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Fernandez-Gil BI, Larion M. Editorial: CNS tumor metabolism: targets, markers, and challenges. Front Cell Neurosci 2024; 18:1401687. [PMID: 38601024 PMCID: PMC11004483 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2024.1401687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Mioara Larion
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (NIH), Bethesda, MD, United States
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Saeui CT, Shah SR, Fernandez-Gil BI, Zhang C, Agatemor C, Dammen-Brower K, Mathew MP, Buettner M, Gowda P, Khare P, Otamendi-Lopez A, Yang S, Zhang H, Le A, Quinoñes-Hinojosa A, Yarema KJ. Anticancer Properties of Hexosamine Analogs Designed to Attenuate Metabolic Flux through the Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway. ACS Chem Biol 2023; 18:151-165. [PMID: 36626752 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Altered cellular metabolism is a hallmark of cancer pathogenesis and progression; for example, a near-universal feature of cancer is increased metabolic flux through the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP). This pathway produces uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), a potent oncometabolite that drives multiple facets of cancer progression. In this study, we synthesized and evaluated peracetylated hexosamine analogs designed to reduce flux through the HBP. By screening a panel of analogs in pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma multiform (GBM) cells, we identified Ac4Glc2Bz─a benzyl-modified GlcNAc mimetic─as an antiproliferative cancer drug candidate that down-regulated oncogenic metabolites and reduced GBM cell motility at concentrations non-toxic to non-neoplastic cells. More specifically, the growth inhibitory effects of Ac4Glc2Bz were linked to reduced levels of UDP-GlcNAc and concomitant decreases in protein O-GlcNAc modification in both pancreatic cancer and GBM cells. Targeted metabolomics analysis in GBM cells showed that Ac4Glc2Bz disturbed glucose metabolism, amino acid pools, and nucleotide precursor biosynthesis, consistent with reduced proliferation and other anti-oncogenic properties of this analog. Furthermore, Ac4Glc2Bz reduced the invasion, migration, and stemness of GBM cells. Importantly, normal metabolic functions mediated by UDP-GlcNAc were not disrupted in non-neoplastic cells, including maintenance of endogenous levels of O-GlcNAcylation with no global disruption of N-glycan production. Finally, a pilot in vivo study showed that a potential therapeutic window exists where animals tolerated 5- to 10-fold higher levels of Ac4Glc2Bz than projected for in vivo efficacy. Together, these results establish GlcNAc analogs targeting the HBP through salvage mechanisms as a new therapeutic approach to safely normalize an important facet of aberrant glucose metabolism associated with cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher T Saeui
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Translational Tissue Engineering Center, The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Sagar R Shah
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Translational Tissue Engineering Center, The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | | | - Cissy Zhang
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Christian Agatemor
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Translational Tissue Engineering Center, The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Kris Dammen-Brower
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Translational Tissue Engineering Center, The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Mohit P Mathew
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Translational Tissue Engineering Center, The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Matthew Buettner
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Translational Tissue Engineering Center, The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Prateek Gowda
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Translational Tissue Engineering Center, The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Pratik Khare
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | | | - Shuang Yang
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, United States
| | - Hui Zhang
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, United States
| | - Anne Le
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | | | - Kevin J Yarema
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Translational Tissue Engineering Center, The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
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Shen YQ, Guerra-Librero A, Fernandez-Gil BI, Florido J, García-López S, Martinez-Ruiz L, Mendivil-Perez M, Soto-Mercado V, Acuña-Castroviejo D, Ortega-Arellano H, Carriel V, Diaz-Casado ME, Reiter RJ, Rusanova I, Nieto A, López LC, Escames G. Combination of melatonin and rapamycin for head and neck cancer therapy: Suppression of AKT/mTOR pathway activation, and activation of mitophagy and apoptosis via mitochondrial function regulation. J Pineal Res 2018; 64. [PMID: 29247557 DOI: 10.1111/jpi.12461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [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: 08/29/2017] [Accepted: 12/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) clearly involves activation of the Akt mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway. However, the effectiveness of treatment with the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin is often limited by chemoresistance. Melatonin suppresses neoplastic growth via different mechanisms in a variety of tumours. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the effects of melatonin on rapamycin-induced HNSCC cell death and to identify potential cross-talk pathways. We analysed the dose-dependent effects of melatonin in rapamycin-treated HNSCC cell lines (Cal-27 and SCC-9). These cells were treated with 0.1, 0.5 or 1 mmol/L melatonin combined with 20 nM rapamycin. We further examined the potential synergistic effects of melatonin with rapamycin in Cal-27 xenograft mice. Relationships between inhibition of the mTOR pathway, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and apoptosis and mitophagy reportedly increased the cytotoxic effects of rapamycin in HNSCC. Our results demonstrated that combined treatment with rapamycin and melatonin blocked the negative feedback loop from the specific downstream effector of mTOR activation S6K1 to Akt signalling, which decreased cell viability, proliferation and clonogenic capacity. Interestingly, combined treatment with rapamycin and melatonin-induced changes in mitochondrial function, which were associated with increased ROS production, increasing apoptosis and mitophagy. This led to increase cell death and cellular differentiation. Our data further indicated that melatonin administration reduced rapamycin-associated toxicity to healthy cells. Overall, our findings suggested that melatonin could be used as an adjuvant agent with rapamycin, improving effectiveness while minimizing its side effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying-Qiang Shen
