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Jiang M, Wu W, Xiong Z, Yu X, Ye Z, Wu Z. Targeting autophagy drug discovery: Targets, indications and development trends. Eur J Med Chem 2024; 267:116117. [PMID: 38295689 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.116117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 12/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Autophagy plays a vital role in sustaining cellular homeostasis and its alterations have been implicated in the etiology of many diseases. Drugs development targeting autophagy began decades ago and hundreds of agents were developed, some of which are licensed for the clinical usage. However, no existing intervention specifically aimed at modulating autophagy is available. The obstacles that prevent drug developments come from the complexity of the actual impact of autophagy regulators in disease scenarios. With the development and application of new technologies, several promising categories of compounds for autophagy-based therapy have emerged in recent years. In this paper, the autophagy-targeted drugs based on their targets at various hierarchical sites of the autophagic signaling network, e.g., the upstream and downstream of the autophagosome and the autophagic components with enzyme activities are reviewed and analyzed respectively, with special attention paid to those at preclinical or clinical trials. The drugs tailored to specific autophagy alone and combination with drugs/adjuvant therapies widely used in clinical for various diseases treatments are also emphasized. The emerging drug design and development targeting selective autophagy receptors (SARs) and their related proteins, which would be expected to arrest or reverse the progression of disease in various cancers, inflammation, neurodegeneration, and metabolic disorders, are critically reviewed. And the challenges and perspective in clinically developing autophagy-targeted drugs and possible combinations with other medicine are considered in the review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengjia Jiang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, China Jiliang University, China
| | - Wayne Wu
- College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York Institute of Technology, USA
| | - Zijie Xiong
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, China Jiliang University, China
| | - Xiaoping Yu
- Department of Biology, China Jiliang University, China
| | - Zihong Ye
- Department of Biology, China Jiliang University, China
| | - Zhiping Wu
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, China Jiliang University, China.
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Lu Y, Xu J, Li Y, Wang R, Dai C, Zhang B, Zhang X, Xu L, Tao Y, Han M, Guo R, Wu Q, Wu L, Meng Z, Tan M, Li J. DRAK2 suppresses autophagy by phosphorylating ULK1 at Ser 56 to diminish pancreatic β cell function upon overnutrition. Sci Transl Med 2024; 16:eade8647. [PMID: 38324636 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.ade8647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Impeded autophagy can impair pancreatic β cell function by causing apoptosis, of which DAP-related apoptosis-inducing kinase-2 (DRAK2) is a critical regulator. Here, we identified a marked up-regulation of DRAK2 in pancreatic tissue across humans, macaques, and mice with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Further studies in mice showed that conditional knockout (cKO) of DRAK2 in pancreatic β cells protected β cell function against high-fat diet feeding along with sustained autophagy and mitochondrial function. Phosphoproteome analysis in isolated mouse primary islets revealed that DRAK2 directly phosphorylated unc-51-like autophagy activating kinase 1 (ULK1) at Ser56, which was subsequently found to induce ULK1 ubiquitylation and suppress autophagy. ULK1-S56A mutation or pharmacological inhibition of DRAK2 preserved mitochondrial function and insulin secretion against lipotoxicity in mouse primary islets, Min6 cells, or INS-1E cells. In conclusion, these findings together indicate an indispensable role of the DRAK2-ULK1 axis in pancreatic β cells upon metabolic challenge, which offers a potential target to protect β cell function in T2D.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuting Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
| | - Junyu Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
- Zhongshan Institute for Drug Discovery, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongshan, Guangdong 528400, P. R. China
| | - Yufeng Li
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
| | - Ruoran Wang
- Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, P. R. China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, P. R. China
| | - Chengqiu Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Bingqian Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Xinwen Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
| | - Lei Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
- Zhongshan Institute for Drug Discovery, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongshan, Guangdong 528400, P. R. China
| | - Yunhua Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
| | - Ming Han
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
| | - Ren Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
| | - Qingqian Wu
- Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, P. R. China
| | - Linshi Wu
- Shanghai Jiaotong University, School of Medicine, Renji Hospital, Shanghai, 201112, P. R. China
| | - Zhuoxian Meng
- Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, P. R. China
- Key Laboratory of Disease Proteomics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, P. R. China
| | - Minjia Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
- Zhongshan Institute for Drug Discovery, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongshan, Guangdong 528400, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Jingya Li
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
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Abd El-Aziz YS, McKay MJ, Molloy MP, McDowell B, Moon E, Sioson L, Sheen A, Chou A, Gill AJ, Jansson PJ, Sahni S. Inhibition of autophagy initiation: A novel strategy for oral squamous cell carcinomas. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH 2024; 1871:119627. [PMID: 37963518 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2023.119627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common forms of oral cancer and is known to have poor prognostic outcomes. Autophagy is known to be associated with aggressive tumor biology of OSCC. Hence, this study aimed to develop a novel therapeutic strategy against OSCC by targeting the autophagic pathway. METHODS Immunoblotting, and confocal microscopy were used to examine the effect of tumor microenvironmental stressors on the autophagy activity. Cellular proliferation and migration assays were performed to assess the anti-cancer activity of standard chemotherapy and autophagy initiation inhibitors, either alone or in combination. High resolution mass-spectrometry based proteomic analysis was utilized to understand the mechanisms behind chemoresistance in OSCC models. Finally, immunohistochemistry was performed to determine associations between autophagy markers and clinicopathological characteristics. RESULTS Tumor microenvironmental stressors were shown to induce autophagy activity in OSCC cell lines. Novel combinations of chemotherapy and autophagy inhibitors as well as different classes of autophagy inhibitors were identified. Combination of MRT68921 and SAR405 demonstrated marked synergy in their anti-proliferative activity and also showed synergy with chemotherapy in chemoresistant OSCC cell models. Autophagy was identified as one of the key pathways involved in mediating chemoresistance in OSCC. Furthermore, TGM2 was identified as a key upstream regulator of chemoresistance in OSCC models. Finally, positive staining for autophagosome marker LC3 was shown to be associated with low histological grade OSCC. CONCLUSION In conclusion, this study identified a combination of novel autophagy inhibitors which can potently inhibit proliferation of both chemosensitive as well as chemoresistant OSCC cells and could be developed as a novel therapy against advanced OSCC tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yomna S Abd El-Aziz
- Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia; Oral Pathology Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
| | - Matthew J McKay
- Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia
| | - Mark P Molloy
- Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia
| | - Betty McDowell
- NSW Health Pathology, Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - Elizabeth Moon
- Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia
| | - Loretta Sioson
- Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia; NSW Health Pathology, Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - Amy Sheen
- Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia; NSW Health Pathology, Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - Angela Chou
- Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia; NSW Health Pathology, Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - Anthony J Gill
- Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia; NSW Health Pathology, Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - Patric J Jansson
- Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia; Cancer Drug Resistance & Stem Cell Program, School of Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Sumit Sahni
- Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.
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Xiong Y, Cui MY, Li ZL, Fu YQ, Zheng Y, Yu Y, Zhang C, Huang XY, Chen BH. ULK1 confers neuroprotection by regulating microglial/macrophages activation after ischemic stroke. Int Immunopharmacol 2024; 127:111379. [PMID: 38141409 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.111379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
Microglial activation and autophagy play a critical role in the progression of ischemic stroke and contribute to the regulation of neuroinflammation. Unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) is the primary autophagy kinase involved in autophagosome formation. However, the impact of ULK1 on neuroprotection and microglial activation after ischemic stroke remains unclear. In this study, we established a photothrombotic stroke model, and administered SBI-0206965 (SBI), an ULK1 inhibitor, and LYN-1604 hydrochloride (LYN), an ULK1 agonist, to modulate ULK1 activity in vivo. We assessed sensorimotor deficits, neuronal apoptosis, and microglial/macrophage activation to evaluate the neurofunctional outcome. Immunofluorescence results revealed ULK1 was primarily localized in the microglia of the infarct area following ischemia. Upregulating ULK1 through LYN treatment significantly reduced infarct volume, improved motor function, promoted the increase of anti-inflammatory microglia. In conclusion, ULK1 facilitated neuronal repair and promoted the formation of anti-inflammatory microglia pathway after ischemic injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Xiong
- Department of Neurosurgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325000, China
| | - Mai Yin Cui
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Neuroscience, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, China; Department of Rehabilitation and Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310051, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhuo Li Li
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Neuroscience, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yan Qiong Fu
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Neuroscience, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yu Zheng
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Neuroscience, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yi Yu
- Institute of Stomatology, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang, China
| | - Chan Zhang
- School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xin Yi Huang
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Neuroscience, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, China
| | - Bai Hui Chen
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Neuroscience, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, China.
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Xiong D, Wei X, Huang W, Zheng J, Feng R. Prediction significance of autophagy-related genes in survival probability and drug resistance in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Aging (Albany NY) 2024; 16:1049-1076. [PMID: 38240686 PMCID: PMC10866451 DOI: 10.18632/aging.205282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/06/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, has significant prognostic heterogeneity. This study aimed to generate a prognostic prediction model based on autophagy-related genes for DLBCL patients. METHODS Utilizing bioinformatics techniques, we analyzed the clinical information and transcriptome data of DLBCL patients from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Through unsupervised clustering, we identified new autophagy-related molecular subtypes and pinpointed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between these subtypes. Based on these DEGs, a prognostic model was constructed using Cox and Lasso regression. The effectiveness, accuracy, and clinical utility of this prognostic model were assessed using numerous independent validation cohorts, survival analyses, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, multivariate Cox regression analysis, nomograms, and calibration curves. Moreover, functional analysis, immune cell infiltration, and drug sensitivity analysis were performed. RESULTS DLBCL patients with different clinical characterizations (age, molecular subtypes, ECOG scores, and stages) showed different expression features of autophagy-related genes. The prediction model was constructed based on the eight autophagy-related genes (ADD3, IGFBP3, TPM1, LYZ, AFDN, DNAJC10, GLIS3, and CCDC102A). The prognostic nomogram for overall survival of DLBCL patients incorporated risk level, stage, ECOG scores, and molecular subtypes, showing excellent agreement between observed and predicted outcomes. Differences were noted in the proportions of immune cells (native B cells, Treg cells, CD8+ T cell, CD4+ memory activated T cells, gamma delta T cells, macrophages M1, and resting mast cells) between high-risk and low-risk groups. LYZ and ADD3 exhibited correlations with drug resistance to most chemotherapeutic drugs. CONCLUSIONS This study established a novel prognostic assessment model based on the expression profile of autophagy-related genes and clinical characteristics of DLBCL patients, explored immune infiltration and predicted drug resistance, which may guide precise and individualized immunochemotherapy regimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Xiong
- Department of Hematology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University or the First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
- Department of Hematology, Shunde Hospital, Southern Medical University (The First People’s Hospital of Shunde), Foshan 528308, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaolei Wei
- Department of Hematology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University or the First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Weiming Huang
- Department of Hematology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University or the First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Jingxia Zheng
- Department of Hematology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University or the First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Ru Feng
- Department of Hematology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University or the First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
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Wang HX, Zhao ZP, Du XY, Peng SL, Xu HY, Tang W, Yang L. SLFN11 promotes clear cell renal cell carcinoma progression via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Med Oncol 2024; 41:54. [PMID: 38206539 DOI: 10.1007/s12032-023-02262-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
SLFN11 is abnormally expressed and associated with survival outcomes in various human cancers. However, the role of SLFN11 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the clinical value and potential functions of SLFN11 in ccRCC. Comprehensive bioinformatics analyses were performed using online databases. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and western blotting were used to validate the expression data. CCK8, flow cytometry analysis, and EdU staining were performed to determine the level of cell proliferation. Flow cytometry analysis was also used to detect cell apoptosis. Wound-healing assay and Transwell assays were performed to assess cell migration and invasion capability, respectively. SLFN11 was overexpressed and was an independent prognostic factor in ccRCC. SLFN11 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and promoted apoptosis. Functional and pathway enrichment analyses suggested that SLFN11 may have an impact on tumorigenesis in ccRCC through regulation of the inflammatory response, the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and other effectors. Furthermore, SLFN11 knockdown inhibited the phosphorylation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and could be activated by 740 Y-P. Finally, we demonstrated that miR-183 may specifically target SLFN11, and miR-183 expression was correlated with predicted survival. SLFN11 may play a critical role in ccRCC progression and may serve as a novel prognostic biomarker in ccRCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- He-Xi Wang
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China
| | - Zhi-Peng Zhao
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China
| | - Xiao-Yi Du
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China
| | - Sen-Lin Peng
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China
| | - Hao-Yu Xu
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China
| | - Wei Tang
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China.
| | - Lei Yang
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China.
