Ellagic Acid Resensitizes Gemcitabine-Resistant Bladder Cancer Cells by Inhibiting Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Gemcitabine Transporters

Prediction of anticancer drug resistance using a 3D microfluidic bladder cancer model combined with convolutional neural network-based image analysis

Bladder cancer is the most common urological malignancy worldwide, and its high recurrence rate leads to poor survival outcomes. The effect of anticancer drug treatment varies significantly depending on individual patients and the extent of drug resistance. In this study, we developed a validation system based on an organ-on-a-chip integrated with artificial intelligence technologies to predict resistance to anticancer drugs in bladder cancer. As a proof-of-concept, we utilized the gemcitabine-resistant bladder cancer cell line T24 with four distinct levels of drug resistance (parental, early, intermediate, and late). These cells were co-cultured with endothelial cells in a 3D microfluidic chip. A dataset comprising 2,674 cell images from the chips was analyzed using a convolutional neural network (CNN) to distinguish the extent of drug resistance among the four cell groups. The CNN achieved 95.2% accuracy upon employing data augmentation and a step decay learning rate with an initial value of 0.001. The average diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 90.5% and 96.8%, respectively, and all area under the curve (AUC) values were over 0.988. Our proposed method demonstrated excellent performance in accurately identifying the extent of drug resistance, which can assist in the prediction of drug responses and in determining the appropriate treatment for bladder cancer patients.

An Ellagic Acid Coordinated Copper-Based Nanoplatform for Efficiently Overcoming Cancer Chemoresistance by Cuproptosis and Synergistic Inhibition of Cancer Cell Stemness

Drug resistance is one of the leading causes of treatment failure in current cancer chemotherapy. In addition to the classical drug efflux transporter-mediated chemoresistance, cancer cells with stemness features play a crucial role in escaping the maximum impact of chemotherapy. To sensitize cancer chemotherapy, in a novel approach, the hedgehog pathway inhibitor ellagic acid (EA) is coordinated with Cu2+ to develop nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (EA-Cu), which are then loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) and modified with targeted chondroitin sulfate (CS) to form the CS/E-C@DOX nanoplatform (CS/NPs). Notably, EA inhibits stemness maintenance by suppressing the hedgehog pathway, while Cu2+ further decreases stemness features of tumor cells by disrupting mitochondrial metabolism, effectively enhancing DOX-mediated chemotherapy. Meanwhile, EA can act synergistically with Cu2+ to cause mitochondrial dysfunction and cuproptosis, which effectively decreases ATP levels and subsequently suppresses the activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), thus reducing drug efflux and sensitizing DOX-mediated chemotherapy. Additionally, the attached CS endows CS/NPs with specific tumor targeting properties, whereas EA-Cu endows this nanoplatform with pH/glutathione (GSH) dual-responsive release behavior. Taken together, CS/NPs exhibited excellent antitumor effects by inducing cuproptosis and significantly inhibiting cancer cell stemness, which has great potential for overcoming cancer chemoresistance.

Pharmacoinformatic screening of phytoconstituent and evaluation of its anti-PDAC effect using in vitro studies

With no prominent treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in conventional chemotherapy, recent studies have focused on uniting conventional and traditional medicines including plant phytoconstituents. Herein, we used pharmacoinformatic studies to identify potent phytoconstituent as ligand having inhibition activities against canonical anticancer targets, and evaluated its effect on PDAC cell lines. SwissTargetPrediction and SuperPred tools were utilized to segregate protein targets of ligand in humans, following which FunRich was applied to garner its targets in PDAC. STRING analysis predicted protein-protein interactions and dynamic simulation studies confirmed stability of ligand-protein complex. For in vitro cytotoxic potential, ligand treatment at different concentrations was given to PDAC cell lines both alone and combined with gemcitabine, followed by evaluation of effects on migration. Differential gene expression was checked using PCR for evaluating mechanism of cytotoxicity. Results showed pentagalloylglucose (PGG) with highest docking and MMGBSA scores for Cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox2) inhibition site. SwissTargetPrediction and SuperPred analysis detected 40 targets of PGG in PDAC. Simulation data showed stability of protein-ligand complex. In in vitro experiments Mia-PaCa-2 was more sensitive to PGG than Panc-1. PGG successfully inhibited migration both alone and in combination with gemcitabine. Additionally, PGG treatment induced apoptosis in both the cell lines; but showed antagonism when combined with gemcitabine. In conclusion, our report demonstrates PGG has good binding with Cox2 and showed anti-PDAC activity by inhibiting migration and inducing apoptosis, thus it can be used as a therapy option. But further studies are required to confirm its behaviour as a combination therapy drug.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

A comprehensive view on the quercetin impact on bladder cancer: Focusing on oxidative stress, cellular, and molecular mechanisms

Bladder cancer (BC) is known as a prevalent genitourinary malignancy and has a significant mortality rate worldwide. Despite recent therapeutic approaches, the recurrence rate is high, highlighting the need for a new strategy to reduce the BC cell progression. Quercetin, a flavonoid compound, demonstrated promising anticancer properties and could be used in the management of various malignancies such as BC. This comprehensive review summarized quercetin's cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying anticancer activities. The study's findings indicated that quercetin prevents the proliferation of the human BC cell line, promotes apoptosis of BIU-87 cells, reduces the expression of p-P70S6K, and induces apoptosis by p-AMPK. Moreover, quercetin restricts tumor growth through the AMPK/mTOR cascade and prevents colony formation of human BC cells by triggering DNA damage. Studying this review article will help researchers better understand quercetin's functional role in the prevention and treatment of BC.

