scholarly journals DNAzymes, Novel Therapeutic Agents in Cancer Therapy: A Review of Concepts to Applications

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
I. B. K. Thomas ◽  
K. A. P. Gaminda ◽  
C. D. Jayasinghe ◽  
D. T. Abeysinghe ◽  
R. Senthilnithy
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acid ◽  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
Cancer Drug ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Catalytic Dna

The past few decades have witnessed a rapid evolution in cancer drug research which is aimed at developing active biological interventions to regulate cancer-specific molecular targets. Nucleic acid-based therapeutics, including ribozymes, antisense oligonucleotides, small interference RNA (siRNA), aptamer, and DNAzymes, have emerged as promising candidates regulating cancer-specific genes at either the transcriptional or posttranscriptional level. Gene-specific catalytic DNA molecules, or DNAzymes, have shown promise as a therapeutic intervention against cancer in various in vitro and in vivo models, expediting towards clinical applications. DNAzymes are single-stranded catalytic DNA that has not been observed in nature, and they are synthesized through in vitro selection processes from a large pool of random DNA libraries. The intrinsic properties of DNAzymes like small molecular weight, higher stability, excellent programmability, diversity, and low cost have brought them to the forefront of the nucleic acid-based therapeutic arsenal available for cancers. In recent years, considerable efforts have been undertaken to assess a variety of DNAzymes against different cancers. However, their therapeutic application is constrained by the low delivery efficiency, cellular uptake, and target detection within the tumour microenvironment. Thus, there is a pursuit to identify efficient delivery methods in vivo before the full potential of DNAzymes in cancer therapy is realized. In this light, a review of the recent advances in the use of DNAzymes against cancers in preclinical and clinical settings is valuable to understand its potential as effective cancer therapy. We have thus sought to firstly provide a brief overview of construction and recent improvements in the design of DNAzymes. Secondly, this review stipulates the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of DNAzymes developed against major hallmarks of cancers tested in preclinical and clinical settings. Lastly, the recent advances in DNAzyme delivery systems along with the challenges and prospects for the clinical application of DNAzymes as cancer therapy are also discussed.

scholarly journals New Anti-Cancer Strategy to Suppress Colorectal Cancer Growth Through Inhibition of ATG4B and Lysosome Function

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Fu ◽  
Qianqian Gu ◽  
Li Luo ◽  
Jiecheng Xu ◽  
Yuping Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Screening Method ◽  
Cancer Drug ◽  
Autophagic Flux ◽  
Single Target ◽  
Anti Cancer

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.

scholarly journals The Good, the Bad, the Question–H19 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lysann Tietze ◽  
Sonja M. Kessler
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
Liver Cancer ◽  
Primary Liver Cancer ◽  
Human Patient ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Novel Target

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common primary liver cancer, is challenging to treat due to its typical late diagnosis, mostly at an advanced stage. Therefore, there is a particular need for research in diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HCC. The use of long noncoding (lnc) RNAs can widen the list of novel molecular targets improving cancer therapy. In hepatocarcinogenesis, the role of the lncRNA H19, which has been known for more than 30 years now, is still controversially discussed. H19 was described to work either as a tumor suppressor in vitro and in vivo, or to have oncogenic features. This review attempts to survey the conflicting study results and tries to elucidate the potential reasons for the contrary findings, i.e., different methods, models, or readout parameters. This review encompasses in vitro and in vivo models as well as studies on human patient samples. Although the function of H19 in HCC remains elusive, a short outlook summarizes some ideas of using the H19 locus as a novel target for liver cancer therapy.

scholarly journals Lipid-Based Nanocarriers Provide Prolonged Anticancer Activity for Palbociclib: In Vitro and in Vivo Evaluations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parichehr Hassanzadeh ◽  
Elham Arbabi ◽  
Fatemeh Rostami
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
Cell Cycle Progression ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Physicochemical Characteristics ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Positive

Breast cancer therapy has remained one of the major healthcare challenges. Based on the critical role of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK 4/6) in cell cycle progression, targeting this signaling appears promising for cancer therapy. Palbociclib, a selective CDKs 4/6 inhibitor, is the first-line treatment for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. However, poor absorption or side effects may negatively affect its efficiency. This prompted us to incorporate palbociclib into the nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) and evaluate the anticancer effect of the nanoformulation (Pa-NLCs) in in vitro and in vivo models of breast cancer. Pa-NLCs were developed by high-pressure homogenization followed by assessment of the physicochemical characteristics and bioactivities in MCF-7 breast cancer cells and female Wistar rats exposed to the carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA). The prepared Pa-NLCs demonstrated suitable physicochemical characteristics, including the controlled release pattern, efficient cellular uptake, and cytotoxicity, while free palbociclib failed to show significant effects. Rats treated with Pa-NLCs exhibited significantly reduced tumor volumes, increased survival rates, and histopathological improvement. Free palbociclib was significantly less efficient than Pa-NLCs. Pa-NLCs, by improving the pharmacological profile of palbociclib and providing longer-lasting effects, can be considered as a promising nanoformulation against breast cancer.

