Combination of cefotaxime and cisplatin specifically and selectively enhances anticancer efficacy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND

HMOX1 has a dual role in cancers, especially involving chemoresistance. We demonstrate that cephalosporin antibiotics exert strong anticancer activity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma mainly via drastic upregulation of HMOX1.

OBJECTIVES

Cephalosporin antibiotics are commonly used for the treatment or prophylaxis of bacterial infectious diseases in cancer patients. It is unknown whether they lead to chemoresistance in cancer patients, especially in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, who are being treated or required prophylaxis for an infectious syndrome with cephalosporin antibiotics.

METHODS

MTT and clonogenic colony formation assays assessed the viability and proliferation of cultured cancer cells. Flow cytometry was used to detect apoptosis. Tumor growth was assessed using a xenograft model. Microarray and RT-qPCR expression analyses investigated differential gene expression.

RESULTS

Cefotaxime enhanced anticancer efficacy of cisplatin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma without enhancing the toxic side effects both in vitro and in vivo. However, cefotaxime significantly reduced the cytotoxicity of cisplatin in other cancer cell lines. Cefotaxime and cisplatin co-regulated 5 differential genes in CNE2 cells in a direction supporting the enhancement of anticancer efficacy, of which, THBS1 and LAPTM5 were further upregulated, STAG1, NCOA5, and PPP3CB were further downregulated. Out of the 18 apoptotic pathways significantly enriched in the combination group, THBS1 and HMOX1 overlapped in 14 and 12 pathways, respectively. Extrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway (GO: 2001236) was the only apoptotic pathway commonly enriched in cefotaxime group, cisplatin group and combination group, and THBS1 and HMOX1 were the overlapped genes of this pathway. THBS1 also overlapped in P53 signaling pathway and ECM-receptor interaction signaling pathway enriched by KEGG.

CONCLUSION

Cephalosporin antibiotics are chemosensitizers of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs in the chemotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but they may lead to chemoresistance by cytoprotection in other cancers. Cefotaxime and cisplatin co-regulate THBS1, LAPTM5, STAG1, NCOA5 and PPP3CB suggesting their involvement in the enhancement of anticancer efficacy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Targeting of P53 signaling pathway and ECM-receptor interaction signaling pathway was correlated to the enhancement. With additional benefit for treatment or prophylaxis of an infectious syndrome, cephalosporin antibiotics can benefit the therapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma either as anticancer agents or as chemosensitizers of chemotherapeutic drugs in combination chemotherapy.

Performance and bacterial community of bio-electrochemical system treating simulated domestic wastewater containing low concentration of cephalosporin antibiotics

This study investigated the effects of five cephalosporin antibiotics (ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefdinir, cefixime and cefepime) on performance and bacterial community structure in bio-electrochemical systems (BES) and sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR). The results showed that the external electric field had no significant effect on the removal of COD and ammonia nitrogen in water. The removal rates of five antibiotics in BES increased by 28.5%, 20.0%, 9.1%, 21.0%, and 11.5%, respectively. High-through sequencing showed that microbial membrane-growing process increased species diversity, and antibiotics had a significant inhibitory effect on the initial biofilm of the reactor. As time progressed, the inhibitory effect was weakened, and the microorganism were tolerated and re-enriched. The increase in the type and concentration of antibiotics and the applied electric field had a significant effect on the microorganisms in the reactor. The dominant microorganisms for antibiotic removal in the SBBR were Luteococcus, Cloacibacterium, Dysgonomonas, and Ottowia. The dominant bacteria in the BES were Ottowia and Tahibacte. The abundance of these strains increased significantly during antibiotic acclimation. The abundance of Ottowia, Tahibacter, and Nakamurella were significantly higher than SBBR. Thus the BES system had a good antibiotic degradation effect. The BES can effectively treat simulated domestic sewage containing multiple antibiotics, laying a theoretical foundation for the actual wastewater treatment.

Structure-dependent surface catalytic degradation of cephalosporin antibiotics on the aged polyvinyl chloride microplastics

Microplastics (MPs) have been recognized as a global concern due to their potential health effect, as MPs could adsorb and carry various pollutants in aquatic environment. In the present study, a new environmental behavior related to polyvinyl chloride microplastics (PVC-MPs) and the underlying mechanism were described. Our results showed that the photo-aged PVC-MPs could affect the transformation of cephalosporin antibiotics. For instance, the presence of altered PVC-MPs significantly accelerated the hydrolysis of cefazolin (CFZ), but exhibited negligible effect on the degradation of cephalexin (CFX). As indicated by in situ Fourier transform infrared spectra and theoretical calculations, hydrogen bonds could be formed between β-lactam carbonyl of CFZ and the oxygen-containing moieties on the aged PVC-MP surfaces. The hydrogen-bonding was able to significantly increase the positive atomic Mulliken charge on the β-lactam carbonyl carbon, thus narrowing the energy gap of CFZ hydrolysis and subsequently enhancing the disruption of β-lactam ring. While for CFX, instead of the β-lactam carbonyl, the amide amino group was involved in the hydrogen-bonding due to the structural difference. Therefore, in addition to increasing the adsorption capacity, the aged PVC-MPs could act as the catalyst to mediate the transformation of antibiotics. Our study would help improve the understanding for interactions between contaminants and MPs in natural environments.

Development of a Broad-Specific Competitive ELISA for First-Generation Cephalosporin Antibiotics in Animal-Derived Foods Samples

The abuse of antibiotics, such as the cephalosporins in livestock and aquaculture productions, usually causes the widespread antibiotic resistance due to their growth-promoting effects. In this study, cephalexin was chosen as the hapten molecule to prepare a broad-spectrum rabbit polyclonal antibody for cephalosporin antibiotics. The obtained antibody exhibited broad cross-reactivity ranging from 0.05% to 100% with 10 cephalosporins. Based on this antibody, we developed a broad-specific indirect competitive ELISA (ic-ELISA) for cefalexin, cefradine, cefadroxil and cefazolin with the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) ranging from 0.72 to 2.99 ng/mL in working buffer. For animal-derived food samples with spiked cephalosporins, the ic-ELISA exhibited an excellent recovery ranging from 72.3% to 95.6%. To verify the accuracy of this proposed ic-ELISA, its detection performance was evaluated utilizing the high-performance liquid chromatography with satisfactory results. This study confirmed that: firstly, the prepared antibody can be used as a class-specific recognition element to develop immunoassays for cephalosporin antibiotics; and secondly, the developed ic-ELISA provided a new tool for broad-spectrum detection of first-generation cephalosporins in animal-derived foods.

Cephalosporin antibiotics specifically and selectively target nasopharyngeal carcinoma through HMOX1-induced ferroptosis

AIMS

Many antibiotics derived from mold metabolites have been found to possess anticarcinogenic properties. We aimed to investigate whether they may elicit anticancer activity, especially against nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

MAIN METHODS

The response of nasopharyngeal and other carcinoma cell lines to cephalosporin antibiotics was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. MTT and clonogenic colony formation assays assessed the viability and proliferation of cultured cells. Flow cytometry was used to assess cell cycle parameters and apoptotic markers. Tumor growth was determined using a xenograft model in vivo. Microarray and RT-qPCR expression analyses investigate differential gene expression. Mechanistic assessment of HMOX1 in cefotaxime-mediated ferroptosis was tested with Protoporphyrin IX zinc.

KEY FINDINGS

Cephalosporin antibiotics showed highly specific and selective anticancer activity on nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE2 cells both in vitro and vivo with minimal toxicity. Cefotaxime sodium significantly regulated 11 anticancer relevant genes in CNE2 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Pathway analyses indicate apoptotic and the ErbB-MAPK-p53 signaling pathways are significantly enriched. HMOX1 represents the top one ranked upregulated gene by COS and overlaps with 16 of 42 enriched apoptotic signaling pathways. Inhibition of HMOX1 significantly reduced the anticancer efficacy of cefotaxime in CNE2 cells.

SIGNIFICANCE

Our discovery is the first to highlight the off-label potential of cephalosporin antibiotics as a specific and selective anticancer drug for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We mechanistically show that induction of ferroptosis through HMOX1 induction mediates cefotaxime anticancer activity. Our findings provide an alternative treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma by showing that existing cephalosporin antibiotics are specific and selective anticancer drugs.

Magnetic N-doped 3D graphene-like framework carbon for extraction of cephalexin monohydrate and ceftiofur hydrochloride

Magnetic N-doped 3D graphene-like framework carbon (Fe₃O₄@N-3DFC) was prepared via direct pyrolysis of sodium citrate and further hydrothermal reaction, and employed in the extraction of two cephalosporin antibiotics including cephalexin monohydrate and ceftiofur hydrochloride. The scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction were employed to confirm the successful synthesis of 3DFC-based adsorbents (3DFCs) including 3DFC, Fe₃O₄@3DFC and Fe₃O₄@N-3DFC. Fe₃O₄@N-3DFC sorbent with 3D graphene-like honeycomb architecture combined magnetic and N doping shows the attractive features including graphene carbon sheets, hierarchical porous structure, good wettability and higher surface affinity for cephalosporin antibiotics. Furthermore, the comparison of extraction efficiency with raw 3DFC and Fe₃O₄@3DFC sorbent also confirmed the superiority of Fe₃O₄@N-3DFC sorbent. Under optimized conditions, good linearity lines were obtained with the determination coefficients from 0.9953 to 0.9995. The limit of detections were in the range of 0.20-0.45 μg L^-1 and 0.03-0.10 μg L^-1 for cephalexin and ceftiofur, respectively. The spiked extraction recoveries were between 81.59% and 98.35% with the relative standard deviation values less than 6.98%. Combined with high performance liquid chromatography, Fe₃O₄@N-3DFC based magnetic solid-phase extraction was successfully applied in river water and zebrafish samples analysis.

Highly efficient removal of ceftiofur sodium using a superior hydroxyl group functionalized ionic liquid-modified polymer

The occurrence of cephalosporin antibiotics in water resources has caused increasing concerns about their potential effects on ecosystem and human health. However, reports on the efficient removal of these antibiotics are limited. In this work, a superior hydroxyl-functionalized ionic liquid based polymer (PS-[Hemim][Cl]) was prepared for highly efficient removal of ceftiofur sodium (CFS) antibiotic from aqueous solutions, and the effect of various factors on the adsorption was investigated. It was found that the PS-[Hemim][Cl] exhibited a super-high adsorption capacity of 1260.5 mg/g for CFS within 60 min and kept high removal efficiency in a wide range of antibiotic concentrations from 5 ppb level to 1000 mg/L. Even the concentration of common inorganic ions was 1000 times higher than that of CFS, the adsorption efficiency remained above 93%. At the same time, the PS-[Hemim][Cl] showed excellent adsorption performance for the antibiotics with similar structure to CFS. Compared with commercially available adsorbents, the adsorption capacity of PS-[Hemim][Cl] for CFS was 4-468 times higher under the same experimental conditions. The application of PS-[Hemim][Cl] to real wastewater containing different concentrations of CFS was investigated and promising results were reported. Additionally, preliminary mechanism studies suggested that electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bond and ion exchange synergistically contributed to the highly efficient adsorption of CFS.

Pharmacological significance of prostaglandin E2 and D2 transport at the brain barriers

Prostaglandin (PG) E2 and PGD2, which are biosynthesized from arachidonic acid generated by enzymatic cleavage of membrane phospholipid in response to various stimuli, play key roles in multiple brain pathophysiological processes, including modulation of synaptic plasticity, neuroinflammation, and sleep promotion. Concentrations of PGE2 and PGD2 in brain interstitial fluid (ISF) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are maintained at appropriate levels for normal brain function by regulatory systems. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the blood-CSF barrier (BCSFB) possess ISF/CSF-to-blood efflux transport systems that are the primary cerebral clearance pathways for PGE2 and PGD2. However, regulatory dysfunction at the brain barriers may seriously affect brain function. In a mouse inflammation model, significant reduction of PGE2 efflux transport at the BBB has been observed. Several kinds of cephalosporin antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs inhibit the BBB- and BCSFB-mediated efflux transport of PGE2 and PGD2. Especially, drugs that inhibit multidrug resistance-associated protein 4 (MRP4)-mediated PGE2 transport are capable of reducing PGE2 efflux at the BBB. Thus, it might be important in the treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases to use drugs that do not inhibit clearance of PGE2 at the brain barriers, in order to avoid unexpected adverse CNS effects. Further, considering that PGD2 in CSF is a natural sleep-promoting factor, changes in the activity of the PGD2 efflux transport system at the BCSFB may modify the PGD2 level in CSF, thus affecting physiological sleep. These findings indicate that the efflux transport systems at the brain barriers play key roles in the pathophysiology and pharmacology of PGE2 and PGD2.