scholarly journals Drug GRADE: an integrated analysis of population growth and cell death reveals drug-specific and cancer subtype-specific response profiles

Author(s):  
Hannah R. Schwartz ◽  
Ryan Richards ◽  
Rachel E. Fontana ◽  
Anna J. Joyce ◽  
Megan E. Honeywell ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIn the pre-clinical evaluation of anti-cancer drugs, two different measurement approaches are used: relative viability, which scores an amalgam of growth arrest and cell death, and fractional viability, which more specifically scores the degree of cell killing. In this study, we directly quantify relationships between drug-induced growth inhibition and drug-induced cell death by counting live and dead cells over time using quantitative microscopy. We find that most drugs affect both growth and death, but with different proportions and with different relative timing. These features lead to a non-uniform and unpredictable relationship between the canonical relative and fractional drug response measurements. To unify these disparate measurements, we create a new data visualization and data analysis platform, called drug GRADE, which characterizes the degree to which cell death contributes to an observed reduction in population size for any given drug. Our new method reveals both drug- and genotype-specific drug responses, which are not captured using traditional pharmaco-metrics. Taken together, this study highlights the extremely idiosyncratic nature of drug-induced growth and cell death and provides a new analysis tool for quantitatively evaluating these behaviors.

Cell Reports ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 107800
Author(s):  
Hannah R. Schwartz ◽  
Ryan Richards ◽  
Rachel E. Fontana ◽  
Anna J. Joyce ◽  
Megan E. Honeywell ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichiro J. Suzuki ◽  
Yasmine F. Ibrahim ◽  
Vladyslava Rybka ◽  
Jaquantey R. Bowens ◽  
Adenike S. Falade ◽  
...  

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease without a cure. By the time patients are diagnosed with PAH, thickening of pulmonary arterial (PA) walls and the narrowing of vascular lumen have already developed due to the abnormal growth of pulmonary vascular cells, contributing to the elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and the right ventricle (RV) damage. Therefore, agents that eliminate excess pulmonary vascular wall cells have therapeutic potential, and the apoptosis-based therapy using anti-cancer drugs may be promising for the treatment of PAH. However, cell death agents could also exert adverse effects including cardiotoxicity, complicating the development of such therapies for PAH patients who already have the damaged heart. We tested the concept that programmed cell death-inducing anti-cancer drugs may reduce the PA wall thickening using rat models of PAH. We found that: (i) The treatment of PAH animals with anthracycline-, proteasome inhibitor- or Bcl-2 inhibitor-classes of anti-cancer drugs after the pulmonary vascular remodeling had already developed resulted in the reversal of PA wall thickening and opened up the lumen; (ii) These effects were accompanied by the apoptosis of PA wall cells in PAH rats, but not in normal healthy rats, suggesting the anti-cancer drugs selectively kill remodeled vascular cells; (iii) The RV affected by PAH was not further damaged by anthracyclines or proteasome inhibitors; (iv) While the left ventricle (LV) was damaged by these drugs, we identified cardioprotective agents that protect the heart against drug-induced cell death without affecting the efficacy to reverse the PA remodeling; and (v) docetaxel, not only reversed pulmonary vascular remodeling without exerting RV or LV toxicity, but also repaired the RV damage caused by PAH. Thus, the inclusion of programmed cell death-inducing anti-cancer drugs should be considered for treating PAH patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5548
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Tianyu Tang ◽  
Haejune Lee ◽  
Kiwon Song

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) and plasma-activated medium (PAM) induce cell death in diverse cancer cells and may function as powerful anti-cancer agents. The main components responsible for the selective anti-cancer effects of CAP and PAM remain elusive. CAP or PAM induces selective cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines Hep3B and Huh7 containing populations with cancer stem cell markers. Here, we investigated the major component(s) of CAP and PAM for mediating the selective anti-proliferative effect on Hep3B and Huh7 cells. The anti-proliferative effect of CAP was mediated through the medium; however, the reactive oxygen species scavenger N-acetyl cysteine did not suppress PAM-induced cell death. Neither high concentrations of nitrite or nitrite/nitrate nor a low concentration of H2O2 present in the PAM containing sodium pyruvate affected the viability of Hep3B and Huh7 cells. Inhibitors of singlet oxygen, superoxide anions, and nitric oxide retained the capacity of PAM to induce anti-cancer effects. The anti-cancer effect was largely blocked in the PAM prepared by placing an aluminum metal mesh, but not a dielectric PVC mesh, between the plasma source and the medium. Hence, singlet oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, and nitrite/nitrate are not the main factors responsible for PAM-mediated selective death in Hep3B and Huh7 cells. Other factors, such as charged particles including various ions in CAP and PAM, may induce selective anti-cancer effects in certain cancer cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 3956
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Tianyu Tang ◽  
Hae June Lee ◽  
Kiwon Song

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major histological subtype of primary liver cancer. Ample evidence suggests that the pathological properties of HCC originate from hepatic cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are responsible for carcinogenesis, recurrence, and drug resistance. Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma (CAP) and plasma-activated medium (PAM) induce apoptosis in cancer cells and represent novel and powerful anti-cancer agents. This study aimed to determine the anti-cancer effect of CAP and PAM in HCC cell lines with CSC characteristics. We showed that the air-based CAP and PAM selectively induced cell death in Hep3B and Huh7 cells with CSC characteristics, but not in the normal liver cell line, MIHA. We observed both caspase-dependent and -independent cell death in the PAM-treated HCC cell lines. Moreover, we determined whether combinatorial PAM therapy with various anti-cancer agents have an additive effect on cell death in Huh7. We found that PAM highly increased the efficacy of the chemotherapeutic agent, cisplatin, while enhanced the anti-cancer effect of doxorubicin and the targeted-therapy drugs, trametinib and sorafenib to a lesser extent. These findings support the application of CAP and PAM as anti-cancer agents to induce selective cell death in cancers containing CSCs, suggesting that the combinatorial use of PAM and some specific anti-cancer agents is complemented mechanistically.


