The Combination of TRAIL Treatment and Cancer Cell Selective Expression of TRAIL-Death Receptor DR4 Induces Cell Death in TRAIL-Resistant Cancer Cells

Mitochondria are crucial regulators of the intrinsic pathway of cancer cell death. The high sensitivity of cancer cells to mitochondrial dysfunction offers opportunities for emerging targets in cancer therapy. Herein,...

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Caspase-8 deficiency induces a switch from TLR3 induced apoptosis to lysosomal cell death in neuroblastoma

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-89793-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Marie-Anaïs Locquet ◽

Gabriel Ichim ◽

Joseph Bisaccia ◽

Aurelie Dutour ◽

Serge Lebecque ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Neuroblastoma Cell ◽

Death Receptor ◽

Neuroblastoma Cell Line ◽

Caspase 8 ◽

Caspase Activation ◽

Extrinsic Pathway ◽

Lysosomal Membrane Permeabilization ◽

Induced Apoptosis

AbstractIn cancer cells only, TLR3 acquires death receptor properties by efficiently triggering the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis with Caspase-8 as apical protease. Here, we demonstrate that in the absence of Caspase-8, activation of TLR3 can trigger a form of programmed cell death, which is distinct from classical apoptosis. When TLR3 was activated in the Caspase-8 negative neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y, cell death was accompanied by lysosomal permeabilization. Despite caspases being activated, lysosomal permeabilization as well as cell death were not affected by blocking caspase-activity, positioning lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) upstream of caspase activation. Taken together, our data suggest that LMP with its deadly consequences represents a “default” death mechanism in cancer cells, when Caspase-8 is absent and apoptosis cannot be induced.

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AKT but not MYC promotes reactive oxygen species-mediated cell death in oxidative culture

10.1101/754572 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Dongqing Zheng ◽

Jonathan H. Sussman ◽

Matthew P. Jeon ◽

Sydney T. Parrish ◽

Alireza Delfarah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Reactive Oxygen Species ◽

Cell Death ◽

Oxidative Phosphorylation ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Breast Cancer Cell ◽

Breast Cancer Cell Lines ◽

Oxygen Species

ABSTRACTOncogenes can generate metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer cells. Here, we tested how AKT and MYC affect the ability of cells to shift between respiration and glycolysis. Using immortalized mammary epithelial cells, we discovered that constitutively active AKT but not MYC induced cell death in galactose culture, where cells must rely on oxidative phosphorylation for energy generation. However, the negative effects of AKT were short-lived, and AKT-expressing cells recommenced growth after ~15 days in galactose. To identify the mechanisms regulating AKT-mediated cell death, we used metabolomics and found that AKT cells dying in galactose upregulated glutathione metabolism. Next, using proteomics, we discovered that AKT-expressing cells dying in galactose upregulated nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, a marker of sensitivity to oxidative stress. We therefore measured levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and discovered that galactose induced ROS in cells expressing AKT but not MYC. Additionally, ROS were required for the galactose-induced death of AKT-expressing cells. We then tested whether these findings could be replicated in breast cancer cell lines with constitutively active AKT signaling. Indeed, we found that galactose induced rapid cell death in breast cancer cell lines and that ROS were required for galactose-induced cell death. Together, our results demonstrate that AKT but not MYC induces a metabolic vulnerability in cancer cells, namely the restricted flexibility to use oxidative phosphorylation.ImplicationsThe discovery that AKT but not MYC restricts the ability to utilize oxidative phosphorylation highlights that therapeutics targeting tumor metabolism must be tailored to the individual genetic profile of tumors.

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Molecular Mode of Action of TRAIL Receptor Agonists—Common Principles and Their Translational Exploitation

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers11070954 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 954 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Wajant

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Plasma Membrane ◽

Clinical Studies ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Death Receptor ◽

Death Receptors ◽

Maximum Activity ◽

Receptor Agonists ◽

Receptor Antibodies ◽

Trail Death Receptor

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and its death receptors TRAILR1/death receptor 4 (DR4) and TRAILR2/DR5 trigger cell death in many cancer cells but rarely exert cytotoxic activity on non-transformed cells. Against this background, a variety of recombinant TRAIL variants and anti-TRAIL death receptor antibodies have been developed and tested in preclinical and clinical studies. Despite promising results from mice tumor models, TRAIL death receptor targeting has failed so far in clinical studies to show satisfying anti-tumor efficacy. These disappointing results can largely be explained by two issues: First, tumor cells can acquire TRAIL resistance by several mechanisms defining a need for combination therapies with appropriate sensitizing drugs. Second, there is now growing preclinical evidence that soluble TRAIL variants but also bivalent anti-TRAIL death receptor antibodies typically require oligomerization or plasma membrane anchoring to achieve maximum activity. This review discusses the need for oligomerization and plasma membrane attachment for the activity of TRAIL death receptor agonists in view of what is known about the molecular mechanisms of how TRAIL death receptors trigger intracellular cell death signaling. In particular, it will be highlighted which consequences this has for the development of next generation TRAIL death receptor agonists and their potential clinical application.

