O-glycosylation regulates LNCaP prostate cancer cell susceptibility to apoptosis induced by galectin-1

Resistance to apoptosis is a critical feature of neoplastic cells. Galectin-1 is an endogenous carbohydrate-binding protein that induces death of leukemia and lymphoma cells, breast cancer cells, and the LNCaP prostate cancer cell line, but not other prostate cancer cell lines. To understand the mechanism of galectin-1 sensitivity of LNCaP cells compared with other prostate cancer cells, we characterized glycan ligands that are important for conferring galectin-1 sensitivity in these cells, and analyzed expression of glycosyltransferase genes in galectin-1-sensitive, prostate-specific antigen-positive (PSA(+)) LNCaP cells compared with a galectin-1-resistant PSA(-) LNCaP subclone. We identified one glycosyltransferase, core 2 N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase, which is down-regulated in galectin-1-resistant PSA(-) LNCaP cells compared with galectin-1-sensitive PSA(+) LNCaP cells. Intriguingly, this is the same glycosyltransferase required for galectin-1 susceptibility of T lymphoma cells, indicating that similar O-glycan ligands on different polypeptide backbones may be common death trigger receptors recognized by galectin-1 on different types of cancer cells. Blocking O-glycan elongation by expressing alpha2,3-sialyltransferase 1 rendered LNCaP cells resistant to galectin-1, showing that specific O-glycans are critical for galectin-1 susceptibility. Loss of galectin-1 susceptibility and synthesis of endogenous galectin-1 has been proposed to promote tumor evasion of immune attack; we found that galectin-1-expressing prostate cancer cells killed bound T cells, whereas LNCaP cells that do not express galectin-1 did not kill T cells. Resistance to galectin-1-induced apoptosis may directly contribute to the survival of prostate cancer cells as well as promote immune evasion by the tumor.     

Androgen receptor regulates CD168 expression and signaling in prostate cancer

Dysregulation of the androgen receptor (AR) and its signaling in the prostate often occurs during normal aging or after androgen ablation, consequently leading to the development of hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). Hyaluronan (HA) plays an important role in this transformation of androgen-independent cancer. Previous studies have shown that activation of the receptor for hyaluronan-mediated motility, CD168, was correlated with the Gleason's score, cancer stage, transformation and metastasis in >90% of HRPC patients. However, the relationship between loss of AR dependency and HA-mediated CD168 signaling remains unclear. We report here that AR regulates normal CD168 expression and its downstream signaling in androgen-dependent (AD) prostatic epithelial cell lines. Furthermore, we observed that the concurrent treatments of HA and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a native androgen, significantly promoted the tumorigenicity of AD prostate cancer cell lines, which showed elevated rates of cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis to the human bone marrow endothelial cell layer. Inhibition of CD168 downstream Rho-activated protein kinases completely prevented this type of tumorigenicity. These findings suggest that the interaction of androgen and AR is essential for regulating HA-mediated cancer progression via the CD168/ROCK signal transduction pathway and also indicate that the loss of AR regulation not only causes CD168 overexpression but it also activates HA-mediated CD168 signaling in malignant cancer progression and metastasis of HRPC.     

Cyclooxygenase-2 is up-regulated by interleukin-1 beta in human colorectal cancer cells via multiple signaling pathways

Overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been observed in human colorectal cancer. COX-2 expression in human tumors can be induced by growth factors, cytokines, oncogenes, and other factors. The mechanisms regulating COX-2 expression in human colon cancer have not been completely elucidated. We hypothesized that the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) mediates COX-2 expression in HT-29 human colon cancer cells. Treatment of HT-29 cells with IL-1 beta induced expression of COX-2 mRNA and protein in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Inhibitors of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase, P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) signaling pathways blocked the ability of IL-1 beta to induce COX-2 mRNA. In contrast, Wortmannin, a phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor upstream of protein kinase B/Akt, led to a slight increase in COX-2 mRNA expression after IL-1 beta treatment. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay on nuclear extracts demonstrated that IL-1 beta induced NF-kappa B DNA binding activity in HT-29 cells, and the activated NF-kappa B complex was eliminated after treatment with an inhibitor of NF-kappa B. Supershift assay indicated that the two NF-kappa B subunits, p65 and p50, were involved in activation of NF-kappa B complex by IL-1 beta stimulation. The stability of COX-2 mRNA was not altered by IL-1 beta treatment. These data demonstrate that IL-1 beta induces COX-2 expression in HT-29 cells through multiple signaling pathways and NF-kappa B.     

Metformin targets multiple signaling pathways in cancer

Metformin, an inexpensive and well-tolerated oral agent commonly used in the first-line treatment of type 2 dia-betes, has become the focus of intense research as a candidate anticancer agent. Here, we discuss the potential of metformin in cancer therapeutics, particularly its functions in multiple signaling pathways, including AMP-activated protein kinase, mammalian target of rapamycin, insulin-like growth factor, c-Jun N-terminal kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2, and nuclear factor kappaB pathways. In addi-tion, cutting-edge targeting of cancer stem cells by metformin is summarized.     

Sigma-2 ligands induce tumour cell death by multiple signalling pathways

Background:

The sigma-2 receptor has been identified as a biomarker of proliferating cells in solid tumours. In the present study, we studied the mechanisms of sigma-2 ligand-induced cell death in the mouse breast cancer cell line EMT-6 and the human melanoma cell line MDA-MB-435.

Methods:

EMT-6 and MDA-MB-435 cells were treated with sigma-2 ligands. The modulation of multiple signaling pathways of cell death was evaluated.

Results:

Three sigma-2 ligands (WC-26, SV119 and RHM-138) induced DNA fragmentation, caspase-3 activation and PARP-1 cleavage. The caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK partially blocked DNA fragmentation and cytotoxicity caused by these compounds. These data suggest that sigma-2 ligand-induced apoptosis and caspase activation are partially responsible for the cell death. WC-26 and siramesine induced formation of vacuoles in the cells. WC-26, SV119, RHM-138 and siramesine increased the synthesis and processing of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3, an autophagosome marker, and decreased the expression levels of the downstream effectors of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p70S6K and 4EBP1, suggesting that sigma-2 ligands induce autophagy, probably by inhibition of the mTOR pathway. All four sigma-2 ligands decreased the expression of cyclin D1 in a time-dependent manner. In addition, WC-26 and SV119 mainly decreased cyclin B1, E2 and phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (pRb); RHM-138 mainly decreased cyclin E2; and 10 μ siramesine mainly decreased cyclin B1 and pRb. These data suggest that sigma-2 ligands also impair cell-cycle progression in multiple phases of the cell cycle.

Conclusion:

Sigma-2 ligands induce cell death by multiple signalling pathways.     

Induction of apoptosis by furanodiene in HL60 leukemia cells through activation of TNFR1 signaling pathway

Furanodiene, a natural product isolated from Curcuma wenyujin, has been reported to produce cytotoxic effect. In this study, we investigated its effects on human leukemia HL60 cells. Furanodiene induced apoptosis of HL60 cells, characterized by DNA fragmentation, cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9. In the Bcl-2 family proteins, Bid protein (a substrate of caspase-8) was activated by furanodiene, but Bcl-2, Bax and Bcl-xL proteins were not influenced by furanodiene stimulation. Moreover, furanodiene treatment caused the upregulation of tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1), the formation of TNFR1 complex and an obvious production of TNF-alpha in HL60 cells. The soluble TNFR1 receptor effectively inhibited furanodiene-induced apoptosis. Taken together, furanodiene could inhibit the growth of leukemia cells via induction of apoptosis, and TNFR1-mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathways explains furanodiene-induced apoptosis.     

