scholarly journals Repurposing the antidepressant sertraline as SHMT inhibitor to suppress serine/glycine synthesis addicted breast tumor growth

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shauni L. Geeraerts ◽  
Kim R. Kampen ◽  
Gianmarco Rinaldi ◽  
Purvi Gupta ◽  
Mélanie Planque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Tumor Growth ◽  
Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Chemotherapy Resistance ◽  
Leukemia Cell ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Docking Studies ◽  
Selective Toxicity ◽  
Computational Docking ◽  
Glycine Synthesis

ABSTRACTMetabolic rewiring is a hallmark of cancer that supports tumor growth, survival and chemotherapy resistance. While normal cells often rely on extracellular serine and glycine supply, a significant subset of cancers becomes addicted to intracellular serine/glycine synthesis, offering an attractive drug target. Previously developed inhibitors of serine/glycine synthesis enzymes did not reach clinical trials due to unfavorable pharmacokinetic profiles, implying that further efforts to identify clinically applicable drugs targeting this pathway are required. In this study, we aimed to develop therapies that can rapidly enter the clinical practice by focusing on drug repurposing, as their safety and cost-effectiveness have been optimized before. Using a yeast model system, we repurposed two compounds, sertraline and thimerosal, for their selective toxicity against serine/glycine synthesis addicted breast cancer and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines. Isotope tracer metabolomics, computational docking studies and an enzymatic activity assay revealed that sertraline and thimerosal inhibit serine/glycine synthesis enzymes serine hydroxymethyltransferase and phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, respectively. In addition, we demonstrated that sertraline’s anti-proliferative activity was further aggravated by mitochondrial inhibitors, such as the antimalarial artemether, by causing G1-S cell cycle arrest. Most notably, this combination also resulted in serine-selective antitumor activity in breast cancer mouse xenografts. Collectively, this study provides molecular insights into the repurposed mode-of-action of the antidepressant sertraline and allows to delineate a hitherto unidentified group of cancers being particularly sensitive to treatment with sertraline. Furthermore, we highlight the simultaneous inhibition of serine/glycine synthesis and mitochondrial metabolism as a novel treatment strategy for serine/glycine synthesis addicted cancers.

scholarly journals Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 1-(Diarylmethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazoles and 1-(Diarylmethyl)-1H-imidazoles as a Novel Class of Anti-Mitotic Agent for Activity in Breast Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Gloria Ana ◽  
Patrick M. Kelly ◽  
Azizah M. Malebari ◽  
Sara Noorani ◽  
Seema M. Nathwani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Breast Cancer Cells ◽  
Docking Studies ◽  
Biological Evaluation ◽  
Mitotic Catastrophe ◽  
Phase Cell ◽  
Computational Docking ◽  
Er Positive ◽  
Mcf 7

We report the synthesis and biochemical evaluation of compounds that are designed as hybrids of the microtubule targeting benzophenone phenstatin and the aromatase inhibitor letrozole. A preliminary screening in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells identified 5-((2H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)methyl)-2-methoxyphenol 24 as a potent antiproliferative compound with an IC50 value of 52 nM in MCF-7 breast cancer cells (ER+/PR+) and 74 nM in triple-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The compounds demonstrated significant G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis in the MCF-7 cell line, inhibited tubulin polymerisation, and were selective for cancer cells when evaluated in non-tumorigenic MCF-10A breast cells. The immunofluorescence staining of MCF-7 cells confirmed that the compounds targeted tubulin and induced multinucleation, which is a recognised sign of mitotic catastrophe. Computational docking studies of compounds 19e, 21l, and 24 in the colchicine binding site of tubulin indicated potential binding conformations for the compounds. Compounds 19e and 21l were also shown to selectively inhibit aromatase. These compounds are promising candidates for development as antiproliferative, aromatase inhibitory, and microtubule-disrupting agents for breast cancer.