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Kuang Z, Guo K, Cao Y, Jiang M, Wang C, Wu Q, Hu G, Ao M, Huang M, Qin J, Zhao T, Lu S, Sun C, Li M, Wu T, Liu W, Fang M. The novel CDK9 inhibitor, XPW1, alone and in combination with BRD4 inhibitor JQ1, for the treatment of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Br J Cancer 2023; 129:1915-1929. [PMID: 37884683 PMCID: PMC10703862 DOI: 10.1038/s41416-023-02464-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a highly lethal malignancy with few therapeutic options. Cyclin‑dependent kinase 9 (CDK9), a potential therapeutic target of many cancers, has been recently observed to be upregulated in ccRCC patients. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the therapeutic potential of CDK9 in ccRCC and develop a novel CDK9 inhibitor with low toxicity for ccRCC treatment. METHODS The expression of CDK9 in ccRCC was checked using the online database and tissue microarray analysis. shRNA-mediated CDK9 knockdown and CDK inhibitor were applied to evaluate the effect of CDK9 on ccRCC. Medicinal chemistry methods were used to develop a new CDK9 inhibitor with drugability. RNA-seq and ChIP-seq experiments were conducted to explore the mechanism of action. MTS, western blotting, and colony formation assays were performed to evaluate the anti-ccRCC effects of CDK9 knockdown and inhibition in vitro. The in vivo anti-tumour efficacy was evaluated in a xenograft model. RESULTS CDK9 is overexpressed and associated with poor survival in ccRCC. Knockdown or inhibition of CDK9 significantly suppressed ccRCC cells. XPW1 was identified as a new potent and selective CDK9 inhibitor with excellent anti-ccRCC activity and low toxicity. In mechanism, XPW1 transcriptionally inhibited DNA repair programmes in ccRCC cells, resulting in an excellent anti-tumour effect. CDK9 and BRD4 were two highly correlated transcriptional regulators in ccRCC patients, and the BRD4 inhibitor JQ1 enhanced XPW1's anti-ccRCC effects in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSIONS This work provides valuable insights into the therapeutic potential of CDK9 in ccRCC. The CDK9 inhibitor XPW1 would be a novel therapeutic agent for targeting ccRCC, alone or in rational combinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhijian Kuang
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Kaiqiang Guo
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
- College of Arts, Sichuan University, 610207, Chengdu, China
| | - Yin Cao
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Mengxue Jiang
- School of Medicine, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Chaojie Wang
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
- Jiangxi Cancer Hospital (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical Colloge), 519 East Beijing Rd, 330029, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
| | - Qiaoqiong Wu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Guosheng Hu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Mingtao Ao
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Mingfeng Huang
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Jingbo Qin
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Taige Zhao
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Sheng Lu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Cuiling Sun
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Mingyu Li
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China
| | - Tong Wu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China.
| | - Wen Liu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China.
| | - Meijuan Fang
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China.
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Lin CY, Wu KY, Chi LM, Tang YH, Huang HJ, Lai CH, Tsai CN, Tsai CL. Starvation-inactivated MTOR triggers cell migration via a ULK1-SH3PXD2A/TKS5-MMP14 pathway in ovarian carcinoma. Autophagy 2023; 19:3151-3168. [PMID: 37505094 PMCID: PMC10621272 DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2023.2239633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
ABBREVIATIONS AMPK: AMP-activated protein kinase; CHX: cycloheximide; RAD001: everolimus; HBSS: Hanks' balanced salt solution; LC-MS/MS: liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry; MMP14: matrix metallopeptidase 14; MTOR: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; MAPK: mitogen-activated protein kinase; RB1CC1/FIP200: RB1 inducible coiled-coil 1; PtdIns3P: phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate; PX: phox homology; SH3: Src homology 3; SH3PXD2A/TKS5: SH3 and PX domains 2A; SH3PXD2A-[6A]: S112A S142A S146A S147A S175A S348A mutant; ULK1: unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiao-Yun Lin
- Gynecologic Cancer Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
| | - Kai-Yun Wu
- Gynecologic Cancer Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Medical Center And Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
| | - Lang-Ming Chi
- Molecular Medicine Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
| | - Yun-Hsin Tang
- Gynecologic Cancer Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Medical Center And Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
| | - Huei-Jean Huang
- Gynecologic Cancer Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Medical Center And Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
| | - Chyong-Huey Lai
- Gynecologic Cancer Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Medical Center And Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
| | - Chi-Neu Tsai
- Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, Chang-Gung University, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
- Department of Surgery, New Taipei Municipal Tucheng Hospital, New Taipei City, Tucheng District, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Lung Tsai
- Genomic Medicine Core Laboratory, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, Guishan District, Taiwan
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9
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Zhang H, Zhang J, Luan S, Liu Z, Li X, Liu B, Yuan Y. Unraveling the Complexity of Regulated Cell Death in Esophageal Cancer: from Underlying Mechanisms to Targeted Therapeutics. Int J Biol Sci 2023; 19:3831-3868. [PMID: 37564206 PMCID: PMC10411468 DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.85753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Esophageal cancer (EC) is the sixth most common and the seventh most deadly malignancy of the digestive tract, representing a major global health challenge. Despite the availability of multimodal therapeutic strategies, the existing EC treatments continue to yield unsatisfactory results due to their limited efficacy and severe side effects. Recently, knowledge of the subroutines and molecular mechanisms of regulated cell death (RCD) has progressed rapidly, enhancing the understanding of key pathways related to the occurrence, progression, and treatment of many types of tumors, including EC. In this context, the use of small-molecule compounds to target such RCD subroutines has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with EC. Thus, in this review, we firstly discussed the risk factors and prevention of EC. We then outlined the established treatment regimens for patients with EC. Furthermore, we not only briefly summarized the mechanisms of five best studied subroutines of RCD related to EC, including apoptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis and autophagy, but also outlined the recent advances in the development of small-molecule compounds and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) targeting the abovementioned RCD subroutines, which may serve as a new therapeutic strategy for patients with EC in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haowen Zhang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Jin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Medical School, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518000, China
| | - Siyuan Luan
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Zhiying Liu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Medical School, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518000, China
| | - Xiaokun Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Bo Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yong Yuan
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
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10
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Broadbent DG, Barnaba C, Perez GI, Schmidt JC. Quantitative analysis of autophagy reveals the role of ATG9 and ATG2 in autophagosome formation. J Cell Biol 2023; 222:e202210078. [PMID: 37115157 PMCID: PMC10148237 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202210078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Autophagy is a catabolic pathway required for the recycling of cytoplasmic materials. To define the mechanisms underlying autophagy it is critical to quantitatively characterize the dynamic behavior of autophagy factors in living cells. Using a panel of cell lines expressing HaloTagged autophagy factors from their endogenous loci, we analyzed the abundance, single-molecule dynamics, and autophagosome association kinetics of autophagy proteins involved in autophagosome biogenesis. We demonstrate that autophagosome formation is inefficient and ATG2-mediated tethering to donor membranes is a key commitment step in autophagosome formation. Furthermore, our observations support the model that phagophores are initiated by the accumulation of autophagy factors on mobile ATG9 vesicles, and that the ULK1 complex and PI3-kinase form a positive feedback loop required for autophagosome formation. Finally, we demonstrate that the duration of autophagosome biogenesis is ∼110 s. In total, our work provides quantitative insight into autophagosome biogenesis and establishes an experimental framework to analyze autophagy in human cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- David G. Broadbent
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Carlo Barnaba
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Gloria I. Perez
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Jens C. Schmidt
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
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11
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Bestion E, Raymond E, Mezouar S, Halfon P. Update on Autophagy Inhibitors in Cancer: Opening up to a Therapeutic Combination with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Cells 2023; 12:1702. [PMID: 37443736 PMCID: PMC10341243 DOI: 10.3390/cells12131702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Autophagy is a highly conserved and natural degradation process that helps maintain cell homeostasis through the elimination of old, worn, and defective cellular components, ensuring proper cell energy intake. The degradative pathway constitutes a protective barrier against diverse human diseases including cancer. Autophagy basal level has been reported to be completely dysregulated during the entire oncogenic process. Autophagy influences not only cancer initiation, development, and maintenance but also regulates cancer response to therapy. Currently, autophagy inhibitor candidates mainly target the early autophagy process without any successful preclinical/clinical development. Lessons learned from autophagy pharmaceutical manipulation as a curative option progressively help to improve drug design and to encounter new targets of interest. Combinatorial strategies with autophagy modulators are supported by abundant evidence, especially dealing with immune checkpoint inhibitors, for which encouraging preclinical results have been recently published. GNS561, a PPT1 inhibitor, is a promising autophagy modulator as it has started a phase 2 clinical trial in liver cancer indication, combined with atezolizumab and bevacizumab, an assessment without precedent in the field. This approach paves a new road, leading to the resurgence of anticancer autophagy inhibitors as an attractive therapeutic target in cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eloïne Bestion
- Genoscience Pharma, 13006 Marseille, France; (E.R.); (S.M.); (P.H.)
| | - Eric Raymond
- Genoscience Pharma, 13006 Marseille, France; (E.R.); (S.M.); (P.H.)
- Department of Medical Oncology, Paris Saint-Joseph Hospital Group, 75014 Paris, France
| | - Soraya Mezouar
- Genoscience Pharma, 13006 Marseille, France; (E.R.); (S.M.); (P.H.)
- Établissement Français du Sang, Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur et Corse, Marseille, France; «Biologie des Groupes Sanguins», Aix Marseille Univ-CNRS-EFS-ADÉS, 13005 Marseille, France
| | - Philippe Halfon
- Genoscience Pharma, 13006 Marseille, France; (E.R.); (S.M.); (P.H.)
