Strategies of the War on Cancer: To Kill or to Neutralize?

A Law of Redundancy Compounds the Problem of Cancer and Precision Medicine

Genetics and molecular biology research have progressed for over a century; however, no laws of biology resembling those of physics have been identified, despite the expectations of some physicists. It may be that it is not the properties of matter alone but evolved properties of matter in combination with atomic physics and chemistry that gave rise to the origin and complexity of life. It is proposed that any law of biology must also be a product of evolution that co-evolved with the origin and progression of life. It was suggested that molecular complexity and redundancy exponentially increase over time and have the following relationship: DNA sequence complexity (Cd) < molecular complexity (Cm) < phenotypic complexity (Cp). This study presents a law of redundancy, which together with the law of complexity, is proposed as an evolutionary law of biology. Molecular complexity and redundancy are inseparable aspects of biochemical pathways, and molecular redundancy provides the first line of defense against environmental challenges, including those of deleterious mutations. Redundancy can create problems for precision medicine because in addition to the issues arising from the involvement of multiple genes, redundancy arising from alternate pathways between genotypes and phenotypes can complicate gene detection for complex diseases and mental disorders. This study uses cancer as an example to show how cellular complexity, molecular redundancy, and hidden variation affect the ability of cancer cells to evolve and evade detection and elimination. Characterization of alternate biochemical pathways or "escape routes" can provide a step in the fight against cancer.

Design, synthesis and in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of indolo-pyrazoles grafted with thiazolidinone as tubulin polymerization inhibitors

In the pursuit of potential and effective chemotherapeutic agents, a series of 2-((3-(indol-3-yl)-pyrazol-5-yl)imino)thiazolidin-4-ones was designed and synthesized, conjoining salient pharmacophoric properties for directing prominent cytotoxicity. The in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation revealed potent compounds with IC50 values <10 μM on tested human cancer cell lines. Compound 6c exhibited the highest cytotoxicity with an IC50 value of 3.46 μM against melanoma cancer cells (SK-MEL-28) and was highly cytospecific and selective towards cancer cells. The traditional apoptosis assays revealed morphological and nuclear alterations such as apoptotic body formation, condensed/horseshoe-shaped/fragmented/blebbing nuclei, and the generation of ROS. Flow cytometric analysis revealed effective early-stage apoptosis induction and cell-cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. In addition, the enzyme-based effect of 6c on tubulin showed the inhibition of tubulin polymerization (about 60% inhibition, IC50 was <1.73 μM). Moreover, molecular modeling studies affirmed the constant accommodation of compound 6c at the active pocket of tubulin, establishing many electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions with the active pocket's residues. The tubulin-6c complex was stable during the MD simulation for 50 ns with the recommended range of RMSD value (2-4 Å) for each pose.

Synthesis and cytotoxicity evaluation of DNA-interactive β-carboline indolyl-3-glyoxamide derivatives: Topo-II inhibition and in silico modelling studies

In a quest for effective cancer targeted drug therapy, a series of new β-carboline tethered indole-3-glyoxylamide derivatives, conjoining salient pharmacophoric properties with prominent cytotoxicity, were synthesized. The in vitro cytotoxic ability of the compounds was established, and many of the compounds exhibited remarkable cytotoxicity (IC₅₀ < 10 μM) on human cancer cell lines like HCT116, A549, SK-MEL-28, and MCF7. Precisely, compound 12x expressed the best cytotoxic potential against melanoma cancer cell line (SK-MEL-28) with an IC₅₀ value of 4.37 μM. In addition, cytotoxicity evaluation against normal kidney cell line (NRK52E) entrenched the cytospecificity and selectivity index of 12x. The traditional apoptosis assays advised morphological and nuclear alterations such as apoptotic body formation, condensed/horseshoe-shaped/fragmented nuclei, and generation of ROS. The flow cytometric analysis revealed significant early and slight late-stage induction of apoptosis. The target-based physiochemical assays indicated the ability of compound 12x to bind with DNA and inhibition of Topoisomerase II. Moreover, molecular modeling studies affirm the excellent DNA intercalation potential and stabilized interactions of 12x with DNA base pairs. In silico prediction of physicochemical parameters revealed the promising drug-like properties of the synthesized derivatives.

