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Marin JJG, Macias RIR, Asensio M, Romero MR, Temprano AG, Pereira OR, Jimenez S, Mauriz JL, Di Giacomo S, Avila MA, Efferth T, Briz O. Strategies to enhance the response of liver cancer to pharmacological treatments. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 2024; 327:C11-C33. [PMID: 38708523 DOI: 10.1152/ajpcell.00176.2024] [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: 03/25/2024] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
In contrast to other types of cancers, there is no available efficient pharmacological treatment to improve the outcomes of patients suffering from major primary liver cancers, i.e., hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma. This dismal situation is partly due to the existence in these tumors of many different and synergistic mechanisms of resistance, accounting for the lack of response of these patients, not only to classical chemotherapy but also to more modern pharmacological agents based on the inhibition of tyrosine kinase receptors (TKIs) and the stimulation of the immune response against the tumor using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This review summarizes the efforts to develop strategies to overcome this severe limitation, including searching for novel drugs derived from synthetic, semisynthetic, or natural products with vectorial properties against therapeutic targets to increase drug uptake or reduce drug export from cancer cells. Besides, immunotherapy is a promising line of research that is already starting to be implemented in clinical practice. Although less successful than in other cancers, the foreseen future for this strategy in treating liver cancers is considerable. Similarly, the pharmacological inhibition of epigenetic targets is highly promising. Many novel "epidrugs," able to act on "writer," "reader," and "eraser" epigenetic players, are currently being evaluated in preclinical and clinical studies. Finally, gene therapy is a broad field of research in the fight against liver cancer chemoresistance, based on the impressive advances recently achieved in gene manipulation. In sum, although the present is still dismal, there is reason for hope in the non-too-distant future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose J G Marin
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEPHARM) Group, University of Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Carlos III National Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rocio I R Macias
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEPHARM) Group, University of Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Carlos III National Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain
| | - Maitane Asensio
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEPHARM) Group, University of Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Carlos III National Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain
| | - Marta R Romero
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEPHARM) Group, University of Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Carlos III National Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alvaro G Temprano
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEPHARM) Group, University of Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Olívia R Pereira
- Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Laboratório Associado para a Sustentabilidade e Tecnologia em Regiões de Montanha (SusTEC), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal
- Research Centre for Active Living and Wellbeing (LiveWell), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal
| | - Silvia Jimenez
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEPHARM) Group, University of Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Carlos III National Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain
- Servicio de Farmacia Hospitalaria, Hospital de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Jose L Mauriz
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Carlos III National Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain
- Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED), University of Leon, Leon, Spain
| | - Silvia Di Giacomo
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
| | - Matias A Avila
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Carlos III National Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain
- Hepatology Laboratory, Solid Tumors Program, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada (CIMA), Universidad de Navarra, Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias de Navarra (IdisNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Thomas Efferth
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Oscar Briz
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEPHARM) Group, University of Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Carlos III National Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain
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Shi A, Lin C, Wang J, Chen Y, Zhong J, Lyu J. EPRIM: An approach of identifying cancer immune-related epigenetic regulators. MOLECULAR THERAPY. NUCLEIC ACIDS 2024; 35:102100. [PMID: 38222302 PMCID: PMC10784696 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2023.102100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Epigenetic regulation contributes to the dysregulation of gene expression involved in cancer biology. Nevertheless, the roles of epigenetic regulators (ERs) in tumor immunity and immune response remain basically unclear. Here, we developed the epigenetic regulator in immunology (EPRIM) approach to identify immune-related ERs and comprehensively dissected the ER regulation in tumor immune response across 33 cancers. The identified immune-related ERs were related to immune infiltration and could stratify cancer patients into two risk groups in multiple independent datasets. These patient groups were characterized by distinct immune functions, immune infiltrates, driver gene mutations, and prognoses. Furthermore, we constructed an immune ER-based signature and highlighted its potential utility in predicting clinical benefit from immunotherapy and selecting therapeutic agents. Taken together, our identification and evaluation of immune-related ERs highlight the usefulness of EPRIM for the understanding of ERs in immune regulation and the clinical relevance in evaluation of cancer patient prognosis and response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aiai Shi
- Joint Centre of Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, People’s Republic of China
- Joint Centre of Translational Medicine, Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325001, People’s Republic of China
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
| | - Chaohuan Lin
