1
|
Fakhri S, Moradi SZ, Abbaszadeh F, Faraji F, Amirian R, Sinha D, McMahon EG, Bishayee A. Targeting the key players of phenotypic plasticity in cancer cells by phytochemicals. Cancer Metastasis Rev 2024; 43:261-292. [PMID: 38169011 DOI: 10.1007/s10555-023-10161-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Plasticity of phenotypic traits refers to an organism's ability to change in response to environmental stimuli. As a result, the response may alter an organism's physiological state, morphology, behavior, and phenotype. Phenotypic plasticity in cancer cells describes the considerable ability of cancer cells to transform phenotypes through non-genetic molecular signaling activities that promote therapy evasion and tumor metastasis via amplifying cancer heterogeneity. As a result of metastable phenotypic state transitions, cancer cells can tolerate chemotherapy or develop transient adaptive resistance. Therefore, new findings have paved the road in identifying factors and agents that inhibit or suppress phenotypic plasticity. It has also investigated novel multitargeted agents that may promise new effective strategies in cancer treatment. Despite the efficiency of conventional chemotherapeutic agents, drug toxicity, development of resistance, and high-cost limit their use in cancer therapy. Recent research has shown that small molecules derived from natural sources are capable of suppressing cancer by focusing on the plasticity of phenotypic responses. This systematic, comprehensive, and critical review analyzes the current state of knowledge regarding the ability of phytocompounds to target phenotypic plasticity at both preclinical and clinical levels. Current challenges/pitfalls, limitations, and future perspectives are also discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sajad Fakhri
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6734667149, Iran
| | - Seyed Zachariah Moradi
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6734667149, Iran
- Medical Biology Research Center, Health Technology Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6734667149, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Abbaszadeh
- Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Neurobiology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Farahnaz Faraji
- Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, 6517838678, Iran
| | - Roshanak Amirian
- Student Research Committee, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6734667149, Iran
| | - Dona Sinha
- Department of Receptor Biology and Tumor Metastasis, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata, 700 026, West Bengal, India
| | - Emily G McMahon
- College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Bradenton, FL, 34211, USA
| | - Anupam Bishayee
- College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Bradenton, FL, 34211, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bhatia S, Gunter JH, Burgess JT, Adams MN, O'Byrne K, Thompson EW, Duijf PH. Stochastic epithelial-mesenchymal transitions diversify non-cancerous lung cell behaviours. Transl Oncol 2023; 37:101760. [PMID: 37611490 PMCID: PMC10466920 DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2023.101760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) is a hallmark of cancer. By enabling cells to shift between different morphological and functional states, EMP promotes invasion, metastasis and therapy resistance. We report that near-diploid non-cancerous human epithelial lung cells spontaneously shift along the EMP spectrum without genetic changes. Strikingly, more than half of single cell-derived clones adopt a mesenchymal morphology. We independently characterise epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like clones. Mesenchymal clones lose epithelial markers, display larger cell aspect ratios and lower motility, with mostly unaltered proliferation rates. Stemness marker expression and metabolic rewiring diverge independently of phenotypes. In 3D culture, more epithelial clones become mesenchymal-like. Thus, non-cancerous epithelial cells may acquire cancer metastasis-associated features prior to genetic alterations and cancerous transformation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sugandha Bhatia
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health at the Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba 4102, QLD, Australia.
