Suppression of MiR130a-3p Using CRISPR/Cas9 Induces Proliferation and Migration of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Line

BACKGROUND: Molecular alterations of microRNA130a (miR130a) are observed in many types of cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the role of miR130a in NSCLC has been poorly studied.METHODS: In this study, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas9 was utilised to knockdown miR130a. The gRNA was designed to target the stem loop, 3’ and 5’ sites of miR130a and stably expressed in A549 cells. Post-treatment, mature levels of miR130a-3p and 5p were quantified, and proliferation and migration assays were conducted.RESULTS: Result showed significant suppression of miR130a-3p and -5p by two and three-fold respectively, when the CRISPR/Cas9 targeted at the 3’ site and stem loop of the miR130a gene. Suppression of miR130a-3p significantly increased the growth and migration of A549 cells, but no significant changes were observed in cells with suppressed expression of miR130a-5p.CONCLUSION: Our encouraging results highlight that the suppression of the miR130a is achievable using CRISPR/Cas9, and suppression of the miR-130a-3p could play an important role in the regulation of NSCLC.KEYWORDS: miR130a, CRISPR-Cas9, non-small cell lung cancer

Development of three-dimensional cell culture spheroid model for non-small-cell lung carcinoma cell line nci-h460 exposed to cisplatin / Desenvolvimento de modelo de cultura celular tridimensional para a linhagem celular de carcinoma de pulmão de não-pequenas células nci-h460 expostas á cisplatina

The three-dimensional culture models have been developed to promote better simulation of in vivo conditions of cellular interactions and phenotypic expressions. Since each cell line behaves differently and not all aggregate three-dimensionally, the objectives of this study were to standardize the conditions for cultivation spheroids produced from the human non-smal-cell lung cancer cell line NCI-H460, and evaluate the effects of cisplatin in this model. We investigated the best cell density for the formation of spheroids and their growth time in culture conditions. For this, spheroids were treated with different concentrations of cisplatin. The analysis was performed by measuring the diameter of the spheroids before treatment and measured 48 h after treatment and then every 3 days. The standard cell density conditions obtained was 10 x 104 cells. Spheroids were collected from the 7th day and isolated in a non-adherent matrix well (covered with 2% agar and culture medium), remaining viable until the 17th day. From the 8th day of isolated culture, the cisplatin promoted a reduction in the growth of spheroids dependent on the concentration used. Thus, it was concluded that it was possible to standardize the effective methodology for the formation and maintenance of spheroids from this cell line, as well as cisplatin inhibited the growth of the spheroids, suggesting its cytotoxic effect also cultures in three-dimensional model.

Cytotoxic Effect of Hydroethanolic Extract of Citrullus colocynth (L) Fruit against Human Lung Cancer Cell Line

Citrullus colocynthis is a traditional medicinal plant that belongs to the cucurbitaceae family. The extract of the fruit is rich in therapeutic phytochemicals. Lung cancer is a disease with high mortality and morbidity rates. Recently the research has been focused on herbal medicine as a treatment approach for cancer because of its no or less side effects. The aim of the study is to know about the anticancer effect of hydroethanolic extract of Citrullus colocynthis fruit against human lung cancer cell line through apoptosis pathway. Cell viability test was done by MTT assay. The mRNA expression of Bcl2 and Bcl-xL was done using the real-time PCR. The obtained data was analysed statistically by one way analysis of variance and Duncan multiple range test with graph prism version 5 to analyse the significance. The significance was considered at p<0.05 level in Duncan’s test. Citrullus colocynthis fruit extract increased the inhibition of growth of lung cancer cells. The activity of Bcl2 and Bcl xL was significantly down regulated at 400μg. The study concludes that Citrullus colocynthis fruit extract has anticancer activity on A549 human lung cancer cell line through apoptosis pathway.

Phyto-Phospholipid Conjugated Scorpion Venom Nanovesicles as Promising Carrier That Improves Efficacy of Thymoquinone against Adenocarcinoma Human Alveolar Basal Epithelial Cells

Lung cancer is a dangerous type of cancer in men and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in women, behind breast and colorectal cancers. Thymoquinone (THQ), a main compound in black seed essential oils, has a variety of beneficial effects, including antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. On the other hand, scorpion venom peptides (SV) induce apoptosis in the cancer cells, making it a promising anticancer agent. THQ, SV, and Phospholipon® 90H (PL) were incorporated in a nano-based delivery platform to assess THQ’s cellular uptake and antiproliferative efficacy against a lung cancer cell line derived from human alveolar epithelial cells (A549). Several nanovesicles were prepared and optimized using factorial experimental design. The optimized phytosome formulation contained 79.0 mg of PL and 170.0 mg of SV, with vesicle size and zeta potential of 209.9 nm and 21.1 mV, respectively. The IC50 values revealed that A549 cells were significantly more sensitive to the THQ formula than the plain formula and THQ. Cell cycle analysis revealed that THQ formula treatment resulted in significant cell cycle arrest at the S phase, increasing cell population in this phase by 22.1%. Furthermore, the THQ formula greatly increased cell apoptosis (25.17%) when compared to the untreated control (1.76%), plain formula (11.96%), or THQ alone (13.18%). The results also indicated that treatment with THQ formula significantly increased caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2, and p53 mRNA expression compared to plain formula and THQ. In terms of the inflammatory markers, THQ formula significantly reduced the activity of TNF-α and NF-κB in comparison with the plain formula and THQ only. Overall, the findings from the study proved that a phytosome formulation of THQ could be a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern are dependent on IFITM2 for efficient replication in human lung cells