The Small Molecule Inhibitor of VLA4 TBC3486 Sensitizes Resistant ALL to Chemotherapy

Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 1500-1500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao-Te Hsieh ◽  
Eun Ji Gang ◽  
Halvard Bonig ◽  
Ronald J Biediger ◽  
Peter Vanderslice ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Viability ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Chemotherapy Resistance ◽  
Leukemia Cell ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Small Molecule Inhibition

Abstract Abstract 1500 Significant progress notwithstanding, drug resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) remains a therapeutic challenge, as well as acute and long-term off-target toxicity of anti-ALL therapies can be dose-limiting or debilitating. Therefore, the development of more targeted therapies is desirable. We recently provided evidence that chemotherapy resistance of ALL cells can be partly overcome by interfering with the function of VLA4, the alpha4beta1 integrin, in vivo. In those studies, we used the anti-functional antibody Natalizumab. We extended our studies to an alternative VLA4 inhibitor, the novel non-peptidic small molecule TBC3486. Previous in vitro assays and molecular modeling studies indicate that TBC3486 behaves as a ligand mimetic, competing with VCAM-1 for the MIDAS site of VLA-4. As such, the compound has been shown to be efficacious in VLA-4 dependent models of inflammatory and autoimmune disease. The potential usefulness of this novel inhibitor in leukemia treatment was tested in our established in vitro and in vivo assays. LAX7R cells, primary pre-B-ALL with a normal karyotype from a patient with an early relapse, were used throughout for the studies reported here. LAX7R cells were treated with 25μM TBC3486 or THI0012 control, the inactive enantiomer of TBC3486, and seeded onto plates coated with human VCAM-1. Adhesion, scored after 2 days, was significantly inhibited by TBC3486 compared to control treated cells (7.9%±4.0 vs 95.4%±8.0; p=0.003). Proliferation rate and cell viability were unaffected by the treatments. In a co-culture system of LAX7R cells with OP9 stroma cells, which we use as an in vitro model of stroma-mediated chemotherapy resistance, we assessed differential effects of VDL (Vincristine, Dexamethasone, L-Asparaginase) on leukemia cell survival in the presence or absence of TBC3486. Stromal adhesion significantly protected LAX7R cells against VDL chemotherapy; this effect was significantly attenuated by TBC3486 compared to the control as determined by Trypan blue exclusion of dead cells (Cell viability of 39.9%±5.1 vs. 57.2±1.8; p=0.02). After these encouraging observations, we next evaluated the benefit of TBC3486 on leukemia progression in a xenotransplant assay. LAX7R cells were lentivirally labelled with luciferase for in vivo tracking and injected into NOD/SCID hosts. Three days after leukemia cell transfer, mice received either TBC3486 or THI0012 (control) (10mg/kg/d) daily for 2 weeks (intraperitoneally), with or without VDL chemotherapy. This experiment is in progress, but already survival of leukemia-bearing mice was significantly prolonged, from a median survival time (MST) for control mice of 33 days post-leukemia injection to a MST of 47 days post-leukemia injection for TBC3486 treated mice (p=0.02). Similarly, bioluminescence imaging revealed a marked delay of leukemia cell dissemination (p<0.0001). Taken together, our data demonstrate that small molecule inhibition of VLA4 using the novel TBC3486 is a suitable approach for targeting of chemotherapy-resistant leukemia. Further studies are warranted to understand and evaluate preclinically adjuvant small molecule inhibition of integrins to overcome relapse of ALL. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Multi-omics analyses identify HSD17B4 methylation-silencing as a predictive and response marker of HER2-positive breast cancer to HER2-directed therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Yamashita ◽  
Naoko Hattori ◽  
Satoshi Fujii ◽  
Takeshi Yamaguchi ◽  
Masato Takahashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Leukemia Cell ◽  
Leukemia Cell Line ◽  
Good Survival ◽  
Breast Cancers ◽  
Her2 Positive ◽  
Her2 Positive Breast Cancer ◽  
Validation Set ◽  
Positive Breast Cancer

