scholarly journals Inhibition of cell proliferation and tumor growth of colorectal cancer by inhibitors of Wnt and Notch signaling pathways

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 3695-3700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuliang Xiao ◽  
Xiaojing Yang ◽  
Yinglei Miao ◽  
Xikun He ◽  
Ming Wang ◽  
...  
2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 1693-1703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianjun Chen ◽  
Yang Luo ◽  
Yong Zhou ◽  
Shaolan Qin ◽  
Yier Qiu ◽  
...  

Background/Aims: ADAMTSs (A disintegrin and metalloprotease domains with thrombospondins motifs) are a family of extracellular proteases that have been related to both oncogenic and tumor-suppressive functions. The aim of the present study was to investigate: 1) the mutation, copy-number alterations, and expression profile of ADAMTSs in colorectal cancer and 2) whether ADAMTSs participate in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and invasion. Methods: The mutation, copy-number alterations, and expression profile of ADAMTSs in CRC were analyzed in the TCGA cohort using cBioportal. ADAMTS4 expression in tumor tissues and cell lines were determined by immunostaining and real-time quantitative PCR. The role of ADAMTS-4 in CRC progression and the underlying mechanisms were studied by using short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of ADAMTS4. The effects of ADAMTS4 in cell proliferation and invasion were determined by clone formation assay and transwell migration assay, respectively. Macrophages were depleted by liposomal clodronate in immune-competent BALB/c mice and tumor growth was analyzed. Results: ADAMTS4 was differentially expressed in CRC and predicted a poor prognosis. Elevated ADAMTS4 expression was closely associated with larger tumor size, enhanced TNM stage, and a poor clinical outcome in patients with CRC. ADAMTS4 knockdown had no inhibitory implications on cell proliferation and invasion in vitro, but significantly attenuated tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, we revealed that ADAMTS4 was associated macrophages infiltration and polarization in the tumor microenvironment of CRC. Macrophage depletion largely abolished the promotive effect of ADAMTS4 on tumor growth in the immune competent BALB/c mice. Conclusion: ADAMTS4 seemed to be a promising prognostic indicator in CRC. The novel link between ADAMTS4 and macrophages mirrors the potential regulatory roles of ADAMTSs in the inflammatory microenvironment of cancers.


Author(s):  
Jinhua Wang ◽  
Yajing Xing ◽  
Yingying Wang ◽  
Yundong He ◽  
Liting Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cancer-initiating cell (CIC), a functionally homogeneous stem-like cell population, is resonsible for driving the tumor maintenance and metastasis, and is a source of chemotherapy and radiation-therapy resistance within tumors. Targeting CICs self-renewal has been proposed as a therapeutic goal and an effective approach to control tumor growth. BMI-1, a critical regulator of self-renewal in the maintenance of CICs, is identified as a potential target for colorectal cancer therapy. Methods Colorectal cancer stem-like cell lines HCT116 and HT29 were used for screening more than 500 synthetic compounds by sulforhodamine B (SRB) cell proliferation assay. The candidate compound was studied in vitro by SRB cell proliferation assay, western blotting, cell colony formation assay, quantitative real-time PCR, flow cytometry analysis, and transwell migration assay. Sphere formation assay and limiting dilution analysis (LDA) were performed for measuring the effect of compound on stemness properties. In vivo subcutaneous tumor growth xenograft model and liver metastasis model were performed to test the efficacy of the compound treatment. Student’s t test was applied for statistical analysis. Results We report the development and characterization of a small molecule inhibitor QW24 against BMI-1. QW24 potently down-regulates BMI-1 protein level through autophagy-lysosome degradation pathway without affecting the BMI-1 mRNA level. Moreover, QW24 significantly inhibits the self-renewal of colorectal CICs in stem-like colorectal cancer cell lines, resulting in the abrogation of their proliferation and metastasis. Notably, QW24 significantly suppresses the colorectal tumor growth without obvious toxicity in the subcutaneous xenograft model, as well as decreases the tumor metastasis and increases mice survival in the liver metastasis model. Moreover, QW24 exerts a better efficiency than the previously reported BMI-1 inhibitor PTC-209. Conclusions Our preclinical data show that QW24 exerts potent anti-tumor activity by down-regulating BMI-1 and abrogating colorectal CICs self-renewal without obvious toxicity in vivo, suggesting that QW24 could potentially be used as an effective therapeutic agent for clinical colorectal cancer treatment.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1268-1279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yifeng Fang ◽  
Hong Yu ◽  
Xiao Liang ◽  
Junfen Xu ◽  
Xiujun Cai

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 2461-2469
Author(s):  
Jiajun Ren ◽  
Shouhua Wang ◽  
Longyang Jin ◽  
Fei Ma ◽  
Di Zhou ◽  
...  

