scholarly journals Zinc Sulfide-Based Hybrid Exosome-Coated Nanoplatform for Targeted Treatment of Glioblastoma in an Orthotopic Mouse Glioblastoma Model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingxin Mo

Core-hybrid shell hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) loaded zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles were synthesized, characterized and evaluated for the treatment of glioblastoma cells in vitro and in vivo. These particles, denoted as HCQ@ZnS@exo@iRGD, consist of hollow ZnS nanoparticles loading with the autophagic inhibitor of hydroxychloroquine and covered by a hybrid shell containing exosomes (exo) and phosphatidylserine derived pH- and redox-responsive pegylated iRGD peptide, a gliomablastoma-homing and penetrating peptide. The hybrid exosomes enable HCQ@ZnS with good permeability across the blood-brain barrier and targeting ability to glioblastoma cells in orthotopic mouse glioblastoma model. ZnS acts as a photosensitizer for reactive oxygen species (ROS) production to inflict damage to organelles within glioblastoma cells. Hydroxychloroquine inhibits autophagic flux, which can subsequently lead to the accumulation of impaired organelles caused by the ROS. As a result, substantial selective damage to glioblastoma cells was realized owing to the hybrid exosomes guiding the anti-tumour effects of hydroxychloroquine and ZnS under light irradiation. The results provide evidence for the utility of HCQ@ZnS@exo@iRGD as a therapeutic strategy for glioblastoma.

Nanomedicine ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 2169-2187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Gong ◽  
Pei Zhang ◽  
Caifeng Deng ◽  
Yu Xiao ◽  
Tao Gong ◽  
...  

Aim: We aimed to construct human serum albumin-Kolliphor® HS 15 nanoparticles (HSA-HS15 NPs) to overcome the limitations in targeted therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and enhance the safety of drug-loaded HSA NPs. Methodology: Celastrol (CLT)-loaded HSA-HS15 NPs were prepared and the properties were adequately investigated; the treatment effect were evaluated in RA rats; in vitro and in vivo studies were performed to explain the mechanism. Results: CLT-HSA-HS15 NPs had remarkable treatment ability and enhanced safety in the treatment of RA compared with free CLT and CLT-HSA NPs. Conclusion: HSA-HS15 NPs could be a safe and efficient therapeutic strategy for the treatment of RA, because of the inflammatory targeting ability of albumin, the added HS15 and ELVIS effect (extravasation through leaky vasculature followed by inflammatory cell-mediated sequestration) of nanoparticles.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Fu ◽  
Qianqian Gu ◽  
Li Luo ◽  
Jiecheng Xu ◽  
Yuping Luo ◽  
...  

Autophagy inhibition has been proposed to be a potential therapeutic strategy for cancer, however, few autophagy inhibitors have been developed. Recent studies have indicated that lysosome and autophagy related 4B cysteine peptidase (ATG4B) are two promising targets in autophagy for cancer therapy. Although some inhibitors of either lysosome or ATG4B were reported, there are limitations in the use of these single target compounds. Considering multi-functional drugs have advantages, such as high efficacy and low toxicity, we first screened and validated a batch of compounds designed and synthesized in our laboratory by combining the screening method of ATG4B inhibitors and the identification method of lysosome inhibitors. ATG4B activity was effectively inhibited in vitro. Moreover, 163N inhibited autophagic flux and caused the accumulation of autolysosomes. Further studies demonstrated that 163N could not affect the autophagosome-lysosome fusion but could cause lysosome dysfunction. In addition, 163N diminished tumor cell viability and impaired the development of colorectal cancer in vivo. The current study findings indicate that the dual effect inhibitor 163N offers an attractive new anti-cancer drug and compounds having a combination of lysosome inhibition and ATG4B inhibition are a promising therapeutic strategy for colorectal cancer therapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruizhen Jia ◽  
Han Xu ◽  
Chenlu Wang ◽  
Lichao Su ◽  
Jinpeng Jing ◽  
...  