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12
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Yao Q, Zhang X, Wei C, Chen H, Xu Q, Chen J, Chen D. Prognostic prediction and immunotherapy response analysis of the fatty acid metabolism-related genes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Heliyon 2023; 9:e17224. [PMID: 37360096 PMCID: PMC10285252 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2023] [Revised: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a common urinary cancer. Although diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for ccRCC have been improved, the survival outcomes of patients with advanced ccRCC remain unsatisfactory. Fatty acid metabolism (FAM) has been increasingly recognized as a critical modulator of cancer development. However, the significance of the FAM in ccRCC remains unclear. Herein, we explored the function of a FAM-related risk score in the stratification and prediction of treatment responses in patients with ccRCC. Methods First, we applied an unsupervised clustering method to categorize patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) datasets into subtypes and retrieved FAM-related genes from the MSigDB database. We discern differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among different subtypes. Then, we applied univariate Cox regression analysis followed by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) linear regression based on DEGs expression to establish a FAM-related risk score for ccRCC. Results We stratified the three ccRCC subtypes based on FAM-related genes with distinct overall survival (OS), clinical features, immune infiltration patterns, and treatment sensitivities. We screened nine genes from the FAM-related DEGs in the three subtypes to establish a risk prediction model for ccRCC. Nine FAM-related genes were differentially expressed in the ccRCC cell line ACHN compared to the normal kidney cell line HK2. High-risk patients had worse OS, higher genomic heterogeneity, a more complex tumor microenvironment (TME), and elevated expression of immune checkpoints. This phenomenon was validated in the ICGC cohort. Conclusion We constructed a FAM-related risk score that predicts the prognosis and therapeutic response of ccRCC. The close association between FAM and ccRCC progression lays a foundation for further exploring FAM-related functions in ccRCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinfan Yao
- Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
- Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Zhejiang Province, China
- Institute of Nephropathy, Zhejiang University, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Kidney and Urinary System Disease, China
| | - Xiuyuan Zhang
- Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
- Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Zhejiang Province, China
- Institute of Nephropathy, Zhejiang University, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Kidney and Urinary System Disease, China
| | - Chunchun Wei
- Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
- Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Zhejiang Province, China
- Institute of Nephropathy, Zhejiang University, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Kidney and Urinary System Disease, China
| | - Hongjun Chen
- Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
- Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Zhejiang Province, China
- Institute of Nephropathy, Zhejiang University, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Kidney and Urinary System Disease, China
| | - Qiannan Xu
- Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
- Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Zhejiang Province, China
- Institute of Nephropathy, Zhejiang University, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Kidney and Urinary System Disease, China
| | - Jianghua Chen
- Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
- Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Zhejiang Province, China
- Institute of Nephropathy, Zhejiang University, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Kidney and Urinary System Disease, China
| | - Dajin Chen
- Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
- Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Zhejiang Province, China
- Institute of Nephropathy, Zhejiang University, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Kidney and Urinary System Disease, China
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13
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Lv P, Wu Z, Lai L, Zhang Y, Pei B. The clinicopathological significance and potential function of ULK1 in colon cancer. Biotechnol Genet Eng Rev 2023:1-14. [PMID: 37191026 DOI: 10.1080/02648725.2023.2210952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Uncoordinated 51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) is an essential part involved in autophagy to maintain cell viability and homeostasis. Herein, the expression levels of ULK1 in colon cancer (CC) were investigated, and its clinicopathological features and potential function were analyzed. Data of ULK1 were obtained from a public database. UCSC XENA RNAseq data were uniformly processed by using the Toil process. STRING was employed for identification of co-expression genes and development of PPI networks whose interaction scores exceeded 0.4. The level of immune cells for tumor infiltration was calculated by means of single-sample GSEA (ssGSEA) on the basis of mRNA data of CC. The ULK1 expression was upregulated compared with both paired and unpaired normal tissues. The mRNA expression of ULK1 was upregulated in CC patients with lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion, and pathological stages of 3 and 4. The disease-specific survival (DSS), progression-free interval (PFI), and the overall survival (OS) of patients with upregulated mRNA expression of ULK1 were drastically reduced. Functionally, any changes related to the biological process of ULK1 may be related to macroautophagy, autophagosome organization and autophagosome assembly. As a co-expressed gene (CEG), ATG101 was up-regulated in CC tissues and indicated poor survival. ULK1 is closely related to immune cells. ULK1 expression is upregulated in CC cells and upregulation of ULK1 may serve as an accurate prognostic factor, thereby providing novel intervention targets for therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Lv
- Cancer center, The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China
| | - Zixi Wu
- Department of Gastroenterology, The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China
| | - Lin Lai
- Cancer center, The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China
| | - Yukun Zhang
- Cancer center, The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China
| | - Bo Pei
- Cancer center, The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China
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14
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Alhasan B, Mikeladze M, Guzhova I, Margulis B. Autophagy, molecular chaperones, and unfolded protein response as promoters of tumor recurrence. Cancer Metastasis Rev 2023; 42:217-254. [PMID: 36723697 DOI: 10.1007/s10555-023-10085-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Tumor recurrence is a paradoxical function of a machinery, whereby a small proportion of the cancer cell population enters a resistant, dormant state, persists long-term in this condition, and then transitions to proliferation. The dormant phenotype is typical of cancer stem cells, tumor-initiating cells, disseminated tumor cells, and drug-tolerant persisters, which all demonstrate similar or even equivalent properties. Cancer cell dormancy and its conversion to repopulation are regulated by several protein signaling systems that inhibit or induce cell proliferation and provide optimal interrelations between cancer cells and their special niche; these systems act in close connection with tumor microenvironment and immune response mechanisms. During dormancy and reawakening periods, cell proteostasis machineries, autophagy, molecular chaperones, and the unfolded protein response are recruited to protect refractory tumor cells from a wide variety of stressors and therapeutic insults. Proteostasis mechanisms functionally or even physically interfere with the main regulators of tumor relapse, and the significance of these interactions and implications in the tumor recurrence phases are discussed in this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bashar Alhasan
- Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Ave. 4, 194064, St. Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Marina Mikeladze
- Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Ave. 4, 194064, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Irina Guzhova
- Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Ave. 4, 194064, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Boris Margulis
- Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Ave. 4, 194064, St. Petersburg, Russia
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15
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Small Molecule Inhibitors for Unc-51-like Autophagy-Activating Kinase Targeting Autophagy in Cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24020953. [PMID: 36674464 PMCID: PMC9866249 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24020953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Autophagy is a cellular process that removes damaged components of cells and recycles them as biochemical building blocks. Autophagy can also be induced to protect cells in response to intra- and extracellular stresses, including damage to cellular components, nutrient deprivation, hypoxia, and pathogenic invasion. Dysregulation of autophagy has been attributed to various diseases. In particular, autophagy protects cancer cells by supporting tumor cell survival and the development of drug resistance. Understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms of autophagy in cancer has stimulated the research on discovery and development of specific inhibitors targeting various stages of autophagy. In recent years, Unc-51-like autophagy-activating kinase (ULK) inhibitors have become an attractive strategy to treat cancer. This review summarizes recent discoveries and developments in small-molecule ULK inhibitors and their potential as anticancer agents. We focused on structural features, interactions with binding sites, and biological effects of these inhibitors. Overall, this review will provide guidance for using ULK inhibitors as chemical probes for autophagy in various cancers and developing improved ULK inhibitors that would enhance therapeutic benefits in the clinic.
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16
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Zhang Y, Xu L, Ren Z, Liu X, Song J, Zhang P, Zhang C, Gong S, Wu N, Zhang X, Xie C, Lu Z, Ma M, Zhang Y, Chen Y, Lin C. LINC01615 maintains cell survival in adaptation to nutrient starvation through the pentose phosphate pathway and modulates chemosensitivity in colorectal cancer. Cell Mol Life Sci 2022; 80:20. [PMID: 36576581 PMCID: PMC11071770 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-022-04675-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Numerous mechanisms involved in promoting cancer cell survival under nutrient starvation have been described. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as critical players in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression, but the role of lncRNAs in the progression of CRC under nutrient starvation has not been well clarified. Here, we identified a lncRNA, LINC01615, that was significantly upregulated in response to serum starvation. LINC01615 can contribute to the adaptation of CRC cells to serum-deprived conditions and enhance cell survival under similar conditions. LINC01615 activated the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) under serum starvation, manifested as decreased ROS production and enhanced nucleotide and lipid synthesis. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is a key rate-limiting enzyme of the PPP, and LINC01615 promoted G6PD expression by competitively binding with hnRNPA1 and facilitating G6PD pre-mRNA splicing. Moreover, we also found that serum starvation led to METTL3 degradation by inducing autophagy, which further increased the stability and level of LINC01615 in a m6A-dependent manner. LINC01615 knockdown combined with oxaliplatin achieved remarkable antitumor effects in PDO and PDX models. Collectively, our results demonstrated a novel adaptive survival mechanism permitting tumor cells to survive under limiting nutrient supplies and provided a potential therapeutic target for CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
- Institute of Digestive Diseases, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Lei Xu
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
- Institute of Digestive Diseases, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Zeqiang Ren
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Xin Liu
- Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Jun Song
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Pengbo Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Chong Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Shuai Gong
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Nai Wu
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Xiuzhong Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China
| | - Chanbin Xie
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Zhixing Lu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Min Ma
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Yifei Chen
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China
- Department of Otolaryngology and Head Neck Surgery, Affiliated Changsha Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Changwei Lin
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China.
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China.
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17
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Troumpoukis D, Papadimitropoulou A, Charalampous C, Kogionou P, Palamaris K, Sarantis P, Serafimidis I. Targeting autophagy in pancreatic cancer: The cancer stem cell perspective. Front Oncol 2022; 12:1049436. [PMID: 36505808 PMCID: PMC9730023 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1049436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is currently the seventh leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with the estimated death toll approaching half a million annually. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common (>90% of cases) and most aggressive form of pancreatic cancer, with extremely poor prognosis and very low survival rates. PDAC is initiated by genetic alterations, usually in the oncogene KRAS and tumor suppressors CDKN2A, TP53 and SMAD4, which in turn affect a number of downstream signaling pathways that regulate important cellular processes. One of the processes critically altered is autophagy, the mechanism by which cells clear away and recycle impaired or dysfunctional organelles, protein aggregates and other unwanted components, in order to achieve homeostasis. Autophagy plays conflicting roles in PDAC and has been shown to act both as a positive effector, promoting the survival of pancreatic tumor-initiating cells, and as a negative effector, increasing cytotoxicity in uncontrollably expanding cells. Recent findings have highlighted the importance of cancer stem cells in PDAC initiation, progression and metastasis. Pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs) comprise a small subpopulation of the pancreatic tumor, characterized by cellular plasticity and the ability to self-renew, and autophagy has been recognised as a key process in PaCSC maintenance and function, simultaneously suggesting new strategies to achieve their selective elimination. In this review we evaluate recent literature that links autophagy with PaCSCs and PDAC, focusing our discussion on the therapeutic implications of pharmacologically targeting autophagy in PaCSCs, as a means to treat PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitrios Troumpoukis
- Center of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Chrysanthi Charalampous
- Center of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Paraskevi Kogionou
- Center of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Kostas Palamaris
- First Department of Pathology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Panagiotis Sarantis
- Molecular Oncology Unit, Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Ioannis Serafimidis
- Center of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece,*Correspondence: Ioannis Serafimidis,
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18
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LINC00472 inhibits cell migration by enhancing intercellular adhesion and regulates H3K27ac level via interacting with P300 in renal clear cell carcinoma. Cell Death Dis 2022; 8:454. [PMID: 36371410 PMCID: PMC9653443 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-022-01243-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Renal clear cell carcinoma (RCCC) is the most common type of renal cell carcinoma, which is also difficult to diagnose and easy to metastasize. Currently, there is still a lack of effective clinical diagnostic indicators and treatment targets. This study aims to find effective diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets from the perspective of noncoding RNA. In this study, we found that the expression of Long noncoding RNA LINC00472 was significantly decreased in RCCC and showed a downward trend with the progression of cancer stage. Patients with low LINC00472 expression have poor prognosis. Inhibition of LINC00472 significantly increased cell proliferation and migration, while overexpression of LINC00472 obviously inhibited cell proliferation and enhanced intercellular adhesion. Transcriptome sequencing analysis demonstrated that LINC00472 was highly correlated with extracellular matrix and cell metastasis-related pathways, and the consistent results were obtained by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data analysis. Additionally, we discovered that the integrin family protein ITGB8 is a potential target gene of LINC00472. Mechanistically, we found that the change of LINC00472 affected the acetylation level of H3K27 site in cells, and we speculate that this effect is likely to be generated through the interaction with acetyltransferase P300. In conclusion, LINC00472 has an important impact on the proliferation and metastasis of renal clear cells, and probably participate in the regulation of histone modification, and it may be used as a potential diagnostic marker of RCCC.
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19
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Qualification of Necroptosis-Related lncRNA to Forecast the Treatment Outcome, Immune Response, and Therapeutic Effect of Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma. JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2022; 2022:3283343. [PMID: 36226251 PMCID: PMC9550517 DOI: 10.1155/2022/3283343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Background Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is considered as a highly immune infiltrative tumor. Necroptosis is an inflammatory programmed cell death associated with a wide range of diseases. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in gene regulation and immune function. lncRNA associated with necroptosis could systematically explore the prognostic value, regulate tumor microenvironment (TME), etc. Method The patients' data was collected from TCGA datasets. We used the univariate Cox regression (UCR) to select prediction lncRNAs that are related to necroptosis. Meanwhile, risk models were constructed using LASSO Cox regression (LCR). Kaplan–Meier (KM) analysis, accompanied with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, was performed to assess the independent risk factors of different clinical characteristics. The evaluated factors are age, gender, disease staging, grade, and their related risk score. Databases such as Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG), and Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were used to search the probable biological characteristics that could influence the risk groups, containing signaling pathway and immue-related pathways. The single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was chosen to perform gene set variation analysis (GSVA), and the GSEABase package was selected to detect the immune and inflammatory infiltration profiles. The TIDE and IC50 evaluation were used to estimate the effectiveness of clinical treatment on KIRC. Results Based on the above analysis, we have got a conclusion that patients who show high risk had higher immune infiltration, immune checkpoint expression, and poorer prognosis. We identified 19 novel prognostic necroptosis-related lncRNAs, which could offer opinions for a deeper study of KIRC. Conclusion The risk model we constructed makes it possible to predict the prognosis of KIRC patients and offers directions for further research on the prognostication and treatment strategies for KIRC.
