Cloning,Expression and Purification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Microcystis viridis</Emphasis> Lectin in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>

Microcystis viridis lectin (MVL), a sugar-binding protein originally isolated from freshwater blue-green algae Microcystis viridis, has been reported to have potent anti-HIV activity. In this paper, we described the expression and purification of recombinant-MVL (R-MVL) gene in E. coli. The results demonstrated that the R-MVL in shake flask cultures was primarily expressed either in the form of inclusion bodies at 37°C or in the soluble fraction at 23 °C. Secondly, a one-step purification based on nickel-affinity chromatography was employed and 15 mg of highly purified (>95%) R-MVL from 1 l of cell cultures was yielded. The purified R-MVL was then subjected to MALDI-TOF–MS analysis for protein identification. In conclusion, for the first time, the R-MVL was successfully cloned and expressed in E. coli, which is useful for further study and large-scale cost-effective production of MVL protein.     

Effects of bufalin on the proliferation of human lung cancer cells and its molecular mechanisms of action

Bufalin, a naturally occurring small-molecule compound from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Chansu showed inhibitory effects against human prostate, hepatocellular, endometrial and ovarian cancer cells, and leukemia cells. However, whether or not bufalin has inhibitory activity against the proliferation of human non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells is unclear. The aim of this study is to study the effects of bufalin on the proliferation of NSCLC and its molecular mechanisms of action. The cancer cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay. The apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were analyzed by flow cytometry. The protein expressions and phosphorylation in the cancer cells were detected by Western blot analysis. In the present study, we have demonstrated that bufalin suppressed the proliferation of human NSCLC A549 cell line in time- and dose-dependent manners. Bufalin induced the apoptosis and cell cycle arrest by affecting the protein expressions of Bcl-2/Bax, cytochrome c, caspase-3, PARP, p53, p21WAF1, cyclinD1, and COX-2 in A549 cells. In addition, bufalin reduced the protein levels of receptor expressions and/or phosphorylation of VEGFR1, VEGFR2, EGFR and/or c-Met in A549 cells. Furthermore, bufalin inhibited the protein expressions and phosphorylation of Akt, NF-κB, p44/42 MAPK (ERK1/2) and p38 MAPK in A549 cells. Our results suggest that bufalin inhibits the human lung cancer cell proliferation via VEGFR1/VEGFR2/EGFR/c-Met–Akt/p44/42/p38-NF-κB signaling pathways; bufalin may have a wide therapeutic and/or adjuvant therapeutic application in the treatment of human NSCLC.     

Luteolin suppresses growth and migration of human lung cancer cells

Luteolin, 3′,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone, has been shown to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammation and anti-cancer properties. However, its role in lung cancer remains poorly understood. Here we examined the anti-tumorigenic role of luteolin in a commonly used lung cancer cell line. Luteolin inhibited the growth of A549 cells by inducing G1 phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Furthermore, stress fiber assembly and cell migration in A549 cells was markedly suppressed by luteolin.     

Selective suppression of cervical cancer Hela cells by 2-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-l-ascorbic acid isolated from the fruit of Lycium barbarum L.

