Progress in prevention and treatment of myocardial injury induced by cancer therapy

Interferon-regulatory factor-1 boosts bevacizumab cardiotoxicity by the vascular endothelial growth factor A/14-3-3γ axis

AIM

Myocardial injury is a significant cause of death. This study investigated the role and underlying mechanism of interferon-regulatory factor-1 (IRF1) in bevacizumab (BVZ)-induced cardiomyocyte injury.

METHODS AND RESULTS

HL-1 cells and C57BL/6 mice receiving BVZ treatment were used to establish in vitro and in vivo models of myocardial injury. The relationship between VEGFA and 14-3-3γ was verified through co-immunoprecipitation and Glutathione S Transferase (GST) pull-down assay. Cell viability and apoptosis were analysed by MTT, propidium iodide (PI) staining and flow cytometry. The release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), cardiac troponins T (cTnT), and creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) was measured using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The effects of knocking down IRF1 on BVZ-induced mice were analysed in vivo. IRF1 levels were increased in BVZ-treated HL-1 cells. BVZ treatment induced apoptosis, inhibited cell viability, and promoted the release of LDH, cTnT, and CK-MB. IRF1 silencing suppressed BVZ-induced myocardial injury, whereas IRF1 overexpression had the opposite effect. IRF1 regulated VEGFA expression by binding to its promoter, with the depletion of VEGFA or 14-3-3γ reversing the effects of IRF1 knockdown on the cell viability and apoptosis of BVZ-treated HL-1 cells. 14-3-3γ overexpression promoted cell proliferation, inhibited apoptosis, and reduced the release of LDH, cTnT, and CK-MB, thereby alleviating BVZ-induced HL-1 cell damage. In vivo, IRF1 silencing alleviated BVZ-induced cardiomyocyte injury by regulating the VEGFA/14-3-3γ axis.

CONCLUSION

The IRF1-mediated VEGFA/14-3-3γ signalling pathway promotes BVZ-induced myocardial injury. Our study provides evidence for potentially new target genes for the treatment of myocardial injury.

Ginsenosides: changing the basic hallmarks of cancer cells to achieve the purpose of treating breast cancer

In 2021, breast cancer accounted for a substantial proportion of cancer cases and represented the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide. Although tumor cells originate from normal cells in the human body, they possess distinct biological characteristics resulting from changes in gene structure and function of cancer cells in contrast with normal cells. These distinguishing features, known as hallmarks of cancer cells, differ from those of normal cells. The hallmarks primarily include high metabolic activity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and resistance to cell death. Current evidence suggests that the fundamental hallmarks of tumor cells affect the tissue structure, function, and metabolism of tumor cells and their internal and external environment. Therefore, these fundamental hallmarks of tumor cells enable tumor cells to proliferate, invade and avoid apoptosis. Modifying these hallmarks of tumor cells represents a new and potentially promising approach to tumor treatment. The key to breast cancer treatment lies in identifying the optimal therapeutic agent with minimal toxicity to normal cells, considering the specific types of tumor cells in patients. Some herbal medicines contain active ingredients which can precisely achieve this purpose. In this review, we introduce Ginsenoside's mechanism and research significance in achieving the therapeutic effect of breast cancer by changing the functional hallmarks of tumor cells, providing a new perspective for the potential application of Ginsenoside as a therapeutic drug for breast cancer.

A double-edged sword: role of apoptosis repressor with caspase recruitment domain (ARC) in tumorigenesis and ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury

Apoptosis repressor with caspase recruitment domain (ARC) acts as a potent and multifunctional inhibitor of apoptosis, which is mainly expressed in postmitotic cells, including cardiomyocytes. ARC is special for its N-terminal caspase recruitment domain and caspase recruitment domain. Due to the powerful inhibition of apoptosis, ARC is mainly reported to act as a cardioprotective factor during ischaemia‒reperfusion (I/R) injury, preventing cardiomyocytes from being devastated by various catastrophes, including oxidative stress, calcium overload, and mitochondrial dysfunction in the circulatory system. However, recent studies have found that ARC also plays a potential regulatory role in tumorigenesis especially in colorectal cancer and renal cell carcinomas, through multiple apoptosis-associated pathways, which remains to be explored in further studies. Therefore, ARC regulates the body and maintains the balance of physiological activities with its interesting duplex. This review summarizes the current research progress of ARC in the field of tumorigenesis and ischaemia/reperfusion injury, to provide overall research status and new possibilities for researchers.