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Zhang C, Hu H, Huang R, Huang G, Xi X. ACSL3 is a potential prognostic biomarker for immune infiltration in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Front Surg 2022; 9:909854. [PMID: 36338658 PMCID: PMC9632962 DOI: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.909854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective Long-chain acyl-coenzyme A synthases (ACSLs) catalyze the activation of fatty acid and are often dysregulated in malignancies. The purpose of this research was to figure out the ACSL3's prognostic value and mechanism in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods The expression of ACSL3 in ccRCC was investigated in this work using data from the GEO, TCGA, Oncomine and HPA databases. The expression differences of ACSL3 in the cell lines were further detected by qPCR and Western blot. GEPIA, MethSurv, cBioPortal, and the TIMER were used to perform survival and correlation analysis on ACSL3. GO and KEGG analyses were carried out in R using clusterProfiler and GOplot. Protein-protein interactions (PPI) are constructed from Strings website, and the results were visualized in Cytoscape software. Results The expression level of ACSL3 was significantly reduced in ccRCC tissues, and its mRNA and protein expression were also significantly lower in both renal cancer cell lines. ACSL3 is significantly related to clinical stage, OS, DFS, DNA methylation, and immune-cell infiltration. Conclusion Our findings demonstrated that data mining was capable of eliciting information on ACSL3 levels and its role in genetic regulatory pathways in ccRCC.
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Function and regulation of ULK1: From physiology to pathology. Gene 2022; 840:146772. [PMID: 35905845 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2022.146772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Revised: 07/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The expression of ULK1, a core protein of autophagy, is closely related to autophagic activity. Numerous studies have shown that pathological abnormal expression of ULK1 is associated with various human diseases such as neurological disorders, infections, cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases and cancers. In addition, new advances in the regulation of ULK1 have been identified. Furthermore, targeting ULK1 as a therapeutic strategy for diseases is gaining attention as new corresponding activators or inhibitors are being developed. In this review, we describe the structure and regulation of ULK1 as well as the current targeted activators and inhibitors. Moreover, we highlight the pathological disorders of ULK1 expression and its critical role in human diseases.
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WT1 Inhibits Human Renal Carcinoma Cell Proliferation and Induces G2/M Arrest by Upregulating IL-24 Expression. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 2022:1093945. [PMID: 35915803 PMCID: PMC9338855 DOI: 10.1155/2022/1093945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The transcription factor Wilms’ tumor 1 (WT1) is involved in development, tissue homeostasis, and disease. However, the exact roles and the mechanisms of WT1 in renal carcinoma are not well understood. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the ability of WT1 to block proliferation in renal carcinoma cells in vitro. Experimental analysis showed that WT1 overexpression inhibited the proliferation of renal carcinoma A498 cells and promoted arrest at the G2/M checkpoint. RNA-Seq identified differentially expressed genes, including IL-24, related to both the cell proliferation and the cell cycle. WT1 overexpression upregulated IL-24 expression, and IL-24 overexpression induced G2/M arrest. ChIP-Seq identified JUN as a direct target of WT1 in A498 cells, in which positive regulation was shown by RT-qPCR. It has been shown that the transcription factor JUN can regulate IL-24 expression, and therefore, we hypothesize that WT1 might regulate the IL-24 through JUN. Furthermore, analysis based on TCGA datasets showed that the expression of WT1-regulated genes, including TXNIP and GADD45A, was significantly correlated with the stage and histological grade of tumors, with high levels linked to favorable prognoses. Our results demonstrated that the overexpression of WT1 upregulates IL-24, leading to G2/M checkpoint arrest to reduce proliferation. These results indicate that regulation of IL-24 by WT1 inhibits proliferation and may represent a potential target for treating renal carcinoma.
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Gillson J, Abd El-Aziz YS, Leck LYW, Jansson PJ, Pavlakis N, Samra JS, Mittal A, Sahni S. Autophagy: A Key Player in Pancreatic Cancer Progression and a Potential Drug Target. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14143528. [PMID: 35884592 PMCID: PMC9315706 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14143528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 07/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary With the mortality rate of pancreatic cancer predicted to rise over the coming years, it is essential that effective treatment strategies are developed as soon as possible. Pancreatic cancer has always proven very difficult to treat due to its fast growing and aggressive nature. Chemotherapeutic treatment has struggled to increase the survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients due to effective chemo-resistant properties that derive from the supporting tumor microenvironment and autophagy, a vital survival pathway. This review will explore how the autophagy pathway and tumor microenvironment help to sustain tumor survival under stress and expand into a metastatic state. Due to the comprehensive understanding of the autophagy pathway, we will highlight the potential chinks in the pancreatic tumor’s armor and identify potential targets to overcome chemo-resistance in pancreatic cancer. We will also present novel autophagy inhibitors that could reduce tumor survival and how they could be most effectively conceived. Abstract Pancreatic cancer is known to have the lowest survival outcomes among all major cancers, and unfortunately, this has only been marginally improved over last four decades. The innate characteristics of pancreatic cancer include an aggressive and fast-growing nature from powerful driver mutations, a highly defensive tumor microenvironment and the upregulation of advantageous survival pathways such as autophagy. Autophagy involves targeted degradation of proteins and organelles to provide a secondary source of cellular supplies to maintain cell growth. Elevated autophagic activity in pancreatic cancer is recognized as a major survival pathway as it provides a plethora of support for tumors by supplying vital resources, maintaining tumour survival under the stressful microenvironment and promoting other pathways involved in tumour progression and metastasis. The combination of these features is unique to pancreatic cancer and present significant resistance to chemotherapeutic strategies, thus, indicating a need for further investigation into therapies targeting this crucial pathway. This review will outline the autophagy pathway and its regulation, in addition to the genetic landscape and tumor microenvironment that contribute to pancreatic cancer severity. Moreover, this review will also discuss the mechanisms of novel therapeutic strategies that inhibit autophagy and how they could be used to suppress tumor progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josef Gillson
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (J.G.); (Y.S.A.E.-A.); (L.Y.W.L.); (P.J.J.); (N.P.); (J.S.S.); (A.M.)
- Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
| | - Yomna S. Abd El-Aziz
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (J.G.); (Y.S.A.E.-A.); (L.Y.W.L.); (P.J.J.); (N.P.); (J.S.S.); (A.M.)
- Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
- Oral Pathology Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt
| | - Lionel Y. W. Leck
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (J.G.); (Y.S.A.E.-A.); (L.Y.W.L.); (P.J.J.); (N.P.); (J.S.S.); (A.M.)
- Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
- Cancer Drug Resistance and Stem Cell Program, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Patric J. Jansson
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (J.G.); (Y.S.A.E.-A.); (L.Y.W.L.); (P.J.J.); (N.P.); (J.S.S.); (A.M.)
- Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
- Cancer Drug Resistance and Stem Cell Program, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Nick Pavlakis
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (J.G.); (Y.S.A.E.-A.); (L.Y.W.L.); (P.J.J.); (N.P.); (J.S.S.); (A.M.)
- Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
| | - Jaswinder S. Samra
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (J.G.); (Y.S.A.E.-A.); (L.Y.W.L.); (P.J.J.); (N.P.); (J.S.S.); (A.M.)
- Upper GI Surgical Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital and North Shore Private Hospital, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
- Australian Pancreatic Centre, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
| | - Anubhav Mittal
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (J.G.); (Y.S.A.E.-A.); (L.Y.W.L.); (P.J.J.); (N.P.); (J.S.S.); (A.M.)
- Upper GI Surgical Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital and North Shore Private Hospital, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
- Australian Pancreatic Centre, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
- School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia
| | - Sumit Sahni
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (J.G.); (Y.S.A.E.-A.); (L.Y.W.L.); (P.J.J.); (N.P.); (J.S.S.); (A.M.)
- Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
- Australian Pancreatic Centre, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +61-2-9926-7829
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Zou L, Liao M, Zhen Y, Zhu S, Chen X, Zhang J, Hao Y, Liu B. Autophagy and beyond: Unraveling the complexity of UNC-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) from biological functions to therapeutic implications. Acta Pharm Sin B 2022; 12:3743-3782. [PMID: 36213540 PMCID: PMC9532564 DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2022.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
UNC-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1), as a serine/threonine kinase, is an autophagic initiator in mammals and a homologous protein of autophagy related protein (Atg) 1 in yeast and of UNC-51 in Caenorhabditis elegans. ULK1 is well-known for autophagy activation, which is evolutionarily conserved in protein transport and indispensable to maintain cell homeostasis. As the direct target of energy and nutrition-sensing kinase, ULK1 may contribute to the distribution and utilization of cellular resources in response to metabolism and is closely associated with multiple pathophysiological processes. Moreover, ULK1 has been widely reported to play a crucial role in human diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease, and infections, and subsequently targeted small-molecule inhibitors or activators are also demonstrated. Interestingly, the non-autophagy function of ULK1 has been emerging, indicating that non-autophagy-relevant ULK1 signaling network is also linked with diseases under some specific contexts. Therefore, in this review, we summarized the structure and functions of ULK1 as an autophagic initiator, with a focus on some new approaches, and further elucidated the key roles of ULK1 in autophagy and non-autophagy. Additionally, we also discussed the relationships between ULK1 and human diseases, as well as illustrated a rapid progress for better understanding of the discovery of more candidate small-molecule drugs targeting ULK1, which will provide a clue on novel ULK1-targeted therapeutics in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Zou
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Minru Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yongqi Zhen
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Shiou Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Xiya Chen
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Jin Zhang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
- Corresponding authors. Tel./fax: +86 28 85503817.
| | - Yue Hao
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Corresponding authors. Tel./fax: +86 28 85503817.
| | - Bo Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
- Corresponding authors. Tel./fax: +86 28 85503817.
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Overexpression of TP53INP2 Promotes Apoptosis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Cancer via Caspase-8/TRAF6 Signaling Pathway. J Immunol Res 2022; 2022:1260423. [PMID: 35615533 PMCID: PMC9125430 DOI: 10.1155/2022/1260423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2022] [Revised: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC) is a tumor of high malignancy, which can escape apoptosis. The tumor protein p53-inducible nuclear protein 2 (TP53INP2), known as an autophagy protein, is the essential part for autophagosome formation and sensitizes cells to apoptosis. Our study is aimed at exploring the role of TP53INP2 in ccRCC. We have identified the autophagy-related genes (ARGs) of differential expression in ccRCC patients with the help of the TCGA database by bioinformatics analysis. Our assays of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot were for the determination on the both levels of mRNA and protein. Overexpression of TP53INP2 on cellular proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of ccRCC was verified in the ways of performing CCK-8, wound scrape, transwell and flow cytometry assays in vitro, and a mice tumor model in vivo. Transmission electron microscopy was used to measure autophagy formation. The underlying mechanisms of TP53INP2 on ccRCC were determined via coimmunoprecipitation. TP53INP2 was found highly associated with an outcome of worse overall survival (OS) in Kaplan-Meier curves, and this parameter in ccRCC tissues was also lower than the normal tissues. Overexpression of TP53INP2 inhibited ccRCC cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion, as well as the tumor growth of mice. Those cells treated with autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) or TP53INP2 increased the apoptosis rate. TP53INP2 promoted autophagy formation and elevated the ratio of LC3 II/LC3 I. However, TP53INP2 did not significantly decrease the p-mTOR level. In addition, TP53INP2 activates the expressions of caspase-3, caspase-8, and PARP. Caspase-8 and TNF receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6) were found to bind to each other in the presence of TP53INP2. TP53INP2 induces apoptosis in ccRCC cells through caspase-8/TRAF6 pathway, rather than the autophagy-dependent pathway.
