New Data on the Influence of the HPV16 E2 Early Protein Obtained in Plant Expression Nanosystems on Tumor Tissues of Female Mice Induced by Injection of HeLa Cancer Cells in Hip Muscle

Oxidized phospholipids are well known to play physiological and pathological roles in regulating cellular homeostasis and disease progression. However, their role in cancer metastasis has not been entirely understood. In this study, effects of oxidized phosphatidylcholines such as 1-palmitoyl-2-(5-oxovaleroyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POVPC) on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and autophagy were determined in cancer cells by immunoblotting and confocal analysis. Metastasis was analyzed by a scratch wound assay and a transwell migration/invasion assay. The concentrations of POVPC and 1-palmitoyl-2-glutaroyl-sn-glycero-phosphocholine (PGPC) in tumor tissues obtained from patients were measured by LC-MS/MS analysis. POVPC induced EMT, resulting in increase of migration and invasion of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) and human breast cancer cells (MCF7). POVPC induced autophagic flux through AMPK-mTOR pathway. Pharmacological inhibition or siRNA knockdown of autophagy decreased migration and invasion of POVPC-treated HepG2 and MCF7 cells. POVPC and PGPC levels were greatly increased at stage II of patient-derived intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma tissues. PGPC levels were higher in malignant breast tumor tissues than in adjacent nontumor tissues. The results show that oxidized phosphatidylcholines increase metastatic potential of cancer cells by promoting EMT, mediated through autophagy. These suggest the positive regulatory role of oxidized phospholipids accumulated in tumor microenvironment in the regulation of tumorigenesis and metastasis.

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RNA-sequencing identified miR-3681 as a negative regulator in the proliferation and migration of cervical cancer cells via the posttranscriptional suppression of HGFR

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c9ra01785b ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (39) ◽

pp. 22376-22383 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Fan Shi ◽

Yingbing Zhang ◽

Juan Wang ◽

Jin Su ◽

Zi Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cervical Cancer ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Rna Sequencing ◽

Negative Regulator ◽

Tumor Tissues ◽

Differentially Expressed Mirnas ◽

Cervical Cancer Cells ◽

And Migration ◽

Cancer Tissues ◽

Proliferation And Migration

In this study, RNA-sequencing was used to investigate the differentially expressed miRNAs between cervical cancer tissues and matched adjacent non-tumor tissues.

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The role of Sox6 and Netrin-1 in ovarian cancer cell growth, invasiveness, and angiogenesis

Tumor Biology ◽

10.1177/1010428317705508 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 101042831770550 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Yi Li ◽

Ming Xiao ◽

Fangchun Guo

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Conditioned Medium ◽

Umbilical Vein ◽

Inhibitory Effect ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cells ◽

Human Umbilical Vein ◽

Tumor Tissues

SOX6 plays important roles in cell proliferation, differentiation, and cell fate determination. It has been confirmed that SOX6 is a tumor suppressor and downregulated in various cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and chronic myeloid leukemia. Netrin-1 is highly expressed in various human cancers and acts as an anti-apoptotic and proangiogenic factor to drive tumorigenesis. The role of SOX6 and netrin-1 in regulating the growth of ovarian tumor cells still remains unclear. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot were used to determine the SOX6 messenger RNA and protein levels, respectively, in ovarian cancer cells and tumor tissues. Stable transfection of SOX6 was conducted to overexpress SOX6 in PA-1 and SW626 cells. Cell viability was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Invasion of ovarian cancer cells and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were confirmed by Transwell assays. To overexpress netrin-1, ovarian cancer cells with SOX6 restoration was transduced with netrin-1 lentiviral particles. PA-1 xenografts in a nude mice model were used to conduct in vivo evaluation of the role of SOX6 and its relationship with netrin-1 in tumor growth and angiogenesis. In this study, we found significantly reduced SOX6 levels in PA-1, SW626, SK-OV-3, and CaoV-3 ovarian cancer cell lines and human tumor tissues in comparison with normal human ovarian epithelial cells or matched non-tumor tissues. SOX6 overexpression by stable transfection dramatically inhibited proliferation and invasion of PA-1 and SW626 cells. Also, conditioned medium from PA-1 and SW626 cells with SOX6 restoration exhibited reduced ability to induce human umbilical vein endothelial cells migration and tube formation compared with conditioned medium from the cells with transfection control. Furthermore, an inverse relationship between SOX6 and netrin-1 expression was observed in PA-1 and SW626 cells. Overexpression of netrin-1 in ovarian cancer cells with forced SOX6 expression remarkably abrogated the inhibitory effect of SOX6 on proliferation, invasion of the cells, and tumor xenograft growth and vascularity in vivo. Human umbilical vein endothelial cell migration and tube formation were enhanced in the conditioned medium from the ovarian cancer cells transduced with netrin-1 lentivirus particles. Our observations revealed that SOX6 is a tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer cells, and SOX6 exerts an inhibitory effect on the proliferation, invasion, and tumor cell-induced angiogenesis of ovarian cancer cells, whereas nerin-1 plays an opposite role and its expression is inversely correlated with SOX6. Moreover, our findings suggest a new role of SOX6 and netrin-1 for understanding the progression of ovarian cancer and have the potential for the development of new diagnosis and treatment strategies for ovarian cancer.