Lycium barbarum fruit has been used as a Chinese traditional medicine and dietary supplement for centuries. 2-O-β-d-Glucopyranosyl-l-ascorbic acid (AA-2βG), a novel stable vitamin C analog, is one of the main biologically active components of the fruit. In this report, we investigated the cytotoxic and antiproliferative effect of AA-2βG against cancer cells in vitro and identified the proteins with significantly differential expression in the cervical cancer cells (Hela) cultured in the presence of AA-2βG proteomic analysis. Our results demonstrated that the cytotoxic and antiproliferative activity of AA-2βG on cancer cell lines were in a cell type-, time-, and dose-dependent manner. Similar to vitamin C, the AA-2βG selectively induced cell death repressed the proliferation of Hela cells by the mechanism of cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest induced by AA-2βG through a mechanism of stabilizing p53 protein. However, the biological activity of inhibition of cell proliferation in other malignant cancer cell lines or primary cells were varied, as demonstrated by either moderate inhibition or slight promotion following treatment with AA-2βG. Comparative analysis of the proteomic profiles and immunoblot analysis identified 15 proteins associated with repressing cell apoptosis and/or stimulating cell proliferation in Hela cells that were downregulated in the presence of AA-2βG or vitamin C. These data indicate that a mechanism of the AA-2βG and vitamin C mediated antitumor activity by downregulating the expression of proteins involved in cell apoptosis and proliferation and consequently inducing Hela cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, suggesting that AA-2βG and vitamin C may share a similar mechanism of inducing Hela cell apoptosis. These results also suggest that the L. barbarum fruit may be a potential dietary supplement and anticancer agent aimed at the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.     

Effects of matrine against the growth of human lung cancer and hepatoma cells as well as lung cancer cell migration

The purpose of this study is to investigate in vitro and ex vivo effects of matrine on the growth of human lung cancer and hepatoma cells and the cancer cell migration as well as the expressions of related proteins in the cancer cells. Matrine significantly inhibited the in vitro and ex vivo growth of human non-small cell lung cancer A549 and hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells. Matrine induced the apoptosis in A549 and SMMC-7721 cells. Western blot analysis indicated that matrine dose-dependently down-regulated the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and up-regulated the level of pro-apoptotic protein bax, eventually leading the reduction of ratios of Bcl-2/Bax proteins in A549 and SMMC-7721 cells. Furthermore, matrine significantly suppressed the A549 cell migration without reducing the cell viability. In addition, matrine dramatically reduced the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor A in A549 cells. More importantly, matrine markedly enhanced the anticancer activity of anticancer agent trichostatin A (the histone deacetylase inhibitor) by strongly reducing the viability and/or the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax protein in A549 cells. Our findings suggest that matrine may have the broad therapeutic and/or adjuvant therapeutic application in the treatment of human non-small cell lung cancer and hepatoma.     

Use of herbal medicines and natural products: An alternative approach to overcoming the apoptotic resistance of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis with a 5-year survival rate of <5%. It does not respond well to either chemotherapy or radiotherapy, due partly to apoptotic resistance (AR) of the cancer cells. AR has been attributed to certain genetic abnormalities or defects in apoptotic signaling pathways. In pancreatic cancer, significant mutations of K-ras and p53, constitutive activation of NFκB, over-expression of heat shock proteins (Hsp90, Hsp70), histone deacetylase (HDACs) and the activities of other proteins (COX-2, Nrf2 and bcl-2 family members) are closely linked with resistance to apoptosis and invasion. AR has also been associated with aberrant signaling of MAPK, PI3K–AKT, JAK/STAT, SHH, Notch, and Wnt/β-catenin pathways. Strategies targeting these signaling molecules and pathways provide an alternative for overcoming AR in pancreatic cancer. The use of herbal medicines or natural products (HM/NPs) alone or in combination with conventional anti-cancer agents has been shown to produce beneficial effects through actions upon multiple molecular pathways involved in AR. The current standard first-line chemotherapeutic agents for pancreatic cancer are gemcitabine (Gem) or Gem-containing combinations; however, the efficacy is dissatisfied and this limitation is largely attributed to AR. Meanwhile, emerging data have pointed to a combination of HM/NPs that may augment the sensitivity of pancreatic cancer cells to Gem. Greater understanding of how these compounds affect the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis may propel development of HM/NPs as anti-cancer agents and/or adjuvant therapies forward.In this review, we give a critical appraisal of the use of HM/NPs alone and in combination with anti-cancer drugs. We also discuss the potential regulatory mechanisms whereby AR is involved in these protective pathways.     

