Resistance to TRAIL induced apoptosis based on methylation of TRAIL receptor 1 (DR4) and its relevance for a potential treatment option for ovarian cancer

Autophagy, an alternative cell death mechanism, is also termed programmed cell death type II. Autophagy in cancer treatment needs to be regulated. In our study, autophagy inhibition by desipramine or the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) enhanced tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptor-2 [death receptor (DR5)] expression and subsequently TRAIL-induced apoptosis in TRAIL-resistant A549 lung cancer cells. Genetic inhibition of DR5 substantially reduced desipramine-enhanced TRAIL-mediated apoptosis, proving that DR5 was required to increase TRAIL sensitivity in TRAIL-resistant cancer cells. Desipramine treatment upregulated p62 expression and promoted conversion of light chain 3 (LC3)-I to its lipid-conjugated form, LC3-II, indicating that autophagy inhibition occurred at the final stages of autophagic flux. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed the presence of condensed autophagosomes, which resulted from the late stages of autophagy inhibition by desipramine. TRAIL, in combination with desipramine or CQ, augmented the expression of apoptosis-related proteins cleaved caspase-8 and cleaved caspase-3. Our results contributed to the understanding of the mechanism underlying the synergistic anti-cancer effect of desipramine and TRAIL and presented a novel mechanism of DR5 upregulation. These findings demonstrated that autophagic flux inhibition by desipramine potentiated TRAIL-induced apoptosis, suggesting that appropriate regulation of autophagy is required for sensitizing TRAIL-resistant cancer cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis.

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Abstract NT-121: AN ANTI-AMPHIREGULIN ANTIBODY AS POTENTIAL TREATMENT FOR OVARIAN CANCER

10.1158/1557-3265.ovcasymp18-nt-121 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Einav Zmora ◽

Moshit Lindzen ◽

Yosef Yarden

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Potential Treatment

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Galangin, a Flavonoid from Lesser Galangal, Induced Apoptosis via p53-Dependent Pathway in Ovarian Cancer Cells

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules25071579 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (7) ◽

pp. 1579 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Haizhi Huang ◽

Allen Y. Chen ◽

Xingqian Ye ◽

Rongfa Guan ◽

Gary O. Rankin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Regulatory Protein ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cells ◽

Apoptotic Pathway ◽

Bax Protein ◽

Platinum Based Chemotherapy ◽

Phosphorylated Akt ◽

Induced Apoptosis

Among women worldwide, ovarian cancer is one of the most dangerous cancers. Patients undergoing platinum-based chemotherapy might get adverse side effects and develop resistance to drugs. In recent years, natural compounds have aroused growing attention in cancer treatment. Galangin inhibited the growth of two cell lines, A2780/CP70 and OVCAR-3, more strongly than the growth of a normal ovarian cell line, IOSE 364. The IC50 values of galangin on proliferation of A2780/CP70, OVCAR-3 and IOSE 364 cells were 42.3, 34.5, and 131.3 μM, respectively. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that galangin preferentially induced apoptosis in both ovarian cancer cells with respect to normal ovarian cells. Galangin treatment increased the level of cleaved caspase-3 and -7 via the p53-dependent intrinsic apoptotic pathway by up-regulating Bax protein and via the p53-dependent extrinsic apoptotic pathway by up-regulating DR5 protein. By down-regulating the level of p53 with 20 μM pifithrin-α (PFT-α), the apoptotic rates of OVCAR-3 cells induced by galangin treatment (40 μM) were significantly decreased from 18.2% to 10.2%, indicating that p53 is a key regulatory protein in galangin-induced apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells. Although galangin up-regulated the expression of p21, it had little effect on the cell cycle of the two ovarian cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the levels of phosphorylated Akt and phosphorylated p70S6K were decreased through galangin treatment, suggesting that the Akt/p70S6K pathways might be involved in the apoptosis. Our results suggested that galangin is selective against cancer cells and can be used for the treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancers in humans.

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Isoflavones Isolated from the Seeds of Millettia ferruginea Induced Apoptotic Cell Death in Human Ovarian Cancer Cells

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules25010207 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 207 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yi-Yue Wang ◽

Jun Hyeok Kwak ◽

Kyung-Tae Lee ◽

Tsegaye Deyou ◽

Young Pyo Jang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Caspase 3 ◽

Apoptotic Cell ◽

Apoptotic Cell Death ◽

Ovarian Cancer Cells ◽

Human Ovarian Cancer ◽

Millettia Ferruginea ◽

Induced Apoptosis

The seeds of Millettia ferruginea are used in fishing, pesticides, and folk medicine in Ethiopia. Here, the anti-cancer effects of isoflavones isolated from M. ferruginea were evaluated in human ovarian cancer cells. We found that isoflavone ferrugone and 6,7-dimethoxy-3’,4’-methylenedioxy-8-(3,3-dimethylallyl)isoflavone (DMI) had potent cytotoxic effects on human ovarian cancer cell A2780 and SKOV3. Ferrugone and DMI treatment increased the sub-G1 cell population in a dose-dependent manner in A2780 cells. The cytotoxic activity of ferrugone and DMI was associated with the induction of apoptosis, as shown by an increase in annexin V-positive cells. Z-VAD-fmk, a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor, and z-DEVD-fmk, a caspase-3 inhibitor, significantly reversed both the ferrugone and DMI-induced apoptosis, suggesting that cell death stimulated by the isoflavones is mediated by caspase-3-dependent apoptosis. Additionally, ferrugone-induced apoptosis was found to be caspase-8-dependent, while DMI-induced apoptosis was caspase-9-dependent. Notably, DMI, but not ferrugone, increased the intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) attenuated the pro-apoptotic activity of DMI. These data suggest that DMI induced apoptotic cell death through the intrinsic pathway via ROS production, while ferrugone stimulated the extrinsic pathway in human ovarian cancer cells.

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How and why SGLT2 inhibitors should be explored as potential treatment option in diabetic retinopathy: clinical concept and methodology

Therapeutic Advances in Endocrinology and Metabolism ◽

10.1177/2042018819891886 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 204201881989188 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marcus May ◽

Theodor Framke ◽

Bernd Junker ◽

Carsten Framme ◽

Amelie Pielen* ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Treatment Option ◽

Microvascular Complications ◽

Treatment Options ◽

Sglt2 Inhibitors ◽

Diabetic Microangiopathy ◽

Potential Treatment ◽

Treatment And Prevention ◽

Clinical Complications ◽

Sodium Glucose Cotransporter ◽

Increased Risk

Patients suffering from type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of developing classical microvascular complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy, which represent a significant health burden. Tight control of blood glucose, blood pressure, and serum cholesterol reduce the risk of microvascular complications but effective pharmacologically targeted treatment options for the treatment and prevention of diabetic microangiopathy are still lacking. Pharmacological inhibition of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) might have the potential to directly protect against microvascular complications and could represent a potential treatment option. Randomized controlled clinical proof of concept trials are needed to investigate a potential central role of SGLT2 inhibitors in the prevention of diabetic microangiopathy and its classical clinical complications of retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy.

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