Tannins in cancer prevention and therapy

Tannins are a heterogenous class of polyphenolic natural products with promising cancer chemopreventive and therapeutic potential. Studies undertaken over the last 30 years have demonstrated their capacity to target many cellular pathways and molecules important in the development of cancer. Recently, new mechanisms that might be important in anti-carcinogenic activity, such as inhibition of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, reduction of cancer stem cell creation, and modulation of cancer cells metabolism have been described. Along with the mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer activity of tannins, this review focuses on their possible application as chemosensitizers in adjuvant therapy and countering multidrug resistance. Furthermore, characteristic physicochemical properties of some tannins, particularly tannic acid, are useful in the formation of nanovehicles for anticancer drugs or the isolation of circulating cancer cells. These new potential applications of tannins deserve further studies. Well-designed clinical trials, which are scarce, are needed to assess the therapeutic effects of tannins themselves or as adjuvants in cancer treatment.

Cyclin-dependent kinase subunit2 (CKS2) promotes malignant phenotypes and epithelial-mesenchymal transition-like process in glioma by activating TGFβ/SMAD signaling

BACKGROUND

Gliomas are a group of primary intracranial tumors with high morbidity and mortality. The previous researches indicated a crucial role of CKS2 (cyclin-dependent kinases regulatory subunit 2) in hepatocellular carcinoma and breast cancer; however, little is known about the molecular mechanism of CKS2 in the tumorigenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition-like (EMT) process in glioma.

METHODS

Datasets for bioinformatics analysis were obtained from the GEO, TCGA and CGGA databases. qRT-PCR, western blotting (WB), and immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays were used to investigate the expression patterns of CKS2 among glioma and brain tissues. Glioma cells were transfected with small interfering RNA/overexpression plasmid against CKS2, then clone formation assay, CCK-8, wound healing, Transwell assay, and flow cytometry were performed to detect changes in cell viability, invasiveness, and the apoptosis rate. Markers of cell invasion, apoptosis, EMT and TGFβ/SMAD signaling were evaluated by WB and immunofluorescence (IF) assays.

RESULTS

We found that CKS2 overexpression correlates with poor prognosis in human glioma and knockdown of CKS2 could inhibit cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and induced apoptosis in glioma cells. Besides, we also found that knockdown of CKS2 could reverse the EMT process via modulating EMT-related molecules. Glioma cells with overexpression of CKS2 were constructed to confirmed the fact that CKS2 induced nucleocytoplasmic translocation of SMAD2/3 and activated TGFβ/SMAD pathway, then upregulated its downstream targets expression, while inhibition of TGFβ/SMAD (by TGFβ inhibitor LY2157299 or SMAD4 siRNA) could reverse the tumor-promoting effects and malignant phenotype caused by CKS2 overexpression.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified CKS2 as a critical contributor to the gliomagenesis, which might provide a novel therapeutic target for inhibiting the spread and infiltration of glioma.

The Roles of miRNAs in Predicting Bladder Cancer Recurrence and Resistance to Treatment

Bladder cancer (BCa) is associated with significant morbidity, with development linked to environmental, lifestyle, and genetic causes. Recurrence presents a significant issue and is managed in the clinical setting with intravesical chemotherapy or immunotherapy. In order to address challenges such as a limited supply of BCG and identifying cases likely to recur, it would be advantageous to use molecular biomarkers to determine likelihood of recurrence and treatment response. Here, we review microRNAs (miRNAs) that have shown promise as predictors of BCa recurrence. MiRNAs are also discussed in the context of predicting resistance or susceptibility to BCa treatment.

Advances in Dietary Phenolic Compounds to Improve Chemosensitivity of Anticancer Drugs

Simple Summary

Several dietary phenolic compounds isolated from medicinal plants exert significant anticancer effects via several mechanisms. They induce apoptosis, autophagy, telomerase inhibition, and angiogenesis. Certain dietary phenolic compounds increase the effectiveness of drugs used in conventional chemotherapy. Some clinical uses of dietary phenolic compounds for treating certain cancers have shown remarkable therapeutic results, suggesting effective incorporation in anticancer treatments in combination with traditional chemotherapeutic agents.

