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Kang X, Jadhav S, Annaji M, Huang CH, Amin R, Shen J, Ashby CR, Tiwari AK, Babu RJ, Chen P. Advancing Cancer Therapy with Copper/Disulfiram Nanomedicines and Drug Delivery Systems. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:1567. [PMID: 37376016 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15061567] [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: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 05/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Disulfiram (DSF) is a thiocarbamate based drug that has been approved for treating alcoholism for over 60 years. Preclinical studies have shown that DSF has anticancer efficacy, and its supplementation with copper (CuII) significantly potentiates the efficacy of DSF. However, the results of clinical trials have not yielded promising results. The elucidation of the anticancer mechanisms of DSF/Cu (II) will be beneficial in repurposing DSF as a new treatment for certain types of cancer. DSF's anticancer mechanism is primarily due to its generating reactive oxygen species, inhibiting aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity inhibition, and decreasing the levels of transcriptional proteins. DSF also shows inhibitory effects in cancer cell proliferation, the self-renewal of cancer stem cells (CSCs), angiogenesis, drug resistance, and suppresses cancer cell metastasis. This review also discusses current drug delivery strategies for DSF alone diethyldithocarbamate (DDC), Cu (II) and DSF/Cu (II), and the efficacious component Diethyldithiocarbamate-copper complex (CuET).
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuejia Kang
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- Materials Research and Education Center, Materials Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Sanika Jadhav
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
| | - Manjusha Annaji
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Chung-Hui Huang
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Rajesh Amin
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Jianzhong Shen
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Charles R Ashby
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, St. John's University, Queens, NY 11431, USA
| | - Amit K Tiwari
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - R Jayachandra Babu
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Pengyu Chen
- Materials Research and Education Center, Materials Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
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Wang Y, Drum DL, Sun R, Zhang Y, Yu L, Jia L, Isakoff SJ, Kehlmann AM, Dal AE, Dotti G, Zheng H, Ferrone CR, Taghian AG, DeLeo AB, Zhang H, Jounaidi Y, Fan S, Huang P, Wang C, Yang J, Boland GM, Sadreyev RI, Wong L, Ferrone S, Wang X. Stressed target cancer cells drive nongenetic reprogramming of CAR T cells and tumor microenvironment, overcoming multiple obstacles of CAR T therapy for solid tumors. Res Sq 2023:rs.3.rs-2595410. [PMID: 36865255 PMCID: PMC9980213 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2595410/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
The poor efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR T) for solid tumor is due to insufficient CAR T cell tumor infiltration, in vivo expansion, persistence, and effector function, as well as exhaustion, intrinsic target antigen heterogeneity or antigen loss of target cancer cells, and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Here we describe a broadly applicable nongenetic approach that simultaneously addresses the multiple challenges of CAR T as a therapy for solid tumors. The approach massively reprograms CAR T cells by exposing them to stressed target cancer cells which have been exposed to the cell stress inducer disulfiram (DSF) and copper (Cu)(DSF/Cu) plus ionizing irradiation (IR). The reprogrammed CAR T cells acquired early memory-like characteristics, potent cytotoxicity, enhanced in vivo expansion, persistence, and decreased exhaustion. Tumors stressed by DSF/Cu and IR also reprogrammed and reversed immunosuppressive TME in humanized mice. The reprogrammed CAR T cells, derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of healthy or metastatic breast cancer patients, induced robust, sustained memory and curative anti-solid tumor responses in multiple xenograft mouse models, establishing proof of concept for empowering CAR T by stressing tumor as a novel therapy for solid tumor.
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Guo W, Zhang X, Lin L, Wang H, He E, Wang G, Zhao Q. The disulfiram/copper complex induces apoptosis and inhibits tumor growth in human osteosarcoma by activating the ROS/JNK signaling pathway. J Biochem 2021; 170:275-287. [PMID: 33792698 DOI: 10.1093/jb/mvab045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Given the huge cost, long research and development (R&D) time and uncertain side effects of discovering new drugs, drug repositioning of those approved to treat diseases clinically as new drugs for other pathological conditions, especially cancers, is a potential alternative strategy. Disulfiram (DSF), an old drug used to treat alcoholism, has been found to exhibit anticancer activity and improve chemotherapeutic efficacy in cancers by an increasing number of studies. In addition, the combination of DSF and copper may be a more effective therapeutic strategy. In this study, we report the toxicity of the DSF/Cu complex to human osteosarcoma both in vitro and in vivo. DSF/Cu significantly inhibited the proliferation and clonogenicity of osteosarcoma cell lines. Furthermore, the generation of ROS was triggered by DSF/Cu, and cell arrest, autophagy and apoptosis were induced in a ROS-dependent manner. The underlying mechanism of this process was explored, and DSF/Cu may mainly inhibit osteosarcoma by inducing apoptosis by activating the ROS/JNK pathway. DSF/Cu also inhibited osteosarcoma growth in a xenograft model with low levels of organ-related toxicities. These results suggest that the DSF/Cu complex could be an efficient and safe option for the treatment of osteosarcoma in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weihong Guo
- Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai General Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200080, China
| | - Xiaoxing Zhang
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Chongqing University Central Hospital, Chongqing, 400000, China
| | - Longshuai Lin
- Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai General Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200080, China
| | - Hongjie Wang
- Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai General Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200080, China
| | - Enjun He
- Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai General Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200080, China
| | - Gangyang Wang
- Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai General Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200080, China
| | - Qinghua Zhao
- Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai General Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200080, China
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Jin N, Zhu X, Cheng F, Zhang L. Disulfiram/copper targets stem cell-like ALDH + population of multiple myeloma by inhibition of ALDH1A1 and Hedgehog pathway. J Cell Biochem 2018; 119:6882-6893. [PMID: 29665144 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.26885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [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: 12/23/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Multiple myeloma stem cells (MMSCs) have been considered as the major cause resulting in relapse. Eradicating MMSCs may be an effective strategy to improve the outcome of multiple myeloma (MM). Increased activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) has been found in MMSCs, but whether inhibiting ALDH activity can eliminate MMSCs remains unknown. Disulfiram (DS) has been reported as an inhibitor of ALDH, and increasing studies showed it has anti-cancer effects in a copper (Cu)-dependent manner. In this study, we isolated ALDH+ cells of MM by Aldefluor assay and demonstrated they possessed tumorigenesis capacities in vitro and in vivo. Next, we investigated the effects of DS with or without Cu on suppressing the stemness of MM both in vitro and in vivo. We found that DS/Cu eliminated the stem cell-like ALDH+ cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that DS/Cu inhibited the expression of stem cell transcription factors NANOG and OCT4, and abolished the clonogenicity of MM. We also showed that DS/Cu reduced the tumor growth and inhibited stemness of MM in xenograft model. We further found the specific target of DS/Cu is ALDH1A1 and DS/Cu inhibited the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway transcription factors Gli1 and Gli2 regulated by ALDH1A1 at least in part. Our data suggest that DS/Cu can inhibit the ALDH+ stem cell-like cells through ALDH1A1 and Hh pathway, which may be a promising therapeutic agent in eradicating stem cell-like cells of MM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Na Jin
- Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiaojian Zhu
- Department of Hematology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Fanjun Cheng
- Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Liling Zhang
- Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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