to murine RAW 264.7 macrophages. These findings indicate that XZF exerts its therapeutic potential through multiple mechanisms, including direct antiproliferative effects on cancer cells, enhancement of T-cell responses, modulation of immune checkpoint pathways, and macrophage-mediated suppression of prostate cancer cell survival and migration. The pronounced effects observed in human macrophage models suggest a promising avenue for further investigation in clinical settings, particularly in combination with existing immunotherapies.

Harnessing the capacity of phytochemicals to enhance immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy of cancers: A focus on brain malignancies

Brain cancers, particularly glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), are challenging health issues with frequent unmet aspects. Today, discovering safe and effective therapeutic modalities for brain tumors is among the top research interests. Immunotherapy is an emerging area of investigation in cancer treatment. Since immune checkpoints play fundamental roles in repressing anti-cancer immunity, diverse immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been developed, and some monoclonal antibodies have been approved clinically for particular cancers; nevertheless, there are significant concerns regarding their efficacy and safety in brain tumors. Among the various tools to modify the immune checkpoints, phytochemicals show good effectiveness and excellent safety, making them suitable candidates for developing better ICIs. Phytochemicals regulate multiple immunological checkpoint-related signaling pathways in cancer biology; however, their efficacy for clinical cancer immunotherapy remains to be established. Here, we discussed the involvement of immune checkpoints in cancer pathology and summarized recent advancements in applying phytochemicals in modulating immune checkpoints in brain tumors to highlight the state-of-the-art and give constructive prospects for future research.

The role of programmed cell death in osteosarcoma: From pathogenesis to therapy

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a prevalent bone solid malignancy that primarily affects adolescents, particularly boys aged 14-19. This aggressive form of cancer often leads to deadly lung cancer due to its high migration ability. Experimental evidence suggests that programmed cell death (PCD) plays a crucial role in the development of osteosarcoma. Various forms of PCD, including apoptosis, ferroptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, and pyroptosis, contribute significantly to the progression of osteosarcoma. Additionally, different signaling pathways such as STAT3/c-Myc signal pathway, JNK signl pathway, PI3k/AKT/mTOR signal pathway, WNT/β-catenin signal pathway, and RhoA signal pathway can influence the development of osteosarcoma by regulating PCD in osteosarcoma cell. Therefore, targeting PCD and the associated signaling pathways could offer a promising therapeutic approach for treating osteosarcoma.

Chitosan oligosaccharide suppresses osteosarcoma malignancy by inhibiting CEMIP via the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Osteosarcoma is a malignant bone tumor that is prone to metastasize early and primarily affects children and adolescents. Cell migration-inducing protein (CEMIP) plays a crucial role in the progression and malignancy of various tumor diseases, including osteosarcoma. Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), an oligomer isolated from chitin, has been found to have significant anti-tumor activity in various cancers. This study investigates the effects of COS on CEMIP expression in osteosarcoma and explores the underlying mechanism. In present study, in vitro experiments were conducted to confirm the inhibitory activity of COS on human osteosarcoma cells. Our results demonstrate that COS possesses inhibitory effects against human osteosarcoma cells and significantly suppresses CEMIP expression in vitro. Next, we studied the inhibition of the expression of CEMIP by COS and then performed bioinformatics analysis to explore the potential inhibitory mechanism of COS against signaling pathways involved in regulating CEMIP expression. Bioinformatics analysis predicted a close association between the PI3K signaling pathway and CEMIP expression and that the inhibitory effect of COS on CEMIP expression may be related to PI3K signaling pathway regulation. The results of this study show that COS treatment significantly inhibits CEMIP expression and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, as observed both in vitro and in vivo. This study demonstrates that COS could inhibit the expression of CEMIP, which is closely related to osteosarcoma malignancy. This inhibitory effect may be attributed to the inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo.

