Sparstolonin B exerts beneficial effects on prostate cancer by acting on the reactive oxygen species-mediated PI3K/AKT pathway

Juglone triggers apoptosis of non-small cell lung cancer through the reactive oxygen species -mediated PI3K/Akt pathway

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and oxidative stress plays a crucial role in its development. Juglone, a naturally occurring naphthoquinone in J. mandshurica, exhibits significant cytotoxic activity against various cancer cell lines. However, whether the anticancer activity of juglone is associated with oxidative stress remains unexplored. In this study, mouse Lewis lung cancer (LLC) and human non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells were used to explore the anticancer mechanisms of juglone. Juglone inhibited LLC and A549 cells viability, with IC50 values of 10.78 μM and 9.47 μM, respectively, for 24 h, and substantially suppressed the migration and invasion of these two lung cancer cells. Additionally, juglone arrested the cell cycle, induced apoptosis, increased the cleavage of caspase 3 and the protein expression of Bax and Cyt c, and decreased the protein expression of Bcl-2 and caspase-3. Furthermore, juglone treatment considerably increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, but suppressed glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities. It also inhibited the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway, which was attenuated by 1,3-diCQA (an activator of PI3K/Akt). Moreover, N-acetylcysteine (a ROS scavenger) partially reversed the positive effects of juglone in terms of migration, invasion, ROS production, apoptosis, and PI3K/Akt pathway-associated protein expression. Finally, in tumor-bearing nude mouse models, juglone inhibited tumor growth without any apparent toxicity and significantly induced apoptosis in NSCLC cells. Collectively, our findings suggest that juglone triggers apoptosis via the ROS-mediated PI3K/Akt pathway. Therefore, juglone may serve as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of NSCLC.

The Toll-like Receptor-2/4 Antagonist, Sparstolonin B, and Inflammatory Diseases: A Literature Mining and Network Analysis

BACKGROUND

Sparstolonin B (SsnB) is characterized as a new toll-like receptor (TLR)-2/4 antagonist. However, the effects of SsnB on different inflammatory diseases have not been systemically reviewed.

METHODS

We investigated the effects of SsnB on inflammatory diseases with data mining and network analysis of literature, including frequency description, cluster analysis, association rule mining, functional enrichment, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) mining.

RESULTS

A total of 27 experimental reports were included. The ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines were used to evaluate the quality of animal studies. Frequency analysis revealed 13 different diseases (cardio-cerebrovascular system diseases account for 23.53%), 12 pharmacological effects (anti-inflammatory effect accounts for 53.85%), and 67 therapeutic targets. The overview of investigation sequence of SsnB studies was depicted by Sankey diagram. Cluster analysis classified the therapeutic targets for SsnB into four main categories: (1) NF-κB; (2) IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α; (3) TLR2, TLR4, and MyD88; (4) the other targets. Moreover, the Apriori association discovered two main association pairs: (1) TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 and (2) TLR2, TLR4, and MyD88 (support range 33.33-50%, confidence range 83.33-88.89%). Functional enrichment of the therapeutic targets for SsnB showed that the top enriched items in the biological process were mainly the response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/bacterial origin and regulation of cytokine production. Finally, the PPI network and hub gene selection by maximal clique centrality (MCC) algorithm indicated the top ranked proteins were TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, AKT1, PPAR-γ, TLR4, CCL2, and TLR2.

CONCLUSION

These results emphasized the importance of TLR2/TLR4-MyD88-NF-κB-IL-1β/IL-6/TNF-α pathways as therapeutic targets of SsnB in inflammatory diseases.

