Isolinderalactone inhibits glioblastoma cell supernatant‑induced angiogenesis

Preliminary study of the mechanism of isolinderalactone inhibiting the malignant behavior of bladder cancer

Background

Isolinderalactone (ILL), extracted from the dried tubers of Linderae aggregate, has multiple functions, such as antioxidation, antitumor, and anti-infection effects. However, there have been few studies on ILL's antitumor role and no reports on its role in bladder cancer (BC).

Materials and methods

Human BC cell lines T24 and EJ-1 were treated with different concentrations of ILL (0, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 μmol/L), and the cell proliferation inhibition rate was analyzed using the CCK-8 assay. The effect of ILL on T24 and EJ-1 cell cycle inhibition and apoptosis was examined using flow cytometry. Immunoblotting was used to detect the levels of apoptosis-related proteins, BAX, BAK1, and CYCS, in BC cells of the control and ILL-treated groups, and quantitative PCR experiments were performed to detect the apoptosis-related gene expression of CASP10, CYCS, BAX, BCL-2, CASP8, and BAK1. T24 and EJ-1 tumor-bearing mouse models were established and divided into vehicle control, low-dose (10 mg/kg) and high-dose (20 mg/kg) groups, with 5 mice in each group. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry were used to detect changes in apoptosis-related proteins in vivo.

Results

The CCK-8 assay showed that in vitro, ILL significantly inhibited the proliferation of the T24 and EJ-1 BC cell lines. Flow cytometry and immunoblotting results showed that ILL increased mitochondrial permeability by upregulating proapoptotic proteins BAK1 and BAX, promoting CYCS release and significantly inducing cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase. In vivo, on day 25 of administration, tumor inhibition rates in T24 and EJ-1 tumor-bearing mice were up to 75.24% and 47.43%, respectively, in the ILL high-dose-treated and 71.58% and 43.89%, respectively, in the ILL low-dose-treated groups.

Conclusions

Isolinderalactone controls BC progression by inducing apoptosis, suggesting that ILL may be an effective drug for the treatment of BC.

Identification of established and novel extracellular matrix components in glioblastoma as targets for angiogenesis and prognosis

Glioblastomas (GBM) are aggressive tumors known for their heterogeneity, rapid proliferation, treatment resistance, and extensive vasculature. Angiogenesis, the formation of new vessels, involves endothelial cell (EC) migration and proliferation. Various extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules regulate EC survival, migration, and proliferation. Culturing human brain EC (HBMEC) on GBM-derived ECM revealed a decrease in EC numbers compared to controls. Through in silico analysis, we explored ECM gene expression differences between GBM and brain normal glia cells and the impact of GBM microenvironment on EC ECM transcripts. ECM molecules such as collagen alpha chains (COL4A1, COL4A2, p < 0.0001); laminin alpha (LAMA4), beta (LAMB2), and gamma (LAMC1) chains (p < 0.0005); neurocan (NCAN), brevican (BCAN) and versican (VCAN) (p < 0.0005); hyaluronan synthase (HAS) 2 and metalloprotease (MMP) 2 (p < 0.005); MMP inhibitors (TIMP1-4, p < 0.0005), transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFB1) and integrin alpha (ITGA3/5) (p < 0.05) and beta (ITGB1, p < 0.0005) chains showed increased expression in GBM. Additionally, GBM-influenced EC exhibited elevated expression of COL5A3, COL6A1, COL22A1 and COL27A1 (p < 0.01); LAMA1, LAMB1 (p < 0.001); fibulins (FBLN1/2, p < 0.01); MMP9, HAS1, ITGA3, TGFB1, and wingless-related integration site 9B (WNT9B) (p < 0.01) compared to normal EC. Some of these molecules: COL5A1/3, COL6A1, COL22/27A1, FBLN1/2, ITGA3/5, ITGB1 and LAMA1/B1 (p < 0.01); NCAN, HAS1, MMP2/9, TIMP1/2 and TGFB1 (p < 0.05) correlated with GBM patient survival. In conclusion, this study identified both established and novel ECM molecules regulating GBM angiogenesis, suggesting NCAN and COL27A1 are new potential prognostic biomarkers for GBM.

A review of natural products and small-molecule therapeutics acting on central nervous system malignancies: Approaches for drug development, targeting pathways, clinical trials, and challenges

In 2021, the World Health Organization released the fifth edition of the central nervous system (CNS) tumor classification. This classification uses histopathology and molecular pathogenesis to group tumors into more biologically and molecularly defined entities. The prognosis of brain cancer, particularly malignant tumors, has remained poor worldwide, approximately 308,102 new cases of brain and other CNS tumors were diagnosed in the year 2020, with an estimated 251,329 deaths. The cost and time-consuming nature of studies to find new anticancer agents makes it necessary to have well-designed studies. In the present study, the pathways that can be targeted for drug development are discussed in detail. Some of the important cellular origins, signaling, and pathways involved in the efficacy of bioactive molecules against CNS tumorigenesis or progression, as well as prognosis and common approaches for treatment of different types of brain tumors, are reviewed. Moreover, different study tools, including cell lines, in vitro, in vivo, and clinical trial challenges, are discussed. In addition, in this article, natural products as one of the most important sources for finding new chemotherapeutics were reviewed and over 700 reported molecules with efficacy against CNS cancer cells are gathered and classified according to their structure. Based on the clinical trials that have been registered, very few of these natural or semi-synthetic derivatives have been studied in humans. The review can help researchers understand the involved mechanisms and design new goal-oriented studies for drug development against CNS malignancies.

Vilsmeier-Haack-Initiated Formylative Rearrangement of Spirodioxo-lan-5-ones into Functionalized 4,5,6,7-Tetrahydrobenzofurans

Pharmaceutically relevant bicyclic furans can be synthesized in a single step from substituted dioxolan-5-ones by reacting with Vilsmeier-Haack reagents. These reagents are generated from POCl3 or PBr3 and DMF. The reaction cascade is mechanistically complex and involves deoxyhalogenation, iminomethylation, and electrophilic rearrangement steps, which are facilitated by the DMF solvent. The synthesis of hard-to-access 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzofurans and substituted aliphatic furans is particularly useful. These compounds are potential isosteres of 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran pharmacophores and could be of interest for drug discovery.