| | - Jennifer H Gunter
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health at the Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba 4102, QLD, Australia; Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre-Queensland (APCRC-Q), Queensland University of Technology, Woolloongabba 4102, Australia
| | - Joshua T Burgess
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health at the Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba 4102, QLD, Australia
| | - Mark N Adams
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health at the Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba 4102, QLD, Australia
| | - Kenneth O'Byrne
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health at the Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba 4102, QLD, Australia; Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba 4102, QLD, Australia
| | - Erik W Thompson
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health at the Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba 4102, QLD, Australia
| | - Pascal Hg Duijf
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health at the Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba 4102, QLD, Australia; Centre for Cancer Biology, Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia and SA Pathology, Adelaide SA, 5001, Australia; Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Färber B, Lapshyna O, Künstner A, Kohl M, Sauer T, Bichmann K, Heckelmann B, Watzelt J, Honselmann K, Bolm L, ten Winkel M, Busch H, Ungefroren H, Keck T, Gemoll T, Wellner UF, Braun R. Molecular profiling and specific targeting of gemcitabine-resistant subclones in heterogeneous pancreatic cancer cell populations. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1230382. [PMID: 37719017 PMCID: PMC10502231 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1230382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose Chemotherapy is pivotal in the multimodal treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Technical advances unveiled a high degree of inter- and intratumoral heterogeneity. We hypothesized that intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) impacts response to gemcitabine treatment and demands specific targeting of resistant subclones. Methods Using single cell-derived cell lines (SCDCLs) from the classical cell line BxPC3 and the basal-like cell line Panc-1, we addressed the effect of ITH on response to gemcitabine treatment. Results Individual SCDCLs of both parental tumor cell populations showed considerable heterogeneity in response to gemcitabine. Unsupervised PCA including the 1,000 most variably expressed genes showed a clustering of the SCDCLs according to their respective sensitivity to gemcitabine treatment for BxPC3, while this was less clear for Panc-1. In BxPC3 SCDCLs, enriched signaling pathways EMT, TNF signaling via NfKB, and IL2STAT5 signaling correlated with more resistant behavior to gemcitabine. In Panc-1 SCDCLs MYC targets V1 and V2 as well as E2F targets were associated with stronger resistance. We used recursive feature elimination for Feature Selection in order to compute sets of proteins that showed strong association with the response to gemcitabine. The optimal protein set calculated for Panc-1 comprised fewer proteins in comparison to the protein set determined for BxPC3. Based on molecular profiles, we could show that the gemcitabine-resistant SCDCLs of both BxPC3 and Panc-1 are more sensitive to the BET inhibitor JQ1 compared to the respective gemcitabine-sensitive SCDCLs. Conclusion Our model system of SCDCLs identified gemcitabine-resistant subclones and provides evidence for the critical role of ITH for treatment response in PDAC. We exploited molecular differences as the basis for differential response and used these for more targeted therapy of resistant subclones.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benedikt Färber
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Olga Lapshyna
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Axel Künstner
- Medical Systems Biology Group, Lübeck Institute of Experimental Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute for Cardiogenetics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Michael Kohl
- Medical Systems Biology Group, Lübeck Institute of Experimental Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Section for Translational Surgical Oncology & Biobanking, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Thorben Sauer
- Section for Translational Surgical Oncology & Biobanking, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Kira Bichmann
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Benjamin Heckelmann
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Jessica Watzelt
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Kim Honselmann
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Louisa Bolm
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Meike ten Winkel
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Hauke Busch
- Medical Systems Biology Group, Lübeck Institute of Experimental Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute for Cardiogenetics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Hendrik Ungefroren
- First Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany
| | - Tobias Keck
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Timo Gemoll
- Section for Translational Surgical Oncology & Biobanking, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Ulrich F. Wellner
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Rüdiger Braun
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ungefroren H, Konukiewitz B, Braun R, Wellner UF, Lehnert H, Marquardt JU. TAp73 Inhibits EMT and Cell Migration in Pancreatic Cancer Cells through Promoting SMAD4 Expression and SMAD4-Dependent Inhibition of ERK Activation. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:3791. [PMID: 37568607 PMCID: PMC10417771 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15153791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a fatal disease due to early metastatic spread, late diagnosis and the lack of efficient therapies. A major driver of cancer progression and hurdle to successful treatment is transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. Recent data from pancreatic cancer mouse models showed that transcriptionally active p73 (TAp73), a p53 family member, inhibits tumor progression through promoting tumor suppressive canonical TGF-β/Smad signaling, while preventing non-canonical TGF-β signaling through extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)1/2. Here, we studied whether this mechanism also operates in human PDAC. Using the PDAC-derived tumor cell lines PANC-1, HPAFII and L3.6pl, we showed that TAp73 induces the expression of the epithelial marker and invasion suppressor E-cadherin and the common-mediator Smad, SMAD4, while at the same time suppressing expression of the EMT master regulator SNAIL and basal and TGF-β1-induced activation of ERK1 and ERK2. Using dominant-negative and RNA interference-based inhibition of SMAD4 function, we went on to show that inhibition of ERK activation by TAp73 is mediated through SMAD4. Intriguingly, both SMAD4 and the α isoform of TAp73-but not the β isoform-interfered with cell migration, as shown by xCELLigence technology. Our findings highlighted the role of TAp73-SMAD4 signaling in tumor suppression of human PDAC and identified direct inhibition of basal and TGF-β-stimulated pro-invasive ERK activation as an underlying mechanism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Ungefroren
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, 24105 Kiel, Germany;
- First Department of Medicine, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, 23538 Lübeck, Germany;
- Department of Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, 23538 Lübeck, Germany; (R.B.); (U.F.W.)
| | - Björn Konukiewitz
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, 24105 Kiel, Germany;
| | - Rüdiger Braun
- Department of Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, 23538 Lübeck, Germany; (R.B.); (U.F.W.)
| | - Ulrich Friedrich Wellner
- Department of Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, 23538 Lübeck, Germany; (R.B.); (U.F.W.)
