Evaluation of N-aryl-β-alanine derivatives as anticancer agents in triple-negative breast cancer and glioblastoma in vitro models

AbstractSuppression of tumor development by inducing ferroptosis may provide a potential remedy for triple-negative breast cancer, which is sensitive to intracellular oxidative imbalance. Recently, artemisinin (ART) and its derivatives have been investigated as potential anticancer agents for the treatment of highly aggressive cancers via the induction of ferroptosis by iron-mediated cleavage of the endoperoxide bridge. Owing to its poor water solubility and limited intracellular iron content, it is challenging for further application in antitumor therapy. Herein, we developed ferrous-supply nano-carrier for ART based on tannic acid (TA) and ferrous ion (Fe(II)) coated on the zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF) with ART encapsulated (TA-Fe/ART@ZIF) via coordination-driven self-assembly. Drug release experiments showed that ART was not nearly released in pH 7.4, while 59% ART was released in pH 5.0 after 10 h, demonstrating the excellent pH-triggered release. Meanwhile, a high level of intracellular ROS and MDA, accompanied with decreasing GSH and GPX4, displayed a newly developed nano-drug system displayed markedly enhanced ferroptosis. Compared with monotherapy, in vitro and vivo tumor inhibition experiments demonstrated higher efficiency of tumor suppression of TA-Fe/ART@ZIF. This work provides a novel approach to enhance the potency of ferroptotic nano-medicine and new directions for TBNC therapy.

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In Vitro and In Vivo evaluation of novel anticancer agents in triple negative Breast Cancer Models

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved ◽

10.1353/hpu.2013.0047 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 24 (1A) ◽

pp. 104-111 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

KiTani Parker Johnson ◽

Letitia A. Yearby ◽

Diana Stoute ◽

Matthew E. Burow ◽

Lyndsay V. Rhodes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Anticancer Agents ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Cancer Models

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Curcumin and Resveratrol as Promising Natural Remedies with Nanomedicine Approach for the Effective Treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Journal of Oncology ◽

10.1155/2016/9750785 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Amol Shindikar ◽

Akshita Singh ◽

Malcolm Nobre ◽

Saurabh Kirolikar

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Effective Treatment ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Anticancer Agents ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Genetic Changes ◽

Anticancer Properties ◽

Natural Remedies

Researchers have made considerable progress in last few decades in understanding mechanisms underlying pathogenesis of breast cancer, its phenotypes, its molecular and genetic changes, its physiology, and its prognosis. This has allowed us to identify specific targets and design appropriate chemical entities for effective treatment of most breast cancer phenotypes, resulting in increased patient survivability. Unfortunately, these strategies have been largely ineffective in the treatment of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Hormonal receptors lacking render the conventional breast cancer drugs redundant, forcing scientists to identify novel targets for treatment of TNBC. Two natural compounds, curcumin and resveratrol, have been widely reported to have anticancer properties.In vitroandin vivostudies show promising results, though their effectiveness in clinical settings has been less than satisfactory, owing to their feeble pharmacokinetics. Here we discuss these naturally occurring compounds, their mechanism as anticancer agents, their shortcomings in translational research, and possible methodology to improve their pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics with advanced drug delivery systems.

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Epigenetic regulation of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) by TGF-β signaling

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-94514-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Radhakrishnan Vishnubalaji ◽