Cells ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umamaheswari Natarajan ◽  
Thiagarajan Venkatesan ◽  
Vijayaraghavan Radhakrishnan ◽  
Shila Samuel ◽  
Appu Rathinavelu

Gene expression is often altered by epigenetic modifications that can significantly influence the growth ability and progression of cancers. SAHA (Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, also known as Vorinostat), a well-known Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, can stop cancer growth and metastatic processes through epigenetic alterations. On the other hand, Letrozole is an aromatase inhibitor that can elicit strong anti-cancer effects on breast cancer through direct and indirect mechanisms. A newly developed inhibitor, RG7388 specific for an oncogene-derived protein called MDM2, is in clinical trials for the treatment of various cancers. In this paper, we performed assays to measure the effects of cell cycle arrest resulting from individual drug treatments or combination treatments with SAHA + letrozole and SAHA + RG7388, using the MCF-7 breast cancer cells. When SAHA was used individually, or in combination treatments with RG7388, a significant increase in the cytotoxic effect was obtained. Induction of cell cycle arrest by SAHA in cancer cells was evidenced by elevated p21 protein levels. In addition, SAHA treatment in MCF-7 cells showed significant up-regulation in phospho-RIP3 and MLKL levels. Our results confirmed that cell death caused by SAHA treatment was primarily through the induction of necroptosis. On the other hand, the RG7388 treatment was able to induce apoptosis by elevating BAX levels. It appears that, during combination treatments, with SAHA and RG7388, two parallel pathways might be induced simultaneously, that could lead to increased cancer cell death. SAHA appears to induce cell necroptosis in a p21-dependent manner, and RG7388 seems to induce apoptosis in a p21-independent manner, outlining differential mechanisms of cell death induction. However, further studies are needed to fully understand the intracellular mechanisms that are triggered by these two anti-cancer agents.


Author(s):  
Mateusz Kutyła ◽  
Aleksandra Maciejczyk ◽  
Mariusz Trytek ◽  
Joanna Jakubowicz-Gil

Background: Gliomas are highly malignant brain tumors with high resistance to chemotherapy. Therefore, investigations of new therapeutic molecules with high anti-glioma activity are of great importance. Objective: In this work, biocatalytic esterification of terpene alcohols with proven anti-cancer activity was performed to enhance their potency to induce cell death in human glioblastoma multiforme T98G and anaplastic astrocytoma MOGGCCM cell lines in vitro. Method and Results: We used primary terpene alcohols and carboxylic acids with a length of two to nine carbon atoms. The structure of the drinks influenced the esterification efficiency, which decreased in the following order: monocyclic > linear > bicyclic. Terpene alcohols and their esters only induced apoptotic cell death, which is highly desirable from a therapeutic point of view but did not induce autophagy and necrosis. The esterification of perillyl alcohol with butyric acid caused a 4-fold increase in cell death induction in the T98G line. Citronellol valerate, caprylate, and pelargonate and myrtenol butyrate, caprylate, and pelargonate also showed higher activity than their alcohol precursors. Conclusion: We have herein shown that esterification of natural alcohols by biocatalysis can improve the activity for other compounds investigated for their anti-glioma activity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Leanza ◽  
Paul O’Reilly ◽  
Anne Doyle ◽  
Elisa Venturini ◽  
Mario Zoratti ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 393 (7) ◽  
pp. 547-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Xing Ding ◽  
Xiao-Ming Yin

Abstract Mitochondria are essential organelles that regulate cellular energy homeostasis and cell death. The removal of damaged mitochondria through autophagy, a process called mitophagy, is thus critical for maintaining proper cellular functions. Indeed, mitophagy has been recently proposed to play critical roles in terminal differentiation of red blood cells, paternal mitochondrial degradation, neurodegenerative diseases, and ischemia or drug-induced tissue injury. Removal of damaged mitochondria through autophagy requires two steps: induction of general autophagy and priming of damaged mitochondria for selective autophagic recognition. Recent progress in mitophagy studies reveals that mitochondrial priming is mediated either by the Pink1-Parkin signaling pathway or the mitophagic receptors Nix and Bnip3. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge on the mechanisms of mitophagy. We also discuss the pathophysiological roles of mitophagy and current assays used to monitor mitophagy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Da Chen ◽  
Xiao-Yi Zhang ◽  
Fa-Zhu Zheng ◽  
Hai-Tao Wang ◽  
Jian-Liang Cai ◽  
...  

<p>Escopoletin, a phenolic compound belonging to anthocyanin family shows promising antioxidant activities. In the present study, anti-cancer effects of escopoletin treatment in DU145 cells were investigated. The sulphorhodamine-B staining and annexin V and propidium iodide were respectively used for the analysis of cell viability and death. The results revealed a significantly higher cytotoxicity by escopoletin that caused cell death in DU145 cells. Escopoletin treatment in DU145 cells markedly inhibited cell growth through non-apoptotic cell death and induced significant reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. It also induced G1 cell cycle arrest and cyclin D1 accumulation through the enhanced expression of p21. However, the effect of escopoletin on DU145 cells was reversed by pretreatment with glutathione antioxidant. This suggests that escopoletin induced generation of ROS is responsible for the increased cytotoxicity in DU145 cells. Thus, escopoletin exhibits potential therapeutic efficacy for the treatment of prostate cancer.</p><p> </p>


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