- Postgraduate Training Base Alliance of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, China
- Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jilu Wang
- Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, People’s Republic of China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China
| | - Ying’ao Chen
- Postgraduate Training Base Alliance of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, China
- Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jinjin Zhong
- Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Biophysics, Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325001, China
| | - Jie Lyu
- Joint Centre of Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, People’s Republic of China
- Joint Centre of Translational Medicine, Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325001, People’s Republic of China
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325001, People’s Republic of China
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Chew V, Chuang CH, Hsu C. Translational research on drug development and biomarker discovery for hepatocellular carcinoma. J Biomed Sci 2024; 31:22. [PMID: 38368324 PMCID: PMC10874078 DOI: 10.1186/s12929-024-01011-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: 09/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Translational research plays a key role in drug development and biomarker discovery for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, unique challenges exist in this field because of the limited availability of human tumor samples from surgery, the lack of homogenous oncogenic driver mutations, and the paucity of adequate experimental models. In this review, we provide insights into these challenges and review recent advancements, with a particular focus on the two main agents currently used as mainstream therapies for HCC: anti-angiogenic agents and immunotherapy. First, we examine the pre-clinical and clinical studies to highlight the challenges of determining the optimal therapeutic combinations with biologically effective dosage for HCC. Second, we discuss biomarker studies focusing on anti-PD1/anti-PD-L1-based combination therapy. Finally, we discuss the progress made in our collective understanding of tumor immunology and in multi-omics analysis technology, which enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying immunotherapy, characterize different patient subgroups, and facilitate the development of novel combination approaches to improve treatment efficacy. In summary, this review provides a comprehensive overview of efforts in translational research aiming at advancing our understanding of and improving the treatment of HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie Chew
- Translational Immunology Institute, SingHealth-DukeNUS Academic Medical Centre, Singapore, Singapore
- Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Chien-Huai Chuang
- Department of Medical Oncology, National Taiwan University Cancer Center, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chiun Hsu
- Department of Medical Oncology, National Taiwan University Cancer Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Graduate Institute of Oncology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
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Chen Y, Yang Y, Wang N, Liu R, Wu Q, Pei H, Li W. β-Sitosterol suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma growth and metastasis via FOXM1-regulated Wnt/β-catenin pathway. J Cell Mol Med 2024; 28:e18072. [PMID: 38063438 PMCID: PMC10844700 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.18072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
β-Sitosterol is a natural compound with demonstrated anti-cancer properties against various cancers. However, its effects on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This study aims to investigate the impact of β-sitosterol on HCC. In this study, we investigated the effects of β-sitosterol on HCC tumour growth and metastasis using a xenograft mouse model and a range of molecular analyses, including bioinformatics, real-time PCR, western blotting, lentivirus transfection, CCK8, scratch and transwell assays. The results found that β-sitosterol significantly inhibits HepG2 cell proliferation, migration and invasion both in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis identifies forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) as a potential target for β-sitosterol in HCC treatment. FOXM1 is upregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines, correlating with poor prognosis in patients. β-Sitosterol downregulates FOXM1 expression in vitro and in vivo. FOXM1 overexpression mitigates β-sitosterol's inhibitory effects on HepG2 cells. Additionally, β-sitosterol suppresses epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in HepG2 cells, while FOXM1 overexpression promotes EMT. Mechanistically, β-sitosterol inhibits Wnt/β-catenin signalling by downregulating FOXM1, regulating target gene transcription related to HepG2 cell proliferation and metastasis. β-Sitosterol shows promising potential as a therapeutic candidate for inhibiting HCC growth and metastasis through FOXM1 downregulation and Wnt/β-catenin signalling inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuankun Chen
- Department of Infectious and Tropical DiseasesThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of HealthHainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Department of Clinical LaboratoryThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
| | - Yijun Yang
- Department of Infectious and Tropical DiseasesThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of HealthHainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
| | - Nengyi Wang
- Department of Infectious and Tropical DiseasesThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of HealthHainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
| | - Rui Liu
- Department of Infectious and Tropical DiseasesThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of HealthHainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
| | - Qiuping Wu
- Department of Infectious and Tropical DiseasesThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of HealthHainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
| | - Hua Pei
- Department of Infectious and Tropical DiseasesThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of HealthHainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Department of Clinical LaboratoryThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
| | - Wenting Li
- Department of Infectious and Tropical DiseasesThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of HealthHainan Medical UniversityHaikouHainanChina
- Department of Infectious DiseasesThe First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical UniversityHefeiAnhuiChina
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