CK2 inhibitor CX4945 induces sequential inactivation of proteins in the signaling pathways related with cell migration and suppresses metastasis of A549 human lung cancer cells

Casein kinase 2 (CK2) is known to be involved in various cellular processes such as cell cycle, apoptosis and proliferation. It has been reported that the inhibition of CK2 induced by recently developed small molecule CX4945 shows anti-cancer effects including anti-proliferation and anti-angiogenesis in several different cancers including prostate cancer. Here we report that migration and invasion of A549 human lung cancer cells are suppressed by the inhibition of CK2 induced by CX4945. We found that CX4945 sequentially attenuates the proteins in PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways, two signaling pathways related with cell migration. This sequential control of signal pathways inhibits the expression of membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase and this leads to the selective attenuation of one of the gelatinases, MMP-2, which can degrade components of extracellular matrix, and metastasis of A549 human lung cancer cell.     

Fucoidan from Seaweed Fucus vesiculosus Inhibits Migration and Invasion of Human Lung Cancer Cell via PI3K-Akt-mTOR Pathways

Background

Recently there has been an increased interest in the pharmacologically active natural products associated with remedies of various kinds of diseases, including cancer. Fucoidan is a polysaccharide derived from brown seaweeds and has long been used as an ingredient in some dietary supplement products. Although fucoidan has been known to have anti-cancer activity, the anti-metastatic effects and its detailed mechanism of actions have been poorly understood. Therefore, the aims of this study were to demonstrate the anti-metastatic functions of fucoidan and its mechanism of action using A549, a highly metastatic human lung cancer cell line.

Methods and Principal Findings

Fucoidan inhibits the growth of A549 cells at the concentration of 400 µg/ml. Fucoidan treatment of non-toxic dose (0–200 µg/ml) exhibits a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on the invasion and migration of the cancer cell via decreasing its MMP-2 activity. To know the mechanism of these inhibitory effects, Western blotting was performed. Fucoidan treatment down-regulates extracellular signal-related kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)–Akt–mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K-Akt-mTOR) pathways. Furthermore, fucoidan decreases the cytosolic and nuclear levels of Nuclear Factor-kappa B (p65).

Conclusions/Significance

The present study suggests that fucoidan exhibits anti-metastatic effect on A549 lung cancer cells via the down-regulation of ERK1/2 and Akt-mTOR as well as NF-kB signaling pathways. Hence, fucoidan can be considered as a potential therapeutic reagent against the metastasis of invasive human lung cancer cells.     

Adenovirus-Mediated Expression of the p14 Fusion-Associated Small Transmembrane Protein Promotes Cancer Cell Fusion and Apoptosis In Vitro but Does Not Provide Therapeutic Efficacy in a Xenograft Mouse Model of Cancer

Adenoviruses (Ads) are used in numerous preclinical and clinical studies for delivery of anti-cancer therapeutic genes. Unfortunately, Ad has a poor ability to distribute throughout a tumor mass after intratumoral injection, and infects cells primarily within the immediate area of the injection tract. Thus, Ad-encoded transgene expression is typically limited to only a small percentage of cells within the tumor. One method to increase the proportion of the tumor impacted by Ad is through expression of fusogenic proteins. Infection of a single cell with an Ad vector encoding a fusogenic protein should lead to syncytium formation with adjacent cells, effectively spreading the effect of Ad and Ad-encoded therapeutic transgenes to a greater percentage of the tumor mass. Moreover, syncytium formation can be cytotoxic, suggesting that such proteins may be effective sole therapeutics. We show that an early region 1 (E1)-deleted Ad expressing reptilian reovirus p14 fusion-associated small transmembrane (FAST) protein caused extensive cell fusion in the replication-permissive 293 cell line and at high multiplicity of infection in non-permissive human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells in vitro. FAST protein expression in the A549 cancer cell line led to a loss of cellular metabolic activity and membrane integrity, which correlated with induction of apoptosis. However, in an A549 xenograft CD-1 nude mouse cancer model, Ad-mediated FAST gene delivery did not induce detectable cell fusion, reduce tumor burden nor enhance mouse survival compared to controls. Taken together, our results show that, although AdFAST can enhance cancer cell killing in vitro, it is not effective as a sole therapeutic in the A549 tumor model in vivo.     