AbstractAccurate diagnosis and effective treatment of primary liver tumors are of great significance, and optical imaging has been widely employed in clinical imaging-guided surgery for liver tumors. The second near-infrared window (NIR-II) emissive AIEgen photosensitizers have attracted a lot of attention with higher-resolution bioimaging and deeper penetration. NIR-II aggregation-induced emission-based luminogen (AIEgen) photosensitizers have better phototherapeutic effects and accuracy of the image-guided surgery/phototherapy. Herein, an NIR-II AIEgen phototheranostic dot was proposed for NIR-II imaging-guided resection surgery and phototherapy for orthotopic hepatic tumors. Compared with indocyanine green (ICG), the AIEgen dots showed bright and sharp NIR-II emission at 1250 nm, which extended to 1600 nm with high photostability. Moreover, the AIEgen dots efficiently generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) for photodynamic therapy. Investigations of orthotopic liver tumors in vitro and in vivo demonstrated that AIEgen dots could be employed both for imaging-guided tumor surgery of early-stage tumors and for ‘downstaging’ intention to reduce the size. Moreover, the therapeutic strategy induced complete inhibition of orthotopic tumors without recurrence and with few side effects. Graphical Abstract


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Friedman ◽  
Carmen Corciulo ◽  
Cristina M. Castro ◽  
Bruce N. Cronstein

AbstractAutophagy, a homeostatic pathway upregulated during cellular stress, is decreased in osteoarthritic chondrocytes and this reduction in autophagy is thought to contribute to the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). The adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) is a potent anti-inflammatory receptor and deficiency of this receptor leads to the development of OA in mice. Moreover, treatment using liposomally conjugated adenosine or a specific A2AR agonist improved joint scores significantly in both rats with post-traumatic OA (PTOA) and mice subjected to a high fat diet obesity induced OA. Importantly, A2AR ligation is beneficial for mitochondrial health and metabolism in vitro in primary and the TC28a2 human cell line. An additional set of metabolic, stress-responsive, and homeostatic mediators include the Forkhead box O transcription factors (FoxOs). Data has shown that mouse FoxO knockouts develop early OA with reduced cartilage autophagy, indicating that FoxO-induced homeostasis is important for articular cartilage. Given the apparent similarities between A2AR and FoxO signaling, we tested the hypothesis that A2AR stimulation improves cartilage function through activation of the FoxO proteins leading to increased autophagy in chondrocytes. We analyzed the signaling pathway in the human TC28a2 cell line and corroborated these findings in vivo in a metabolically relevant obesity-induced OA mouse model. We found that A2AR stimulation increases activation and nuclear localization of FoxO1 and FoxO3, promotes an increase in autophagic flux, improves metabolic function in chondrocytes, and reduces markers of apoptosis in vitro and reduced apoptosis by TUNEL assay in vivo. A2AR ligation additionally enhances in vivo activation of FoxO1 and FoxO3 with evidence of enhanced autophagic flux upon injection of the liposome-associated A2AR agonist in a mouse obesity-induced OA model. These findings offer further evidence that A2AR may be an excellent target for promoting chondrocyte and cartilage homeostasis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Xin She ◽  
Qing Yang Yu ◽  
Xiao Xiao Tang

AbstractInterleukins, a group of cytokines participating in inflammation and immune response, are proved to be involved in the formation and development of pulmonary fibrosis. In this article, we reviewed the relationship between interleukins and pulmonary fibrosis from the clinical, animal, as well as cellular levels, and discussed the underlying mechanisms in vivo and in vitro. Despite the effects of interleukin-targeted treatment on experimental pulmonary fibrosis, clinical applications are lacking and unsatisfactory. We conclude that intervening in one type of interleukins with similar functions in IPF may not be enough to stop the development of fibrosis as it involves a complex network of regulation mechanisms. Intervening interleukins combined with other existing therapy or targeting interleukins affecting multiple cells/with different functions at the same time may be one of the future directions. Furthermore, the intervention time is critical as some interleukins play different roles at different stages. Further elucidation on these aspects would provide new perspectives on both the pathogenesis mechanism, as well as the therapeutic strategy and drug development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zetao Chen ◽  
Yihong Chen ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Weidong Lian ◽  
Kehong Zheng ◽  
...  