Dankasterone A induces prostate cancer cell death by inducing oxidative stress

Oxidative stress plays a dual role in tumor survival, either promoting tumor development or killing tumor cells under different conditions. Dankasterone A is a secondary metabolite derived from the fungus Talaromyces purpurogenu. It showed good potential in a screen for anti-prostate cancer compounds. In this study, MTT results showed dankasterone A was cytotoxic to prostate cancer cells, with an IC50 of 5.10 μM for PC-3 cells and 3.41 μM for 22Rv1 cells. Further studies, plate cloning assays and real-time cell analysis monitoring showed that dankasterone A significantly inhibited clonal colony formation and cell migration in 22Rv1 and PC-3 cells. In addition, flow cytometry results showed that dankasterone A induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells while having no impact on cell cycle distribution. At the molecular level, Protein microarray experiments and western blot assays revealed that dankasterone A specifically and dramatically upregulated HO-1 protein expression; and the results of cell fluorescence staining showed that dankasterone A induced overexpression of reactive oxygen species in 22Rv1 and PC-3 cells. Taken together, dankasterone A induced prostate cancer cells to undergo intense oxidative stress, which resulted in the production of large amounts of HO-1 and the release of large amounts of reactive oxygen species, leading to apoptosis of prostate cancer cells, ultimately resulting in the inhibition of both cell proliferation and migration. We also validated the anti-prostate cancer effects of dankasterone A in vivo in a zebrafish xenograft tumor model. In conclusion, dankasterone A has the potential to be developed as an anti-prostate cancer drug.

Small-Molecule Modulators Targeting Toll-like Receptors for Potential Anticancer Therapeutics

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key components of the innate immune system and serve as a crucial link between innate and acquired immunity. In addition to immune function, TLRs are involved in other important pathological processes, including tumorigenesis. TLRs have dual regulatory effects on tumor immunity by activating nuclear factor κ-B signaling pathways, which induce tumor immune evasion or enhance the antitumor immune response. Therefore, TLRs have become a popular target for cancer prevention and treatment, and TLR agonists and antagonists offer considerable potential for drug development. The TLR7 agonist imiquimod (1) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for malignant skin cancer. Herein, the structure, signaling pathways, and function of the TLR family are summarized, and the structure-activity relationships associated with TLR selective and multitarget modulators and their potential application in tumor therapy are systematically discussed.

TBK1 promotes thyroid cancer progress by activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway

Introduction

Thyroid cancer has received increasing attention; however, its detailed pathogenesis and pathological processes remain unclear. We investigated the role of TANK‐binding kinase 1 (TBK1) in the progression of thyroid cancer.

Methods

The expression of TBK1 in thyroid cancer and normal control tissues was analyzed using real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The function of TBK1 on thyroid cancer cells was detected using MTT, colony formation, wound healing, and Transwell assays. The xenograft assay was carried out to check on the role of TBK1 in thyroid cancer.

Results

TBK1 was highly expressed in thyroid tumors. High expression of TBK1 raised viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion of thyroid cancer cells. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that TBK1 activated the phosphatidylinositol‐3‐kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway. In addition, Myc‐associated zinc finger protein (MAZ) was overexpressed in thyroid cancer and transcriptionally activated BK1. MAZ silence reversed the effects of TBK1 overexpression on thyroid cancer progression. Cotransfection with MAZ small‐interfering RNA(siRNA) and TBK1 siRNA did not strengthen the inhibitory effect of TBK1 silencing on the thyroid cancer cells. The xenograft tumor assay showed that TBK1 short hairpinRNA inhibited tumor growth.

Conclusion

MAZ silencing inhibited tumor progress of thyroid cancer cells, whereas this inhibitory effect was reversed by TBK1 overexpression.

Protective activity of tert-butylhydroquinone against oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by glutamate agonizts in R28 cells and mice retina

Glutamate excitotoxicity can cause cell damage and apoptosis and play an important role in a variety of retinal diseases. Tertiary-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) is an approved food-grade phenolic antioxidant with antioxidant activity in a variety of cells and tissues. We observed the protective effect of tBHQ on glutamatergic agonist-induced retina and explored its possible mechanism of action through in vitro cell experiments. The results showed that tBHQ had protective effects on NMDA-induced mouse retinal excitotoxicity and glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in rat retinal precursor cells (R28 cells). tBHQ reversed glutamate-induced apoptosis, production of intracellular reactive oxygen species, and reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential. Western blot analysis showed that tBHQ could increase the expression of procaspase-3, Bcl-2, AIF precursor, CAT, SOD2, Nrf2, NQO1, HO-1 and NF-κB in glutamate-treated cells, and decrease the expression of AIF cleavage products. Furthermore, we discovered that tBHQ activated müller glial cells. Based on these results, tBHQ may have antioxidant and anti-apoptotic properties, thus serving as a potential retinal protective agent. Its anti-oxidative stress effect was attributed to up-regulation of Nrf2, and its anti-apoptotic effect was related to its up-regulation of Bcl-2 expression and inhibition of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis.