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Microenvironment-mediated cancer dormancy: Insights from metastability theory

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2111046118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 119 (1) ◽

pp. e2111046118

Author(s):

Sadra Bakhshandeh ◽

Carsten Werner ◽

Peter Fratzl ◽

Amaia Cipitria

Keyword(s):

Cancer Cells ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Cancer Metastasis ◽

Droplet Growth ◽

Protective Mechanism ◽

Dormant State ◽

Strong Focus ◽

Tumor Tissues ◽

Cancer Dormancy ◽

Thermodynamic Phase

Dormancy is an evolutionarily conserved protective mechanism widely observed in nature. A pathological example is found during cancer metastasis, where cancer cells disseminate from the primary tumor, home to secondary organs, and enter a growth-arrested state, which could last for decades. Recent studies have pointed toward the microenvironment being heavily involved in inducing, preserving, or ceasing this dormant state, with a strong focus on identifying specific molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways. Increasing evidence now suggests the existence of an interplay between intracellular as well as extracellular biochemical and mechanical cues in guiding such processes. Despite the inherent complexities associated with dormancy, proliferation, and growth of cancer cells and tumor tissues, viewing these phenomena from a physical perspective allows for a more global description, independent from many details of the systems. Building on the analogies between tissues and fluids and thermodynamic phase separation concepts, we classify a number of proposed mechanisms in terms of a thermodynamic metastability of the tumor with respect to growth. This can be governed by interaction with the microenvironment in the form of adherence (wetting) to a substrate or by mechanical confinement of the surrounding extracellular matrix. By drawing parallels with clinical and experimental data, we advance the notion that the local energy minima, or metastable states, emerging in the tissue droplet growth kinetics can be associated with a dormant state. Despite its simplicity, the provided framework captures several aspects associated with cancer dormancy and tumor growth.

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Targeting UCP2 Suppresses the FAK Signaling and Progression of Human Head and Neck Cancer Cells

Clinical Oncology and Research ◽

10.31487/j.cor.2020.04.09 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Yunfeng Zhao ◽

Cherie Ann Nathan ◽

Chunjing Zhang ◽

Hongyan Du ◽

Manikandan Panchatcharam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Head And Neck ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Uncoupling Protein ◽

Human Head ◽

Atp Production ◽

Normal Tissues ◽

Tumor Tissues ◽

Lactate Formation

Background: New adjuvant therapies for human head and neck (H&N) cancer to improve the quality of life of the patients are in great demand. Our early studies have demonstrated that uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) is upregulated in the tumor tissues of H&N cancer compared to the adjacent normal tissues; however, the role of UCP2 in H&N cancer has not been studied. Objective: In this manuscript, we aim to examine whether UCP2 contributes to H&N cancer progression in vitro. Methods: We generated UCP2 stable knockdown H&N cancer cells and detected the effects of UCP2 inhibition on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, 3D spheroid formation, and the sensitivity to a chemodrug treatment. Results: Knockdown of UCP2 suppressed the progression of H&N cancer in vitro, which might be mediated via the following mechanism: 1) increased the G1 phase whereas decreased the S phase of the cell cycle, which could be mediated by suppression of the G1/S regulators including CDK4/6 and cyclin D1. 2) Decreased mitochondrial oxygen consumption, ATP production, and lactate formation, which is consistent with the downregulation of c-Myc. 3) FAK may serve as the upstream signaling molecule, and its action was mediated by Akt and ERK. Conclusions: Our studies first demonstrate that targeting UCP2 may suppress H&N cancer progression in vitro.