Nehad M. Alajez

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Gene Expression Omnibus ◽

In Vitro Models ◽

Normal Breast ◽

Tgfβ Signaling ◽

Protein Coding ◽

Depth Analysis

AbstractTGFβ signaling plays crucial role during development and cancer, however the role for TGFβ signaling in regulating the noncoding part of the human genome in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is still being unraveled. Herein, we provide the transcriptional landscape of TNBC in response to TGFβ activation and subsequent inhibition employing SB431542, selective TGFβ1 Receptor ALK5 Inhibitor. Our data revealed 72 commonly upregulated [fold change (FC) ≥ 2.0], including PLAU, TPM1, TAGLN, COL1A1, TGFBI, and SNAI1, and 53 downregulated (FC ≤ 2.0) protein coding genes in BT-549 and MDA-MB-231 models in response to TGFβ1 activation. Alignment to the geocode (V33) identified 41 upregulated (FC ≥ 2.0) and 22 downregulated (FC ≤ 2.0) long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in response to TGFβ1 activation, which were inhibited by concurrent treatment with SB431542. To place our data from the in vitro models into their clinical context, we identified AC015909.1, AC013451.1, CYP1B1-AS1, AC004862.1, LINC01824, AL138828.1, B4GALT1-AS1, AL353751.1, AC090826.3, AC104695.4, ADORA2A-AS1, PTPRG-AS1, LINC01943, AC026954.3, TPM1-AS, ZFPM2-AS1, AC007362.1, AC112721.2, MALAT1, AL513314.2, AC112721.1, AC010343.3, LINC01711, and MAP3K2-DT lncRNA expression to positively correlate with TGFβ1 expression in a cohort of 360 TNBC patients. To provide mechanistic insight into lncRNA regulation by TGFβ signaling, SMAD2/3 ChIp-Seq data from BT-549 TNBC model retrieved from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) revealed direct binding of SMAD2/SMAD3 to the promoter of AC112721.1, AC112721.2, MALAT1, HHIP-AS1, LINC00472, and SLC7A11, suggesting their direct regulation by TGFβ1/SMAD2/SMAD3 pathway. Interestingly, AC112721.1, AC112721.2 exhibited higher expression in TNBC compared to normal breast tissue suggesting a possible role for those lncRNA in TNBC biology. Our miRNA analysis in the BT-549 model in response to exogenous TGFB1 revealed several affected miRNAs (2.0 ≤ FC ≤ 2.0), whose expression pattern was reversed in the presence of SB431542, suggesting those miRNA as plausible targets for TGFβ regulation. In particular, we observed hsa-miR-1275 to be downregulated in response to TGFB1 which was highly predicted to regulate PCDH1, FIBCD1, FXYD7, GDNF, STC1, EDN1, ZSWIM4, FGF1, PPP1R9B, NUAK1, PALM2AKAP2, IGFL3, and SPOCK1 whose expression were upregulated in response to TGFβ1 stimulus. On the other hand, hsa-miR-181b-5p was among the top upregulated miRNAs in response to TGFB1, which is also predicted to regulate CDKN1B, TNFRSF11B, SIM1, and ARSJ in the BT-549 model. Taken together, our data is the first to provide such in depth analysis of lncRNA and miRNA epigenetic changes in response to TGFβ signaling in TNBC.

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CX-5461 Enhances the Efficacy of APR-246 via Induction of DNA Damage and Replication Stress in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22115782 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (11) ◽

pp. 5782

Author(s):

Ashwini Makhale ◽

Devathri Nanayakkara ◽

Prahlad Raninga ◽

Kum Kum Khanna ◽

Murugan Kalimutho

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Dna Damage ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Combination Treatment ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Annexin V ◽

Replication Stress ◽

Breast Cancer Cell Lines ◽

Combination Strategy

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer lacking targeted therapy. Here, we evaluated the anti-cancer activity of APR-246, a P53 activator, and CX-5461, a RNA polymerase I inhibitor, in the treatment of TNBC cells. We tested the efficacy of individual and combination therapy of CX-5461 and APR-246 in vitro, using a panel of breast cancer cell lines. Using publicly available breast cancer datasets, we found that components of RNA Pol I are predominately upregulated in basal-like breast cancer, compared to other subtypes, and this upregulation is associated with poor overall and relapse-free survival. Notably, we found that the treatment of breast cancer cells lines with CX-5461 significantly hampered cell proliferation and synergistically enhanced the efficacy of APR-246. The combination treatment significantly induced apoptosis that is associated with cleaved PARP and Caspase 3 along with Annexin V positivity. Likewise, we also found that combination treatment significantly induced DNA damage and replication stress in these cells. Our data provide a novel combination strategy by utilizing APR-246 in combination CX-5461 in killing TNBC cells that can be further developed into more effective therapy in TNBC therapeutic armamentarium.

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GCH1 induces immunosuppression through metabolic reprogramming and IDO1 upregulation in triple-negative breast cancer

Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer ◽

10.1136/jitc-2021-002383 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. e002383

Author(s):

Jin-Li Wei ◽

Si-Yu Wu ◽

Yun-Song Yang ◽

Yi Xiao ◽

Xi Jin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Molecular Taxonomy ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Metabolic Reprogramming ◽

Sequencing Data ◽

Aryl Hydrocarbon

PurposeRegulatory T cells (Tregs) heavily infiltrate triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and their accumulation is affected by the metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells. In the present study, we sought to identify cancer cell-intrinsic metabolic modulators correlating with Tregs infiltration in TNBC.Experimental designUsing the RNA-sequencing data from our institute (n=360) and the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium TNBC cohort (n=320), we calculated the abundance of Tregs in each sample and evaluated the correlation between gene expression levels and Tregs infiltration. Then, in vivo and in vitro experiments were performed to verify the correlation and explore the underlying mechanism.ResultsWe revealed that GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) expression was positively correlated with Tregs infiltration and high GCH1 expression was associated with reduced overall survival in TNBC. In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that GCH1 increased Tregs infiltration, decreased apoptosis, and elevated the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)-positive fraction. Metabolomics analysis indicated that GCH1 overexpression reprogrammed tryptophan metabolism, resulting in L-5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) accumulation in the cytoplasm accompanied by kynurenine accumulation and tryptophan reduction in the supernatant. Subsequently, aryl hydrocarbon receptor, activated by 5-HTP, bound to the promoter of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) and thus enhanced the transcription of IDO1. Furthermore, the inhibition of GCH1 by 2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine (DAHP) decreased IDO1 expression, attenuated tumor growth, and enhanced the tumor response to PD-1 blockade immunotherapy.ConclusionsTumor-cell-intrinsic GCH1 induced immunosuppression through metabolic reprogramming and IDO1 upregulation in TNBC. Inhibition of GCH1 by DAHP serves as a potential immunometabolic strategy in TNBC.

