Therapeutic targeting of SLC6A8 creatine transporter suppresses colon cancer progression and modulates human creatine levels

ABSTRACTColorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality. Creatine metabolism was previously shown to critically regulate colon cancer progression. We report that RGX-202, an oral small-molecule SLC6A8 creatine transporter inhibitor, robustly inhibits creatine import in vitro and in vivo, reduces intracellular phosphocreatine and ATP levels and induces tumor cell apoptosis in CRC. RGX-202 suppressed tumor growth across KRAS wild-type and KRAS mutant xenograft, syngeneic and patient-derived xenograft colorectal cancers. Anti-tumor efficacy correlated with tumoral expression of creatine kinase B. Combining RGX-202 with 5- fluorouracil or the DHODH inhibitor leflunomide caused regressions of multiple colorectal xenograft and PDX tumors of distinct mutational backgrounds. RGX-202 also perturbed creatine metabolism in metastatic CRC patients enrolled in a Phase-1 trial, mirroring pharmacodynamic effects on creatine metabolism observed in mice. This is, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of pre-clinical and human pharmacodynamic activity for creatine metabolism targeting in oncology, revealing a critical target for CRC.

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Role of MicroRNAs in Colon Cancer Progression and Metastasis

Endocrine Metabolic & Immune Disorders - Drug Targets ◽

10.2174/1871530320666200825184924 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

Author(s):

Shruthi Sanjitha Sampath ◽

Sivaramakrishnan Venkatabalsubramanian ◽

Satish Ramalingam

Keyword(s):

Colon Cancer ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Target Genes ◽

Tumour Progression ◽

Intestinal Barrier ◽

Colon Cancer Progression ◽

Bowel Diseases ◽

Inflammatory Bowel ◽

Novel Therapeutic Strategies

: MicroRNAs regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level by binding to the mRNA of their target genes. The dysfunction of miRNAs is strongly associated with the inflammation of the colon. Besides, some microRNAs are shown to suppress tumours while others promote tumour progression and metastasis. Inflammatory bowel diseases include Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative colitis which increase the risk factor for inflammation-associated colon cancer. MicroRNAs are shown to be involved in gastrointestinal pathologies, by targeting the transcripts encoding proteins of the intestinal barrier and their regulators that are associated with inflammation and colon cancer. Detection of these microRNAs in the blood, serum, tissues, faecal matter, etc will enable us to use these microRNAs as biomarkers for early detection of the associated malignancies and design novel therapeutic strategies to overcome the same. Information on MicroRNAs can be applied for the development of targeted therapies against inflammation-mediated colon cancer.

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Computational Analysis of miRNA and their Gene Targets Significantly Involved in Colorectal Cancer Progression

MicroRNA ◽

10.2174/2211536607666180803100246 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 68-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jeyalakshmi Kandhavelu ◽

Kumar Subramanian ◽

Amber Khan ◽

Aadilah Omar ◽

Paul Ruff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Colon Cancer ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Target Prediction ◽

Computational Prediction ◽

Initial Step ◽

Kegg Pathways ◽

Candidate Mirnas ◽

Common Cancer ◽

Colon Cancer Progression

Background:Globally, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in women and the fourth most common cancer in men. Dysregulation of small non-coding miRNAs have been correlated with colon cancer progression. Since there are increasing reports of candidate miRNAs as potential biomarkers for CRC, this makes it important to explore common miRNA biomarkers for colon cancer. As computational prediction of miRNA targets is a critical initial step in identifying miRNA: mRNA target interactions for validation, we aim here to construct a potential miRNA network and its gene targets for colon cancer from previously reported candidate miRNAs, inclusive of 10 up- and 9 down-regulated miRNAs from tissues; and 10 circulatory miRNAs. </P><P> Methods: The gene targets were predicted using DIANA-microT-CDS and TarBaseV7.0 databases. Each miRNA and its targets were analyzed further for colon cancer hotspot genes, whereupon DAVID analysis and mirPath were used for KEGG pathway analysis.Results:We have predicted 874 and 157 gene targets for tissue and serum specific miRNA candidates, respectively. The enrichment of miRNA revealed that particularly hsa-miR-424-5p, hsa-miR-96-5p, hsa-miR-1290, hsa-miR-224, hsa-miR-133a and has-miR-363-3p present possible targets for colon cancer hallmark genes, including BRAF, KRAS, EGFR, APC, amongst others. DAVID analysis of miRNA and associated gene targets revealed the KEGG pathways most related to cancer and colon cancer. Similar results were observed in mirPath analysis. A new insight gained in the colon cancer network pathway was the association of hsa-mir-133a and hsa-mir-96-5p with the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. In the present study, target prediction shows that while hsa-mir-424-5p has an association with mostly 10 colon cancer hallmark genes, only their associations with MAP2 and CCND1 have been experimentally validated.These miRNAs and their targets require further evaluation for a better understanding of their associations, ultimately with the potential to develop novel therapeutic targets.

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