Coronarin D suppresses proliferation, invasion and migration of glioma cells via activating JNK signaling pathway

A novel approach to glioblastoma multiforme treatment using modulation of key pathways by naturally occurring small molecules

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the fatal primary brain malignancy in adults, represents significant health challenges, and its eradication has been the ultimate goal of numerous medical investigations. GBM therapy encompasses various interventions, e.g., chemotherapy by synthetic cytotoxic agents like temozolomide (TMZ), radiotherapy, and, more recently, immunotherapy. A notable focus has been on incorporating naturally occurring substances in treating malignancies. Polyphenols and terpenoids, widely present in fruits and vegetables, constitute primary categories of agents employed for this purpose. They pose direct and indirect impacts on tumor growth and chemoresistance, mainly through impacting the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, crucial in cellular processes, metabolism, and programmed death. This paper thoroughly discusses the biologic effects and practical application of polyphenols and terpenoids on GBM through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling in vitro and in vivo.

Moringa oleifera Lam. Isothiocyanate Quinazolinone Derivatives Inhibit U251 Glioma Cell Proliferation through Cell Cycle Regulation and Apoptosis Induction

A major active constituent of Moringa oleifera Lam. is 4-[(α-L-rhamnose oxy) benzyl] isothiocyanate (MITC). To broaden MITC's application and improve its biological activity, we synthesized a series of MITC quinazolinone derivatives and evaluated their anticancer activity. The anticancer effects and mechanisms of the compound with the most potent anticancer activity were investigated further. Among 16 MITC quinazolinone derivatives which were analyzed, MITC-12 significantly inhibited the growth of U251, A375, A431, HCT-116, HeLa, and MDA-MB-231 cells. MITC-12 significantly inhibited U251 cell proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner and decreased the number of EdU-positive cells, but was not toxic to normal human gastric mucosal cells (GES-1). Further, MITC-12 induced apoptosis of U251 cells, and increased caspase-3 expression levels and the Bax:Bcl-2 ratio. In addition, MITC-12 significantly decreased the proportion of U251 cells in the G1 phase and increased it in S and G2 phases. Transcriptome sequencing showed that MITC-12 had a significant regulatory effect on pathways regulating the cell cycle. Further, MITC-12 significantly decreased the expression levels of the cell cycle-related proteins CDK2, cyclinD1, and cyclinE, and increased those of cyclinA2, as well as the p-JNK:JNK ratio. These results indicate that MITC-12 inhibits U251 cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, activating JNK, and regulating cell cycle-associated proteins. MITC-12 has potential for use in the prevention and treatment of glioma.

TR35 Exerts Anti-tumor Effects by Modulating Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase and STAT3 Signaling in Lung Cancer Cells

Cancer is a complex disease extremely dependent on its microenvironment and is highly regulated by a variety of stimuli inside and outside the cell. Evidence suggests that active camel whey fraction (TR35) confer anti-tumor effects in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, its exact mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we investigated the mechanisms underlying suppression of NSCLC cell growth and proliferation by TR35. Treatment of A549 and H1299 cells with TR35 suppressed their growth and enhanced apoptosis, as revealed by CCK-8, colony formation and flow cytometric analyses. We find that TR35 suppresses tumor growth in a xenograft nude mouse model without losses in body weight. RNA-seq and KEGG pathway analyses showed that the DEGs were enriched in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Jak-STAT signaling pathways. After test the key factors’ activity associated with these pathways by Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and western blotting, the activation of JNK phosphorylation and inhibition of p38 and STAT3 phosphorylation was observed both in TR35 treated lung cancer cell and tumor tissue. Taken together, these results showed that TR35 play a significant role in the NSCLC progression in the tumor microenvironment via MAPK and Jak-STAT signaling, highlighting TR35 as a potential therapeutic agent against lung cancer.

JNK signaling as a target for anticancer therapy

The JNKs are members of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) which regulate many physiological processes including inflammatory responses, macrophages, cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, and death. It is increasingly clear that the continuous activation of JNKs has a role in cancer development and progression. Therefore, JNKs represent attractive oncogenic targets for cancer therapy using small molecule kinase inhibitors. Studies showed that the two major JNK proteins JNK1 and JNK2 have opposite functions in different types of cancers, which need more specification in the design of JNK inhibitors. Some of ATP- competitive and ATP non-competitive inhibitors have been developed and widely used in vitro, but this type of inhibitors lack selectivity and inhibits phosphorylation of all JNK substrates and may lead to cellular toxicity. In this review, we summarized and discussed the strategies of JNK binding inhibitors and the role of JNK signaling in the pathogenesis of different solid and hematological malignancies.

Modulating effect of Coronarin D in 5-fluorouracil resistance human oral cancer cell lines induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest through JNK1/2 signaling pathway

Coronarin D (CD) is one of the main components of Hedychium coronarium rhizome, which has therapeutic potential by reducing cell proliferation in cancer cells. However, the mechanism of CD to 5-fluorouracil (5FU) oral cancer cell remain unclearly. This study discusses the CD to 5FU chemoresistance oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) biochemical mechanisms and possibly pathways to inhibit multiplication in oral cancer. The effect of CD-treated 5FU-chemoresistance human oral cancer cell lines were subjected to MTT assay, cell cycle assay, DAPI assay, annexin-V/PI double staining assay and mitochondrial membrane potential measurement. Furthermore, western blotting was performed to assess the effect of CD on the expression levels of apoptosis related protein and MAPK signaling pathway. The results of the study evidenced that CD reduced viability of 5FU cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner compared with control. The cytotoxic effect of CD lead to cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and induced apoptosis in both internal and external pathways. CD induces apoptosis by enhancing phosphorylation of JNK, further exploring the combination of CD and SP600125 reduced the overexpression of phosphate JNK levels. The mechanism of action of CD in 5FU on human oral cancer cells is reported for the first time and can hopeful to be a potential therapeutic agent for 5FU against human oral cancer cells.

The impact of Harmine hydrochloride on growth, apoptosis and migration, invasion of gastric cancer cells

It has been reported that Harmine hydrochloride (HH) has an inhibitory effect on tumor cells, but the effect and mechanism of HH on gastric cancer cells remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of HH on human gastric cancer cell line. In present study, results showed that HH could inhibit AGS, SGC7901 and HGC-27 cells in a time-dose-dependent manner (P < 0.01). Furthermore, this study demonstrated that more cells were arrested in G0/G1 phase, and apoptosis rate of AGS cells was significantly increased after HH treatment (P < 0.01). In addition, the study results showed that the mRNA and proteins of CyclinE, CyclinD1, PCNA declined dramatically, while p27, p21 increased significantly (P < 0.01). The results in this research also showed that the mRNA and proteins of Survivin and Bcl-2 decreased, while the expression of Bax, caspase-3, Bad increased significantly (P < 0.01). Also, the results of this study showed that invasion and migration of AGS cells decreased significantly after HH treatment (P < 0.01), with the expression of MMP-2, HIF-1 α and PRDX1 decreasing on observation after HH treatment (P < 0.01). In conclusion, HH has the property to inhibit GC cells via regulating GC cells' proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration.