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Gerbino A, Tamma G, Conti F, Valenti G. Editorial: 72nd annual meeting of the Italian society of physiology: new perspectives in physiological research. Front Physiol 2024; 15:1403715. [PMID: 38645695 PMCID: PMC11026701 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1403715] [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: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Gerbino
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Environment, Università di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Grazia Tamma
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Environment, Università di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Fiorenzo Conti
- Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Giovanna Valenti
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Environment, Università di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
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Gámez-García A, Bolinaga-Ayala I, Yoldi G, Espinosa-Gil S, Diéguez-Martínez N, Megías-Roda E, Muñoz-Guardiola P, Lizcano JM. ERK5 Inhibition Induces Autophagy-Mediated Cancer Cell Death by Activating ER Stress. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:742049. [PMID: 34805151 PMCID: PMC8600073 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.742049] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Autophagy is a highly conserved intracellular process that preserves cellular homeostasis by mediating the lysosomal degradation of virtually any component of the cytoplasm. Autophagy is a key instrument of cellular response to several stresses, including endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Cancer cells have developed high dependency on autophagy to overcome the hostile tumor microenvironment. Thus, pharmacological activation or inhibition of autophagy is emerging as a novel antitumor strategy. ERK5 is a novel member of the MAP kinase family that is activated in response to growth factors and different forms of stress. Recent work has pointed ERK5 as a major player controlling cancer cell proliferation and survival. Therefore small-molecule inhibitors of ERK5 have shown promising therapeutic potential in different cancer models. Here, we report for the first time ERK5 as a negative regulator of autophagy. Thus, ERK5 inhibition or silencing induced autophagy in a panel of human cancer cell lines with different mutation patterns. As reported previously, ERK5 inhibitors (ERK5i) induced apoptotic cancer cell death. Importantly, we found that autophagy mediates the cytotoxic effect of ERK5i, since ATG5ˉ/ˉ autophagy-deficient cells viability was not affected by these compounds. Mechanistically, ERK5i stimulated autophagic flux independently of the canonical regulators AMPK or mTORC1. Moreover, ERK5 inhibition resulted in ER stress and activation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) pathways. Specifically, ERK5i induced expression of the ER luminal chaperone BiP (a hallmark of ER stress), the UPR markers CHOP and ATF4, and the spliced form of XBP1. Pharmacological inhibition of UPR with chemical chaperone TUDC, or ATF4 silencing, resulted in impaired ERK5i-mediated UPR, autophagy and cytotoxicity. Overall, our results suggest that ERK5 inhibition induces autophagy-mediated cancer cell death by activating ER stress. Since ERK5 inhibition sensitizes cancer cells and tumors to chemotherapy, future work will determine the relevance of UPR and autophagy in the combined use of chemotherapy and ERK5i to tackle Cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Gámez-García
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Idoia Bolinaga-Ayala
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.,Protein Kinases in Cancer Research, Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Guillermo Yoldi
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sergio Espinosa-Gil
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.,Protein Kinases in Cancer Research, Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Nora Diéguez-Martínez
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.,Protein Kinases in Cancer Research, Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisabet Megías-Roda
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.,Protein Kinases in Cancer Research, Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pau Muñoz-Guardiola
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jose M Lizcano
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.,Protein Kinases in Cancer Research, Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain
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Vescovo T, Pagni B, Piacentini M, Fimia GM, Antonioli M. Regulation of Autophagy in Cells Infected With Oncogenic Human Viruses and Its Impact on Cancer Development. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020; 8:47. [PMID: 32181249 PMCID: PMC7059124 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
About 20% of total cancer cases are associated to infections. To date, seven human viruses have been directly linked to cancer development: high-risk human papillomaviruses (hrHPVs), Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), and human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1). These viruses impact on several molecular mechanisms in the host cells, often resulting in chronic inflammation, uncontrolled proliferation, and cell death inhibition, and mechanisms, which favor viral life cycle but may indirectly promote tumorigenesis. Recently, the ability of oncogenic viruses to alter autophagy, a catabolic process activated during the innate immune response to infections, is emerging as a key event for the onset of human cancers. Here, we summarize the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which human oncogenic viruses regulate autophagy and how this negative regulation impacts on cancer development. Finally, we highlight novel autophagy-related candidates for the treatment of virus-related cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiziana Vescovo
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" - IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Benedetta Pagni
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.,Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata," Rome, Italy
| | - Mauro Piacentini
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.,Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata," Rome, Italy
| | - Gian Maria Fimia
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.,Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy
| | - Manuela Antonioli
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" - IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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