Sparstolonin B inhibits pancreatic adenocarcinoma through the NF-κB signaling pathway

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a highly lethal malignant gastrointestinal tumor. Sparstolonin B is an isocoumarin whose anticancer activity has recently received increasing attention. This study aimed to investigate Sparstolonin B's potential antitumor effect on pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The effect of Sparstolonin B on pancreatic cancer target genes and molecular mechanism was predicted via network pharmacology; Sparstolonin B significantly decreased Panc-1 and SW1990 cell viability and effectively suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells as shown by CCK-8, colony formation, and Transwell assays. Flow cytometry showed that it induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Sparstolonin B also upregulated Bax levels but decreased those of MMP2 and Bcl-2, downregulated IκBα expression, and upregulated p65 and IκBα phosphorylation; however, it had no effect on total NF-κB p65 levels. The NF-κB pathway inhibitor QNZ reversed these effects. The treatment group (26 μmol/L) had reduced graft volume and weight and fewer Ki-67-positive cells than the control group. Therefore, Sparstolonin B can inhibit the growth and induce the apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells via the NF-κB signaling pathway and may be a potential novel drug for pancreatic cancer treatment.

Silk Fibroin/Hydroxyapatite Coating Improved Osseointegration of Porous Titanium Implants under Diabetic Conditions via Activation of the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway

The application of three-dimensional printed porous titanium implants (TIs) is compromised in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus (DM), which disturbs the normal process of implant osseointegration, resulting in fixation failure. It was possibly because of reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction at the bone-implant interface. A silk fibroin-based hydroxyapatite (SF/HA) hybrid material emerged as a novel biological material for accelerating new bone formation. We proposed that the SF/HA hybrid coated titanium implant (SHT) could mitigate DM-mediated impaired osseointegration, which had never been reported previously. To test this assumption and further elucidate the mechanisms, primary rabbit osteoblasts were seeded on TIs or SHTs and cultured with normal serum, diabetic serum (DS), DS + N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) (a potent ROS inhibitor), and DS + LY294002 (a specific PI3K/Akt inhibitor) for osteoblast behavior examinations. An animal study was performed on diabetic rabbits implanted with the two kinds of implants for osseointegration tests. DM-mediated ROS overproduction caused osteoblastic biological dysfunctions and apoptotic injury, associated with suppression of PI3K/Akt signaling in osteoblasts cultured on a TI substrate. Of note, the SHT substrate significantly suppressed ROS overproduction under diabetic conditions, improved osteoblast functional recovery including ameliorative osteoblast adhesion and morphology, improved cellular proliferation and differentiation, and abrogated apoptosis, which exhibited the same effect as NAC administration on the TI. The in vitro results were further corroborated in vivo by enhanced osteogenesis and osseointegration of SHTs in diabetic rabbits. Moreover, the aforesaid promotive effects afforded by the SF/HA coating were totally abolished with administration of LY294002 for blocking PI3K/Akt signaling. The above results collectively demonstrated that the SF/HA hybrid coating significantly ameliorated DM-mediated impaired osseointegration of the TI via reactivation of the ROS-mediated PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. The hybrid coating elicited a novel surface biofunctionalization strategy to attain favorable clinical performance of TI in diabetics.

Natural Products as the Modulators of Oxidative Stress: An Herbal Approach in the Management of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed and frequently occurred cancer in the males globally. The current treatment strategies available to treat prostate cancer are not much effective and express various adverse effects. Hence, there is an urgent need to identify novel treatment that can improve patient outcome. From times immemorial, natural products are highly recognized for novel drug development for various diseases including cancer. Cancer cells generally maintain higher basal levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) when compared to normal cells due to its high metabolic rate. However, initiation of excess intracellular ROS production can not be tolerated by the cancer cells and induce several cell death signals which are in contrast to normal cells. Therefore, small molecules of natural origin that induce ROS can potentially kill cancer cells in specific and provide a better opportunity to develop a novel drug therapy. In this review, we elaborated various classes of medicinal compounds and their mechanism of killing prostate cancer cells through direct or indirect ROS generation. This can generate a novel thought to develop promising drug candidate to treat prostate cancer patients.