scholarly journals Green Metallic Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy: Evaluation Models and Cancer Applications

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1719
Author(s):  
Ernesto Tinajero-Díaz ◽  
Daniela Salado-Leza ◽  
Carmen Gonzalez ◽  
Moisés Martínez Velázquez ◽  
Zaira López ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
Ag Nanoparticles ◽  
Metallic Nanoparticles ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Biological Assessment ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Evaluation Models

Metal-based nanoparticles are widely used to deliver bioactive molecules and drugs to improve cancer therapy. Several research works have highlighted the synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles by green chemistry, using biological entities to minimize the use of solvents and control their physicochemical and biological properties. Recent advances in evaluating the anticancer effect of green biogenic Au and Ag nanoparticles are mainly focused on the use of conventional 2D cell culture and in vivo murine models that allow determination of the half-maximal inhibitory concentration, a critical parameter to move forward clinical trials. However, the interaction between nanoparticles and the tumor microenvironment is not yet fully understood. Therefore, it is necessary to develop more human-like evaluation models or to improve the existing ones for a better understanding of the molecular bases of cancer. This review provides recent advances in biosynthesized Au and Ag nanoparticles for seven of the most common and relevant cancers and their biological assessment. In addition, it provides a general idea of the in silico, in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models used for the anticancer evaluation of green biogenic metal-based nanoparticles.

Bioinformatics Approaches for Anti-cancer Drug Discovery

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kening Li ◽  
Yuxin Du ◽  
Lu Li ◽  
Dong-Qing Wei
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
Biological Network ◽  
Computational Prediction ◽  
Cancer Drug ◽  
Cancer Drugs ◽  
Cancer Drug Discovery ◽  
Anti Cancer

Drug discovery is important in cancer therapy and precision medicines. Traditional approaches of drug discovery are mainly based on in vivo animal experiments and in vitro drug screening, but these methods are usually expensive and laborious. In the last decade, omics data explosion provides an opportunity for computational prediction of anti-cancer drugs, improving the efficiency of drug discovery. High-throughput transcriptome data were widely used in biomarkers’ identification and drug prediction by integrating with drug-response data. Moreover, biological network theory and methodology were also successfully applied to the anti-cancer drug discovery, such as studies based on protein-protein interaction network, drug-target network and disease-gene network. In this review, we summarized and discussed the bioinformatics approaches for predicting anti-cancer drugs and drug combinations based on the multi-omic data, including transcriptomics, toxicogenomics, functional genomics and biological network. We believe that the general overview of available databases and current computational methods will be helpful for the development of novel cancer therapy strategies.

scholarly journals A combination of PARP and CHK1 inhibitors efficiently antagonizes MYCN-driven tumors

Oncogene ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Di Giulio ◽  
Valeria Colicchia ◽  
Fabio Pastorino ◽  
Flaminia Pedretti ◽  
Francesca Fabretti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parp Inhibitor ◽  
Primary Cultures ◽  
Neuroblastoma Cells ◽  
Parp Inhibitors ◽  
Mitotic Catastrophe ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Chk1 Inhibitor

AbstractMYCN drives aggressive behavior and refractoriness to chemotherapy, in several tumors. Since MYCN inactivation in clinical settings is not achievable, alternative vulnerabilities of MYCN-driven tumors need to be explored to identify more effective and less toxic therapies. We previously demonstrated that PARP inhibitors enhance MYCN-induced replication stress and promote mitotic catastrophe, counteracted by CHK1. Here, we showed that PARP and CHK1 inhibitors synergized to induce death in neuroblastoma cells and in primary cultures of SHH-dependent medulloblastoma, their combination being more effective in MYCN amplified and MYCN overexpressing cells compared to MYCN non-amplified cells. Although the MYCN amplified IMR-32 cell line carrying the p.Val2716Ala ATM mutation showed the highest sensitivity to the drug combination, this was not related to ATM status, as indicated by CRISPR/Cas9-based correction of the mutation. Suboptimal doses of the CHK1 inhibitor MK-8776 plus the PARP inhibitor olaparib led to a MYCN-dependent accumulation of DNA damage and cell death in vitro and significantly reduced the growth of four in vivo models of MYCN-driven tumors, without major toxicities. Our data highlight the combination of PARP and CHK1 inhibitors as a new potential chemo-free strategy to treat MYCN-driven tumors, which might be promptly translated into clinical trials.

scholarly journals Galeterone and The Next Generation Galeterone Analogs, VNPP414 and VNPP433-3β Exert Potent Therapeutic Effects in Castration-/Drug-Resistant Prostate Cancer Preclinical Models In Vitro and In Vivo

Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew K. Kwegyir-Afful ◽  
Senthilmurugan Ramalingam ◽  
Vidya P. Ramamurthy ◽  
Puranik Purushottamachar ◽  
Francis N. Murigi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Xenograft Model ◽  
Cancer Drug ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Stem Cell Markers ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition

These studies compared the efficacies of our clinical agent galeterone (Gal) and the FDA-approved prostate cancer drug, enzalutamide (ENZ) with two lead next generation galeterone analogs (NGGAs), VNPP414 and VNPP433-3β, using prostate cancer (PC) in vitro and in vivo models. Antitumor activities of orally administered agents were also assessed in CWR22Rv1 tumor-bearing mice. We demonstrated that Gal and NGGAs degraded AR/AR-V7 and Mnk1/2; blocked cell cycle progression and proliferation of human PC cells; induced apoptosis; inhibited cell migration, invasion, and putative stem cell markers; and reversed the expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In addition, Gal/NGGAs (alone or in combination) also inhibited the growth of ENZ-, docetaxel-, and mitoxantrone-resistant human PC cell lines. The NGGAs exhibited improved pharmacokinetic profiles over Gal in mice. Importantly, in vivo testing showed that VNPP433-3β (at 7.53-fold lower equimolar dose than Gal) markedly suppressed (84% vs. Gal, 47%; p < 0.01) the growth of castration-resistant PC (CRPC) CWR22Rv1 xenograft tumors, with no apparent host toxicity. ENZ was ineffective in this CRPC xenograft model. In summary, our findings show that targeting AR/AR-V7 and Mnk1/2 for degradation represents an effective therapeutic strategy for PC/CRPC treatment and supports further development of VNPP433-3β towards clinical investigation.

scholarly journals The Multifaceted Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Glioblastoma: microRNA Nanocarriers for Disease Progression and Gene Therapy

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 988
Author(s):  
Natalia Simionescu ◽  
Radu Zonda ◽  
Anca Roxana Petrovici ◽  
Adriana Georgescu
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Extracellular Vesicles ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Messenger Rnas ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most aggressive form of brain cancer in adults, characterized by poor survival rates and lack of effective therapies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally through specific pairing with target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Extracellular vesicles (EVs), a heterogeneous group of cell-derived vesicles, transport miRNAs, mRNAs and intracellular proteins, and have been shown to promote horizontal malignancy into adjacent tissue, as well as resistance to conventional therapies. Furthermore, GB-derived EVs have distinct miRNA contents and are able to penetrate the blood–brain barrier. Numerous studies have attempted to identify EV-associated miRNA biomarkers in serum/plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, but their collective findings fail to identify reliable biomarkers that can be applied in clinical settings. However, EVs carrying specific miRNAs or miRNA inhibitors have great potential as therapeutic nanotools in GB, and several studies have investigated this possibility on in vitro and in vivo models. In this review, we discuss the role of EVs and their miRNA content in GB progression and resistance to therapy, with emphasis on their potential as diagnostic, prognostic and disease monitoring biomarkers and as nanocarriers for gene therapy.

scholarly journals Zebrafish Models of Cancer Therapy-Induced Cardiovascular Toxicity

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Sarah Lane ◽  
Luis Alberto More ◽  
Aarti Asnani
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Early Developmental Stage ◽  
Transgenic Zebrafish ◽  
Cardiovascular Toxicity ◽  
Zebrafish Model ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Mechanisms Of Toxicity

Purpose of review: Both traditional and novel cancer therapies can cause cardiovascular toxicity in patients. In vivo models integrating both cardiovascular and cancer phenotypes allow for the study of on- and off-target mechanisms of toxicity arising from these agents. The zebrafish is the optimal whole organism model to screen for cardiotoxicity in a high throughput manner, while simultaneously assessing the role of cardiotoxicity pathways on the cancer therapy’s antitumor effect. Here we highlight established zebrafish models of human cardiovascular disease and cancer, the unique advantages of zebrafish to study mechanisms of cancer therapy-associated cardiovascular toxicity, and finally, important limitations to consider when using the zebrafish to study toxicity. Recent findings: Cancer therapy-associated cardiovascular toxicities range from cardiomyopathy with traditional agents to arrhythmias and thrombotic complications associated with newer targeted therapies. The zebrafish can be used to identify novel therapeutic strategies that selectively protect the heart from cancer therapy without affecting antitumor activity. Advances in genome editing technology have enabled the creation of several transgenic zebrafish lines valuable to the study of cardiovascular and cancer pathophysiology. Summary: The high degree of genetic conservation between zebrafish and humans, as well as the ability to recapitulate cardiotoxic phenotypes observed in patients with cancer, make the zebrafish an effective model to study cancer therapy-associated cardiovascular toxicity. Though this model provides several key benefits over existing in vitro and in vivo models, limitations of the zebrafish model include the early developmental stage required for most high-throughput applications.

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