Pharmacological Activities and Safety of Ganoderma lucidum Spores: A Systematic Review

Ganoderma lucidum is traditionally used to prevent and treat some diseases such as liver disorders, hypertension, insomnia, diabetes, and cancer. G. lucidum spore extracts are also reported to share similar bioactivities as extracts from its other parts. However, there is no systematic review that elucidates its pharmacological effect. Our aim is to comprehensively summarise current evidence of G. lucidum spore extracts to clarify its benefits to be applied in further studies. We searched five primary databases: PubMed, Virtual Health Library (VHL), Global Health Library (GHL), System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE), and Google Scholar on September 13, 2021. Articles were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. A manual search was applied to find more relevant articles. Ninety studies that reported the pharmacological effects and/or safety of G. lucidum spores were included in this review. The review found that G. lucidum spore extracts showed quite similar effects as other parts of this medicinal plant including anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effects, and immunomodulation. G. lucidum sporoderm-broken extract demonstrated higher efficiency than unbroken spore extract. G. lucidum extracts also showed their effects on some genes responsible for the body's metabolism, which implied the benefits in metabolic diseases. The safety of G. lucidum should be investigated in depth as high doses of the extract could increase levels of cancer antigen (CA)72-4, despite no harmful effect shown on body organs. Generally, there is a lot of potential in the studies of compounds with pharmacological effects and new treatments. Sporoderm breaking technique could contribute to the production of extracts with more effective prevention and treatment of diseases. High doses of G. lucidum spore extract should be used with caution as there was a concern about the increase in CA.

The Role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Cancer Immunotherapy: Current Status and Future Directions

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays an important role in the development of tumors. Immunoregulatory cells and cytokines facilitate cancer cells to avoid immune surveillance. Overexpression of immune checkpoint molecules such as CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibits immune function and enables cancer cells to avoid clearance by the immune system. Thus, minimizing tumor immunosuppression could be an important strategy for cancer therapy. Currently, many immune checkpoint-targeted drugs, such as PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, have been approved for marketing and have shown unique advantages in the clinical treatment of cancers. The concept of "strengthening resistance to eliminate pathogenic factors" in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is consistent with the immunotherapy of cancer. According to previous studies, the role of TCM in tumor immunotherapy is mainly associated with the positive regulation of natural killer cells, CD8/CD4 T cells, dendritic cells, M2 macrophages, interleukin-2, tumor necrosis factor-[Formula: see text], and IFN-[Formula: see text], as well as with the negative regulation of Tregs, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, PD-1/PD-L1, transforming growth factor-[Formula: see text], and tumor necrosis factor-[Formula: see text]. This paper summarizes the current research on the effect of TCM targeting the TME, and further introduces the research progress on studying the effects of TCM on immune checkpoints. Modern pharmacological studies have demonstrated that TCM can directly or indirectly affect the TME by inhibiting the overexpression of immune checkpoint molecules and enhancing the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy. TCM with immunomodulatory stimulation could be the key factor to achieve benefits from immunotherapy for patients with non-inflammatory, or "cold", tumors.

Effects of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide peptide ameliorating cyclophosphamide-induced immune dysfunctions based on metabolomics analysis

Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide peptide (GLPP) is one of the most abundant constituents of Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum), with a wide range of functional activities. The present study investigated the immunomodulatory effects of GLPP in cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced immunosuppressive mice. The results showed that 100 mg/kg/day of GLPP administration significantly alleviated CTX-induced immune damage by improving immune organ indexes, earlap swelling rate, the index of carbon phagocytosis and clearance value, secretion of cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-2), and immunoglobulin A(IgA) in the mice. Furthermore, ultra-performance liquid chromatography with mass/mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was conducted to identify the metabolites, followed by biomarker and pathway analysis. The results showed that GLPP treatment alleviated CTX-induced alterations in the fecal metabolome profile, including arachidonic acid (AA), leukotriene D4 (LTD4), indole-3-ethanol, and formyltetrahydrofolate (CF), by reversing citric acid, malic acid, cortisol, and oleic acid. These results support the concept that GLPP exhibits immunomodulatory activity via the folate cycle, methionine cycle, TCA cycle, fatty acid biosynthesis and metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, AA metabolism, and cAMP pathways. In conclusion, the results could be helpful to understand the use of GLPP to clarify the immunomodulatory mechanism and be used as immunostimulants to prevent CTX-induced side effects in the immune system.

