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Khedkar HN, Chen LC, Kuo YC, Wu ATH, Huang HS. Multi-Omics Identification of Genetic Alterations in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Therapeutic Efficacy of HNC018 as a Novel Multi-Target Agent for c-MET/STAT3/AKT Signaling Axis. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:10247. [PMID: 37373393 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241210247] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Amongst the most prevalent malignancies worldwide, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is characterized by high morbidity and mortality. The failure of standard treatment modalities, such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, demands the need for in-depth understanding of the complex signaling networks involved in the development of treatment resistance. A tumor's invasive growth and high levels of intrinsic or acquired treatment resistance are the primary causes of treatment failure. This may be a result of the presence of HNSCC's cancer stem cells, which are known to have self-renewing capabilities that result in therapeutic resistance. Using bioinformatics methods, we discovered that elevated expressions of MET, STAT3, and AKT were associated with poor overall survival in HNSCC patients. We then evaluated the therapeutic potential of our newly synthesized small molecule HNC018 towards its potential as a novel anticancer drug. Our computer-aided structure characterization and target identification study predicted that HNC018 could target these oncogenic markers implicated in HNSCC. Subsequently, the HNC018 has demonstrated its anti-proliferative and anticancer activities towards the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, along with displaying the stronger binding affinities towards the MET, STAT3, and AKT than the standard drug cisplatin. Reduction in the clonogenic and tumor-sphere-forming ability displays HNC018's role in decreasing the tumorigenicity. Importantly, an vivo study has shown a significant delay in tumor growth in HNC018 alone or in combination with cisplatin-treated xenograft mice model. Collectively with our findings, HNC018 highlights the desirable properties of a drug-like candidate and could be considered as a novel small molecule for treating head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harshita Nivrutti Khedkar
- Ph.D. Program for Cancer Molecular Biology and Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, and Academia Sinica, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute for Cancer Biology & Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
| | - Lung-Ching Chen
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei 11101, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei 24205, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Cheng Kuo
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
| | - Alexander T H Wu
- Ph.D. Program for Translational Medicine, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Taipei Heart Institute (THI), Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Clinical Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- International Ph.D. Program for Translational Science, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Centre, Taipei 11490, Taiwan
| | - Hsu-Shan Huang
- Ph.D. Program for Cancer Molecular Biology and Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, and Academia Sinica, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute for Cancer Biology & Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Centre, Taipei 11490, Taiwan
- School of Pharmacy, National Defense Medical Centre, Taipei 11490, Taiwan
- Ph.D. Program in Drug Discovery and Development Industry, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
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Khedkar HN, Wang YC, Yadav VK, Srivastava P, Lawal B, Mokgautsi N, Sumitra MR, Wu ATH, Huang HS. In-Silico Evaluation of Genetic Alterations in Ovarian Carcinoma and Therapeutic Efficacy of NSC777201, as a Novel Multi-Target Agent for TTK, NEK2, and CDK1. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22115895. [PMID: 34072728 PMCID: PMC8198179 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22115895] [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] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2021] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is often detected at the advanced stages at the time of initial diagnosis. Early-stage diagnosis is difficult due to its asymptomatic nature, where less than 30% of 5-year survival has been noticed. The underlying molecular events associated with the disease’s pathogenesis have yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, the identification of prognostic biomarkers as well as developing novel therapeutic agents for targeting these markers become relevant. Herein, we identified 264 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) common in four ovarian cancer datasets (GSE14407, GSE18520, GSE26712, GSE54388), respectively. We constructed a protein-protein interaction (PPI) interaction network with the overexpressed genes (72 genes) and performed gene enrichment analysis. In the PPI networks, three proteins; TTK Protein Kinase (TTK), NIMA Related Kinase 2 (NEK2), and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK1) with higher node degrees were further evaluated as therapeutic targets for our novel multi-target small molecule NSC777201. We found that the upregulated DEGs were enriched in KEGG and gene ontologies associated with ovarian cancer progression, female gamete association, otic vesicle development, regulation of chromosome segregation, and therapeutic failure. In addition to the PPI network, ingenuity pathway analysis also implicate TTK, NEK2, and CDK1 in the elevated salvage pyrimidine and pyridoxal pathways in ovarian cancer. The TTK, NEK2, and CDK1 are over-expressed, demonstrating a high frequency of genetic alterations, and are associated with poor prognosis of ovarian cancer cohorts. Interestingly, NSC777201 demonstrated anti-proliferative and cytotoxic activities (GI50 = 1.6 µM~1.82 µM and TGI50 = 3.5 µM~3.63 µM) against the NCI panels of ovarian cancer cell lines and exhibited a robust interaction with stronger affinities for TTK, NEK2, and CDK1, than do the standard drug, paclitaxel. NSC777201 displayed desirable properties of a drug-like candidate and thus could be considered as a novel small molecule for treating ovarian carcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harshita Nivrutti Khedkar
- PhD Program for Cancer Molecular Biology and Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; (H.N.K.); (B.L.); (N.M.); (M.R.S.)
- Graduate Institute for Cancer Biology & Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Chi Wang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan;
| | - Vijesh Kumar Yadav
- The Program for Translational Medicine, Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; (V.K.Y.); (P.S.)
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City 23561, Taiwan
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan
| | - Prateeti Srivastava
- The Program for Translational Medicine, Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; (V.K.Y.); (P.S.)
| | - Bashir Lawal
- PhD Program for Cancer Molecular Biology and Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; (H.N.K.); (B.L.); (N.M.); (M.R.S.)
- Graduate Institute for Cancer Biology & Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
| | - Ntlotlang Mokgautsi
- PhD Program for Cancer Molecular Biology and Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; (H.N.K.); (B.L.); (N.M.); (M.R.S.)
- Graduate Institute for Cancer Biology & Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
| | - Maryam Rachmawati Sumitra
- PhD Program for Cancer Molecular Biology and Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; (H.N.K.); (B.L.); (N.M.); (M.R.S.)
- Graduate Institute for Cancer Biology & Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
| | - Alexander T. H. Wu
- The Program for Translational Medicine, Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; (V.K.Y.); (P.S.)
- The PhD Program for Translational Medicine, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- TMU Research Center of Cancer Translational Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Clinical Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan
- Correspondence: (A.T.H.W.); (H.-S.H.)
| | - Hsu-Shan Huang
- PhD Program for Cancer Molecular Biology and Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; (H.N.K.); (B.L.); (N.M.); (M.R.S.)
- Graduate Institute for Cancer Biology & Drug Discovery, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan
- National Defense Medical Center, School of Pharmacy, Taipei 11490, Taiwan
- PhD Program in Drug Discovery and Development Industry, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
- Correspondence: (A.T.H.W.); (H.-S.H.)
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