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Ravi S, Alencar AM, Arakelyan J, Xu W, Stauber R, Wang CCI, Papyan R, Ghazaryan N, Pereira RM. An Update to Hallmarks of Cancer. Cureus 2022; 14:e24803. [PMID: 35686268 PMCID: PMC9169686 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.24803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last decade, there has been remarkable progress in research toward understanding and refining the hallmarks of cancer. In this review, we propose a new hallmark - “pro-survival autophagy.” The importance of pro-survival autophagy is well established in tumorigenesis, as it is related to multiple steps in cancer progression and vital for some cancers. Autophagy is a potential anti-cancer therapeutic target. For this reason, autophagy is a good candidate as a new hallmark of cancer. We describe two enabling characteristics that play a major role in enabling cells to acquire the hallmarks of cancer - “tumor-promoting microenvironment and macroenvironment” and “cancer epigenetics, genome instability and mutation.” We also discuss the recent updates, therapeutic and prognostic implications of the eight hallmarks of cancer described by Hanahan et al. in 2011. Understanding these hallmarks and enabling characteristics is key not only to developing new ways to treat cancer efficiently but also to exploring options to overcome cancer resistance to treatment.
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Yu J, Qu L, Xia Y, Zhang X, Feng J, Duan M, Guo P, Lou Y, Lv P, Lu W, Chen Y. TMEM189 negatively regulates the stability of ULK1 protein and cell autophagy. Cell Death Dis 2022; 13:316. [PMID: 35393404 PMCID: PMC8991247 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-022-04722-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
ULK1 is crucial for initiating autophagosome formation and its activity is tightly regulated by post-translational modifications and protein-protein interactions. In the present study, we demonstrate that TMEM189 (Transmembrane protein 189), also known as plasmanylethanolamine desaturase 1 (PEDS1), negatively regulates the proteostasis of ULK1 and autophagy activity. In TMEM189-overexpressed cells, the formation of autophagesome is impaired, while TMEM189 knockdown increases cell autophagy. Further investigation reveals that TMEM189 interacts with and increases the instability of ULK1, as well as decreases its kinase activities. The TMEM189 N-terminal domain is required for the interaction with ULK1. Additionally, TMEM189 overexpression can disrupt the interaction between ULK1 and TRAF6, profoundly impairs K63-linked polyubiquitination of ULK1 and self-association, leading to the decrease of ULK1 stability. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo experiments suggest that TMEM189 deficiency results in the inhibition of tumorigenicity of gastric cancer. Our findings provide a new insight into the molecular regulation of autophagy and laboratory evidence for investigating the physiological and pathological roles of TMEM189.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahong Yu
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Liujing Qu
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China.,Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, 20 Yuhuangding East Road, Yantai, Shandong Province, 264000, China
| | - Yan Xia
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Xuan Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Jinqiu Feng
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Mengyuan Duan
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Pengli Guo
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Yaxin Lou
- Medical and Healthy Analytical Center, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Ping Lv
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Wenping Lu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing, 100853, China.
| | - Yingyu Chen
- Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences; NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China. .,Center for Human Disease Genomics, Peking University, Beijing, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China.
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Fu J, Yang Y, Zhu L, Chen Y, Liu B. Unraveling the Roles of Protein Kinases in Autophagy: An Update on Small-Molecule Compounds for Targeted Therapy. J Med Chem 2022; 65:5870-5885. [PMID: 35390258 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c02053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Protein kinases, which catalyze the phosphorylation of proteins, are involved in several important cellular processes, such as autophagy. Of note, autophagy, originally described as a mechanism for intracellular waste disposal and recovery, has been becoming a crucial biological process closely related to many types of human diseases. More recently, the roles of protein kinases in autophagy have been gradually elucidated, and the design of small-molecule compounds to modulate targets to positively or negatively interfere with the cytoprotective autophagy or autophagy-associated cell death may provide a new clue on the current targeted therapy. Thus, in this Perspective, we focus on summarizing the different roles of protein kinases, including positive, negative, and bidirectional regulations of autophagy. Moreover, we discuss several small-molecule compounds targeting these protein kinases in human diseases, highlighting their pivotal roles in autophagy for targeted therapeutic purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahui Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, Department of Thoracic Surgery, and Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yushang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, Department of Thoracic Surgery, and Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Lingjuan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, Department of Thoracic Surgery, and Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yi Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, Department of Thoracic Surgery, and Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Bo Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, Department of Thoracic Surgery, and Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
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A perspective on the role of autophagy in cancer. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 2021; 1867:166262. [PMID: 34481059 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2021.166262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Autophagy refers to a ubiquitous set of catabolic pathways required to achieve proper cellular homeostasis. Aberrant autophagy has been implicated in a multitude of diseases including cancer. In this review, we highlight pioneering and groundbreaking research that centers on delineating the role of autophagy in cancer initiation, proliferation and metastasis. First, we discuss the autophagy-related (ATG) proteins and their respective roles in the de novo formation of autophagosomes and the subsequent delivery of cargo to the lysosome for recycling. Next, we touch upon the history of cancer research that centers upon ATG proteins and regulatory mechanisms that control an appropriate autophagic response and how these are altered in the diseased state. Then, we discuss the various discoveries that led to the idea of autophagy as a double-edged sword when it comes to cancer therapy. This review also briefly narrates how different types of autophagy-selective macroautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy, have been linked to different cancers. Overall, these studies build upon a steadfast trajectory that aims to solve the monumentally daunting challenge of finding a cure for many types of cancer by modulating autophagy either through inhibition or induction.
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Dong H, Zhu L, Sun J, Zhang Y, Cui Q, Wu L, Chen S, Lu J. Pan-cancer Analysis of NEDD4L and Its Tumor Suppressor Effects in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma. J Cancer 2021; 12:6242-6253. [PMID: 34539897 PMCID: PMC8425189 DOI: 10.7150/jca.58004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The expression level of NEDD4L, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, has changed significantly in human cancers. In this study, we aimed to study the expression of NEDD4L in pan-carcinoma and its function in malignant tumors. We analyzed the gene expression level of NEDD4L in pan-cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) microarray data set, the correlation between gene expression and overall survival, disease-specific survival, and tumor immune microenvironment changes. NEDD4L expression changes in half of the cancer types. Low expression of NEDD4L gene predicts poor overall survival and disease-specific survival (DSS) in renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) and renal chromophobe cell carcinoma (KIRP). NEDD4L is negatively related to interstitial cell infiltration and immune cell infiltration in most common cancers. Furthermore, the low expression of NEDD4L was verified in our clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) clinical tissues. In ccRCC cells, NEDD4L overexpression significantly reduced cell proliferation and migration. In the functional analysis, we proved that NEDD4L could inhibit ERBB3 and MAPK signaling pathways. When cells are deficient in nutrition, NEDD4L promoted the degradation of the autophagy regulatory protein ULK1. Our study provides novel insights into the role of NEDD4L in pan-cancer. NEDD4L may play a tumor suppressor effect in ccRCC, through tumor immune regulation and ubiquitination of key intracellular kinases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huiyue Dong
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Transplant Biology, Fuzong Clinical College, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350025, China.,Laboratory of Basic Medicine, Dongfang Hospital (900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team), Xiamen University, Fuzhou 350025, China
| | - Ling Zhu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Transplant Biology, Fuzong Clinical College, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350025, China.,Laboratory of Basic Medicine, Dongfang Hospital (900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team), Xiamen University, Fuzhou 350025, China
| | - Jingjing Sun
- Laboratory of Basic Medicine, Dongfang Hospital (900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team), Xiamen University, Fuzhou 350025, China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Laboratory of Basic Medicine, Dongfang Hospital (900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team), Xiamen University, Fuzhou 350025, China
| | - Qiang Cui
- Nephrology and Urology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China
| | - Lin Wu
- Laboratory of Basic Medicine, Dongfang Hospital (900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team), Xiamen University, Fuzhou 350025, China
| | - Shushang Chen
- Department of Urology, 900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team, Fuzhou 350025, Fujian, China
| | - Jun Lu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Transplant Biology, Fuzong Clinical College, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350025, China.,Laboratory of Basic Medicine, Dongfang Hospital (900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team), Xiamen University, Fuzhou 350025, China
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Liu R, Peng Z, Zhang Y, Li R, Wang Y. Upregulation of miR‑128 inhibits neuronal cell apoptosis following spinal cord injury via FasL downregulation by repressing ULK1. Mol Med Rep 2021; 24:667. [PMID: 34296305 PMCID: PMC8335739 DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2021.12306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is characterized by permanent motor deficits followed by inflammation and oxidative stress, causing neuronal cell death. The present study aimed to investigate the role of microRNA (miR)‑128 in neuronal cell apoptosis and its underlying mechanism. Targeting relationships among miR‑128 and Unc‑51 like autophagy activating kinase 1 (ULK1) and Fas ligand (FasL) were verified using dual‑luciferase reporter assay and ChIP assays. Loss‑ and gain‑of‑function assays were conducted in rat models of SCI to determine the roles of miR‑128 and ULK1 in neuronal cell apoptosis, inflammation, and motor function. Apoptosis, motor function and expression of inflammatory factors were respectively determined by Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‑mediated dUTp nick end‑labeling, Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) score and enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, Nissl staining and immunofluorescence were respectively performed to observe morphological changes and number of neurons and nestin‑positive cells. The neuronal cells were isolated from neuron injury models and cultured in vitro. MTT and flow cytometry was conducted to determine the neuronal cell viability and apoptosis respectively. miR‑128 was downregulated whereas ULK1 was upregulated in rats with SCI. Overexpression of miR‑128 or downregulation of ULK1 inhibited neuronal cell apoptosis and inflammation as evidenced by an increased BBB score and more neurons and nestin‑positive cells, but reduced expression of inflammatory and apoptosis‑related factors. ULK1 was negatively regulated by miR‑128, whereas FasL was positively regulated by ULK1. In vitro experiments validated the roles of miR‑128 and ULK1 in neuronal cell differentiation and apoptosis. In conclusion, the upregulation of miR‑128 depresses neuronal cell apoptosis by downregulating ULK1, thereby attenuating SCI via the downregulation of FasL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruixuan Liu
- Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P.R. China
| | - Zhibin Peng
- Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P.R. China
| | - Yubo Zhang
- Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P.R. China
| | - Rui Li
- Department of Orthopaedics, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong 256603, P.R. China
| | - Yansong Wang
- Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P.R. China
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Quinn MCJ, McCue K, Shi W, Johnatty SE, Beesley J, Civitarese A, O'Mara TA, Glubb DM, Tyrer JP, Armasu SM, Ong JS, Gharahkhani P, Lu Y, Gao B, Patch AM, Fasching PA, Beckmann MW, Lambrechts D, Vergote I, Velez Edwards DR, Beeghly-Fadiel A, Benitez J, Garcia MJ, Goodman MT, Dörk T, Dürst M, Modugno F, Moysich K, du Bois A, Pfisterer J, Bauman K, Karlan BY, Lester J, Cunningham JM, Larson MC, McCauley BM, Kjaer SK, Jensen A, Hogdall CK, Hogdall E, Schildkraut JM, Riggan MJ, Berchuck A, Cramer DW, Terry KL, Bjorge L, Webb PM, Friedlander M, Pejovic T, Moffitt M, Glasspool R, May T, Ene GEV, Huntsman DG, Woo M, Carney ME, Hinsley S, Heitz F, Fereday S, Kennedy CJ, Edwards SL, Winham SJ, deFazio A, Pharoah PDP, Goode EL, MacGregor S, Chenevix-Trench G. Identification of a Locus Near ULK1 Associated With Progression-Free Survival in Ovarian Cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2021; 30:1669-1680. [PMID: 34162658 PMCID: PMC8419101 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-20-1817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Revised: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Many loci have been found to be associated with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). However, although there is considerable variation in progression-free survival (PFS), no loci have been found to be associated with outcome at genome-wide levels of significance. METHODS We carried out a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of PFS in 2,352 women with EOC who had undergone cytoreductive surgery and standard carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy. RESULTS We found seven SNPs at 12q24.33 associated with PFS (P < 5 × 10-8), the top SNP being rs10794418 (HR = 1.24; 95% CI, 1.15-1.34; P = 1.47 × 10-8). High expression of a nearby gene, ULK1, is associated with shorter PFS in EOC, and with poor prognosis in other cancers. SNP rs10794418 is also associated with expression of ULK1 in ovarian tumors, with the allele associated with shorter PFS being associated with higher expression, and chromatin interactions were detected between the ULK1 promoter and associated SNPs in serous and endometrioid EOC cell lines. ULK1 knockout ovarian cancer cell lines showed significantly increased sensitivity to carboplatin in vitro. CONCLUSIONS The locus at 12q24.33 represents one of the first genome-wide significant loci for survival for any cancer. ULK1 is a plausible candidate for the target of this association. IMPACT This finding provides insight into genetic markers associated with EOC outcome and potential treatment options.See related commentary by Peres and Monteiro, p. 1604.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C J Quinn
