scholarly journals A Hopeful Natural Product, Pristimerin, Induces Apoptosis, Cell Cycle Arrest, and Autophagy in Esophageal Cancer Cells

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Huang ◽  
Li-Ying Sun ◽  
Yan-Qiao Zhang

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common malignant digestive diseases worldwide. Although many approaches have been established for the treatment of esophageal cancer, the survival outcome has not improved. Pristimerin is a quinone methide triterpenoid with anticancer, antiangiogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antiprotozoal activities. However, the role of pristimerin in cancers such as esophageal cancer is unclear. In this study, we investigated the role and mechanisms of action of pristimerin in esophageal cancer. First, we found that pristimerin can induce apoptosis in esophageal cancer in vivo and in vitro. CCK-8 and clonogenic assays showed that pristimerin decreased the growth of Eca109 cells. In addition, we found that pristimerin decreased the protein expression of CDK2, CDK4, cyclin E, and BCL-2 and increased the expression of CDKN1B. Meanwhile, pristimerin elevated the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I. Otherwise, downregulation of CDKN1B can reduce the esophageal cancer tumor growth induced by pristimerin. In conclusion, our findings revealed an important role of pristimerin in esophageal cancer and suggest that pristimerin might be a potential therapeutic agent for this cancer.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian Deng ◽  
Xiongjie Zhu ◽  
Zhongjian Yu ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Lingyu Qin ◽  
...  

Abstract Although single-drug chemotherapy is still an effective treatment for esophageal cancer, its long-term application is limited by severe side effects. Nanomedicines have increasingly attracted attention because of their good biological safety, targeting and high-efficiency loading of multiple drugs. Herein, we have developed a pH-responsive nanocarrier that has high affinity for the transferrin receptor, which is overexpressed by tumor cells. The system is capable of simultaneous delivery of the chemotherapy drug, docetaxel, and the Chinese Medicine, curcumin, for treatment of esophageal cancer. This novel T7-modified targeting nanosystem releases loaded drugs when exposed to the acidic microenvironment of the tumor, and exerts a synergistic anti-tumor effect, and T7-NP-DC with docetaxel and curcumin loading of 10% and 6.1%, respectively. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that improved anti-tumor efficacy could be obtained by loading docetaxel and curcumin into the T7-modified nanocarrierwithout obvious toxicity or side effects, compared to drug without nanocarrier. Furthermore, the nanocarriers conjugated with T7 short peptides were more readily taken up by esophageal cancer cells compared with normal cells.Together, our findings indicate that the materials can safely exert synergistic anti-tumor effects and provide an excellent therapeutic platform for combination therapy of esophageal cancer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-Cai Tang ◽  
Jia Zhao ◽  
Feng Long ◽  
Jian-ye Chen ◽  
Bo Mu ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengjuan Zhang ◽  
Junxia Zhang ◽  
Qiong Wu ◽  
Benling Xu ◽  
Guoguo Jin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As a novel type of isothiocyanate derived from radish seeds from cruciferous vegetables, sulforaphene (SFE, 4-methylsufinyl-3-butenyl isothiocyanate) has various important biological effects, such as anti-oxidative and anti-bacterial effects. Recently, sulforaphene has attracted increasing attention for its anti-tumor effects and its ability to suppress the development of multiple tumors through different regulatory mechanisms. However, it has not yet been widely investigated for the treatment of esophageal cancer. Methods We observed an increased apoptosis in esophageal cancer cells on sulforaphene treatment through flow cytometry (FCM) analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Through mass spectrometry (MS) analysis, we further detected global changes in the proteomes and phosphoproteomes of esophageal cancer cells on sulforaphene treatment. The molecular mechanism of sulforaphene was verified by western blot,the effect and mechanism of SFE on esophageal cancer was further verified by patient-derived xenograft mouse model. Results We identified multiple cellular processes that were changed after sulforaphene treatment by proteomics. We found that sulforaphene could repress the phosphorylation of CREB through MSK2, leading to suppression of Bcl-2 and further promoted cell apoptosis. Additionally, we confirmed that sulforaphene induces tumor cell apoptosis in mice. Interestingly, we also observed the obvious inhibition of cell migration and invasion caused by sulforaphene treatment by inhibiting the expression of cadherin, indicating the complex effects of sulforaphene on the development of esophageal cancer. Conclusions Our data demonstrated that sulforaphene induced cell apoptosis and inhibits the invasion of esophageal cancer through a mechanism involving the inhibition of the MSK2–CREB–Bcl2 and cadherin pathway. Sulforaphene could therefore serve as a promising anti-tumor drug for the treatment of esophageal cancer.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 778-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-Cai Tang ◽  
Rui An ◽  
Yi-Qing Jiang ◽  
Jian Yang