| | | | - Jens-Uwe Marquardt
- First Department of Medicine, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, 23538 Lübeck, Germany;
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Kim YN, Patil K, Ma J, Dufek GA, Pai SB. Multifaceted Effects of Kinase Inhibitors on Pancreatic Cancer Cells Reveals Pivotal Entities with Therapeutic Implications. Biomedicines 2023; 11:1716. [PMID: 37371811 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11061716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer and is the seventh leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) accounts for over 90% of pancreatic cancers. Most pancreatic cancers are recalcitrant to radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, highlighting the urgent need for novel treatment options for this deadly disease. To this end, we screened a library of kinase inhibitors in the PDAC cell lines PANC-1 and BxPC-3 and identified two highly potent molecules: Aurora kinase inhibitor AT 9283 (AT) and EGFR kinase inhibitor WZ 3146 (WZ). Both AT and WZ exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition of viability in both cell lines. Thus, we conducted an in-depth multilevel (cellular, molecular, and proteomic) analysis with AT and WZ in PANC-1 cells, which harbor KRAS mutation and exhibit quasimesenchymal properties representing pancreatic cancer cells as having intrinsic chemoresistance and the potential for differential response to therapy. Elucidation of the molecular mechanism of action of AT and WZ revealed an impact on the programmed cell death pathway with an increase in apoptotic, multicaspase, and caspase 3/7 positive cells. Additionally, the key survival molecule Bcl-2 was impacted. Moreover, cell cycle arrest was observed with both kinase inhibitors. Additionally, an increase in superoxide radicals was observed in the AT-treated group. Importantly, proteomic profiling revealed differentially regulated key entities with multifaceted effects, which could have a deleterious impact on PDAC. These findings suggest potential targets for efficacious treatment, including a possible increase in the efficacy of immunotherapy using PD-L1 antibody due to the upregulation of lactoferrin and radixin. Furthermore, combination therapy outcomes with gemcitabine/platinum drugs may also be more effective due to an increase in the NADH dehydrogenase complex. Notably, protein-protein interaction analysis (STRING) revealed possible enrichment of reactome pathway entities. Additionally, novel therapy options, such as vimentin-antibody--drug conjugates, could be explored. Therefore, future studies with the two kinases as monotherapy/combination therapy are warranted.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yoo Na Kim
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Ketki Patil
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Jeonghwa Ma
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Griffin A Dufek
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - S Balakrishna Pai
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Braun R, Lapshyna O, Watzelt J, Drenckhan M, Künstner A, Färber B, Hael AAM, Bolm L, Honselmann KC, Konukiewitz B, Castven D, Spielmann M, Gorantla SP, Busch H, Marquardt JU, Keck T, Wellner UF, Ungefroren H. Establishment and Molecular Characterization of Two Patient-Derived Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines as Preclinical Models for Treatment Response. Cells 2023; 12. [PMID: 36831254 DOI: 10.3390/cells12040587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is exceedingly poor. Although surgical resection is the only curative treatment option, multimodal treatment is of the utmost importance, as only about 20% of tumors are primarily resectable at the time of diagnosis. The choice of chemotherapeutic treatment regimens involving gemcitabine and FOLFIRINOX is currently solely based on the patient's performance status, but, ideally, it should be based on the tumors' individual biology. We established two novel patient-derived primary cell lines from surgical PDAC specimens. LuPanc-1 and LuPanc-2 were derived from a pT3, pN1, G2 and a pT3, pN2, G3 tumor, respectively, and the clinical follow-up was fully annotated. STR-genotyping revealed a unique profile for both cell lines. The population doubling time of LuPanc-2 was substantially longer than that of LuPanc-1 (84 vs. 44 h). Both cell lines exhibited a typical epithelial morphology and expressed moderate levels of CK7 and E-cadherin. LuPanc-1, but not LuPanc-2, co-expressed E-cadherin and vimentin at the single-cell level, suggesting a mixed epithelial-mesenchymal differentiation. LuPanc-1 had a missense mutation (p.R282W) and LuPanc-2 had a frameshift deletion (p.P89X) in TP53. BRCA2 was nonsense-mutated (p.Q780*) and CREBBP was missense-mutated (p.P279R) in LuPanc-1. CDKN2A was missense-mutated (p.H83Y) in LuPanc-2. Notably, only LuPanc-2 harbored a partial or complete deletion of DPC4. LuPanc-1 cells exhibited high basal and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-induced migratory activity in real-time cell migration assays, while LuPanc-2 was refractory. Both LuPanc-1 and LuPanc-2 cells responded to treatment with TGF-β1 with the activation of SMAD2; however, only LuPanc-1 cells were able to induce TGF-β1 target genes, which is consistent with the absence of DPC4 in LuPanc-2 cells. Both cell lines were able to form spheres in a semi-solid medium and in cell viability assays, LuPanc-1 cells were more sensitive than LuPanc-2 cells to treatment with gemcitabine and FOLFIRINOX. In summary, both patient-derived cell lines show distinct molecular phenotypes reflecting their individual tumor biology, with a unique clinical annotation of the respective patients. These preclinical ex vivo models can be further explored for potential new treatment strategies and might help in developing personalized (targeted) therapy regimens.