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 3430
Author(s):  
Chifei Kang ◽  
Ran Rostoker ◽  
Sarit Ben-Shumel ◽  
Rola Rashed ◽  
James Andrew Duty ◽  
...  

TMEM176B is a member of the membrane spanning 4-domains (MS4) family of transmembrane proteins, and a putative ion channel that is expressed in immune cells and certain cancers. We aimed to understand the role of TMEM176B in cancer cell signaling, gene expression, cell proliferation, and migration in vitro, as well as tumor growth in vivo. We generated breast cancer cell lines with overexpressed and silenced TMEM176B, and a therapeutic antibody targeting TMEM176B. Proliferation and migration assays were performed in vitro, and tumor growth was evaluated in vivo. We performed gene expression and Western blot analyses to identify the most differentially regulated genes and signaling pathways in cells with TMEM176B overexpression and silencing. Silencing TMEM176B or inhibiting it with a therapeutic antibody impaired cell proliferation, while overexpression increased proliferation in vitro. Syngeneic and xenograft tumor studies revealed the attenuated growth of tumors with TMEM176B gene silencing compared with controls. We found that the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway was activated or repressed in cells overexpressing or silenced for TMEM176B, respectively. Overall, our results suggest that TMEM176B expression in breast cancer cells regulates key signaling pathways and genes that contribute to cancer cell growth and progression, and is a potential target for therapeutic antibodies.


Author(s):  
A. N. Toropovsky ◽  
O. N. Pavlova ◽  
D. A. Viktorov ◽  
A. G. Nikitin

Colorectal cancer occupies one of the leading positions in the world in the structure of cancer incidence. The vital processes of cancer cells largely depend on the production of growth factors and their receptors. One of these is epidermal growth factor (EGFR), which is a tyrosine kinase receptor for cell membranes. Normally, binding of EGFR ligands and transforming growth factor alpha (TGFα) induces receptor activation, which triggers ERK and PI3K signaling pathways that control cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and many other processes. It was found that in 80% of cases, colorectal cancer occurs as a result of EGFR overexpression, which leads to increased growth and division of tumor cells due to hyperactivation of the RAS-RAF-MEKERK signaling cascade. The RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK cascade is a pathway that regulates cell proliferation, cell cycle, and cell migration. In the development of human cancer, mutations of the RAS/RAF family are most often the cause of dysregulation of signal transduction through this pathway. According to current data, about a third of all malignant neoplasms are associated with mutations in the genes of the RAS family, which include HRAS, KRAS, NRAS, RRAS, and other homologous proteins. Proteins of the RAS family are involved in the activation of tyrosine kinase signaling pathways, which leads to gene mutations. This process determines proliferative activity, ability to differentiate, metastasis, avoidance of apoptosis, induction of angiogenesis. Permanent RAS activation leads to malignant cell degeneration. Thus, the expression and mutation of the EGFR gene are associated with various variants of tumor progression and poor prognosis in malignant neoplasms of various localizations. Over the past decades, significant advances have been made in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. However, the expansion of the spectrum of effective anticancer drugs also creates a number of difficulties in choosing the optimal drug therapy regimens in patients with metastases of colorectal cancer. 


Author(s):  
Ran Zhao ◽  
Yukun Liu ◽  
Chunchun Wu ◽  
Mengna Li ◽  
Yanmei Wei ◽  
...  

BRD7 functions as a crucial tumor suppressor in numerous malignancies. However, the effects of BRD7 on colorectal cancer (CRC) progression are still unknown. Here, based on the BRD7 knockout (BRD7–/–) and BRD7flox/flox (BRD7+/+) mouse models constructed in our previous work, we established an azoxymethane/dextran sodium sulfate (AOM/DSS)-induced mouse model. BRD7+/+ mice were found to be highly susceptible to AOM/DSS-induced colitis-associated CRC, and BRD7 significantly promoted cell proliferation and cell cycle G1/S transition but showed no significant effect on cell apoptosis. Furthermore, BRD7 interacted with c-Myc and stabilized c-Myc by inhibiting its ubiquitin–proteasome-dependent degradation. Moreover, restoring the expression of c-Myc in BRD7-silenced CRC cells restored cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. In addition, BRD7 and c-Myc were both significantly upregulated in CRC patients, and high expression of these proteins was associated with clinical stage and poor prognosis in CRC patients. Collectively, BRD7 functions as an oncogene and promotes CRC progression by regulating the ubiquitin–proteasome-dependent stabilization of c-Myc protein. Targeting the BRD7/c-Myc axis could be a potential therapeutic strategy for CRC.


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