Activation of multiple angiogenic signaling pathways in hemangiopericytoma

Hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a highly vascularized mesenchymal tumor. Local recurrence and distant metastasis are common features of HPC. Considering the remarkable hyper-vasculature phenotype of HPC, we assumed that dysregulated angiogenic signaling pathways were involved in HPC. The key components of angiogenic signaling pathways including VEGF–VEGF-R2, EphrinB2-EphB4 and DLL4-Notch were examined by real-time RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunostaining in 17 surgical specimens of HPC patients and in 6 controls. A significant upregulation of VEGF and VEGF-R2 associated with elevated levels of p-Akt and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was detected in HPC. Moreover, a dramatic increase in the mRNA and protein expression of EphB4 and its downstream factor p-Erk1/2 was found in HPC. A massive activation of core-components of DLL4-Notch signaling was detected in HPC. Double-immunofluorescent staining confirmed the expression of these upregulated key factors in the endothelial cells of tumor vessels. The present study identified the activation of multiple and crucial angiogenic signaling pathways, which could function individually and/or synergistically to stimulate angiogenesis in HPC and eventually contribute to tumor growth and progression. Our findings emphasize the importance to target multiple angiogenic signaling pathways when an anti-angiogenic therapy is considered for this highly vascularized tumor.     

miR-200c 通过靶向细胞能量代谢和多种信号通路调控三阴性乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞的恶性生物学行为

目的：考察miR-200c对三阴性乳腺癌（triple negative breast cancer,TNBC）细胞MDA-MB-231的增殖、凋亡和迁移的影响及其代谢相关的分子机制。方法：以过表达miR-200c的MDA-MB-231（miR-200c-231）细胞、无过表达miR-200c的阴性对照细胞miR-NC-231及其移植瘤裸鼠模型为研究对象,qPCR检测细胞和移植瘤组织中miR-200c及其他相关基因的表达水平,免疫组化技术分析瘤组织中Ki67阳性细胞数量,Transwell小室法检测细胞的迁移能力,流式细胞术检测细胞的凋亡率,Western blotting检测细胞及组织中增殖、迁移和代谢相关信号通路多种蛋白的表达,Seahorse能量代谢检测仪检测细胞的基础耗氧率（oxygen comsumpition rate,OCR）、细胞外酸度（extracellular acidification rate,ECAR）和代谢表型变化,液相质谱联用技术检测细胞中代谢产物的变化。结果：miR-200c-231细胞及其移植瘤组织中 miR-200c 表达较 miR-NC-231细胞显著增加（P<0.05或P<0.01）,miR-200c-231移植瘤质量和体积均显著下降、瘤组织中Ki67阳性细胞数明显减少（P<0.01）,miR-200c-231细胞的迁移能力下降、细胞凋亡率提高（均P<0.01）。同时伴随着ZEB1/2、Vimentin、cyclinD1的表达下调及cleaved PARP表达的提高（P<0.05或P<0.01）,STAT1/3和NF-κB的磷酸化水平降低（均P<0.05）而cAMP通路蛋白的磷酸化水平提高（P<0.05）。miR-200c-231细胞的OCR提高和ECAR降低、色氨酸2,3-加二氧酶（tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase 2,TDO2）表达下降（P<0.05或P<0.01）,细胞内10种抗肿瘤代谢物质含量提高（P<0.05或P<0.01）。结论：miR-200c靶向TDO2调控TNBC细胞MDA-MB-231胞内抗肿瘤代谢产物水平、促使细胞代谢类型由依赖糖酵解为主向有氧呼吸类型转化,并失活STAT3和NF-κB通路而激活cAMP通路,从而影响MDA-MB-231细胞的恶性生物学行为。     

