scholarly journals Virtual Screening for Biomimetic Anti-Cancer Peptides from Cordyceps militaris Putative Pepsinized Peptidome and Validation on Colon Cancer Cell Line

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (19) ◽  
pp. 5767
Author(s):  
Jarinyagon Chantawannakul ◽  
Paninnuch Chatpattanasiri ◽  
Vichugorn Wattayagorn ◽  
Mesayamas Kongsema ◽  
Tipanart Noikaew ◽  
...  

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in Thailand and many other countries. The standard practice for curing this cancer is surgery with an adjuvant chemotherapy treatment. However, the unfavorable side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs are undeniable. Recently, protein hydrolysates and anticancer peptides have become popular alternative options for colon cancer treatment. Therefore, we aimed to screen and select the anticancer peptide candidates from the in silico pepsin hydrolysate of a Cordyceps militaris (CM) proteome using machine-learning-based prediction servers for anticancer prediction, i.e., AntiCP, iACP, and MLACP. The selected CM-anticancer peptide candidates could be an alternative treatment or co-treatment agent for colorectal cancer, reducing the use of chemotherapeutic drugs. To ensure the anticancer properties, an in vitro assay was performed with “CM-biomimetic peptides” on the non-metastatic colon cancer cell line (HT-29). According to the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay results from peptide candidate treatments at 0–400 µM, the IC50 doses of the CM-biomimetic peptide with no toxic and cancer-cell-penetrating ability, original C. militaris biomimetic peptide (C-ori), against the HT-29 cell line were 114.9 µM at 72 hours. The effects of C-ori compared to the doxorubicin, a conventional chemotherapeutic drug for colon cancer treatment, and the combination effects of both the CM-anticancer peptide and doxorubicin were observed. The results showed that C-ori increased the overall efficiency in the combination treatment with doxorubicin. According to the acridine orange/propidium iodine (AO/PI) staining assay, C-ori can induce apoptosis in HT-29 cells significantly, confirmed by chromatin condensation, membrane blebbing, apoptotic bodies, and late apoptosis which were observed under a fluorescence microscope.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Alain Couvineau ◽  
S. Dayot ◽  
V. Gratio ◽  
P. Nicole ◽  
T. Voisin ◽  
...  

Colorectal cancer, which is the third most common cancer, is the main cause of digestive cancer death. Previous studies have demonstrated that orexins, hypothalamic neuropeptides involved in sleep and food intake regulations, have anti-tumoral properties in digestive cancers. In the present work, we investigated the anti-tumoral role of an orexin antagonist, almorexant, in colon cancer. The anti-tumoral role of almorexant has been determined by in vitro and in vivo studies using HT-29 colon cancer cell line, which expressed endogenous orexin receptor 1 subtype (OX1R). Our in vitro study indicated that almorexant was able to reduce HT-29 cell viability by induction of mitochondrial apoptosis involving the tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 and the p38 signaling pathways. In contrast, no effect was observed in the colon cancer cell line HCT-116, which does not express OX1R, demonstrating that the anti-tumoral effect of almorexant was mediated by OX1R. When HT-29 cells were xenografted in nude mice, the administration of almorexant strongly reduced the tumor development with a potency similar to orexin. Our study supports that almorexant, a small molecule analog of orexin peptide, could represent a putative candidate in the treatment of colorectal cancer.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Liu ◽  
JianPing Zhou ◽  
Ming Dong

Abstract Resistance to chemotherapy is one of main obstacles in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the mechanisms are still unclear, and the treatment options are still limited. miR-543 has been indicated to act as an oncogene in some cancers, but its function in regulating chemoresistance has not been considered in CRC cells. This study investigated whether the down-regulation of miR-543 expression enhanced 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced apoptosis in HCT8/FU colon cancer cells. In our study, qRT-PCR revealed that miR-543 expression was up-regulated in the HCT8/FU colon cancer cell line compared with that of HCT8 colon cancer cell line. An miR-543 inhibitor or mimic was transfected, followed by MTT assay to detect 5-FU sensitivity in HCT8 and HCT8/FU cell lines, which showed that IC50 of 5-FU was positively correlated with miR-543 expression. Further studies showed that miR-543 enhanced drug resistance by down-regulating the expression of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), which negatively regulates protein kinase B (AKT) activation. Additionally, an elevated expression of PTEN reversed the chemoresistance of miR-543-overexpressing HCT8 cells to 5-FU. These results indicate that miR-543 might be a target to increase the sensitivity of CRC cells to 5-FU through the PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geet P. Asnani ◽  
Chandrakant R. Kokare

AbstractThe aim of this study was to formulate a novel dual crosslinked hydrogel bead using Portulaca mucilage for colon-targeted delivery of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and evaluate its safety, specificity and efficacy. The ionotropic gelation technique was employed to prepare the hydrogel beads of Portulaca mucilage. For this, the mucilage was initially crosslinked with alginate and calcium ions. Epichlorohydrin was employed as a crosslinker in the second crosslinking step. The formulation was subjected to in vitro and in vivo studies to evaluate morphology, size, cytotoxicity, and organ distribution. Human HT-29 colon cancer cell-line was used for in vitro assays and in vivo studies were performed in Wistar rats to assess the usefulness and effectiveness of the formulation for colon cancer therapy. Microsphere sizes ranged from 930 to 977μm and possessed a high level of drug encapsulation efficiency (ca. 78% w/w). Compared with 5-FU solution (Tmax = 1.2 h, mean resident time: MRT = 3.3h) the dual crosslinked Portulaca microspheres exhibited sustained drug release after oral administration to rats (Tmax = 16h, MRT = 14h). The relative bioavailability of 5-FU solution and the microspheres were 100 and 93.6% respectively. Tissue distribution studies indicated high concentration of 5-FU in colon. In-vitro anticancer assay demonstrated IC50 value of 11.50 μg/ml against HT-29 colon cancer cell line. The epichlorohydrin cross-linked Portulaca microspheres prepared in this study provided sustained release of 5-FU up to 16h in the colonic region and enhanced the antitumor activity of the neoplastic drug. The formulation is hence an ideal carrier system for colon-targeted drug delivery.


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