Polydatin, a Glycoside of Resveratrol, Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits Metastasis Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells In Vitro

Although various methods, such as surgery and chemotherapy, are applied to the treatment of OSCC, there are problems, such as functional and aesthetic limitations of the mouth and face, drug side effects, and lymph node metastasis. Many researchers are making efforts to develop new therapeutic agents from plant-derived substances to overcome the side effects that occur in oral cancer treatment. Polydatin is known as a natural precursor of resveratrol, and research on its efficacy is being actively conducted recently. Therefore, we investigated whether polydatin can induce apoptosis and whether it affects cell migration and invasion through the regulation of EMT-related factors in OSCC. Polydatin decreased the survival and proliferation rates of CAL27 and Ca9-22 cells, and induced the release of cytochrome c, a factor related to apoptosis, and fragmentation of procaspase-3 and PARP. Another form of cell death, autophagy, was observed in polydatin-treated cells. In addition, polydatin inhibits cell migration and invasion, and it has been shown to occur through increased expression of E-cadherin, an EMT related factor, and decreased expression of N-cadherin and Slug and Snail proteins and genes. These findings suggest that polydatin is a potential oral cancer treatment.

Snail-Family Proteins: Role in Carcinogenesis and Prospects for Antitumor Therapy

The review analyzes Snail family proteins, which are transcription factors involved in the regulation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of tumor cells. We describe the structure of these proteins, their post-translational modification, and the mechanisms of Snail-dependent regulation of genes. The role of Snail proteins in carcinogenesis, invasion, and metastasis is analyzed. Furthermore, we focus on EMT signaling mechanisms involving Snail proteins. Next, we dissect Snail signaling in hypoxia, a condition that complicates anticancer treatment. Finally, we offer classes of chemical compounds capable of down-regulating the transcriptional activity of Snails. Given the important role of Snail proteins in cancer biology and the potential for pharmacological inhibition, Snail family proteins may be considered promising as therapeutic targets.

Clusters of polymorphic transmembrane genes control resistance to schistosomes in snail vectors

Schistosomiasis is a debilitating parasitic disease infecting hundreds of millions of people. Schistosomes use aquatic snails as intermediate hosts. A promising avenue for disease control involves leveraging innate host mechanisms to reduce snail vectorial capacity. In a genome-wide association study of Biomphalaria glabrata snails, we identify genomic region PTC2 which exhibits the largest known correlation with susceptibility to parasite infection (>15 fold effect). Using new genome assemblies with substantially higher contiguity than the Biomphalaria reference genome, we show that PTC2 haplotypes are exceptionally divergent in structure and sequence. This variation includes multi-kilobase indels containing entire genes, and orthologs for which most amino acid residues are polymorphic. RNA-Seq annotation reveals that most of these genes encode single-pass transmembrane proteins, as seen in another resistance region in the same species. Such groups of hyperdiverse snail proteins may mediate host-parasite interaction at the cell surface, offering promising targets for blocking the transmission of schistosomiasis.

Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Proteins Extracted from Seven Different Snails

Snails have been used both as a food and as a treatment for a variety of medicinal conditions. In this study, seven different snail proteins were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity. Fresh water and land snails of seven different live species were collected and identified. Crude proteins were extracted from seven different snails. The extracted proteins were estimated using Bradford’s method and snail proteins were displayed using a sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis. The seven different snail proteins were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against various pathogenic bacterial and fungal cultures by agar well diffusion method and MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration). One of the most active, crude proteins was from land snail Cryptozona bistrialis and its protein was capable of completely inhibiting the development of pathogenic bacterial and fungal cultures. This study shows that the land snail C. bistrialis proteins could be used as an antibiotic in biomedical research.

The F-box protein Ppa is a common regulator of core EMT factors Twist, Snail, Slug, and Sip1

A small group of core transcription factors, including Twist, Snail, Slug, and Sip1, control epithelial–mesenchymal transitions (EMTs) during both embryonic development and tumor metastasis. However, little is known about how these factors are coordinately regulated to mediate the requisite behavioral and fate changes. It was recently shown that a key mechanism for regulating Snail proteins is by modulating their stability. In this paper, we report that the stability of Twist is also regulated by the ubiquitin–proteasome system. We found that the same E3 ubiquitin ligase known to regulate Snail family proteins, Partner of paired (Ppa), also controlled Twist stability and did so in a manner dependent on the Twist WR-rich domain. Surprisingly, Ppa could also target the third core EMT regulatory factor Sip1 for proteasomal degradation. Together, these results indicate that despite the structural diversity of the core transcriptional regulatory factors implicated in EMT, a common mechanism has evolved for controlling their stability and therefore their function.

Two FGF-receptor homologues of Drosophila: one is expressed in mesodermal primordium in early embryos

The fibroblast growth factor (FGF)/receptor system is thought to mediate various developmental events in vertebrates. We examined molecular structures and expression of DFR1 and DFR2, two Drosophila genes closely related to vertebrate FGF-receptor genes. DFR1 and DFR2 proteins contain two and five immunoglobulin-like domains, respectively, in the extracellular region, and a split tyrosine kinase domain in the intracellular region. In early embryos, DFR1 RNA expression, requiring both twist and snail proteins, is specific to mesodermal primordium and invaginated mesodermal cells. At later stages, putative muscle precursor cells and cells in the central nervous system (CNS) express DFR1. DFR2 expression occurs in endodermal precursor cells, CNS midline cells and certain ectodermal cells such as those of trachea and salivary duct. FGF-receptor homologues in Drosophila would thus appear essential for generation of mesodermal and endodermal layers, invaginations of various types of cells, and CNS formation.