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Karen McCue
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Wei Shi
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Sharon E Johnatty
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jonathan Beesley
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Andrew Civitarese
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Tracy A O'Mara
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Dylan M Glubb
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jonathan P Tyrer
- Department of Oncology, Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sebastian M Armasu
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Jue-Sheng Ong
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Puya Gharahkhani
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Bo Gao
- Crown Princess Mary Cancer Care Centre, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Centre for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ann-Marie Patch
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Peter A Fasching
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen-EMN, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Matthias W Beckmann
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen-EMN, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Diether Lambrechts
- VIB Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
- Laboratory for Translational Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ignace Vergote
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Leuven Cancer Institute, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Digna R Velez Edwards
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Alicia Beeghly-Fadiel
- Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Javier Benitez
- Human Genetics Group, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), and Biomedical Network on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Madrid, Spain
| | - Maria J Garcia
- Human Genetics Group, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), and Biomedical Network on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Madrid, Spain
- Computational Oncology Group, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Madrid, Spain
| | - Marc T Goodman
- Cancer Prevention and Control, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Community and Population Health Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
| | - Thilo Dörk
- Gynaecology Research Unit, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Matthias Dürst
- Department of Gynecology, Jena University Hospital - Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Francesmary Modugno
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Womens Cancer Research Center, Magee-Womens Research Institute and Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Kirsten Moysich
- Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Cancer Pathology & Prevention, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York
| | - Andreas du Bois
- Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Essen, Germany
- Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, Dr. Horst Schmidt Kliniken Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany
| | | | | | - Beth Y Karlan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Jenny Lester
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Julie M Cunningham
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Melissa C Larson
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Bryan M McCauley
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Susanne K Kjaer
- Department of Gynecology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Virus, Lifestyle and Genes, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Allan Jensen
- Department of Lifestyle, Reproduction and Cancer, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Claus K Hogdall
- Department of Gynecology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Estrid Hogdall
- Department of Virus, Lifestyle and Genes, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Lifestyle, Reproduction and Cancer, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Joellen M Schildkraut
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Marjorie J Riggan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Andrew Berchuck
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Daniel W Cramer
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Kathryn L Terry
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Line Bjorge
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers CCBIO, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Michael Friedlander
- Prince of Wales Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Tanja Pejovic
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
- Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Melissa Moffitt
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
- Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Rosalind Glasspool
- Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre and University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Taymaa May
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gabrielle E V Ene
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - David G Huntsman
- British Columbia's Ovarian Cancer Research (OVCARE) Program, Vancouver General Hospital, BC Cancer Agency and University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Molecular Oncology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Michelle Woo
- British Columbia's Ovarian Cancer Research (OVCARE) Program, Department of Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Michael E Carney
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
| | - Samantha Hinsley
- Cancer Research UK Glasgow Clinical Trials Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Florian Heitz
- Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Essen, Germany
- Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, Dr. Horst Schmidt Kliniken Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany
- Department for Gynecology with the Center for Oncologic Surgery Charité Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sian Fereday
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Catherine J Kennedy
- Centre for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Department of Gynaecological Oncology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Stacey L Edwards
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Stacey J Winham
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | | | - Paul D P Pharoah
- Department of Oncology, Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Strangeways Research Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, University of Cambridge, Worts Causeway, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Ellen L Goode
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Stuart MacGregor
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Georgia Chenevix-Trench
- Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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Li Y, Gao S, Du X, Ji J, Xi Y, Zhai G. Advances in autophagy as a target in the treatment of tumours. J Drug Target 2021; 30:166-187. [PMID: 34319838 DOI: 10.1080/1061186x.2021.1961792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Autophagy is a multi-step lysosomal degradation process, which regulates energy and material metabolism and has been used to maintain homeostasis. Autophagy has been shown to be involved in the regulation of health and disease. But at present, there is no consensus on the relationship between autophagy and tumour, and we consider that it plays a dual role in the occurrence and development of tumour. That is to say, under certain conditions, it can inhibit the occurrence of tumour, but it can also promote the process of tumour. Therefore, autophagy could be used as a target for tumour treatment. The regulation of autophagy plays a synergistic role in the radiotherapy, chemotherapy, phototherapy and immunotherapy of tumour, and nano drug delivery system provides a promising strategy for improving the efficacy of autophagy regulation. This review summarised the progress in the regulatory pathways and factors of autophagy as well as nanoformulations as carriers for the delivery of autophagy modulators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingying Li
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China
| | - Shan Gao
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China
| | - Xiyou Du
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China
| | - Jianbo Ji
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China
| | - Yanwei Xi
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China
| | - Guangxi Zhai
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China
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Lavalée M, Curdy N, Laurent C, Fournié JJ, Franchini DM. Cancer cell adaptability: turning ribonucleoprotein granules into targets. Trends Cancer 2021; 7:902-915. [PMID: 34144941 DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2021.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Stress granules (SGs) and processing bodies (P-bodies) are membraneless cytoplasmic condensates of ribonucleoproteins (RNPs). They both regulate RNA fate under physiological and pathological conditions, and are thereby involved in the regulation and maintenance of cellular integrity. During tumorigenesis, cancer cells use these granules to thrive, to adapt to the harsh conditions of the tumor microenvironment (TME), and to protect themselves from anticancer treatments. This ability to provide multiple outcomes not only makes RNP granules promising targets for cancer therapy but also emphasizes the need for more knowledge about the biology of these granules to achieve clinical use. In this review we focus on the role of RNP granules in cancer, and on how their composition and regulation might be used to elaborate therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margot Lavalée
- Cancer Research Center of Toulouse (CRCT), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 1037, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 5071, 31037 Toulouse, France; Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, 31330 Toulouse, France; Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse-Oncopole, 31100 Toulouse, France
| | - Nicolas Curdy
- Cancer Research Center of Toulouse (CRCT), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 1037, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 5071, 31037 Toulouse, France; Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, 31330 Toulouse, France; Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse-Oncopole, 31100 Toulouse, France
| | - Camille Laurent
- Cancer Research Center of Toulouse (CRCT), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 1037, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 5071, 31037 Toulouse, France; Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, 31330 Toulouse, France; Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse-Oncopole, 31100 Toulouse, France; Département de Pathologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Toulouse, 31059 Toulouse, France
| | - Jean-Jacques Fournié
- Cancer Research Center of Toulouse (CRCT), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 1037, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 5071, 31037 Toulouse, France; Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, 31330 Toulouse, France; Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse-Oncopole, 31100 Toulouse, France
| | - Don-Marc Franchini
- Cancer Research Center of Toulouse (CRCT), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 1037, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 5071, 31037 Toulouse, France; Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, 31330 Toulouse, France; Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse-Oncopole, 31100 Toulouse, France.
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Zada S, Hwang JS, Ahmed M, Lai TH, Pham TM, Elashkar O, Kim DR. Cross talk between autophagy and oncogenic signaling pathways and implications for cancer therapy. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2021; 1876:188565. [PMID: 33992723 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2021.188565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Revised: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 05/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Autophagy is a highly conserved metabolic process involved in the degradation of intracellular components including proteins and organelles. Consequently, it plays a critical role in recycling metabolic energy for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis in response to various stressors. In cancer, autophagy either suppresses or promotes cancer progression depending on the stage and cancer type. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer metastasis are directly mediated by oncogenic signal proteins including SNAI1, SLUG, ZEB1/2, and NOTCH1, which are functionally correlated with autophagy. In this report, we discuss the crosstalk between oncogenic signaling pathways and autophagy followed by possible strategies for cancer treatment via regulation of autophagy. Although autophagy affects EMT and cancer metastasis, the overall signaling pathways connecting cancer progression and autophagy are still illusive. In general, autophagy plays a critical role in cancer cell survival by providing a minimum level of energy via self-digestion. Thus, cancer cells face nutrient limitations and challenges under stress during EMT and metastasis. Conversely, autophagy acts as a potential cancer suppressor by degrading oncogenic proteins, which are essential for cancer progression, and by removing damaged components such as mitochondria to enhance genomic stability. Therefore, autophagy activators or inhibitors represent possible cancer therapeutics. We further discuss the regulation of autophagy-dependent degradation of oncogenic proteins and its functional correlation with oncogenic signaling pathways, with potential applications in cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sahib Zada
- Department of Biochemistry and Convergence Medical Sciences and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 527-27, Republic of Korea
| | - Jin Seok Hwang
- Department of Biochemistry and Convergence Medical Sciences and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 527-27, Republic of Korea
| | - Mahmoud Ahmed
- Department of Biochemistry and Convergence Medical Sciences and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 527-27, Republic of Korea
| | - Trang Huyen Lai
- Department of Biochemistry and Convergence Medical Sciences and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 527-27, Republic of Korea
| | - Trang Minh Pham
- Department of Biochemistry and Convergence Medical Sciences and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 527-27, Republic of Korea
| | - Omar Elashkar
- Department of Biochemistry and Convergence Medical Sciences and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 527-27, Republic of Korea
| | - Deok Ryong Kim
- Department of Biochemistry and Convergence Medical Sciences and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 527-27, Republic of Korea.