Wogonin Has Multiple Anti-Cancer Effects by Regulating c-Myc/SKP2/Fbw7α and HDAC1/HDAC2 Pathways and Inducing Apoptosis in Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cell Line A549

Wogonin is a plant monoflavonoid which has been reported to inhibit cell growth and/or induce apoptosis in various tumors. The present study examined the apoptosis-inducing activity and underlying mechanism of action of wogonin in A549 cells. The results showed that wogonin was a potent inhibitor of the viability of A549 cells. Apoptotic protein changes detected after exposure to wogonin included decreased XIAP and Mcl-1 expression, increased cleaved-PARP expression and increased release of AIF and cytotchrome C. Western blot analysis showed that the activity of c-Myc/Skp2 and HDAC1/HDAC2 pathways, which play important roles in tumor progress, was decreased. Quantitative PCR identified increased levels of c-Myc mRNA and decreased levels of its protein. Protein levels of Fbw7α, GSK3β and Thr58-Myc, which are involved in c-Myc ubiquitin-dependent degradation, were also analyzed. After exposure to wogonin, Fbw7α and GSK3β expression decreased and Thr58-Myc expression increased. However, MG132 was unable to prevent c-Myc degradation. The present results suggest that wogonin has multiple anti-cancer effects associated with degradation of c-Myc, SKP2, HDAC1 and HDAC2. Its ability to induce apoptosis independently of Fbw7α suggests a possible use in drug-resistance cancer related to Fbw7 deficiency. Further studies are needed to determine which pathways are related to c-Myc and Fbw7α reversal and whether Thr58 phosphorylation of c-Myc is dependent on GSK3β.     

Methyl jasmonate: A plant stress hormone as an anti-cancer drug

Jasmonates act as signal transduction intermediates when plants are subjected to environmental stresses such as UV radiation, osmotic shock and heat. In the past few years several groups have reported that jasmonates exhibit anti-cancer activity in vitro and in vivo and induce growth inhibition in cancer cells, while leaving the non-transformed cells intact. Recently, jasmonates were also discovered to have cytotoxic effects towards metastatic melanoma both in vitro and in vivo.Three mechanisms of action have been proposed to explain this anti-cancer activity. The bio-energetic mechanism – jasmonates induce severe ATP depletion in cancer cells via mitochondrial perturbation. Furthermore, methyl jasmonate (MJ) has the ability to detach hexokinase from the mitochondria. Second, jasmonates induce re-differentiation in human myeloid leukemia cells via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity and were found to act similar to the cytokinin isopentenyladenine (IPA). Third, jasmonates induce apoptosis in lung carcinoma cells via the generation of hydrogen peroxide, and pro-apoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family.Combination of MJ with the glycolysis inhibitor 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2DG) and with four conventional chemotherapeutic drugs resulted in super-additive cytotoxic effects on several types of cancer cells. Finally, jasmonates have the ability to induce death in spite of drug-resistance conferred by either p53 mutation or P-glycoprotein (P-gp) over-expression.In summary, the jasmonates are anti-cancer agents that exhibit selective cytotoxicity towards cancer cells, and thus present hope for the development of cancer therapeutics.     