Combining STAT3-Targeting Agents with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in NSCLC

Despite recent therapeutic advances, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the leading cause of cancer-related death. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor (TF) with multiple tumor-promoting effects in NSCLC, including proliferation, anti-apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, immunosuppression, and drug resistance. Recent studies suggest that STAT3 activation contributes to resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Thus, STAT3 represents an attractive target whose pharmacological modulation in NSCLC may assist in enhancing the efficacy of or overcoming resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors. In this review, we discuss the biological mechanisms through which STAT3 inhibition synergizes with or overcomes resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors and highlight the therapeutic strategy of using drugs that target STAT3 as potential combination partners for immune checkpoint inhibitors in the management of NSCLC patients.

Immune checkpoints in osteosarcoma: Recent advances and therapeutic potential

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumor and is associated with a high risk of recurrence and distant metastasis. Effective treatment for osteosarcoma, especially advanced osteosarcoma, has stagnated over the past four decades. The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) has transformed the treatment paradigm for multiple malignant tumor types and indicated a potential therapeutic strategy for osteosarcoma. In this review, we discuss recent advances in immune checkpoints, including programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1), programmed cell death protein ligand-1 (PD-L1), and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), and their related ICIs for osteosarcoma treatment. We present the main existing mechanisms of resistance to ICIs therapy in osteosarcoma. Moreover, we summarize the current strategies for improving the efficacy of ICIs in osteosarcoma and address the potential predictive biomarkers of ICIs treatment in osteosarcoma.

Current insight into the regulation of PD-L1 in cancer

The molecular mechanisms underlying cancer immune escape are a core topic in cancer immunology research. Cancer cells can escape T cell-mediated cellular cytotoxicity by exploiting the inhibitory programmed cell-death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1, CD274) immune checkpoint. Studying the PD-L1 regulatory pattern of tumor cells will help elucidate the molecular mechanisms of tumor immune evasion and improve cancer treatment. Recent studies have found that tumor cells regulate PD-L1 at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational levels and influence the anti-tumor immune response by regulating PD-L1. In this review, we focus on the regulation of PD-L1 in cancer cells and summarize the underlying mechanisms.

Polysaccharide immunization and colorectal cancer: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

Polysaccharides have a variety of biological activities, and in the anti-tumor field, they produce tumor suppressive effects by regulating the polarization of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). In immunotherapy, it has significant activities in modulating cytokines and antibody production. We reviewed them and selected CD24, an immune target, for meta-analysis with colorectal cancer (CRC) to investigate the correlation between CD24 expression and CRC. Correlation of CD24 positive expression with clinical-pathological features: age, sex, Duke’s stage, diameter, depth of invasion, degree of differentiation, and lymph node metastasis. It showed that: CD24 expression in CRC was significantly correlated with advanced nuclear grade of CRC, lymph node metastasis, Duke’s stage of CRC and age of CRC patients, while there was no significant correlation with gender, tumor diameter and invasion depth. The aim is to clarify the specific mechanism of polysaccharide immune anti-tumor, combined with targeted site-specific anti-solid tumor.

Sporoderm-Broken Spores of Ganoderma lucidum Sensitizes Ovarian Cancer to Cisplatin by ROS/ERK Signaling and Attenuates Chemotherapy-Related Toxicity

Although platinum-based chemotherapeutics such as cisplatin are the cornerstone of treatment for ovarian cancer, their clinical application is profoundly limited due to chemoresistance and severe adverse effects. Sporoderm-broken spores of Ganoderma lucidum (SBSGL) have been reported to possess antitumor effects. However, the function and mechanism of SBSGL and its essential composition, ganoderic acid D (GAD), in the cisplatin therapy on ovarian cancer have yet to be investigated. Here, we investigated the combined effect of SBSGL and cisplatin in an ovarian tumor xenograft model. The results showed that combining SBSGL with cisplatin reduced tumor growth and ameliorated cisplatin-induced intestinal injury and myelosuppression. We also confirmed that GAD could enhance the therapeutic effect of cisplatin in SKOV3 and cisplatin-resistant SKOV3/DDP cells by increasing the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Mechanistically, we proved that ROS-mediated ERK signaling inhibition played an important role in the chemo-sensitization effect of GAD on cisplatin in ovarian cancer. Taken together, combining SBSGL with cisplatin provides a novel therapeutic strategy against ovarian cancer.