Zn(II) and Co(II) derivatives anchored with scorpionate precursor: Antiproliferative evaluation in human cancer cell lines

Exploring the Mechanisms behind the Anti-Tumoral Effects of Model C-Scorpionate Complexes

The growing worldwide cancer incidence, coupled to the increasing occurrence of multidrug cancer resistance, requires a continuous effort towards the identification of new leads for cancer management. In this work, two C-scorpionate complexes, [FeCl₂(κ³-Tpm)] (1) and [Co(κ³-Tpm^OH)₂](NO₃)₂ (2), (Tpm = hydrotris(pyrazol-1-yl)methane and Tpm^OH = 2,2,2-tris(pyrazol-1-yl)ethanol), were studied as potential scaffolds for future anticancer drug development. Their cytotoxicity and cell migration inhibitory activity were analyzed, and an untargeted metabolomics approach was employed to elucidate the biological processes significantly affected by these two complexes, using two tumoral cell lines (B16 and HCT116) and a non-tumoral cell line (HaCaT). While [FeCl₂(κ³-Tpm)] did not display a significant cytotoxicity, [Co(κ³-Tpm^OH)₂](NO₃)₂ was particularly cytotoxic against the HCT116 cell line. While [Co(κ³-Tpm^OH)₂](NO₃)₂ significantly inhibited cell migration in all tested cell lines, [FeCl₂(κ³-Tpm)] displayed a mixed activity. From a metabolomics perspective, exposure to [FeCl₂(κ³-Tpm)] was associated with changes in various metabolic pathways involving tyrosine, where iron-dependent enzymes are particularly relevant. On the other hand, [Co(κ³-Tpm^OH)₂](NO₃)₂ was associated with dysregulation of cell adhesion and membrane structural pathways, suggesting that its antiproliferative and anti-migration properties could be due to changes in the overall cellular adhesion mechanisms.

Revealing the Potential Markers of N(4)-Acetylcytidine through acRIP-seq in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Understanding the causes of tumorigenesis and progression in triple-receptor negative breast cancer (TNBC) can help the design of novel and personalized therapies and prognostic assessments. Abnormal RNA modification is a recently discovered process in TNBC development. TNBC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas database were categorized according to the expression level of NAT10, which drives acetylation of cytidine in RNA to N(4)-acetylcytidine (ac4C) and affects mRNA stability. A total of 703 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were found between high- and low-expressed NAT10 groups in TNBC. Twenty of these lncRNAs were significantly associated with prognosis. Two breast cancer tissues and their paired normal tissues were sequenced at the whole genome level using acetylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (acRIP-seq) technology to identify acetylation features in TNBC, and 180 genes were significantly differentially ac4c acetylated in patients. We also analyzed the genome-wide lncRNA expression profile and constructed a co-expression network, containing 116 ac4C genes and 1080 lncRNAs. Three of these lncRNAs were prognostic risk lncRNAs affected by NAT10 and contained in the network. The corresponding reciprocal pairs were "LINC01614-COL3A1", "OIP5-AS1-USP8", and "RP5-908M14.9-TRIR". These results indicate that RNA ac4c acetylation involves lncRNAs and affects the tumor process and prognosis of TNBC. This will aid the prediction of drug targets and drug sensitivity.