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Zhou C, Li AH, Liu S, Sun H. Identification of an 11-Autophagy-Related-Gene Signature as Promising Prognostic Biomarker for Bladder Cancer Patients. BIOLOGY 2021; 10:biology10050375. [PMID: 33925460 PMCID: PMC8146553 DOI: 10.3390/biology10050375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Human bladder cancer, one of the most common cancers worldwide, is a molecularly heterogenous and complex disease. Identifying novel prognostic biomarkers and establishing new predictive signatures are important for personalized medicine and effective treatment of bladder cancer patients. Autophagy, a cell self-maintenance process that removes damaged organelles and misfolded proteins, displays both tumor promotion and suppression activities. The aim of our study is to investigate the function of autophagy-related genes in bladder cancer with the main focus on their contribution to prognostic outcome. By analyzing data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we identified 32 autophagy-related genes that were highly associated with overall survival of bladder cancer patients. Further statistical assessment established an 11-autophagy-related-gene signature as an effective prognostic biomarker to predict the survival outcomes of bladder cancer patients. Abstract Background: Survival rates for highly invasive bladder cancer (BC) patients have been very low, with a 5-year survival rate of 6%. Accurate prediction of tumor progression and survival is important for diagnosis and therapeutic decisions for BC patients. Our study aims to develop an autophagy-related-gene (ARG) signature that helps to predict the survival of BC patients. Methods: RNA-seq data of 403 BC patients were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas Urothelial Bladder Carcinoma (TCGA-BLCA) database. Univariate Cox regression analysis was performed to identify overall survival (OS)-related ARGs. The Lasso Cox regression model was applied to establish an ARG signature in the TCGA training cohort (N = 203). The performance of the 11-gene ARG signature was further evaluated in a training cohort and an independent validation cohort (N = 200) using Kaplan-Meier OS curve analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, as well as univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Results: Our study identified an 11-gene ARG signature that is significantly associated with OS, including APOL1, ATG4B, BAG1, CASP3, DRAM1, ITGA3, KLHL24, P4HB, PRKCD, ULK2, and WDR45. The ARGs-derived high-risk bladder cancer patients exhibited significantly poor OS in both training and validation cohorts. The prognostic model showed good predictive efficacy, with the area under the ROC curve (AUCs) for 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall survival of 0.702 (0.695), 0.744 (0.640), and 0.794 (0.658) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. A prognostic nomogram, which included the ARGs-derived risk factor, age and stage for eventual clinical translation, was established. Conclusion: We identified a novel ARG signature for risk-stratification and robust prediction of overall survival for BC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Hong Sun
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-(646)-754-9459
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Hydroxychloroquine Potentiates Apoptosis Induced by PPAR α Antagonist in 786-O Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Cells Associated with Inhibiting Autophagy. PPAR Res 2021; 2021:6631605. [PMID: 33959154 PMCID: PMC8075691 DOI: 10.1155/2021/6631605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Revised: 03/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the major pathological pattern of renal cell carcinoma. The ccRCC cells exhibit a certain degree of inherent drug resistance due to some genetic mutations. In recent years, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) antagonists have been reported as a targeted therapeutic drug capable of inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the ccRCC cell line. Autophagy, which can be induced by stress in eukaryotic cells, plays a complex role in the proliferation, survival, and death of tumor cells. In our study, we found that the expression of PPARα was low in highly differentiated ccRCC tissues and 786-O cell line but high in poorly differentiated ccRCC tissues. The level of PPARα expression in ccRCC tissues is correlated to the grade of differentiation, but not to the sex or age of ccRCC patients. The findings also revealed that the PPARα antagonist GW6471 can lower cell viability and induce autophagy in the 786-O ccRCC cell line. This autophagy can be inhibited by hydroxychloroquine. When treated with a combination of hydroxychloroquine and GW6471, the viability of the 786-O cells was decreased further when compared to the treatment with GW6471 or hydroxychloroquine alone, and apoptosis was promoted. Meanwhile, when human kidney 2 cells were cotreated with hydroxychloroquine and GW6471, cell viability was only slightly influenced. Hence, our finding indicates that the combination of GW6471 and hydroxychloroquine may constitute a novel and potentially effective treatment for ccRCC. Furthermore, this approach is likely to be safe owing to its minimal effects on normal renal tissues.
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Chmurska A, Matczak K, Marczak A. Two Faces of Autophagy in the Struggle against Cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:2981. [PMID: 33804163 PMCID: PMC8000091 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22062981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Revised: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Autophagy can play a double role in cancerogenesis: it can either inhibit further development of the disease or protect cells, causing stimulation of tumour growth. This phenomenon is called "autophagy paradox", and is characterised by the features that the autophagy process provides the necessary substrates for biosynthesis to meet the cell's energy needs, and that the over-programmed activity of this process can lead to cell death through apoptosis. The fight against cancer is a difficult process due to high levels of resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. More and more research is indicating that autophagy may play a very important role in the development of resistance by protecting cancer cells, which is why autophagy in cancer therapy can act as a "double-edged sword". This paper attempts to analyse the influence of autophagy and cancer stem cells on tumour development, and to compare new therapeutic strategies based on the modulation of these processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Chmurska
- Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Lodz, Banacha Street 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
| | - Karolina Matczak
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Institute of Biophysics, University of Lodz, Pomorska Street 141/143, 90-236 Lodz, Poland; (K.M.); (A.M.)
| | - Agnieszka Marczak
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Institute of Biophysics, University of Lodz, Pomorska Street 141/143, 90-236 Lodz, Poland; (K.M.); (A.M.)
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Musial C, Siedlecka-Kroplewska K, Kmiec Z, Gorska-Ponikowska M. Modulation of Autophagy in Cancer Cells by Dietary Polyphenols. Antioxidants (Basel) 2021; 10:antiox10010123. [PMID: 33467015 PMCID: PMC7830598 DOI: 10.3390/antiox10010123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The role of autophagy is to degrade damaged or unnecessary cellular structures. Both in vivo and in vitro studies suggest a dual role of autophagy in cancer—it may promote the development of neoplasms, but it may also play a tumor protective function. The mechanism of autophagy depends on the genetic context, tumor stage and type, tumor microenvironment, or clinical therapy used. Autophagy also plays an important role in cell death as well as in the induction of chemoresistance of cancer cells. The following review describes the extensive autophagic cell death in relation to dietary polyphenols and cancer disease. The review documents increasing use of polyphenolic compounds in cancer prevention, or as agents supporting oncological treatment. Polyphenols are organic chemicals that exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and immunomodulating properties, and can also initiate the process of apoptosis. In addition, polyphenols reduce oxidative stress and protect against reactive oxygen species. This review presents in vitro and in vivo studies in animal models with the use of polyphenolic compounds such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), oleuropein, punicalgin, apigenin, resveratrol, pterostilbene, or curcumin and their importance in the modulation of autophagy-induced death of cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Musial
- Department of Medical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland;
| | | | - Zbigniew Kmiec
- Department of Histology, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland; (K.S.-K.); (Z.K.)
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Yang W, Li Y, Liu S, Sun W, Huang H, Zhang Q, Yan J. Inhibition of ULK1 promotes the death of leukemia cell in an autophagy irrelevant manner and exerts the antileukemia effect. Clin Transl Med 2021; 11:e282. [PMID: 33463048 PMCID: PMC7803353 DOI: 10.1002/ctm2.282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Yang
- The Second Affiliated Hospital, The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.,Institute of Biomedical Engineering, The Second Clinical Medical College (Shenzhen People's Hospital) of Jinan University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yunlei Li
- The Second Affiliated Hospital, The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shuai Liu
- The Second Affiliated Hospital, The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.,Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Sami International Medical Center (Shenzhen Fourth People's Hospital), Shenzhen, China
| | - Weimin Sun
- The Second Affiliated Hospital, The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hualan Huang
- The Second Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qiqing Zhang
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, The Second Clinical Medical College (Shenzhen People's Hospital) of Jinan University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jie Yan
- The Second Affiliated Hospital, The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Wu Z, Zhang Y, Chen X, Tan W, He L, Peng L. Characterization of the Prognostic Values of the CXCR1-7 in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (ccRCC) Microenvironment. Front Mol Biosci 2020; 7:601206. [PMID: 33324682 PMCID: PMC7724088 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.601206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: As cancer immunotherapy has become a hot research topic, the values of CXC chemokine receptors (CXCRs) in tumor microenvironment have been increasingly realized. More and more evidence showed that the aberrant expression of CXCRs is closely related to the prognosis of various cancers. However, prognostic values and the exact roles of different CXCRs in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) have not yet been elucidated. Methods: To further evaluate the potential of seven CXCRs as prognostic biomarkers for ccRCC, multiple online analysis tools, including ONCOMINE, UALCAN (TCGA dataset), Kaplan–Meier Plotter, MethSurv, cBioPortal, GEPIA, Metascape, and TIMER databases, were utilized in our research. Results: The mRNA expression of CXCR4/6/7 was significantly increased in ccRCC patients, and all CXCRs are remarkably related to tumor stage or grade of ccRCC. Higher levels of CXCR3/4/5/6 expression were correlated with worse overall survival (OS) in patients with ccRCC, while higher expression of CXCR2 was associated with better OS. 23.14% mutation rate (118/510) of CXCR1-7 was observed in ccRCC patients, and the genetic alterations in CXCRs were related to worse OS and progression-free survival in ccRCC patients. Additionally, 53 CpGs of CXCR1-7 showed significant prognostic values. For functional enrichment, our results showed that CXCRs and their similar genes may be involved in cancer-associated pathways, immune process, and angiogenesis, etc. Besides, CXCRs were significantly correlated with multiple immune cells (e.g., CD8+ T cell, CD4+ cell, and dendritic cell). Conclusion: This study explored the potential prognostic values and roles of the CXCRs in ccRCC microenvironment. Our results suggested that CXCR4 and CXCR6 could be the prognostic biomarkers for the patients with ccRCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhulin Wu
- The Fourth Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yingzhao Zhang
- The Fourth Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xiang Chen
- The Fourth Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wanjun Tan
- Shenzhen Futian Center for Chronic Disease Control, Shenzhen, China
| | - Li He
- Department of Oncology and Haematology, Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lisheng Peng
- Department of Science and Education, Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen, China
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Zhong W, Zhang F, Huang C, Lin Y, Huang J. Identification of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition-Related lncRNA With Prognosis and Molecular Subtypes in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma. Front Oncol 2020; 10:591254. [PMID: 33324563 PMCID: PMC7724112 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.591254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), a reversible cellular program, is critically important in tumor progression and is regulated by a family of transcription factors, induction factors, and an array of signaling pathway genes. The prognostic role and biological functions of EMT-related lncRNAs in ccRCC are largely unknown. In the present study, we analyzed the gene expression data and clinical information retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (N=512) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database (N=90) which served as training and external validation dataset, respectively. Then, we constructed an EMT-related lncRNA risk signature based on the comprehensive analysis of the EMT-related lncRNA expression data and clinical information. The Kaplan-Meier curve analysis revealed that patients in the low-risk and high-risk groups exhibited significant divergence in the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of ccRCC, as was confirmed in the validation dataset. The Cox regression analysis of the clinical factors and risk signature in the OS and DFS demonstrated that the risk signature can be utilized as an independent prognostic predictor. Moreover, we developed an individualized prognosis prediction model relying on the nomogram and receive operator curve (ROC) analysis based on the independent factors. The Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) indicated that patients in the low-risk group were associated with adherens junction, focal adhesion, MAPK signaling pathway, pathways in cancer, and renal cell carcinoma pathway. In addition, we identified three robust subtypes (named C1, C2 and C3) of ccRCC with distinct clinical characteristics and prognostic role in the TCGA dataset and ICGC dataset. Among them, C1 was associated with a better survival outcome, whereas C2 and C3 was associated with a worse survival outcome and have more advanced-stage patients. Moreover, C2 was more likely to respond to immunotherapy and was sensitive to chemo drugs, this may provide insights to clinicians to develop an individualized treatment. Collectively, this work developed a reliable EMT-related lncRNA risk signature that can independently predict the OS and DFS of ccRCC. Besides, we identified three stable molecular subtypes based on the EMT-related lncRNA expression, which may comprehensively be vital in elucidating the underlying molecular mechanism of ccRCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weimin Zhong
- Central Laboratory, The Fifth Hospital of Xiamen, Xiamen, China
| | - Fengling Zhang
- Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, The Fifth Hospital of Xiamen, Xiamen, China
| | - Chaoqun Huang
- Central Laboratory, The Fifth Hospital of Xiamen, Xiamen, China
| | - Yao Lin
- Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Jiyi Huang
- Department of Nephrology, The Fifth Hospital of Xiamen, Xiamen, China
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Tang Y, Tao Y, Wang L, Yang L, Jing Y, Jiang X, Lei L, Yang Z, Wang X, Peng M, Xiao Q, Ren J, Zhang L. NPM1 mutant maintains ULK1 protein stability via TRAF6‐dependent ubiquitination to promote autophagic cell survival in leukemia. FASEB J 2020; 35:e21192. [DOI: 10.1096/fj.201903183rrr] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuting Tang
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Yao Tao
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Lu Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory University‐Town HospitalChongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Liyuan Yang
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Yipei Jing
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Xueke Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Li Lei
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Zailin Yang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory The Third Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Xin Wang