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cailing Jiang ◽  
Shumin Li ◽  
Yanjing Li ◽  
Yuxian Bai

Despite recent advances in chemotherapy and surgical resection, the 5-year survival rate of esophageal cancer still remains at the low level. Therefore, it is very important to discover a new agent to improve the life expectancy of patients with esophageal cancer. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), a semisynthetic derivative of artemisinin, has recently exhibited promising anticancer activity against various cancer cells. But so far, the specific mechanism remains unclear. We have previously demonstrated that DHA reduced viability of esophageal cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner in vitro and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Here, we extended our study to further observe the efficacy of DHA on esophageal cancer cells in vivo. In the present study, for the first time, we found that DHA significantly inhibits cell proliferation in xenografted tumor compared with the control. The mechanism was that DHA induced cell apoptosis in both human esophageal cancer cell lines Eca109 and Ec9706 in vivo in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggested that DHA was a promising agent against esophageal cancer in the clinical treatment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongshun Li ◽  
Changrong Huang ◽  
Qizhou Bai ◽  
Jun Yu

AbstractEsophageal cancer is a common digestive tract cancer, which is a serious threat to human health. Ribophorin II (RPN2) is a part of an N-oligosaccharyltransferase complex, which is excessively expressed in many kinds of cancers. In the present study, we explore the biological role of RNP2 in esophageal cancer. First, we found that the expression of RPN2 was higher in esophageal cancer tissues than in adjacent non-tumor tissues, and negatively correlated with E-cadherin expression. RPN2 expression levels in esophageal cancer tissues were positively associated with differentiation and tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage. Furthermore, the expression of RPN2 was increased significantly in esophageal cancer cell lines compared with normal cells. The effect of RPN2 down-regulation on cell proliferation, cell migration, and cell invasion was examined by cell counting kit-8 (CCK8), wound healing assay, and Transwell assay, respectively. Silencing RPN2 effectively inhibited cell proliferation of esophageal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Cell migration and invasion were also weakened dramatically by siRPN2 treatment of esophageal cancer cells. In addition, protein expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2), and E-cadherin in esophageal cancer cells was determined by Western blot analysis. PCNA, MMP-2, E-cadherin, Snail and phosphorylation-Smad2/3 expression was also regulated notably by siRPN2 treatment. These findings indicate that RPN2 exhibits oncogenetic capabilities in esophageal cancer, which could provide novel insights into esophageal cancer prevention and treatment.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 330
Author(s):  
Clara Andradas ◽  
Jacob Byrne ◽  
Mani Kuchibhotla ◽  
Mathew Ancliffe ◽  
Anya C. Jones ◽  
...  

Children with medulloblastoma and ependymoma are treated with a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy; however, overall survival rates for patients with high-risk disease remain unsatisfactory. Data indicate that plant-derived cannabinoids are effective against adult glioblastoma; however, preclinical evidence supporting their use in pediatric brain cancers is lacking. Here we investigated the potential role for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) in medulloblastoma and ependymoma. Dose-dependent cytotoxicity of medulloblastoma and ependymoma cells was induced by THC and CBD in vitro, and a synergistic reduction in viability was observed when both drugs were combined. Mechanistically, cannabinoids induced cell cycle arrest, in part by the production of reactive oxygen species, autophagy, and apoptosis; however, this did not translate to increased survival in orthotopic transplant models despite being well tolerated. We also tested the combination of cannabinoids with the medulloblastoma drug cyclophosphamide, and despite some in vitro synergism, no survival advantage was observed in vivo. Consequently, clinical benefit from the use of cannabinoids in the treatment of high-grade medulloblastoma and ependymoma is expected to be limited. This study emphasizes the importance of preclinical models in validating therapeutic agent efficacy prior to clinical trials, ensuring that enrolled patients are afforded the most promising therapies available.


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