组织因子/因子Ⅶ激活PI3K/Akt信号途径调控阿霉素诱导人胶质母细胞瘤细胞凋亡的研究

Objective: To investigate the role of tissue factor (TF) in chemotherapeutic reagent - induced apoptosis on human glioblastoma and explore its mechanism. Methods: The expression of TF was examined by Western blotting. The cytotoxicity of doxorubicin was determined by WST assay. The activation of Caspase-3 and PARP induced by adoxorubicin were tested by Western blotting. Results: Human glioblastoma cell line U373MG expressed high level of TF while LN-229 was with low-TF level. The chemotherapeutic reagent doxorubicin revealed stronger cytotoxic effect on high-TF U373MG cells than low-TF LN-229 cells. Enforced strong expression of TF was achieved by transfection of TF-pcDNA3 combinant on LN-229 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Enforced TF expression in transfected LN-229 cells not only impaired the doxorubicin-induced cleavage of Caspase-3 and PARP, but also inhibited the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin. Furthermore, activation of Akt was strong in high-TF U373MG cells but weak in low-TF LN-229 cells. Incubation of factor VII (FVII) with enforced TF-expressing LN-229 cells increased the phosphorylation of Akt in a time-dependent manner. Conclusion: These results suggest that over-expression of TF on glioblastoma could inhibit doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Interaction of FVII and TF activates the downstream PI3K/Akt pathway. Tumor-derived over-expression of TF might play a role in chemotherapy resistance in glioblastoma, at lest in part, by activating PI3K/Akt-mediated survival and anti-apoptotic mechanism through the interaction of TF/FVII signaling.     

多种信号转导通路在维生素E琥珀酸酯诱导乳腺癌细胞凋亡中的研究进展

维生素E琥珀酸酯（VES）是一种新型肿瘤抑制剂,近年来已得到公认。但是,VES诱导乳腺癌细胞凋亡的机制尚未阐明,目前的研究表明,VES主要通过细胞转化生长因子β（TGF-β）、Fas及c-Jun氨基末端激酶等多种信号途径诱导乳腺癌细胞凋亡,其对肿瘤的抑制作用通过的其他信号转导通路仍在进一步研究当中。     

组织因子/因子Ⅶ激活PI3K/Akt信号途径调控阿霉素诱导人胶质母细胞瘤细胞凋亡的研究

Objective: To investigate the role of tissue factor (TF) in chemotherapeutic reagent - induced apoptosis on human glioblastoma and explore its mechanism. Methods: The expression of TF was examined by Western blotting. The cytotoxicity of doxorubicin was determined by WST assay. The activation of Caspase-3 and PARP induced by adoxorubicin were tested by Western blotting. Results: Human glioblastoma ceil line U373MG expressed high level of TF while LN-229was with low-TF level. The chemotherapeutic reagent doxorubicin revealed stronger cytotoxic effect on high-TF U373MGcells than low-TF LN-229 cells. Enforced strong expression of TF was achieved by transfection of TF-pcDNA3 combinant on LN-229 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Enforced TF expression in transfected LN-229 cells not only impaired the doxorubicin-induced cleavage of Caspase-3 and PARP, but also inhibited the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin. Furthermore,activation of Akt was strong in high-TF U373MG cells but weak in low-TF LN-229 cells. Incubation of factor Ⅶ (FⅦ) with enforced TF-expressing LN-229 cells increased the phosphorylation of Akt in a time-dependent manner. Conclusion: These results suggest that over-expression of TF on glioblastoma could inhibit doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Interaction of FⅦand TF activates the downstream PI3K/Akt pathway. Tumor-derived over-expression of TF might play a role in chemotherapy resistance in glioblastoma, at lest in part, by activating PI3K/Akt-mediated survival and anti-apoptotic mechanism through theinteraction of TF/FⅦ signaling.     

