LINC00035 Transcriptional Regulation of SLC16A3 via CEBPB Affects Glycolysis and Cell Apoptosis in Ovarian Cancer

Objective. Ovarian cancer (OC) represents the most lethal gynecologic malignancy globally. Over the decades, lncRNAs have been considered as study focuses due to their genome-wide expression through multiple mechanisms in which regulation of target gene transcription through interaction with transcription factors or epigenetic proteins is proven. In the present work, we focus on the functional role of LINC00035 in OC and its regulation mechanism on gene expression. Methods. We collected OC tissues and adjacent tumor-free tissues surgically resected from 67 OC patients. Cultured human OC cell lines SKOV3 and A2780 were assayed for their viability, migration, invasion, apoptosis in vitro using CCK-8 assays, transwell assays, and flow cytometric analysis. OC cell tumorigenesis in vivo was evaluated by mouse xenograft experiments. Glycolysis was evaluated by glucose uptake, lactate release, and ATP production assays. Luciferase activity assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), and RNA pull-down were performed to confirm the interactions among LINC00035, CEBPB, and SLC16A3. Results. LINC00035 was upregulated in OC tissues. LINC00035 knockdown was shown to repress SKOV3 and A2780 cell viability, migration, invasion, induce their apoptosis, and reduce glucose uptake, lactate release, and ATP production. LINC00035 could recruit CEBPB into the SLC16A3 promoter region, thus increasing the SLC16A3 transcription. SLC16A3 was upregulated in OC tissues. SLC16A3 knockdown exerted similar effects on SKOV3 and A2780 cells as LINC00035 knockdown. Rescue experiments found SLC16A3 overexpression resisting to LINC00035 knockdown on SKOV3 and A2780 cell viability, migration, invasion, apoptosis, glucose uptake, lactate release, and ATP production. Results also showed LINC00035 knockdown could inhibit OC cell tumorigenesis in vivo. Conclusion. The study reveals that LINC00035 promotes OC progression by regulating glycolysis and cell apoptosis through CEBPB-mediated transcriptional promotion of SLC16A3.

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity of nhexane extract from Mollugo nudicaulis Lam.

The antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activity of n-hexane extract of Mollugo nudicaulis Lam. is of interest. The antioxidant activity of the extract was determined by separate methods of radical scavenging assays. Antimicrobial activity was analyzed by disc diffusion method on fungi species, gram positive and negative species. The anticancer potential of plant extract was evaluated on A2780 cell lines by MTT assay. Results exposed that, the n-hexane extract of M.nudicaulis possess comparable significant antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 12.79ą0.82, 36.65ą0.03 and 19.59ą0.26 μg/mL, on DPPH, nitric oxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays respectively, and also possess notable reducing power of 0.84ą0.04 (Reducing power assay) and 0.75ą0.02 (FRAB assay) at the maximum concentration of 200 μg/mL of the n-hexane extract. Antimicrobial activity of extract exhibited maximum zone of inhibition ranged from 11.1 ą 0.3 to 14 .5ą 0.3 mm on tested microorganism. The anticancer activity of plant extract found to be strong cell growth inhibitory activity with minimal IC50 values of 32.46ą0.92 μg/mL on A2780 cell lines. Collectively this study can be concluded that, the n-hexane extract of M.nudicaulis might act as possible antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer agents.

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity potential of n-hexane extract of Cayratia trifolia L

It is of interest to analyze the antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity activity of n-hexane extract of Cayratia trifolia L. (C. trifolia). The antimicrobial activity of n-hexane extract of C. trifolia was determined using disc diffusion method against six selected pathogenic microorganisms. The cytotoxicity potential of n-hexane plant extract was also studied against A2780 cell lines by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results, n-hexane extract of C. trifolia possess significant antioxidant activity with significant IC50 values in radical scavenging assays. In antimicrobial studies, the maximum zone of inhibition was found in the range of 19.0 ą 0.1 to 22.0 ą 0.1 mm. In MTT assay, inhibition of cell growth with minimal IC50 values of 46.25ą0.42μg/mL against A2780 cell lines was observed. Thus, n-hexane extract of C. trifolia is a possible antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity agent.

