1.
3,3'-Diindolylmethane induces gastric cancer cells death via STIM1 mediated store-operated calcium entry.
Ye, Y, Li, X, Wang, Z, Ye, F, Xu, W, Lu, R, Shen, H, Miao, S
International journal of biological sciences. 2021;(5):1217-1233
Abstract
3,3'-Diindolylmethane (DIM), a natural phytochemicals isolated from cruciferous vegetables, has been reported to inhibit human gastric cancer cells proliferation and induce cells apoptosis as well as autophagy, but its mechanisms are still unclear. Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) is a main Ca2+ influx pathway in various of cancers, which is activated by the depletion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ store. Stromal interaction molecular 1 (STIM1) is the necessary component of SOCE. In this study, we focus on to examine the regulatory mechanism of SOCE on DIM-induced death in gastric cancer. After treating the human BGC-823 and SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells with DIM, cellular proliferation was determined by MTT, apoptosis and autophagy were detected by flow cytometry or Hoechst 33342 staining. The expression levels of related proteins were evaluated by Western blotting. Free cytosolilc Ca2+ level was assessed by fluorescence monitoring under a laser scanning confocal microscope. The data have shown that DIM could significantly inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis as well as autophagy in two gastric cancer cell lines. After DIM treatment, the STIM1-mediated SOCE was activated by upregulating STIM1 and decreasing ER Ca2+ level. Knockdown STIM1 with siRNA or pharmacological inhibition of SOCE attenuated DIM induced apoptosis and autophagy by inhibiting p-AMPK mediated ER stress pathway. Our data highlighted that the potential of SOCE as a promising target for treating cancers. Developing effective and selective activators targeting STIM1-mediated SOCE pathway will facilitate better therapeutic sensitivity of phytochemicals acting on SOCE in gastric cancer. Moreover, more research should be performed to validate the efficacy of combination chemotherapy of anti-cancer drugs targeting SOCE for clinical application.
2.
S100A1 promotes cell proliferation and migration and is associated with lymph node metastasis in ovarian cancer.
Tian, T, Li, X, Hua, Z, Ma, J, Liu, Z, Chen, H, Cui, Z
Discovery medicine. 2017;(127):235-245
Abstract
S100A1 is a calcium-binding protein belonging to the family of S100 proteins, and is highly expressed in ovarian cancer. However, its role in ovarian cancer has not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, we examined S100A1 expression in ovarian cancer tissues and normal tissue controls and analyzed the correlation between S100A1 expression and clinicopathological parameters. We found that S100A1 expression was significantly upregulated in ovarian cancer tissues compared with fallopian and normal ovarian epithelium tissues and was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stages and tumor grades. We then investigated the biological functions of S100A1 in ovarian cancer by cell proliferation, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), and migration and invasion assays. The results indicated that S100A1 enhanced the ovarian cancer cell proliferation and migration. Together, our findings demonstrated that S100A1 plays an important role in the malignancy of ovarian cancer, and serves as a useful marker for the detection of ovarian malignancy.
3.
The influence of genetic variants of sorafenib on clinical outcomes and toxic effects in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
Qin, C, Cao, Q, Li, P, Wang, S, Wang, J, Wang, M, Chu, H, Zhou, L, Li, X, Ye, D, et al
Scientific reports. 2016;:20089
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether genetic variants that influence angiogenesis and sorafenib pharmacokinetics are associated with clinical outcomes and toxic effects in advanced renal cell carcinoma patients treated with this drug. One hundred patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma were enrolled. Forty-two polymorphisms in 15 genes were selected for genotyping and analyzed for associations with progression-free survival, overall survival, and toxic effects. We found that rs1570360 in VEGF and rs2239702 in VEGFR2 were significantly associated with progression-free. Specifically, patients carrying the variant genotypes (AG + AA) of these two polymorphisms both had an unfavorable progression-free. In addition, compared with those with the rs2239702 GG genotype, patients with the AG + AA genotype suffered an unfavorable OS. We found that the VEGF rs2010963 CG + GG genotypes had a significantly increased risk of hand-foot syndrome, and the ABCB1 rs1045642 CT + TT genotypes had an increased risk of high blood pressure. Our results suggest that polymorphisms in VEGF and VEGFR2 are associated with sorafenib clinical outcomes, and polymorphisms in VEGF and ABCB1 are associated with sorafenib-related toxicities. Larger studies are warranted to validate our findings.