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Down-regulation of HIF-1α inhibits the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer by inhibiting PI3K/AKT pathway and VEGF expression

Bioscience Reports ◽

10.1042/bsr20180741 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 38 (6) ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jingjing Zhang ◽

Jun Xu ◽

Yonghong Dong ◽

Bo Huang

Keyword(s):

Gastric Cancer ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Akt Pathway ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Vegf Expression ◽

Gastric Cancer Cells ◽

Tumor Tissues ◽

Sirna Silencing ◽

Gastric Cancer Patients

In view of the high incidence of gastric cancer and the functions of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), our study aimed to investigate the functionality of HIF-1α in gastric cancer, and to explore the diagnostic and prognostic values of HIF-1α for this disease. Expression of HIF-1α in tumor tissues and adjacent healthy tissues as well as serum collected from both gastric cancer patients and normal healthy controls was detected by qRT-PCR. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier method. HIF-1α siRNA silencing cell lines were established. Effects of HIF-1α siRNA silencing as well as PI3K activator sc3036 on proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells were detected by Cell counting kit (CCK-8) assay, and Transwell migration and invasion assay. Effects of HIF-1α siRNA silencing on AKT and VEGF were detected by Western blot. Expression of HIF-1α was significantly down-regulated in tumor tissues than in adjacent healthy tissues in most gastric cancer patients. Serum levels of HIF-1α were also higher in gastric cancer patients than in normal healthy people. Serum HIF-1α showed promising diagnostic and prognostic values for gastric cancer. HIF-1α siRNA silencing inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells, while PI3K activator sc3036 treatment reduced those inhibitory effects. Down-regulation of HIF-1α can inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer possibly by inhibiting PI3K/AKT pathway and VEGF expression.

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Activating Hippo Pathway via Rassf1 by Ursolic Acid Suppresses the Tumorigenesis of Gastric Cancer

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms20194709 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (19) ◽

pp. 4709 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Seong-Hun Kim ◽

Hua Jin ◽

Ruo Yu Meng ◽

Da-Yeah Kim ◽

Yu Chuan Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Gastric Cancer ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Ursolic Acid ◽

Hippo Pathway ◽

Dependent Manner ◽

Gastric Cancer Cells ◽

Protein Levels ◽

Tumor Tissues ◽

The Hippo Pathway

The Hippo pathway is often dysregulated in many carcinomas, which results in various stages of tumor progression. Ursolic acid (UA), a natural compound that exists in many herbal plants, is known to obstruct cancer progression and exerts anti-carcinogenic effect on a number of human cancers. In this study, we aimed to examine the biological mechanisms of action of UA through the Hippo pathway in gastric cancer cells. MTT assay showed a decreased viability of gastric cancer cells after treatment with UA. Following treatment with UA, colony numbers and the sizes of gastric cancer cells were significantly diminished and apoptosis was observed in SNU484 and SNU638 cells. The invasion and migration rates of gastric cancer cells were suppressed by UA in a dose-dependent manner. To further determine the gene expression patterns that are related to the effects of UA, a microarray analysis was performed. Gene ontology analysis revealed that several genes, such as the Hippo pathway upstream target gene, ras association domain family (RASSF1), and its downstream target genes (MST1, MST2, and LATS1) were significantly upregulated by UA, while the expression of YAP1 gene, together with oncogenes (FOXM1, KRAS, and BATF), were significantly decreased. Similar to the gene expression profiling results, the protein levels of RASSF1, MST1, MST2, LATS1, and p-YAP were increased, whereas those of CTGF were decreased by UA in gastric cancer cells. The p-YAP expression induced in gastric cancer cells by UA was reversed with RASSF1 silencing. In addition, the protein levels in the Hippo pathway were increased in the UA-treated xenograft tumor tissues as compared with that in the control tumor tissues; thus, UA significantly inhibited the tumorigenesis of gastric cancer in vivo in xenograft animals. Collectively, UA diminishes the proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer via the regulation of Hippo pathway through Rassf1, which suggests that UA can be used as a potential chemopreventive and therapeutic agent for gastric cancer.