Abstract HER2-positive breast cancers that achieve pathological complete response (pCR) after HER2-directed therapy consistently have good survival. We previously identified HSD17B4 methylation as a marker for pCR by methylation screening. Here, we aimed to identify a new marker by conducting a multi-omics analysis of materials prepared by laser capture microdissection, and adding 71 new samples. In the screening set (n = 36), mutations, methylation, and expression were analyzed by targeted sequencing, Infinium 450 K, and expression microarray, respectively, and 15 genes were identified as differentially expressed and eight genomic regions as differentially methylated between cancer samples with and without pCR. In a validation set (n = 47), one gene showed differential expression, and one region had differential methylation. Further, in the re-validation set (n = 55), all new samples, only HSD17B4 methylation was significantly different. The HSD17B4 methylation was at the transcriptional start site of its major variant, and was associated with its silencing. HSD17B4 was highly expressed in the vast majority of human cancers, and its methylation was present only in breast cancers and one lymphoblastic leukemia cell line. A combination of estrogen receptor-negative status and HSD17B4 methylation showed a positive predictive value of 80.0%. During HER2-directed neoadjuvant therapy, HSD17B4 methylation was the most reliable marker to monitor response to the therapy. These results showed that HSD17B4 methylation is a candidate predictive and response marker of HER2-positive breast cancer to HER2-directed therapy.

Repurposing statins as a potential ligand for estrogen receptor alpha via molecular docking

2021 ◽  
pp. 3757-3762
Author(s):  
Khandelwal Alisha ◽  
Sharma Tripti
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Estrogen Receptor ◽  
Molecular Docking ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Alpha ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Docking Studies ◽  
Standard Drug ◽  
Reductase Inhibitors ◽  
Potential Ligand ◽  
Coa Reductase

Computational drug repurposing is the strategy for drug development which remarkably reduces the cost and development time. Research suggests that breast cancer development in women have been associated with cholesterol and its transporters. Cholesterol lowering drugs can be repurposed as potential therapeutic agents to prevent high cholesterol in estrogen receptor positive- breast cancer. The objective of this study was to carryout in-silico molecular docking of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) with estrogen α receptor (3ERT) to repurpose the statins as breast cancer inhibitors. Molecular docking studies were performed to explore the mechanism of interactions between the statins and human estrogen α receptor. Docking results revealed that statins bind to the hydrophobic pocket of the estrogen α receptor with high binding affinity. The docking scores were compared with the standard drug 4- hydroxy tamoxifen. The study helped to compare the interactions amongst different statins with the receptor and the energy values produced were ranging from -8.5 to -5.5 kcal/mol. Molinspiration web servers was used to calculate the physiochemical properties and ADMET of the statins. Simvastatin showed better interaction amongst the docked statins with best protein ligand interactions, it was found to exhibit higher docking score of -8.5 kcal/mol. Therefore, we conclude that statins can be employed as an alternative drug for treatment of breast cancer.

Melatonin modifies tumor hypoxia and metabolism by inhibiting HIF-1α and energy metabolic pathway in the in vitro and in vivo models of breast cancer

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 83-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
André De Lima Mota ◽  
Bruna Vitorasso Jardim-Perassi ◽  
Tialfi Bergamin De Castro ◽  
Jucimara Colombo ◽  
Nathália Martins Sonehara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Glucose Metabolism ◽  
Tumor Growth ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Carbonic Anhydrases ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Ca Ix ◽  
Gene And Protein Expression

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and has a high mortality rate. Adverse conditions in the tumor microenvironment, such as hypoxia and acidosis, may exert selective pressure on the tumor, selecting subpopulations of tumor cells with advantages for survival in this environment. In this context, therapeutic agents that can modify these conditions, and consequently the intratumoral heterogeneity need to be explored. Melatonin, in addition to its physiological effects, exhibits important anti-tumor actions which may associate with modification of hypoxia and Warburg effect. In this study, we have evaluated the action of melatonin on tumor growth and tumor metabolism by different markers of hypoxia and glucose metabolism (HIF-1α, glucose transporters GLUT1 and GLUT3 and carbonic anhydrases CA-IX and CA-XII) in triple negative breast cancer model. In an in vitro study, gene and protein expressions of these markers were evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR and immunocytochemistry, respectively. The effects of melatonin were also tested in a MDA-MB-231 xenograft animal model. Results showed that melatonin treatment reduced the viability of MDA-MB-231 cells and tumor growth in Balb/c nude mice (p <0.05). The treatment significantly decreased HIF-1α gene and protein expression concomitantly with the expression of GLUT1, GLUT3, CA-IX and CA-XII (p <0.05). These results strongly suggest that melatonin down-regulates HIF-1α expression and regulates glucose metabolism in breast tumor cells, therefore, controlling hypoxia and tumor progression. 