- Department of Hematology The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Meixi Peng
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Qiaoling Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Jun Ren
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
| | - Ling Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics Designated by the Ministry of Education School of Laboratory Medicine Chongqing Medical University Chongqing China
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Zamame Ramirez JA, Romagnoli GG, Kaneno R. Inhibiting autophagy to prevent drug resistance and improve anti-tumor therapy. Life Sci 2020; 265:118745. [PMID: 33186569 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2020.118745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2020] [Revised: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Cytotoxic drugs remain the first-line option for cancer therapy but the development of drug-resistance by tumor cells represents a primary obstacle for successful chemotherapy. Autophagy is a physiological mechanism of cell survival efficiently used by tumor cells to avoid cell death and to induce drug-resistance. It is a macromolecular process, in which cells degrade and recycle intracellular substrates and damaged organelles to alleviate cell stress caused by nutritional deprivation, hypoxia, irradiation, and cytotoxic agents, as well. There is evidence that autophagy prevents cancer during the early steps of carcinogenesis, but once transformed, these cells show enhanced autophagy capacity and use it to survive, grow, and facilitate metastasis. Current basic studies and clinical trials show the feasibility of using pharmacological or molecular blockage of autophagy to improve the anticancer therapy efficiency. In this review, we overviewed the pathways and molecular aspects of autophagy, its role in carcinogenesis, and the evidence for its role in cancer adaptation and drug-resistance. Finally, we reviewed the clinical findings on how the autophagy interference helps to improve conventional anticancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jofer Andree Zamame Ramirez
- São Paulo State University - UNESP, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Institute of Biosciences of Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil; São Paulo State University - UNESP, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine of Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil
| | - Graziela Gorete Romagnoli
- São Paulo State University - UNESP, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Institute of Biosciences of Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil; São Paulo State University - UNESP, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine of Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil; Oeste Paulista University - UNOESTE, Department of Health Sciences, Jaú, SP, Brazil
| | - Ramon Kaneno
- São Paulo State University - UNESP, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Institute of Biosciences of Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
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Ji X, Zhang X, Li Z. ULK1 inhibitor induces spindle microtubule disorganization and inhibits phosphorylation of Ser10 of histone H3. FEBS Open Bio 2020; 10:2452-2463. [PMID: 33040463 PMCID: PMC7609780 DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.13000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Revised: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Certain tumors are dependent on autophagy for survival; thus, the use of unc‐51‐like autophagy activating kinase (ULK) 1 inhibitors to block autophagy has the potential for tumor treatment. However, ULK1 inhibitors affect processes other than autophagy. Herein, we report that the ULK1 inhibitors SBI‐0206965/MRT68921 not only inhibit phosphorylation of histone H3 (Ser10) and delay chromatin condensation but also induce spindle microtubule disorganization to form short and fragmented microtubule polymers. Although the delay in chromatin condensation also delayed mitotic entry, the disorganized microtubule polymers resulted in unsegregated chromosomes and polyploidy. Although the effect on mitotic entry was moderate, polyploidy formation was decreased in ULK1 knockout cells with or without ULK2 knockdown. In conclusion, it will be helpful to consider the roles of ULK1 inhibitors in mitotic dysregulation, as well as autophagy, when evaluating their antitumor efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinmiao Ji
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China
| | - Xin Zhang
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China.,Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, China
| | - Zhiyuan Li
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China
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Radovanovic M, Vidicevic S, Tasic J, Tomonjic N, Stanojevic Z, Nikic P, Vuksanovic A, Dzamic Z, Bumbasirevic U, Isakovic A, Trajkovic V. Role of AMPK/mTOR-independent autophagy in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. J Investig Med 2020; 68:1386-1393. [PMID: 33087428 DOI: 10.1136/jim-2020-001524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
We examined the status and role of autophagy, a process of lysosomal recycling of cellular material, in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Paired samples of tumor and adjacent non-malignant tissue were collected from 20 patients with ccRCC after radical nephrectomy. The mRNA levels of apoptosis (BAD, BAX, BCL2, BCLXL, BIM) and autophagy (ATG4, BECN1, GABARAP, p62, UVRAG) regulators were measured by RT-qPCR. The protein levels of autophagosome-associated LC3-II, autophagy receptor p62, apoptotic marker PARP, as well as phosphorylation of autophagy initiator Unc 51-like kinase 1 (ULK1), its activator AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and 4EBP1, the substrate of ULK1 inhibitor mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), were analyzed by immunoblotting. The mRNA levels of pro-apoptotic BAX, anti-apoptotic BCLXL and pro-autophagic ATG4, p62 and UVRAG were higher in ccRCC tumors. Autophagy induction was confirmed by an increase in phospho-ULK1 and degradation of the autophagic target p62, while apoptotic PARP cleavage was unaltered. AMPK phosphorylation was reduced and 4EBP1 phosphorylation was increased in ccRCC tissue. The expression of apoptosis regulators did not correlate with clinicopathological features of ccRCC. Conversely, high mRNA levels of ATG4, GABARAP and p62 were associated with lower tumor stage, as well as with smaller tumor size and better disease-specific 5-year survival (ATG4 and p62). Accordingly, low p62 protein levels, corresponding to increased autophagic flux, were associated with lower tumor stage, reduced metastasis and improved 5-year survival. These data demonstrate that transcriptional induction of autophagy in ccRCC is accompanied by AMPK/mTOR-independent increase in ULK1 activation and autophagic flux, which might slow tumor progression and metastasis independently of apoptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sasenka Vidicevic
- Institute of Medical and Clinical Biochemistry, University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Jelena Tasic
- Institute of Medical and Clinical Biochemistry, University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Nina Tomonjic
- Institute of Medical and Clinical Biochemistry, University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Zeljka Stanojevic
- Institute of Medical and Clinical Biochemistry, University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Predrag Nikic
- Clinic of Urology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
| | | | - Zoran Dzamic
- Clinic of Urology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
| | | | - Aleksandra Isakovic
- Institute of Medical and Clinical Biochemistry, University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Vladimir Trajkovic
- Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
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Cerulli RA, Shehaj L, Brown H, Pace J, Mei Y, Kritzer JA. Stapled Peptide Inhibitors of Autophagy Adapter LC3B. Chembiochem 2020; 21:2777-2785. [PMID: 32406996 PMCID: PMC7872222 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202000212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Revised: 05/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
A growing body of evidence suggests that autophagy inhibition enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapy, especially in difficult-to-treat cancers. Existing autophagy inhibitors are primarily lysosomotropic agents. More specific autophagy inhibitors are highly sought-after. The microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3B protein, LC3B, is an adapter protein that mediates key protein-protein interactions at several points in autophagy pathways. In this work, we used a known peptide ligand as a starting point to develop improved LC3B inhibitors. We obtained structure-activity relationships that quantify the binding contributions of peptide termini, individual charged residues, and hydrophobic interactions. Based on these data, we used artificial amino acids and diversity-oriented stapling to improve affinity and resistance to biological degradation, while maintaining or improving LC3B affinity and selectivity. These peptides represent the highest-affinity LC3B-selective ligands reported to date, and they will be useful tools for further elucidation of LC3B's role in autophagy and in cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A Cerulli
- Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology Program Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Livia Shehaj
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Hawley Brown
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Jennifer Pace
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Yang Mei
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Joshua A Kritzer
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
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Kumar M, Papaleo E. A pan-cancer assessment of alterations of the kinase domain of ULK1, an upstream regulator of autophagy. Sci Rep 2020; 10:14874. [PMID: 32913252 PMCID: PMC7483646 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71527-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Autophagy is a key clearance process to recycle damaged cellular components. One important upstream regulator of autophagy is ULK1 kinase. Several three-dimensional structures of the ULK1 catalytic domain are available, but a comprehensive study, including molecular dynamics, is missing. Also, an exhaustive description of ULK1 alterations found in cancer samples is presently lacking. We here applied a framework which links -omics data to structural protein ensembles to study ULK1 alterations from genomics data available for more than 30 cancer types. We predicted the effects of mutations on ULK1 function and structural stability, accounting for protein dynamics, and the different layers of changes that a mutation can induce in a protein at the functional and structural level. ULK1 is down-regulated in gynecological tumors. In other cancer types, ULK2 could compensate for ULK1 downregulation and, in the majority of the cases, no marked changes in expression have been found. 36 missense mutations of ULK1, not limited to the catalytic domain, are co-occurring with mutations in a large number of ULK1 interactors or substrates, suggesting a pronounced effect of the upstream steps of autophagy in many cancer types. Moreover, our results pinpoint that more than 50% of the mutations in the kinase domain of ULK1, here investigated, are predicted to affect protein stability. Three mutations (S184F, D102N, and A28V) are predicted with only impact on kinase activity, either modifying the functional dynamics or the capability to exert effects from distal sites to the functional and catalytic regions. The framework here applied could be extended to other protein targets to aid the classification of missense mutations from cancer genomics studies, as well as to prioritize variants for experimental validation, or to select the appropriate biological readouts for experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mukesh Kumar
- Computational Biology Laboratory, Center for Autophagy, Recycling and Disease (CARD), Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden 49, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Elena Papaleo
- Computational Biology Laboratory, Center for Autophagy, Recycling and Disease (CARD), Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden 49, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Translational Disease System Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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49
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Chen Y, Xie X, Wang C, Hu Y, Zhang H, Zhang L, Tu S, He Y, Li Y. Dual targeting of NUAK1 and ULK1 using the multitargeted inhibitor MRT68921 exerts potent antitumor activities. Cell Death Dis 2020; 11:712. [PMID: 32873786 PMCID: PMC7463258 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-020-02885-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Revised: 08/01/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Utilizing oxidative stress has recently been regarded as a potential strategy for tumor therapy. The NUAK family SNF1-like kinase 1 (NUAK1) is a critical component of the antioxidant defense system and is necessary for the survival of tumors. Therefore, NUAK1 is considered an attractive therapeutic target in cancer. However, antioxidant therapy induced elevated ROS levels to activate the Unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) pathway to promote protective autophagy and ULK1-dependent mitophagy. Thus, the combined inhibition of NUAK1 and ULK1 showed a strong synergistic effect in different tumor types. Herein, the potential antitumor activities of a dual NUAK1/ULK1 inhibitor MRT68921 were evaluated in both tumor cell lines and animal models. MRT68921 significantly kills tumor cells by breaking the balance of oxidative stress signals. These results highlight the potential of MRT68921 as an effective agent for tumor therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiran Chen
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoling Xie
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chunsheng Wang
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuxing Hu
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Honghao Zhang
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lenghe Zhang
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Sanfang Tu
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yanjie He
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Yuhua Li
- Department of Hematology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. .,Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory), Guangzhou, China.
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50
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Sun Z, Jing C, Xiao C, Li T. Long Non-Coding RNA Profile Study Identifies an Immune-Related lncRNA Prognostic Signature for Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma. Front Oncol 2020; 10:1430. [PMID: 32974157 PMCID: PMC7468470 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.01430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is the predominant pathological subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in adults. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an important class of gene expression regulators and serve fundamental roles in immune regulation. The intent of this study is to develop a novel immune-related lncRNA signature to accurately predict the prognosis for KIRC patients. Here, we performed genome-wide comparative analysis of lncRNA expression profiles in 537 KIRC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Cox regression model–identified immune-related lncRNAs were extracted for constructing a novel five immune-related lncRNA signature (AC008105.3, LINC02084, AC243960.1, AC093278.2, and AC108449.2) with the ability to predict the prognosis of KIRC patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses demonstrated that the signature could act as an independent prognostic predictor for overall survival (OS). With the further investigation on different clinicopathological parameters, we found that the signature could divide KIRC samples into high-risk groups with shorter OS and low-risk groups with longer OS in different subgroups. Principal component analysis suggested that the five immune-related lncRNA signature drew a clear distinction between high- and low-risk groups based on the immune-related lncRNAs. The different immune status between the two groups was observed in gene set enrichment analysis and the ESTIMATE algorithm. Except for AC093278.2, the expressions of the other four lncRNAs expression were significantly upregulated in tumor tissues. In summary, the identified immune-lncRNA signature had important clinical implications in prognosis prediction and could be exploited as underlying immune therapeutic targets for KIRC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuolun Sun
- Department of Urology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Changying Jing
- Eye Institute of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China
| | - Chutian Xiao
- Department of Urology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tengcheng Li
- Department of Urology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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