Unfavorable prognosis and clinical consequences of APOBEC3B expression in breast and other cancers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Controversy exists regarding the association of apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme catalytic subunit 3B APOBEC3B, (A3B) overexpression and poor prognosis, metastasis, and chemotherapy drug resistance in cancers. Here we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine its prognostic value and clinicopathological features in breast cancer and some other malignancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and EMBASE were searched up to Feb 2022 for the association of A3B with breast, ovarian, gastrointestinal and lung cancers. The pooled hazard ratios with 95% confidence interval (CI) were evaluated to assess disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in cancers under study. RESULTS: Over 3700 patients were included in this meta-survey. Elevated levels of A3B were significantly related to low OS (pooled HR = 1.30; 95% CI:1.09–1.55, P < 0.01), poor DFS (pooled HR = 1.66; 95% CI:1.17–2.35, P < 0.01) and poor RFS (HR = 1.51, 95% CI:1.11–2.04, P = 0.01). Subgroup analysis revealed that high A3B expression was associated with poor OS in lung (HR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.40–2.45), and breast cancers (HR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.00–1.89). High expression of A3B did not display any significant association with clinicopathologic features. CONCLUSION: APOBEC3B overexpression is related to poor OS, DFS and RFS only in some cancer types and no generalized role could be predicted for all cancers.

Identifying key questions in the ecology and evolution of cancer

The application of evolutionary and ecological principles to cancer prevention and treatment, as well as recognizing cancer as a selection force in nature, has gained impetus over the last 50 years. Following the initial theoretical approaches that combined knowledge from interdisciplinary fields, it became clear that using the eco-evolutionary framework is of key importance to understand cancer. We are now at a pivotal point where accumulating evidence starts to steer the future directions of the discipline and allows us to underpin the key challenges that remain to be addressed. Here, we aim to assess current advancements in the field and to suggest future directions for research. First, we summarize cancer research areas that, so far, have assimilated ecological and evolutionary principles into their approaches and illustrate their key importance. Then, we assembled 33 experts and identified 84 key questions, organized around nine major themes, to pave the foundations for research to come. We highlight the urgent need for broadening the portfolio of research directions to stimulate novel approaches at the interface of oncology and ecological and evolutionary sciences. We conclude that progressive and efficient cross-disciplinary collaborations that draw on the expertise of the fields of ecology, evolution and cancer are essential in order to efficiently address current and future questions about cancer.

Structural Characterization of the Hidden Peptide SHPRH-146aa Encoded by Non-Coding circ-SHPRH to Act as Tumor Suppressor

Circular RNAs belong to the class of non-coding RNA molecules, though surprisingly some of them have protein-coding potentials. However, the circular RNA circ-SHPRH is known to code for an unusual protein known as SHPRH-146aa. However, the molecular level details of the protein are not yet identified. It was proposed that the protein has its role in glioblastoma. Therefore, in this work, an attempt was made to decipher the various structural features of SHPRH-146aa. The binding interactions of the protein SHPRH-146aa with its partner protein DTL were also analyzed. The main aim of the work was to decipher the characteristics features of this unusual protein and the region on SHPRH-146aa that would form different types of non-covalent binding interactions both among itself as well as with its binding partner. In this work, we tried to elucidate the various structural and physico-chemical features of the protein as well as its mode of interactions with its binding partner. The study would therefore pave the pathway to design future wet lab experiments to delineate the appropriate structural features of the protein as well as its association with glioblastoma and neuro-degenerative diseases.

Prognostic and Clinicopathological Significance of Long Non-coding RNA PANDAR Expression in Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Long non-coding RNA PANDAR is an emerging non-coding RNA mapping to 6p21.2. It underlies metastatic progression and chromosomal instability in a variety of cancers. Despite the fact that recent studies have revealed that lncRNA PANDAR may be a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with cancer, there has still been controversy on the prognostic value of PANDAR. Methods: Databases of PubMed, Embase, SinoMed, and Web of Science were carefully searched and the literature which investigated the prognostic value of PANDAR expression among human cancers was collected for further analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) or hazards ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled to estimate the relation between PANDAR expression and survival or clinicopathological characteristics of cancer patients. Results: There were 13 eligible studies in total, with 1,465 patients enlisted in this meta-analysis. All the eligible studies complied with the case-control study. The outcome showed that the elevated expression level of PANDAR was significantly related to poor overall survival (OS) (pooled HR 1.72, 95%CI 1.14-2.60). However, high or low expression of PANDAR did not differ in the prediction of event-free survival (EFS). Moreover, we discovered that high PANDAR expression was closely related to decreased OS in colorectal cancer (pooled HR 3.43, 95%CI 2.06-5.72) and reduced expression level of PANDAR was markedly related to poor OS (pooled HR 0.65, 95%CI 0.45-0.88) in non-small cell lung cancer. However, the expression level of PANDAR had no significant association with OS in renal cell carcinoma (pooled HR 1.19, 95%CI 0.56-2.50). Moreover, after analysis, we discovered that the high expression level of PANDAR was associated closely with the depth of invasion (pooled OR 3.95, 95%CI 2.36-6.63), lymph node metastasis (pooled OR 1.92, 95%CI 0.93-3.98), tumor stage (pooled OR 2.05, 95%CI 0.99-4.27), and distant metastasis (pooled OR 2.87, 95%CI 1.60-5.16). Conclusions: Our study revealed that increased PANDAR expression may serve as an adverse prognostic biomarker for cancer patients, thus helping the clinical decision-making process.