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Yang X, Zhong J, Zhang Q, Feng L, Zheng Z, Zhang J, Lu S. Advances and Insights of APC-Asef Inhibitors for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Therapy. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:662579. [PMID: 33968990 PMCID: PMC8100458 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.662579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In Colorectal cancer (CRC), adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) directly interacts with the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 4 (Asef) and releases its GEF activity. Activated Asef promotes the aberrant migration and invasion of CRC cell through a CDC42-mediated pathway. Knockdown of either APC or Asef significantly decreases the migration of CRC cells. Therefore, disrupting the APC-Asef interaction is a promising strategy for the treatment of invasive CRC. With the growth of structural information, APC-Asef inhibitors have been designed, providing hope for CRC therapy. Here, we will review the APC-Asef interaction in cancer biology, the structural complex of APC-Asef, two generations of peptide inhibitors of APC-Asef, and small molecule inhibitors of APC-Asef, focusing on research articles over the past 30 years. We posit that these advances in the discovery of APC-Asef inhibitors establish the protein-protein interaction (PPI) as targetable and provide a framework for other PPI programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuyan Yang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Zhong
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiufen Zhang
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Li Feng
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhen Zheng
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.,Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Shaoyong Lu
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
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Corvinus FM, Orth C, Moriggl R, Tsareva SA, Wagner S, Pfitzner EB, Baus D, Kaufmann R, Huberb LA, Zatloukal K, Beug H, Öhlschläger P, Schütz A, Halbhuber KJ, Friedrich K. Persistent STAT3 activation in colon cancer is associated with enhanced cell proliferation and tumor growth. Neoplasia 2005; 7:545-55. [PMID: 16036105 PMCID: PMC1501283 DOI: 10.1593/neo.04571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 315] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2004] [Revised: 01/20/2005] [Accepted: 01/21/2005] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Western countries. It has so far been molecularly defined mainly by alterations of the Wnt pathway. We show here for the first time that aberrant activities of the signal transducer and activator of transcription STAT3 actively contribute to this malignancy and, thus, are a potential therapeutic target for CRC. Constitutive STAT3 activity was found to be abundant in dedifferentiated cancer cells and infiltrating lymphocytes of CRC samples, but not in non-neoplastic colon epithelium. Cell lines derived from malignant colorectal tumors lost persistent STAT3 activity in culture. However, implantation of colon carcinoma cells into nude mice resulted in restoration of STAT3 activity, suggesting a role of an extracellular stimulus within the tumor microenvironment as a trigger for STAT activation. STAT3 activity in CRC cells triggered through interleukin-6 or through a constitutively active STAT3 mutant promoted cancer cell multiplication, whereas STAT3 inhibition through a dominant-negative variant impaired IL-6-driven proliferation. Blockade of STAT3 activation in CRC-derived xenograft tumors slowed down their development, arguing for a contribution of STAT3 to colorectal tumor growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian M Corvinus
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena Medical School, Jena, Germany
| | - Carina Orth
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena Medical School, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Svetlana A Tsareva
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena Medical School, Jena, Germany
| | - Stefan Wagner
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena Medical School, Jena, Germany
| | - Edith B Pfitzner
- Institute for Biomedical Research, Georg-Speyer-Haus, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Daniela Baus
- Institute for Biomedical Research, Georg-Speyer-Haus, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Roland Kaufmann
- Clinic for General and Visceral Surgery, Friedrich-Schiller University Medical School, Jena, Germany
| | - Lukas A Huberb
- Department of Histology and Molecular Cell Biology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Kurt Zatloukal
- Institute of Pathology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Hartmut Beug
- Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria
| | - Peter Öhlschläger
- Department of Gynaecology, Friedrich-Schiller University Medical School, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Karl-Jürgen Halbhuber
- Institute of Anatomy II, Friedrich-Schiller University Medical School, Jena, Germany
| | - Karlheinz Friedrich
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena Medical School, Jena, Germany
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Homma MK, Li D, Krebs EG, Yuasa Y, Homma Y. Association and regulation of casein kinase 2 activity by adenomatous polyposis coli protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002; 99:5959-64. [PMID: 11972058 PMCID: PMC122884 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.092143199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene are responsible for familial adenomatous polyposis coli and also sporadic colorectal cancer development. By using antibodies raised against the N-terminal region of APC protein, we have detected the variable masses of endogenous APC proteins in individual cell lines established from human colorectal carcinomas caused by nonsense mutations of the gene. Phosphorylation of immunoprecipitates of full-length and truncated APC were observed in in vitro kinase reaction, indicating association of APC with protein kinase activity. The kinase activity complexed with APC was sensitive to heparin and used GTP as phosphoryl donor, suggesting an involvement of casein kinase 2 (CK2). Both CK2alpha- and beta-subunits were found to associate with APC in immunoprecipitates as well as in pull-down assays, with preferential interaction of APC with tetrameric CK2 holoenzyme. In synchronized cell populations, the association of APC with CK2 was cell cycle dependent, with the highest association in G(2)/M. Unexpectedly, APC immunoprecipitates containing full-length APC protein inhibited CK2 in vitro, whereas immunoprecipitates of truncated APC had little effect. This was confirmed by using recombinant APC, and the inhibitory region was localized to the C terminus of APC between residues 2086 and 2394. Overexpression of this fragment in SW480 cells suppressed cell proliferation rates as well as tumorigenesis. These results demonstrate a previously uncharacterized functional interaction between the tumor suppressor protein APC and CK2 and suggest that growth-inhibitory effects of APC may be regulated by inhibition of CK2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miwako Kato Homma
- Department of Biomolecular Science, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan.
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