Collapse
|
7
|
Ungefroren H, Konukiewitz B, Braun R, Wellner UF, Keck T, Marquardt JU. Elucidation of the Role of SMAD4 in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Plasticity: Does It Help to Better Understand the Consequences of DPC4 Inactivation in the Malignant Progression of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma? Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15. [PMID: 36765537 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15030581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with a 5-year-survival rate below 10% that is the lowest of all cancer types [...].
Collapse
|
8
|
Wang H, Mi K. Emerging roles of endoplasmic reticulum stress in the cellular plasticity of cancer cells. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1110881. [PMID: 36890838 PMCID: PMC9986440 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1110881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Cellular plasticity is a well-known dynamic feature of tumor cells that endows tumors with heterogeneity and therapeutic resistance and alters their invasion-metastasis progression, stemness, and drug sensitivity, thereby posing a major challenge to cancer therapy. It is becoming increasingly clear that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is a hallmark of cancer. The dysregulated expression of ER stress sensors and the activation of downstream signaling pathways play a role in the regulation of tumor progression and cellular response to various challenges. Moreover, mounting evidence implicates ER stress in the regulation of cancer cell plasticity, including epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity, drug resistance phenotype, cancer stem cell phenotype, and vasculogenic mimicry phenotype plasticity. ER stress influences several malignant characteristics of tumor cells, including epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), stem cell maintenance, angiogenic function, and tumor cell sensitivity to targeted therapy. The emerging links between ER stress and cancer cell plasticity that are implicated in tumor progression and chemoresistance are discussed in this review, which may aid in formulating strategies to target ER stress and cancer cell plasticity in anticancer treatments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hao Wang
- Breast Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Kun Mi
- Radiation Oncology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Ungefroren H, Braun R, Lapshyna O, Konukiewitz B, Wellner UF, Lehnert H, Marquardt JU. Suppressive Role of ACVR1/ALK2 in Basal and TGFβ1-Induced Cell Migration in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Cells and Identification of a Self-Perpetuating Autoregulatory Loop Involving the Small GTPase RAC1b. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10102640. [PMID: 36289908 PMCID: PMC9599656 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10102640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells are known for their high invasive/metastatic potential, which is regulated in part by the transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1). The involvement of at least two type I receptors, ALK5 and ALK2, that transmit downstream signals of the TGFβ via different Smad proteins, SMAD2/3 and SMAD1/5, respectively, poses the issue of their relative contribution in regulating cell motility. Real-time cell migration assays revealed that the selective inhibition of ALK2 by RNAi or dominant-negative interference with a kinase-dead mutant (ALK2-K233R) strongly enhanced the cells’ migratory activity in the absence or presence of TGFβ1 stimulation. Ectopic ALK2-K233R expression was associated with an increase in the protein levels of RAC1 and its alternatively spliced isoform, RAC1b, both of which are implicated in driving cell migration and invasion. Conversely, the RNAi-mediated knockdown or CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of RAC1b resulted in the upregulation of the expression of ALK2, but not that of the related BMP type I receptors, ALK3 or ALK6, and elevated the phosphorylation of SMAD1/5. PDAC is a heterogeneous disease encompassing tumors with different histomorphological subtypes, ranging from epithelial/classical to extremely mesenchymal. Upon treatment of various established and primary PDAC cell lines representing these subtypes with the ALK2 inhibitor, LDN-193189, well-differentiated, epithelial cell lines responded with a much stronger increase in the basal and TGFβ1-dependent migratory activity than poorly differentiated, mesenchymal ones. These data show that (i) ALK2 inhibits migration by suppressing RAC1/RAC1b proteins, (ii) ALK2 and RAC1b act together in a self-perpetuating the autoregulatory negative feedback loop to mutually control their expression, and (iii) the ALK2 antimigratory function appears to be particularly crucial in protecting epithelial subtype cells from becoming invasive, both spontaneously and in a TGFβ-rich tumor microenvironment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Ungefroren
- First Department of Medicine, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
- Correspondence:
| | - Rüdiger Braun
- Clinic for Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Olha Lapshyna
- Clinic for Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Björn Konukiewitz
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Ulrich F. Wellner
- Clinic for Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
| | | | - Jens-Uwe Marquardt
- First Department of Medicine, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
| |
Collapse
|