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Ana Guerra-Librero
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Beatriz I Fernandez-Gil
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Javier Florido
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Sergio García-López
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Laura Martinez-Ruiz
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Miguel Mendivil-Perez
- Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Viviana Soto-Mercado
- Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Darío Acuña-Castroviejo
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- CIBERFES, Ibs.Granada, Hospital Campus de la Salud, Granada, Spain
| | - Hector Ortega-Arellano
- Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Victor Carriel
- Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - María E Diaz-Casado
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Russel J Reiter
- Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Iryna Rusanova
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- CIBERFES, Ibs.Granada, Hospital Campus de la Salud, Granada, Spain
| | - Ana Nieto
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Luis C López
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- CIBERFES, Ibs.Granada, Hospital Campus de la Salud, Granada, Spain
| | - Germaine Escames
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- CIBERFES, Ibs.Granada, Hospital Campus de la Salud, Granada, Spain
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Mendivil-Perez M, Soto-Mercado V, Guerra-Librero A, Fernandez-Gil BI, Florido J, Shen YQ, Tejada MA, Capilla-Gonzalez V, Rusanova I, Garcia-Verdugo JM, Acuña-Castroviejo D, López LC, Velez-Pardo C, Jimenez-Del-Rio M, Ferrer JM, Escames G. Melatonin enhances neural stem cell differentiation and engraftment by increasing mitochondrial function. J Pineal Res 2017; 63. [PMID: 28423196 DOI: 10.1111/jpi.12415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [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: 01/10/2017] [Accepted: 04/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Neural stem cells (NSCs) are regarded as a promising therapeutic approach to protecting and restoring damaged neurons in neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease (PD and AD, respectively). However, new research suggests that NSC differentiation is required to make this strategy effective. Several studies have demonstrated that melatonin increases mature neuronal markers, which reflects NSC differentiation into neurons. Nevertheless, the possible involvement of mitochondria in the effects of melatonin during NSC differentiation has not yet been fully established. We therefore tested the impact of melatonin on NSC proliferation and differentiation in an attempt to determine whether these actions depend on modulating mitochondrial activity. We measured proliferation and differentiation markers, mitochondrial structural and functional parameters as well as oxidative stress indicators and also evaluated cell transplant engraftment. This enabled us to show that melatonin (25 μM) induces NSC differentiation into oligodendrocytes and neurons. These effects depend on increased mitochondrial mass/DNA/complexes, mitochondrial respiration, and membrane potential as well as ATP synthesis in NSCs. It is also interesting to note that melatonin prevented oxidative stress caused by high levels of mitochondrial activity. Finally, we found that melatonin enriches NSC engraftment in the ND mouse model following transplantation. We concluded that a combined therapy involving transplantation of NSCs pretreated with pharmacological doses of melatonin could efficiently restore neuronal cell populations in PD and AD mouse models depending on mitochondrial activity promotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Mendivil-Perez
- Faculty of Medicine, Medical Research Center, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Viviana Soto-Mercado
- Faculty of Medicine, Medical Research Center, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Ana Guerra-Librero
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Beatriz I Fernandez-Gil
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Javier Florido
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Ying-Qiang Shen
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Miguel A Tejada
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Vivian Capilla-Gonzalez
- Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- Andalusian Center for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine (CABIMER), Seville, Spain
| | - Iryna Rusanova
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - José M Garcia-Verdugo
- Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Darío Acuña-Castroviejo
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- CIBERFES, Biosanitary Research Institute, Complejo Hospitalario de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Luis Carlos López
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- CIBERFES, Biosanitary Research Institute, Complejo Hospitalario de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Carlos Velez-Pardo
- Faculty of Medicine, Medical Research Center, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | | | - José M Ferrer
- CIBERFES, Biosanitary Research Institute, Complejo Hospitalario de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Germaine Escames
- Medical Research Institute, Health Sciences Technology Park, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- CIBERFES, Biosanitary Research Institute, Complejo Hospitalario de Granada, Granada, Spain
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