Transfer RNA-Derived RNAs As Novel Predictive Biomarkers of Chemotherapy Resistance in Breast Cancer

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Ge ◽  
Yangyang Cui ◽  
Yue Huang ◽  
Mingjie Zheng ◽  
Xiaowei Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Chemotherapy Resistance ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers ◽  
Transfer Rna

Drug repurposing using similarity-based target prediction, docking studies and scaffold hopping of lefamulin

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shikha Sharma ◽  
Shweta Sharma ◽  
Vaishali Pathak ◽  
Parwinder Kaur ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Singh
Keyword(s):  
In Silico ◽  
Target Prediction ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Docking Studies ◽  
Target Protein ◽  
Future Perspective ◽  
Antibacterial Drug ◽  
Scaffold Hopping ◽  
Target Proteins ◽  
Renin Inhibitors

Aim: To investigate and validate the potential target proteins for drug repurposing of newly FDA approved antibacterial drug. Background: Drug repurposing is the process of assigning indications for drugs other than the one(s) that they were initially developed for. Discovery of entirely new indications from already approved drugs is highly lucrative as it minimizes the pipeline of the drug development process by reducing time and cost. In silico driven technologies made it possible to analyze molecules for different target proteins which are not yet explored. Objective: To analyze possible targets proteins for drug repurposing of lefamulin and their validation. Also, in silico prediction of novel scaffolds from lefamulin has been performed for assisting medicinal chemists in future drug design. Methods: A similarity-based prediction tool was employed for predicting target protein and further investigated using docking studies on PDB ID: 2V16. Besides, various in silico tools were employed for prediction of novel scaffolds from lefamulin using scaffold hopping technique followed by evaluation with various in silico parameters viz., ADME, synthetic accessibility and PAINS. Results: Based on the similarity and target prediction studies, renin is found as the most probable target protein for lefamulin. Further, validation studies using docking of lefamulin revealed the significant interactions of lefamulin with the binding pocket of the target protein. Also, three novel scaffolds were predicted using scaffold hopping technique and found to be in the limit to reduce the chances of drug failure in the physiological system during the last stage approval process. Conclusion: To encapsulate the future perspective, lefamulin may assist in the development of the renin inhibitors and, also three possible novel scaffolds with good pharmacokinetic profile can be developed into both as renin inhibitors and for bacterial infections.

scholarly journals INPP4B promotes PI3Kα-dependent late endosome formation and Wnt/β-catenin signaling in breast cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel J. Rodgers ◽  
Lisa M. Ooms ◽  
Viola M. J. Oorschot ◽  
Ralf B. Schittenhelm ◽  
Elizabeth V. Nguyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Tumor Growth ◽  
Breast Cancer Cells ◽  
Triple Negative ◽  
Akt Signaling ◽  
Late Endosome ◽  
Breast Cancers ◽  
Lysosomal Degradation ◽  
Late Endosomes ◽  
Mrna And Protein Expression

AbstractINPP4B suppresses PI3K/AKT signaling by converting PI(3,4)P2 to PI(3)P and INPP4B inactivation is common in triple-negative breast cancer. Paradoxically, INPP4B is also a reported oncogene in other cancers. How these opposing INPP4B roles relate to PI3K regulation is unclear. We report PIK3CA-mutant ER+ breast cancers exhibit increased INPP4B mRNA and protein expression and INPP4B increased the proliferation and tumor growth of PIK3CA-mutant ER+ breast cancer cells, despite suppression of AKT signaling. We used integrated proteomics, transcriptomics and imaging to demonstrate INPP4B localized to late endosomes via interaction with Rab7, which increased endosomal PI3Kα-dependent PI(3,4)P2 to PI(3)P conversion, late endosome/lysosome number and cargo trafficking, resulting in enhanced GSK3β lysosomal degradation and activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Mechanistically, Wnt inhibition or depletion of the PI(3)P-effector, Hrs, reduced INPP4B-mediated cell proliferation and tumor growth. Therefore, INPP4B facilitates PI3Kα crosstalk with Wnt signaling in ER+ breast cancer via PI(3,4)P2 to PI(3)P conversion on late endosomes, suggesting these tumors may be targeted with combined PI3K and Wnt/β-catenin therapies.

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