Exploring Charged Polymeric Cyclodextrins for Biomedical Applications

Over the years, cyclodextrin uses have been widely reviewed and their proprieties provide a very attractive approach in different biomedical applications. Cyclodextrins, due to their characteristics, are used to transport drugs and have also been studied as molecular chaperones with potential application in protein misfolding diseases. In this study, we designed cyclodextrin polymers containing different contents of β- or γ-cyclodextrin, and a different number of guanidinium positive charges. This allowed exploration of the influence of the charge in delivering a drug and the effect in the protein anti-aggregant ability. The polymers inhibit Amiloid β peptide aggregation; such an ability is modulated by both the type of CyD cavity and the number of charges. We also explored the effect of the new polymers as drug carriers. We tested the Doxorubicin toxicity in different cell lines, A2780, A549, MDA-MB-231 in the presence of the polymers. Data show that the polymers based on γ-cyclodextrin modified the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin in the A2780 cell line.

Self-Renewal Assessment and Isolation of CD133 Positive Cancer Stem Cells from the Ovarian A2780 Cell Line

Background: Ovarian cancer (OC) is the 7th most common type of cancer and the 5th cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide. It is a heterogeneous disease which is quite variable from the genomic and histopathological aspect. In addition to the usual treatments for ovarian cancer, its recurrence is quite common, mainly due to lack of complete eradication of cancer stem cells. These cells have different properties such as self-renewal ability and stemness property, including proliferation.Method: In the present study, we isolated cancer stem cells with the CD133 surface marker from the ovarian A2780 cell line and examined the stemness property and self-renewal ability of these cells. Initially, CD133 surface marker expression in this cell line was assessed by the flow cytometry technique. Then, the isolation of these cells was performed by the Magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) method. Flow cytometry (FCM) was also used to confirm the isolation efficiency. The levels of mRNA expression were evaluated in several stem cell markers in CD133+ cells compared with CD133- cells. Moreover, the self- renewal ability of the isolated cells was investigated in serum-free culture medium.Results: Ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs) with CD133 surface marker showed high expression of some stemness markers such as Sox2, Nanog, Oct4, ABCG2, ALDH1, LGR5 and Msi. These cells also had the ability to regenerate themselves in a serum-free environment.Conclusion: Cancer stem cells can be isolated through surface markers by the MACS technique; they have stemness and self-renewal properties. So, the CD133 surface marker can be introduced as a key CSC marker in the isolation, characterization and targeted therapy of ovarian cancer patients.

Regulation of FN1 degradation by the p62/SQSTM1-dependent autophagy–lysosome pathway in HNSCC

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is involved in both physiological and pathological processes. EMT plays an essential role in the invasion, migration and metastasis of tumours. Autophagy has been shown to regulate EMT in a variety of cancers but not in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Herein, we investigated whether autophagy also regulates EMT in HNSCC. Analyses of clinical data from three public databases revealed that higher expression of fibronectin-1 (FN1) correlated with poorer prognosis and higher tumour pathological grade in HNSCC. Data from SCC-25 cells demonstrated that rapamycin and Earle’s balanced salt solution (EBSS) promoted autophagy, leading to increased FN1 degradation, while 3-methyladenine (3-MA), bafilomycin A1 (Baf A1) and chloroquine (CQ) inhibited autophagy, leading to decreased FN1 degradation. On the other hand, autophagic flux was blocked in BECN1 mutant HNSCC Cal-27 cells, and rapamycin did not promote autophagy in Cal-27 cells; also in addition, FN1 degradation was inhibited. Further, we identified FN1 degradation through the lysosome-dependent degradation pathway using the proteasome inhibitor MG132. Data from immunoprecipitation assays also showed that p62/SQSTM1 participated as an autophagy adapter in the autophagy–lysosome pathway of FN1 degradation. Finally, data from immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that the interaction between p62 and FN1 was abolished in p62 mutant MCF-7 and A2780 cell lines. These results indicate that autophagy significantly promotes the degradation of FN1. Collectively, our findings clearly suggest that FN1, as a marker of EMT, has adverse effects on HNSCC and elucidate the autophagy–lysosome degradation mechanism of FN1.