AbstractGlioma is one of the most lethal cancers with highly vascularized networks and growing evidences have identified glioma stem cells (GSCs) to account for excessive angiogenesis in glioma. Aberrant expression of paired-related homeobox1 (Prrx1) has been functionally associated with cancer stem cells including GSCs. In this study, Prrx1 was found to be markedly upregulated in glioma specimens and elevated Prrx1 expression was inversely correlated with prognosis of glioma patients. Prrx1 potentiated stemness acquisition in non-stem tumor cells (NSTCs) and stemness maintenance in GSCs, accompanied with increased expression of stemness markers such as SOX2. Prrx1 also promoted glioma angiogenesis by upregulating proangiogenic factors such as VEGF. Consistently, silencing Prrx1 markedly inhibited glioma proliferation, stemness, and angiogenesis in vivo. Using a combination of subcellular proteomics and in vitro analyses, we revealed that Prrx1 directly bound to the promoter regions of TGF-β1 gene, upregulated TGF-β1 expression, and ultimately activated the TGF-β/smad pathway. Silencing TGF-β1 mitigated the malignant behaviors induced by Prrx1. Activation of this pathway cooperates with Prrx1 to upregulate the expression of stemness-related genes and proangiogenic factors. In summary, our findings revealed that Prrx1/TGF-β/smad signal axis exerted a critical role in glioma stemness and angiogeneis. Disrupting the function of this signal axis might represent a new therapeutic strategy in glioma patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuochao Liu ◽  
Hongyi Wang ◽  
Chuanzhen Hu ◽  
Chuanlong Wu ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractIn this study, we identified the multifaceted effects of atezolizumab, a specific monoclonal antibody against PD-L1, in tumor suppression except for restoring antitumor immunity, and investigated the promising ways to improve its efficacy. Atezolizumab could inhibit the proliferation and induce immune-independent apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells. With further exploration, we found that atezolizumab could impair mitochondria of osteosarcoma cells, resulting in increased release of reactive oxygen species and cytochrome-c, eventually leading to mitochondrial-related apoptosis via activating JNK pathway. Nevertheless, the excessive release of reactive oxygen species also activated the protective autophagy of osteosarcoma cells. Therefore, when we combined atezolizumab with autophagy inhibitors, the cytotoxic effect of atezolizumab on osteosarcoma cells was significantly enhanced in vitro. Further in vivo experiments also confirmed that atezolizumab combined with chloroquine achieved the most significant antitumor effect. Taken together, our study indicates that atezolizumab can induce mitochondrial-related apoptosis and protective autophagy independently of the immune system, and targeting autophagy is a promising combinatorial approach to amplify its cytotoxicity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1083
Author(s):  
Sukkum Ngullie Chang ◽  
Se Ho Kim ◽  
Debasish Kumar Dey ◽  
Seon Min Park ◽  
Omaima Nasif ◽  
...  

Polymethoxyflavanoids (PMFs) have exhibited a vast array of therapeutic biological properties. 5-O-Demethylnobiletin (5-DN) is one such PMF having anti-inflammatory activity, yet its role in hepatoprotection has not been studied before. Results from in vitro study revealed that 5-DN did not exert a high level of cytotoxicity on HepG2 cells at 40 μM, and it was able to rescue HepG2 cell death induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Subsequently, we investigated acute liver injury on BALB/c mice induced by CCl4 through the intraperitoneal injection of 1 mL/kg CCl4 and co-administration of 5-DN at (1 and 2 mg/kg) by oral gavage for 15 days. The results illustrated that treatment with 5-DN attenuated CCl4-induced elevated serum aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio and significantly ameliorated severe hepatic damage such as inflammation and fibrosis evidenced through lesser aberrations in the liver histology of 5-DN dose groups. Additionally, 5-DN efficiently counteracted and equilibrated the production of ROS accelerated by CCl4 and dramatically downregulated the expression of CYP2E1 vitally involved in converting CCl4 to toxic free radicals and also enhanced the antioxidant enzymes. 5-DN treatment also inhibited cell proliferation and inflammatory pathway abnormally regulated by CCl4 treatment. Furthermore, the apoptotic response induced by CCl4 treatment was remarkably reduced by enhanced Bcl-2 expression and noticeable reduction in Bax, Bid, cleaved caspase 3, caspase 9, and apaf-1 expression. 5-DN treatment also induced the conversion of LC3 and promoted the autophagic flux. Conclusively, 5-DN exhibited hepatoprotective effects in vitro and in vivo and prevented liver fibrosis induced by CCl4.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii414-iii414
Author(s):  
Muh-Lii Liang ◽  
Tsung-Han Hsieh ◽  
Tai-Tong Wong

