Sarcophine-diol inhibits expression of COX-2, inhibits activity of cPLA2, enhances degradation of PLA2 and PLC(γ)1 and inhibits cell membrane permeability in mouse melanoma B16F10 cells

Combination therapy of PKCζ and COX-2 inhibitors synergistically suppress melanoma metastasis

Background

Metastatic malignant melanoma is one of the most aggressive malignancies and its treatment remains challenging. Recent studies demonstrate that the melanoma metastasis has correlations with the heightened activations of protein kinase C ζ (PKCζ) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) signaling pathways. Targeted inhibitions for PKCζ and COX-2 have been considered as the promising strategies for the treatment of melanoma metastasis. Thus, the PKCζ inhibitor J-4 and COX-2 inhibitor Celecoxib were combined to treat melanoma metastasis in this study.

Methods

The Transwell assay, Wound-healing assay and Adhesion assay were used to evaluate the inhibition of combined therapy of J-4 and Celecoxib on melanoma cells invasion, migration and adhesion in vitro, respectively. The impaired actin polymerization was observed by confocal microscope and inactivated signal pathways about PKCζ and COX-2 were confirmed by the Western blotting assay. The B16-F10/C57BL mouse melanoma model was used to test the inhibition of combined therapy of J-4 and Celecoxib on melanoma metastasis in vivo.

Results

The in vitro results showed that the combination of J-4 and Celecoxib exerted synergistic inhibitory effects on the migration, invasion and adhesion of melanoma B16-F10 and A375 cells with combination index less than 1. The actin polymerization and phosphorylation of Cofilin required in cell migration were severely impaired, which is due to the inactivation of PKCζ related signal pathways and the decrease of COX-2. The combined inhibition of PKCζ and COX-2 induced Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition (MET) in melanoma cells with the expression of E-Cadherin increasing and Vimentin decreasing. The secretion of MMP-2/MMP-9 also significantly decreased after the combination treatment. In C57BL/6 mice intravenously injected with B16-F10 cells (5 × 10⁴ cells/mouse), co-treatment of J-4 and Celecoxib also severely suppressed melanoma lung metastasis. The body weight monitoring and HE staining results indicated the low toxicity of the combination therapy.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that the combination therapy of PKCζ and COX-2 inhibitors can significantly inhibit melanoma metastasis in vitro and in vivo, which will be an efficient strategy for treatment of melanoma metastasis in clinics.

Evaluation of Anti-melanoma Activities of (1S,2E,4R,6E,8R,11S,12R)-8,12-epoxy-2,6-cembradiene-4,11-diol, (1S,2E,4R,6E,8S,11R,12S)-8,11-epoxy-4,12-epoxy-2,6-cembradiene and (1S,4R,13S)-cembra-2E,7E,11E-trien-4,13-diol from the Red Sea soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum

Three natural cembranoids from the Red Sea soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum namely (1 S,2 E,4 R,6 E,8 R,11 S,12 R)-8,12-epoxy-2,6-cembradiene-4,11-diol, (1 S,2 E,4 R,6 E,8 S,11 R,12 S)-8,11-epoxy-4,12-epoxy-2,6-cembradiene and (1 S,4 R,13 S)-cembra-2 E,7 E,11 E-trien-4,13-diol were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on mouse melanoma B16F10 cell growth. Results show that all the cembranoids strongly inhibit viability of melanoma cells particularly during 48–72 hrs treatment and also inhibit de novo DNA synthesis and PARP activity and stimulate fragmentation of DNA. (1 S,2 E,4 R,6 E,8 R,11 S,12 R)-8,12-epoxy-2,6-cembradiene-4,11-diol was not cytotoxic to monkey kidney CV-1 cells at the concentration that produces the anti-melanoma effects which indicates that this compound may be a good candidate for further development. (1 S,2 E,4 R,6 E,8 S,11 R,12 S)-8,11-epoxy-4,12-epoxy-2,6-cembradiene and (1 S,4 R,13 S)-cembra-2 E,7 E,11 E-trien-4,13-diol were found to be cytotoxic to healthy cells.

Effects of new-type NSAIDs in preventing post-ERCP pancreatitis

AIM: To compare the effects of new-type versus traditional non-steroid antiinflammtory drugs (NSAIDs) in the prevention of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis (PEP).

METHODS: One hundred and ninety-seven patients who underwent ERCP for choledocholithiasis between May 2012 and May 2013 were randomly divided into three groups: a lornoxicam group, a parecoxib group and a control group. Different drugs were applied for each group. Mean visual analogue score (VAS) and serum levels of amylase and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured before ERCP and 4, 24 and 48 h after ERCP. Incidences of hyperamylasemia and PEP were observed.

RESULTS: The incidences of PEP in the lornoxicam group, parecoxib group and control group were 4.55%, 9.09% and 10.8%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant between the parecoxib group and control group (P < 0.05), but not between the lornoxicam group and control group (P > 0.05). The incidences of post-ERCP hyperamylasemia in the parecoxib group and lornoxicam group were significantly lower than that in the control group (9.09%, 15.2% vs 21.5%, both P < 0.01). Serum CRP level at 4 h after ERCP was significantly lower in both treatment groups than in the control group (both P < 0.01). Mean VAS at 4 h after ERCP was significantly lower in both treatment groups than in the control group (both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: NSAIDs like lornoxicam and parecoxib can prevent the occurrence of hyperamylasemia induced by ERCP. Parecoxib could prevent the occurrence of PEP. Both drugs can alleviate pain and inflammatory reactions after the endoscopic procedure. As a new type of NSAIDs, selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors might be more useful in preventing PEP.