Triiodothyronine positively regulates endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) and promotes androgenic signaling in androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells

Exploring the role of quercetin on doxorubicin and lapatinib-mediated cellular and mitochondrial responses using in vitro and in silico studies

Doxorubicin (DOX) and lapatinib (LAP) have been reported to cause liver toxicity. The roles of mitochondrial and cellular responses in DOX and LAP mediated-hepatotoxicity have not been investigated with or without quercetin (QUE) in HepG2 cells sensitive to mitochondrial damage (high-glucose or galactose media) in addition to in silico studies. Our results revealed that cytosolic pathways might play role a in DOX-induced cytotoxicity rather than mitochondria. QUE exacerbated DOX-induced ATP depletion in both environments. Our data also indicated that cytosolic and mitochondrial pathways might play a role in LAP-induced cytotoxicity. Incubating QUE with LAP increased ATP levels in high-glucose media. Therefore, QUE might have protective effect against LAP-induced cytotoxicity resulting from cytosolic pathways. The findings from in vitro experiments that QUE increased DOX or LAP-induced mitochondrial dysfunction were confirmed by the results from in silico studies indicating that QUE incubated with LAP or DOX might increase mitochondrial dysfunction.

Targeting COVID-19 and varicocele by blocking inflammasome: Ligand-based virtual screening

COVID-19 is a new generation of outbreaks that invade not only local emerging region, continental but also the whole globe. Varicocele on the other hand, is a testicular vascular disease that underlies 40 % of male infertility cases. Fortunately, the two diseases can be blocked through targeting one common target, NLRP3 inflammasome. Upon searching for similar drugs that gained FDA-approval in ChEMBL library along with examining their potential blockade of the receptor through docking using CB-DOCK-2, three potential approved drugs can be repurposed, ChEMBL 4297185, ChEMBL 1201749, ChEMBL 1200545 which had binding energy of -9.8 and -9.7 kcal/mol (stronger than the reference inhibitor, -9.3 kcal/mol). Also, ADME profile of the top 3 drugs showed better attributes. Also, the simulated proteins exhibited stable pattern with strong free binding energies. Among the potential inhibitor drugs ChEMBL 4297185 was found to remain inside the binding site of the protein during the 200 ns simulation time. Hence, it is anticipated to have the highest binding and thus inhibition potential against the protein. The suggested drugs, especially ChEMBL 4297185, are potentially repurposable toward treating COVID-19 and varicocele which deserve further experimental validation.

New mode of action of curcumin on prostate cancer cells: Modulation of endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation mechanism and estrogenic signaling

Prostate cancer is leading to cancer-related mortality in numerous men each year worldwide. While there are several treatment options, acquired drug resistance mostly limits the success of treatments. Therefore, there is a need for the development of innovative treatments. Curcumin is one of the bioactive polyphenolic ingredients identified in turmeric and has numerous biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory and anticancer. In the present study, we investigated the effect of curcumin on the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) and estrogenic signaling in prostate cancer cells. The antiproliferative effect of curcumin on human androgen-dependent prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP and VCaP was estimated by WST-1 assay. Morphological alterations were investigated with an inverted microscope. We investigated the effect of curcumin on ERAD and estrogen signaling proteins by immunoblotting assay. To evaluate the impact of curcumin on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein quality-related, the expression level of 32 genes was analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The nuclear translocation of estrogen receptor was examined by nuclear fractionation and immunofluorescence microscopy. We found that curcumin effectively reduced the proliferation rates of LNCaP and VCaP cells. ERAD proteins; Hrd1, gp78, p97/VCP, Ufd1 and Npl4 were strongly induced by curcumin. Also, the steady-state level of polyubiquitin was increased in a dose-dependent manner in both cell lines. Curcumin administration remarkably decreased the protein levels of estrogen receptor-alfa (Erα), whereas estrogen receptor-beta unaffected. Additionally, curcumin strongly restricted the nuclear translocation of Erα. Present data suggest that curcumin may be effectively used in therapeutic approaches associated with the targeting ER protein quality control mechanism and modulation of estrogen signaling in prostate cancer.