Nuclear translocation of apoptosis inducing factor is associated with cisplatin induced apoptosis in LNCaP prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer (PC) is considered resistant to cisplatin chemotherapy. In order to identify novel causes of resistance to cisplatin, we explored the role of Apoptosis Inducing Factor (AIF) that mediates caspase independent apoptosis in cisplatin induced cell death in PC. Similar to treatment with pancaspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk, cisplatin induced apoptosis in LNCaP cells was inhibited by AIF inhibitor N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), treatment of LNCaP cells with NAC prevented AIF translocation to the nucleus and over-expression of recombinant AIF gene increased apoptosis. Our results suggest that AIF is associated with cisplatin induced apoptosis in PC.     

Romidepsin targets multiple survival signaling pathways in malignant T cells

Romidepsin is a cyclic molecule that inhibits histone deacetylases. It is Food and Drug Administration-approved for treatment of cutaneous and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, but its precise mechanism of action against malignant T cells is unknown. To better understand the biological effects of romidepsin in these cells, we exposed PEER and SUPT1 T-cell lines, and a primary sample from T-cell lymphoma patient (Patient J) to romidepsin. We then examined the consequences in some key oncogenic signaling pathways. Romidepsin displayed IC₅₀ values of 10.8, 7.9 and 7.0 nm in PEER, SUPT1 and Patient J cells, respectively. Strong inhibition of histone deacetylases and demethylases, increased production of reactive oxygen species and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential were observed, which may contribute to the observed DNA-damage response and apoptosis. The stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase signaling pathway and unfolded protein response in the endoplasmic reticulum were activated, whereas the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) and β-catenin pro-survival pathways were inhibited. The decreased level of β-catenin correlated with the upregulation of its inhibitor SFRP1 through romidepsin-mediated hypomethylation of its gene promoter. Our results provide new insights into how romidepsin invokes malignant T-cell killing, show evidence of its associated DNA hypomethylating activity and offer a rationale for the development of romidepsin-containing combination therapies.     

Therapeutic targeting of multiple signaling pathways in malignant pleural mesothelioma

The majority of malignant pleural mesotheliomas (MPMs) aberrantly express the epidermal growth factor receptor (ErbB1). We examined the efficacy of GW572016 (lapatinib), a dual inhibitor of ErbB1/ErbB2 with a panel of 10 MPM cell lines. Two of the 10 MPM cell lines, H2373 and H2452, underwent G1/S cell cycle arrest and growth inhibition with an IC(50) of 1 muM and 0.8 muM, respectively. There was no relationship between the presence or the amount of ErbB1, phospho-ErbB1, phospho-ErbB2, ErbB3, ErbB4, phospho-Akt, and Akt or the ability of lapatinib to inhibit phospho-ErbB1 in these cell lines compared to those that did not respond to lapatinib. The sensitive cell lines had a time-dependent decrease in phospho-Akt and/or ERK1/2, and an increase in p27 and when treated with lapatinib. The combination of lapatinib with U0126, LY294002 or rapamycin caused greater growth inhibition than either drug alone in the sensitive cell lines while this did not occur in the resistant cell lines. Our findings suggest that ErbB1 alone is a therapeutic target for the minority of mesotheliomas and that combining ErbB1 inhibitors with signal transduction inhibitors in mesothelioma will enhance their effectiveness. Furthermore, combinations of growth factor and signal transduction inhibitors may be needed to inhibit the growth of the majority of MPM cell lines, and therefore patients with MPM.     

Growth factors and antiapoptotic signaling pathways in multiple myeloma.

Failure of myeloma cells to undergo apoptosis plays an important role in the accumulation of myeloma cells within the bone marrow (BM). Moreover, inhibition of drug-induced apoptosis has been indicated as a major contributor of drug resistance in myeloma. The BM microenvironment promotes survival and blocks the apoptotic effects of various cytotoxic agents through the production of cytokines as well as through direct physical interactions. Several antiapoptotic proteins and antiapoptotic signaling cascades have been identified that contribute to the antiapoptotic phenotype of the myeloma cell. In this review, we discuss mechanisms that result in enhanced survival and drug resistance of myeloma cells. Insight into these mechanisms is essential to make progress in the therapy of myeloma.