1,8-cineole alleviates bisphenol A-induced apoptosis and necroptosis in bursa of Fabricius in chicken through regulating oxidative stress and PI3K/AKT pathway

Bisphenol A (BPA), an important chemical raw material, is now a ubiquitous environmental contaminant. As an endocrine disruptor similar to estrogen, BPA increases the risk of various metabolic and chronic diseases. BPA has immunotoxicity to humans and animals. 1,8-cineole (CIN) is a plant-derived monoterpene with antioxidant and antiapoptosis actions. However, there are no reports about whether CIN could antagonize the BPA-induced apoptosis and necroptosis in bursa of Fabricius (BF) of chicken. This study was to elucidate the ameliorative mechanism of CIN on the apoptosis and necroptosis in BF induced by BPA. 120 broilers (1-day-old) were randomly divided into four groups: control group, CIN group, CIN and BPA co-treatment group, and BPA group. TUNEL analysis results, histopathological variations, and the overexpression of proapoptosis biomakers (Caspase 3, Bax, Cyt-c, and p53) and necroptosis pathway-related factors (RIPK1, RIPK3, MLKL, and FADD) indicated that BPA exposure induced the apoptosis and necroptosis in chicken BF. Moreover, BPA treatment elevated the levels of oxidative stress indexes (MDA, iNOS, and NO) and weaken antioxidases activity (SOD, GPx, and CAT) and total antioxidant capacity in chicken BF. BPA administration also lessened the expression of PI3K and AKT and promoted HSPs (HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, and HSP70) activation. whereas CIN supplementation prominently mitigated BPA-caused these changes and the apoptosis and necroptosis damages. In brief, this study illuminated that CIN could protect the chicken BF against BPA-induced apoptosis and necroptosis through restraining oxidative stress and activating PI3K/AKT pathway.

Promises of phytochemical based nano drug delivery systems in the management of cancer

Cancer is the leading cause of human disease and death worldwide, accounting for 7.6 million deaths per year and projected to reach 13.1 million by 2030. Many phytochemicals included in traditional medicine have been utilized in the management of cancer. Conventional chemotherapy is generally known to be the most effective treatment of metastatic cancer but these cancerous cells might grow resistant to numerous anticancer drugs over time that resulting in treatment failure. This review tried to portray the advancement in the anticancer and chemopreventive effects of several phytochemicals and some of its members encapsulated in the nano-based delivery system of the drug. It comprises the issue associated with limited use of each phytoconstituents in human cancer treatment are discussed, and the benefits of entrapment into nanocarriers are evaluated in terms of drug loading efficiency, nanocarrier size, release profile of the drug, and in vitro and/or in vivo research and treatment testing, such as cytotoxicity assays and cell inhibition/viability.

Sparstolonin B exerts beneficial effects on prostate cancer by acting on the reactive oxygen species-mediated PI3K/AKT pathway

Prostate cancer is a major health concern in males worldwide, owing to its high incidence. Sparstolonin B (SsnB), a component of the Chinese herbal medicine Sparganium stoloniferum, is used to treat many diseases. However, the effects and mechanisms of action of SsnB in prostate cancer have not yet been reported. In this study, we evaluated the effects of SsnB on cellular processes and tumour growth. In particular, we verified that SsnB could inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells and induce apoptosis by activating G2/M phase arrest in vitro based on a series of cytological experiments. In vivo, we found that SsnB could inhibit tumour growth in nude mouse xenograft models. We further confirmed that SsnB could repress the PI3K/AKT pathway by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and oxidative stress. Collectively, SsnB inhibits tumour growth and induces apoptosis in prostate cancer via the suppression of the ROS‐mediated PI3K/AKT pathway and may be a new alternative to adjuvant therapy for prostate cancer.