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Selection of aptamers against triple negative breast cancer cells using high throughput sequencing

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-87998-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Débora Ferreira ◽

Joaquim Barbosa ◽

Diana A. Sousa ◽

Cátia Silva ◽

Luís D. R. Melo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

High Throughput ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

High Throughput Sequencing ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Metastatic Breast ◽

Target Cells ◽

Cancer Tissue ◽

Surface Receptors

AbstractTriple-negative breast cancer is the most aggressive subtype of invasive breast cancer with a poor prognosis and no approved targeted therapy. Hence, the identification of new and specific ligands is essential to develop novel targeted therapies. In this study, we aimed to identify new aptamers that bind to highly metastatic breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells using the cell-SELEX technology aided by high throughput sequencing. After 8 cycles of selection, the aptamer pool was sequenced and the 25 most frequent sequences were aligned for homology within their variable core region, plotted according to their free energy and the key nucleotides possibly involved in the target binding site were analyzed. Two aptamer candidates, Apt1 and Apt2, binding specifically to the target cells with $$K_{d}$$ K d values of 44.3 ± 13.3 nM and 17.7 ± 2.7 nM, respectively, were further validated. The binding analysis clearly showed their specificity to MDA-MB-231 cells and suggested the targeting of cell surface receptors. Additionally, Apt2 revealed no toxicity in vitro and showed potential translational application due to its affinity to breast cancer tissue sections. Overall, the results suggest that Apt2 is a promising candidate to be used in triple-negative breast cancer treatment and/or diagnosis.

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Edelfosine nanoemulsions inhibit tumor growth of triple negative breast cancer in zebrafish xenograft model

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-87968-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sofia M. Saraiva ◽

Carlha Gutiérrez-Lovera ◽

Jeannette Martínez-Val ◽

Sainza Lores ◽

Belén L. Bouzo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Tumor Growth ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Xenograft Model ◽

Skin Barrier ◽

Zebrafish Embryos ◽

Biorelevant Media

AbstractTriple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is known for being very aggressive, heterogeneous and highly metastatic. The standard of care treatment is still chemotherapy, with adjacent toxicity and low efficacy, highlighting the need for alternative and more effective therapeutic strategies. Edelfosine, an alkyl-lysophospholipid, has proved to be a promising therapy for several cancer types, upon delivery in lipid nanoparticles. Therefore, the objective of this work was to explore the potential of edelfosine for the treatment of TNBC. Edelfosine nanoemulsions (ET-NEs) composed by edelfosine, Miglyol 812 and phosphatidylcholine as excipients, due to their good safety profile, presented an average size of about 120 nm and a neutral zeta potential, and were stable in biorelevant media. The ability of ET-NEs to interrupt tumor growth in TNBC was demonstrated both in vitro, using a highly aggressive and invasive TNBC cell line, and in vivo, using zebrafish embryos. Importantly, ET-NEs were able to penetrate through the skin barrier of MDA-MB 231 xenografted zebrafish embryos, into the yolk sac, leading to an effective decrease of highly aggressive and invasive tumoral cells’ proliferation. Altogether the results demonstrate the potential of ET-NEs for the development of new therapeutic approaches for TNBC.

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Isolation and Establishment of a Highly Proliferative, Cancer Stem Cell-Like, and Naturally Immortalized Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cell Line, KAIMRC2

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells10061303 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1303

Author(s):

Rizwan Ali ◽

Hajar Al Zahrani ◽

Tlili Barhoumi ◽

Alshaimaa Alhallaj ◽

Abdullah Mashhour ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Stem Cell ◽

Cancer Stem Cell ◽

Cell Line ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Breast Cancer Cell Line ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Cancer Cell Line

In vitro studies of a disease are key to any in vivo investigation in understanding the disease and developing new therapy regimens. Immortalized cancer cell lines are the best and easiest model for studying cancer in vitro. Here, we report the establishment of a naturally immortalized highly tumorigenic and triple-negative breast cancer cell line, KAIMRC2. This cell line is derived from a Saudi Arabian female breast cancer patient with invasive ductal carcinoma. Immunocytochemistry showed a significant ratio of the KAIMRC2 cells’ expressing key breast epithelial and cancer stem cells (CSCs) markers, including CD47, CD133, CD49f, CD44, and ALDH-1A1. Gene and protein expression analysis showed overexpression of ABC transporter and AKT-PI3Kinase as well as JAK/STAT signaling pathways. In contrast, the absence of the tumor suppressor genes p53 and p73 may explain their high proliferative index. The mice model also confirmed the tumorigenic potential of the KAIMRC2 cell line, and drug tolerance studies revealed few very potent candidates. Our results confirmed an aggressive phenotype with metastatic potential and cancer stem cell-like characteristics of the KAIMR2 cell line. Furthermore, we have also presented potent small molecule inhibitors, especially Ryuvidine, that can be further developed, alone or in synergy with other potent inhibitors, to target multiple cancer-related pathways.

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