Abstract BACKGROUND Glial-lineage tumors constitute a heterogeneous group of neoplasms, comprising gliomas, oligodendrogliomas, and ependymomas, which account for 40%–50% of all pediatric central nervous system tumors. Advances in modern neuro-oncological therapeutics are aimed at improving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and deferring radiotherapy because radiation exposure may cause long-term side effects on the developing brain in young children. Despite aggressive treatment, more than half the high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) and one-third of ependymomas exhibit recurrence within 2 years of initial treatment. METHODS By using integrated bioinformatics and through experimental validation, we found that at least one gene among CCND1, CDK4, and CDK6 was overexpressed in pHGGs and ependymomas. RESULTS The use of abemaciclib, a highly selective CDK4/6 inhibitor, effectively inhibited cell proliferation and reduced the expression of cell cycle–related and DNA repair–related gene expression, which was determined through RNA-seq analysis. The efficiency of abemaciclib was validated in vitro in pHGGs and ependymoma cells and in vivo by using subcutaneously implanted ependymoma cells from patient-derived xenograft (PDX) in mouse models. Abemaciclib demonstrated the suppression of RB phosphorylation, downstream target genes of E2F, G2M checkpoint, and DNA repair, resulting in tumor suppression. CONCLUSION Abemaciclib showed encouraging results in preclinical pediatric glial-lineage tumors models and represented a potential therapeutic strategy for treating challenging tumors in children.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii202-ii202
Author(s):  
Ana Nikolic ◽  
Anna Bobyn ◽  
Katrina Ellestad ◽  
Xueqing Lun ◽  
Michael Johnston ◽  
...  

Abstract Glioblastoma cells with the crucial stemness property of self-renewal constitute therapy-resistant reservoirs that seed tumor relapse. Effective targeting of these cells in clinical settings has been hampered by their relative quiescence, which invalidates the cell replication bias of most current treatments. Furthermore, although their dependence on specific chromatin and transcriptional states for the maintenance of stemness programs has been proposed as a vulnerability, these nuclear programs have been challenging to target pharmaceutically. Therefore the identification of targetable chromatin paradigms regulating self-renewal would represent a significant advancement for this incurable malignancy. Here we report a new role for the histone variant macroH2A2 in modulating a targetable epigenetic network of stemness in glioblastoma. By integrating transcriptomic, bulk and single-cell epigenomic datasets we generated from patient-derived models and surgical specimens, we show that macroH2A2 represses a transcriptional network of stemness through direct regulation of chromatin accessibility at enhancer elements. Functional assays in vitro and in vivo further showcase that macroH2A2 antagonizes self-renewal and stemness in glioblastoma preclinical models. In agreement with our experimental findings, high expression of macroH2A2 is a positive prognostic factor in clinical glioblastoma cohorts. Reasoning that increasing macroH2A2 levels could be an effective strategy to repress stemness programs and ameliorate patient outcome, we embarked on a screen to identify compounds that could elevate macroH2A2 levels. We report that an inhibitor of the chromatin remodeler Menin increases macroH2A2 levels, which in turn repress self-renewal. Additionally, we provide evidence that Menin inhibition induces viral mimicry programs and the demise of glioblastoma cells. Menin inhibition is being tested in clinical trials for blood malignancies (NCT04067336). Our preclinical work therefore reveals a novel and central role for macroH2A2 in an epigenetic network of stemness and suggests new clinical approaches for glioblastoma.


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