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Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Is an Autocrine Regulator of the Ovarian Cancer Metastatic Niche Through Notch Signaling

Journal of the Endocrine Society ◽

10.1210/js.2018-00272 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 340-357 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sakshi Gera ◽

Sandeep Kumar S. ◽

Shalini N Swamy ◽

Rahul Bhagat ◽

Annapurna Vadaparty ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Cell Proliferation ◽

Notch Signaling ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cell ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cells ◽

Fsh Receptor ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines ◽

Tumor Tissues

Abstract The association between the upregulated Notch and FSH signaling and ovarian cancer is well documented. However, their signaling has been investigated independently and only in the primary tumor tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the interactive effects of FSH and Notch signaling on ovarian cancer proliferation, formation, and maintenance of disseminated ovarian cancer cells. The roles of Notch and FSH in ovarian cancer pathogenesis were investigated with ovarian cancer cell lines and specific antibodies against Notch and FSH receptor (FSHR). FSH upregulated Notch signaling and proliferation in ovarian cancer cells. High levels of FSH were detected in the ascites of patients with serous ovarian adenocarcinoma. Spheroids from the patients’ ascites, as well as the spheroids from ovarian cancer cell lines under low attachment culture conditions, expressed FSHβ subunit mRNA and secreted the hormone into the medium. In contrast, primary ovarian tumor tissues and cell line monolayers expressed very low levels of FSHβ. Ovarian cancer cell spheroids also exhibited higher expression of FSH receptor and Notch downstream genes than their monolayer counterparts. A combination of FSHR and Notch antagonistic antibodies significantly inhibited spheroid formation and cell proliferation in vitro. This study demonstrates that spheroids in ascites express and secrete FSH, which regulates cancer cell proliferation and spheroidogenesis through Notch signaling, suggesting that FSH is an autocrine regulator of cancer metastasis. Furthermore, Notch and FSHR are potential immunotherapeutic targets for ovarian cancer treatment.

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Melatonin suppresses chronic restraint stress-mediated metastasis of epithelial ovarian cancer via NE/AKT/β-catenin/SLUG axis

Cell Death and Disease ◽

10.1038/s41419-020-02906-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

Author(s):

Shixia Bu ◽

Qian Wang ◽

Junyan Sun ◽

Xiao Li ◽

Tingting Gu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Restraint Stress ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cells ◽

Chronic Restraint Stress ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Expression Levels ◽

Tumor Tissues

Abstract Chronic stress has been shown to facilitate progression of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), however, the neuro-endocranial mechanism participating in this process still remains unclear. Here, we reported that chronic restraint stress (CRS) promoted the abdominal implantation metastasis of EOC cells and the expression of epithelial–mesenchymal transition-related markers in tumor-bearing mouse model, including TWIST, SLUG, SNAIL, and β-catenin. We observed that β-catenin co-expressed with SLUG and norepinephrine (NE) in tumor tissues obtained from nude mice. Further ex vivo experiments revealed that NE promoted migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells and SLUG expression through upregulating expression and improving transcriptional function of β-catenin in vitro. A human phosphor-kinase array suggested that NE activated various kinases in ovarian cancer cells, and we further confirmed that AKT inhibitor reduced NE-mediated pro-metastatic impacts and activation of the β-catenin/SLUG axis. Furthermore, the expression levels of NE and β-catenin were examined in ovarian tumor tissues by using tumor tissue arrays. Results showed that the expression levels of both NE and β-catenin were associated with poor clinical stage of serous EOC. Moreover, we found that melatonin (MLT) effectively reduced the abdominal tumor burden of ovarian cancer induced by CRS, which was partially related to the inhibition of the NE/AKT/β-catenin/SLUG axis. Collectively, these findings suggest a novel mechanism for CRS-mediated ovarian cancer metastasis and MLT has a potential therapeutic efficacy against ovarian cancer.

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