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Alternative Pathways of Cancer Cell Death by Rottlerin: Apoptosis versus Autophagy

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2012/980658 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Claudia Torricelli ◽

Sara Salvadori ◽

Giuseppe Valacchi ◽

Karel Souček ◽

Eva Slabáková ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Electron Microscopic Examination ◽

Cell Types ◽

Beclin 1 ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Alternative Pathways ◽

Light Fluorescence ◽

Mcf 7

Since the ability of cancer cells to evade apoptosis often limits the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, autophagy is emerging as an alternative target to promote cell death. Therefore, we wondered whether Rottlerin, a natural polyphenolic compound with antiproliferative effects in several cell types, can induce cell death in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The MCF-7 cell line is a good model of chemo/radio resistance, being both apoptosis and autophagy resistant, due to deletion of caspase 3 gene, high expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, and low expression of the autophagic Beclin-1 protein. The contribution of autophagy and apoptosis to the cytotoxic effects of Rottlerin was examined by light, fluorescence, and electron microscopic examination and by western blotting analysis of apoptotic and autophagic markers. By comparing caspases-3-deficient (MCF-73def) and caspases-3-transfected MCF-7 cells (MCF-73trans), we found that Rottlerin induced a noncanonical, Bcl-2-, Beclin 1-, Akt-, and ERK-independent autophagic death in the former- and the caspases-mediated apoptosis in the latter, in not starved conditions and in the absence of any other treatment. These findings suggest that Rottlerin could be cytotoxic for different cancer cell types, both apoptosis competent and apoptosis resistant.

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Anticancer Activity of Cynomorium coccineum

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers10100354 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 354 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Mouna Sdiri ◽

Xiangmin Li ◽

William Du ◽

Safia El-Bok ◽

Yi-Zhen Xie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Cycle ◽

Cell Death ◽

Anticancer Activity ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Cell Cycle Progression ◽

Cycle Progression

The extensive applications of Cynomorium species and their rich bioactive secondary metabolites have inspired many pharmacological investigations. Previous research has been conducted to examine the biological activities and numerous interesting pharmaceutical activities have been reported. However, the antitumor activities of these species are unclear. To understand the potential anticancer activity, we screened Cynomorium coccineum and Cynomorium songaricum using three different extracts of each species. In this study, the selected extracts were evaluated for their ability to decrease survival rates of five different cancer cell lines. We compared the cytotoxicity of the three different extracts to the anticancer drug vinblastine and one of the most well-known medicinal mushrooms Amaurederma rude. We found that the water and alcohol extracts of C. coccineum at the very low concentrations possessed very high capacity in decreasing the cancer cells viability with a potential inhibition of tumorigenesis. Based on these primitive data, we subsequently tested the ethanol and the water extracts of C. coccineum, respectively in in vitro and in vivo assays. Cell cycle progression and induction of programmed cell death were investigated at both biological and molecular levels to understand the mechanism of the antitumor inhibitory action of the C. coccineum. The in vitro experiments showed that the treated cancer cells formed fewer and smaller colonies than the untreated cells. Cell cycle progression was inhibited, and the ethanol extract of C. coccineum at a low concentration induced accumulation of cells in the G1 phase. We also found that the C. coccineum’s extracts suppressed viability of two murine cancer cell lines. In the in vivo experiments, we injected mice with murine cancer cell line B16, followed by peritoneal injection of the water extract. The treatment prolonged mouse survival significantly. The tumors grew at a slower rate than the control. Down-regulation of c-myc expression appeared to be associated with these effects. Further investigation showed that treatment with C. coccineum induced the overexpression of the tumor suppressor Foxo3 and other molecules involved in inducing autophagy. These results showed that the C. coccineum extract exerts its antiproliferative activity through the induction of cell death pathway. Thus, the Cynomorium plants appear to be a promising source of new antineoplastic compounds.

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Molecular interaction and cellular studies on combination photodynamic therapy with rutoside for melanoma A375 cancer cells: an in vitro study

Cancer Cell International ◽

10.1186/s12935-020-01616-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Khatereh Khorsandi ◽

Reza Hosseinzadeh ◽

Elham Chamani

Keyword(s):

Reactive Oxygen Species ◽

Cell Cycle ◽

Cell Death ◽

Photodynamic Therapy ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Cancer Cell Line ◽

Human Melanoma ◽

Oxygen Species ◽

Melanoma Cancer

Abstract Background Melanoma as a type of skin cancer, is associated with a high mortality rate. Therefore, early diagnosis and efficient surgical treatment of this disease is very important. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves the activation of a photosensitizer by light at specific wavelength that interacts with oxygen and creates singlet oxygen molecules or reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can lead to tumor cell death. Furthermore, one of the main approches in the prevention and treatment of various cancers is plant compounds application. Phenolic compounds are essential class of natural antioxidants, which play crucial biological roles such as anticancer effects. It was previously suggested that flavonoid such as rutoside could acts as pro-oxidant or antioxidant. Hence, in this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of rutoside on the combination therapy with methylene blue (MB) assisted by photodynamic treatment (PDT) using red light source (660 nm; power density: 30 mW/cm2) on A375 human melanoma cancer cells. Methods For this purpose, the A375 human melanoma cancer cell lines were treated by MB-PDT and rutoside. Clonogenic cell survival, MTT assay, and cell death mechanisms were also determined after performing the treatment. Subsequently, after the rutoside treatment and photodynamic therapy (PDT), cell cycle and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation were measured. Results The obtained results showed that, MB-PDT and rutoside had better cytotoxic and antiprolifrative effects on A375 melanoma cancer cells compared to each free drug, whereas the cytotoxic effect on HDF human dermal fibroblast cell was not significant. MB-PDT and rutoside combination induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the human melanoma cancer cell line. Intracellular ROS increased in A375 cancer cell line after the treatment with MB-PDT and rutoside. Conclusion The results suggest that, MB-PDT and rutoside could be considered as novel approaches as the combination treatment of melanoma cancer.

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