It has recently been shown that an early SARS-CoV-2 isolate (NL-02-2020) hijacks interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) for efficient replication in human cells. To date, several "Variants of Concern" (VOCs) showing increased infectivity and resistance to neutralization have emerged and globally replaced the early viral strains. Here, we determined whether the four SARS-CoV-2 VOCs (Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta) maintained the dependency on IFITM proteins for efficient replication. We found that depletion of IFITM2 strongly reduces viral RNA production by all four VOCs in the human epithelial lung cancer cell line Calu-3. Silencing of IFITM1 had little effect, while knock-down of IFITM3 resulted in an intermediate phenotype. Strikingly, depletion of IFITM2 generally reduced infectious virus production by more than four orders of magnitude. In addition, an antibody directed against the N-terminus of IFITM2 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 VOC replication in iPSC-derived alveolar epithelial type II cells thought to represent major viral target cells in the lung. In conclusion, endogenously expressed IFITM proteins (especially IFITM2) are critical cofactors for efficient replication of genuine SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, including the currently dominating Delta variant.

Potentially Bioactive Fungus Mediated Silver Nanoparticles

Fungal metabolites, proteins, and enzymes have been rich sources of therapeutics so far. Therefore, in this study, the hypha extract of a newly identified noble fungus (Alternaria sp. with NCBI Accession number: MT982648) was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles (F-AgNPs) to utilize against bacteria, fungi, and lung cancer. F-AgNPs were characterized by using physical techniques, including UV–visible spectroscopy, zeta potential, DLS, XRD, TEM, and HR-TEM. The particles were found to be polydispersed and quasi-spherical in shape under TEM. They had an average size of ~15 nm. The well dispersed particles were found to have consistent crystallinity with cubic phase geometry under XRD and HR-TEM. The presence of different functional groups on the surfaces of biosynthesized F-AgNPs was confirmed by FTIR. The particle distribution index was found to be 0.447 with a hydrodynamic diameter of ~47 d.nm, and the high value of zeta potential (−20.3 mV) revealed the stability of the nanoemulsion. These particles were found to be active against Staphylococcus aureus (multidrug resistance-MDR), Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella abony, and Escherichia coli (MDR) with MIC50 10.3, 12.5, 22.69, and 16.25 µg/mL, respectively. Particles also showed inhibition against fungal strains, including A. flavus, A. niger, T. viridens, and F. oxysporium. Their inhibition of biofilm formation by the same panel of bacteria was also found to be very promising and ranged from 16.66 to 64.81%. F-AgNPs also showed anticancer potential (IC50—21.6 µg/mL) with respect to methotrexate (IC50—17.7 µg/mL) against lung cancer cell line A549, and they did not result in any significant inhibition of the normal cell line BEAS-2. The particles were found to alter the mitochondrial membrane potential, thereby disturbing ATP synthesis and leading to high ROS formation, which are responsible for cell membrane damage and release of LDH, intracellular proteins, lipids, and DNA. A high level of ROS also elicits pro-inflammatory signaling cascades that lead to programmed cell death by either apoptosis or necrosis.

Piperine analogs arrest c-myc gene leading to downregulation of transcription for targeting cancer

G-quadruplex (G4) structures are considered a promising therapeutic target in cancer. Since Ayurveda, Piperine has been known for its medicinal properties. Piperine shows anticancer properties by stabilizing the G4 motif present upstream of the c-myc gene. This gene belongs to a group of proto-oncogenes, and its aberrant transcription drives tumorigenesis. The transcriptional regulation of the c-myc gene is an interesting approach for anticancer drug design. The present study employed a chemical similarity approach to identify Piperine similar compounds and analyzed their interaction with cancer-associated G-quadruplex motifs. Among all Piperine analogs, PIP-2 exhibited strong selectivity, specificity, and affinity towards c-myc G4 DNA as elaborated through biophysical studies such as fluorescence emission, isothermal calorimetry, and circular dichroism. Moreover, our biophysical observations are supported by molecular dynamics analysis and cellular-based studies. Our study showed that PIP-2 showed higher toxicity against the A549 lung cancer cell line but lower toxicity towards normal HEK 293 cells, indicating increased efficacy of the drug at the cellular level. Biological evaluation assays such as TFP reporter assay, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT- PCR), and western blotting suggest that the Piperine analog-2 (PIP-2) stabilizes the G-quadruplex motif located at the promoter site of c-myc oncogene and downregulates its expression. In conclusion, Piperine analog PIP-2 may be used as anticancer therapeutics as it affects the c-myc oncogene expression via G-quadruplex mediated mechanism.

3, 3’-thiodipropionic acid: A versatile monomer to synthesis aliphatic random copolyesters with biological applications

A prime monomer 3,3’-thiodipropionic acid was mixed with other monomers such as 1,4 butanediol and 1,4 butanedioic acid to produce aliphatic random copolyester Poly(butylthiodipropionate-co-butylbu tanedioate) (PBTBB) by direct melt polycondensation method. The physical properties such as solubility by solubility test, inherent viscosity by Ubbelohde viscometer, Tg by differential scanning colorimetry (DSC) and the crystalline nature by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique of synthesized polymer were investigated. The chemical structure of the obtained copolyester was studied by FTIR, 1H-NMR and 13CNMR spectroscopy. To resolve the biological applications, the synthesized copolyester was tested for human pathogenic bacteria using well diffusion method, in vitro cytotoxicity against normal Vero cell line, A549 lung cancer cell line by MTT assay and in vitro antioxidant property studied by Dot-Blot assay.