A Series of Isatin-Hydrazones with Cytotoxic Activity and CDK2 Kinase Inhibitory Activity: A Potential Type II ATP Competitive Inhibitor

Isatin derivatives potentially act on various biological targets. In this article, a series of novel isatin-hydrazones were synthesized in excellent yields. Their cytotoxicity was tested against human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) and human ovary adenocarcinoma (A2780) cell lines using MTT assay. Compounds 4j (IC50 = 1.51 ± 0.09 µM) and 4k (IC50 = 3.56 ± 0.31) showed excellent activity against MCF7, whereas compound 4e showed considerable cytotoxicity against both tested cell lines, MCF7 (IC50 = 5.46 ± 0.71 µM) and A2780 (IC50 = 18.96± 2.52 µM), respectively. Structure-activity relationships (SARs) revealed that, halogen substituents at 2,6-position of the C-ring of isatin-hydrazones are the most potent derivatives. In-silico absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) results demonstrated recommended drug likeness properties. Compounds 4j (IC50 = 0.245 µM) and 4k (IC50 = 0.300 µM) exhibited good inhibitory activity against the cell cycle regulator CDK2 protein kinase compared to imatinib (IC50 = 0.131 µM). A molecular docking study of 4j and 4k confirmed both compounds as type II ATP competitive inhibitors that made interactions with ATP binding pocket residues, as well as lacking interactions with active state DFG motif residues.

Tumor-suppressor miRNA-27b-5p regulates the growth and metastatic behaviors of ovarian carcinoma cells by targeting CXCL1

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial functions in the progression of ovarian cancer. MiR-27b has been identified as cancer-associated miRNA. Nevertheless, the expression profile of microRNA-27b-5p (miR-27b-5p) and its functions in ovarian cancer are unexplored. Here, we demonstrated that miR-27b-5p was downregulated in ovarian carcinoma cells and clinical specimens. Higher expression of miR-27b-5p was allied to an unfavorable overall survival in ovarian cancer patient. Upregulation of miR-27b-5p decreased the viability, migration ability and invasion capacity of SKOV3 and A2780 cell. MiR-27b-5p also inhibited the growth of SKOV3 cell in nude mice. Additionally, we verified that C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CXCL1) was a target of miR-27b-5p in ovarian carcinoma cell. Restoring the expression of CXCL1 abolished the inhibitory impacts of miR-27b-5p in ovarian cancer carcinoma cell. This research revealed that miR-27b-5p restrained the progression of ovarian carcinoma possibly via targeting CXCL1.

Overcoming Resistance to Platinum-Based Drugs in Ovarian Cancer by Salinomycin and Its Derivatives—An In Vitro Study

Polyether ionophore salinomycin (SAL) and its semi-synthetic derivatives are recognized as very promising anticancer drug candidates due to their activity against various types of cancer cells, including multidrug-resistant populations. Ovarian cancer is the deadliest among gynecologic malignancies, which is connected with the development of chemoresistant forms of the disease in over 70% of patients after initial treatment regimen. Thus, we decided to examine the anticancer properties of SAL and selected SAL derivatives against a series of drug-sensitive (A2780, SK-OV-3) and derived drug-resistant (A2780 CDDP, SK-OV-3 CDDP) ovarian cancer cell lines. Although SAL analogs showed less promising IC50 values than SAL, they were identified as the antitumor agents that significantly overcome the resistance to platinum-based drugs in ovarian cancer, more potent than unmodified SAL and commonly used anticancer drugs—5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine, and cisplatin. Moreover, when compared with SAL used alone, our experiments proved for the first time increased selectivity of SAL-based dual therapy with 5-fluorouracil or gemcitabine, especially towards A2780 cell line. Looking closer at the results, SAL acted synergistically with 5-fluorouracil towards the drug-resistant A2780 cell line. Our results suggest that combinations of SAL with other antineoplastics may become a new therapeutic option for patients with ovarian cancer.