Abstract

Despite the significant advances and mechanistic understanding of tumor processes, therapeutic agents against different types of cancer still have a high rate of recurrence associated with the development of resistance by tumor cells. This chemoresistance involves several mechanisms, including the programming of glucose metabolism, mitochondrial damage, and lysosome dysfunction. However, combining several anticancer agents can decrease resistance and increase therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, this treatment can improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy. This work focuses on the recent advances in using natural bioactive molecules derived from phenolic compounds isolated from medicinal plants to sensitize cancer cells towards chemotherapeutic agents and their application in combination with conventional anticancer drugs. Dietary phenolic compounds such as resveratrol, gallic acid, caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, sinapic acid, and curcumin exhibit remarkable anticancer activities through sub-cellular, cellular, and molecular mechanisms. These compounds have recently revealed their capacity to increase the sensitivity of different human cancers to the used chemotherapeutic drugs. Moreover, they can increase the effectiveness and improve the therapeutic index of some used chemotherapeutic agents. The involved mechanisms are complex and stochastic, and involve different signaling pathways in cancer checkpoints, including reactive oxygen species signaling pathways in mitochondria, autophagy-related pathways, proteasome oncogene degradation, and epigenetic perturbations.

lncRNA SNHG26 promoted the growth, metastasis, and cisplatin resistance of tongue squamous cell carcinoma through PGK1/Akt/mTOR signal pathway

Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is closely linked to head and neck cancers. Here, we sought to explore the role and mechanism of lncRNAs in the occurrence and progression of TSCC and cisplatin resistance. The results of next-generation transcriptomic sequencing revealed that lncRNA-SNHG26 was differentially expressed and was associated with TSCC cisplatin resistance. The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset and tumor tissue analysis revealed that high SHNG26 expression was associated with the occurrence, progression, and poor prognosis of TSCC. Evidence from cell and animal experiments showed that SNHG26 expression was positively correlated with TSCC proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, migration, invasion, and cisplatin resistance. Furthermore, in TSCC cells, SNHG26 was found to bind directly to the PGK1 protein, inhibiting its ubiquitination and activating the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. These findings suggest that lncRNA-SNHG26 may be a promising target for inhibiting TSCC progression and improving sensitivity to cisplatin chemotherapy in TSCC.

Targeting Cancer Stem Cells by Dietary Agents: An Important Therapeutic Strategy against Human Malignancies

As a multifactorial disease, treatment of cancer depends on understanding unique mechanisms involved in its progression. The cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for tumor stemness and by enhancing colony formation, proliferation as well as metastasis, and these cells can also mediate resistance to therapy. Furthermore, the presence of CSCs leads to cancer recurrence and therefore their complete eradication can have immense therapeutic benefits. The present review focuses on targeting CSCs by natural products in cancer therapy. The growth and colony formation capacities of CSCs have been reported can be attenuated by the dietary agents. These compounds can induce apoptosis in CSCs and reduce tumor migration and invasion via EMT inhibition. A variety of molecular pathways including STAT3, Wnt/β-catenin, Sonic Hedgehog, Gli1 and NF-κB undergo down-regulation by dietary agents in suppressing CSC features. Upon exposure to natural agents, a significant decrease occurs in levels of CSC markers including CD44, CD133, ALDH1, Oct4 and Nanog to impair cancer stemness. Furthermore, CSC suppression by dietary agents can enhance sensitivity of tumors to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In addition to in vitro studies, as well as experiments on the different preclinical models have shown capacity of natural products in suppressing cancer stemness. Furthermore, use of nanostructures for improving therapeutic impact of dietary agents is recommended to rapidly translate preclinical findings for clinical use.

Harnessing Carcinoma Cell Plasticity Mediated by TGF-β Signaling

Simple Summary

This review describes mechanisms driving epithelial plasticity in carcinoma mediated by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling. Plasticity in carcinoma is frequently induced through epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), an evolutionary conserved process in the development of multicellular organisms. The review explores the multifaceted functions of EMT, particularly focusing on the intermediate stages, which provide more adaptive responses of carcinoma cells in their microenvironment. The review critically considers how different intermediate or hybrid EMT stages confer carcinoma cells with stemness, refractoriness to therapies, and ability to execute all steps of the metastatic cascade. Finally, the review provides examples of therapeutic interventions based on the EMT concept.

Abstract

Epithelial cell plasticity, a hallmark of carcinoma progression, results in local and distant cancer dissemination. Carcinoma cell plasticity can be achieved through epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), with cells positioned seemingly indiscriminately across the spectrum of EMT phenotypes. Different degrees of plasticity are achieved by transcriptional regulation and feedback-loops, which confer carcinoma cells with unique properties of tumor propagation and therapy resistance. Decoding the molecular and cellular basis of EMT in carcinoma should enable the discovery of new therapeutic strategies against cancer. In this review, we discuss the different attributes of plasticity in carcinoma and highlight the role of the canonical TGFβ receptor signaling pathway in the acquisition of plasticity. We emphasize the potential stochasticity of stemness in carcinoma in relation to plasticity and provide data from recent clinical trials that seek to target plasticity.