Chaperoning the guardian of the genome. The two-faced role of molecular chaperones in p53 tumor suppressor action

Organized networks of heat shock proteins, which possess molecular chaperone activity, protect cells from abrupt environmental changes. Additionally, molecular chaperones are essential during stress-free periods, where they moderate housekeeping functions. During tumorigenesis, these chaperone networks are extensively remodeled in such a way that they are advantageous to the transforming cell. Molecular chaperones by buffering critical elements of signaling pathways empower tumor evolution leading to chemoresistance of cancer cells. Controversially, the same molecular chaperones, which are indispensable for p53 in reaching its tumor suppressor potential, are beneficial in adopting an oncogenic gain of function phenotype when TP53 is mutated. On the molecular level, heat shock proteins by unwinding the mutant p53 protein expose aggregation-prone sites leading to the sequestration of other tumor suppressor proteins causing inhibition of apoptosis and chemoresistance. Therefore, within this review therapeutic approaches combining classical immuno- and/or chemotherapy with specific inhibition of selected molecular chaperones shall be discussed.     

Hypothesis to explain poor outcomes in the ALLHAT and V-HeFT trials: decreased expression of heat shock proteins

An explanation for the higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and heart failure in the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) with doxazosin and the Vasodilator Heart Failure Trial (V-HeFT) with prazosin might be decreased expression of heat shock proteins. Heat shock proteins help to protect cells from ischemic injury by decreasing oxidation, suppressing cytokine action, refolding damaged proteins, and decreasing apoptosis. I hypothesize that α-adrenergic blockade decreases heat shock protein levels, thus making the heart and vascular system vulnerable to injury from pathologic processes such as ischemia, hypertension, oxidation or inflammation. Similarly, poor cardiovascular outcomes with calcium-channel blockers might be due to decreased expression of heat shock proteins.     

The tumor-growth inhibitory activity of flavanone and 2′-OH flavanone <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vivo</Emphasis> through induction of cell cycle arrest and suppression of cyclins and CDKs

Summary Natural products, including flavonoids, are suggested to be involved in the protective effects of fruits and vegetables against cancer. However, studies concerning the effect of flavonoids frequently lacked data regarding to flavanones. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of flavanone compounds, including flavanone, 2′-OH flavanone, 4′-OH flavanone, 6-OH flavanone, naringin and naringenin, on cell growth of various cancer cells. We determined that flavanone and 2′-OH flavanone inhibited cell growth of A549, LLC, AGS, SK-Hepl and HA22T cancer cells, while other flavanones showed little or no inhibition. We evaluated growth-inhibitory activity of flavanone and 2′-OH flavanone against highly proliferative human lung cancer cells (A549) via anchorage-independent and -dependent colony formation assay, and further showed that treatment of flavanone resulted in a G1 cell cycle arrest with reduction of cyclin D, E and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 2, while treatment of 2′-OH flavanone led to a G2/M phase accumulation with reduction of cyclin B, D and Cdc2. Moreover, we demonstrated the improvement effect of flavanone and 2′-OH flavanone with anti-cancer drug, doxorubicin, on A549 cells. Finally, flavanone and 2′-OH flavanone were evidenced by its inhibition on the growth of A549 and Lewis lung carcinoma cells in vivo. Yung-Chin Hsiao and Yih-Shou Hsieh are equally contributed to this work.     

Selection of Suitable Reference Genes for Quantitative Real-Time PCR in Apoptosis-Induced MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

Apoptosis is induced in MCF-7 breast cancer cells following treatment with salicylic acid (20 mM), either in the presence or absence of a heat shock (42°C for 30 min). In order to study the alterations of apoptotic genes with quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), suitable genes with unchanged expression following the treatments is required for normalizing the gene expression levels. In this study, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), β-actin (ACTB), Histone H2A (HIST), constitutively expressed heat shock protein 70 (HSC70) and tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/trytophan 5 monooxygenase activation protein, 14-3-3 (YWHAZ) were evaluated as appropriate reference genes. Analysis of gene expression data with one-way ANOVA, geNorm and NormFinder identified HIST and YWHAZ as the least affected during the induction of apoptosis by the different treatments, and is the most suitable gene-pair for normalization during qPCR analysis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells undergoing apoptosis following treatment with SA and/or HS.     

融合细胞株Eahy926与亲本人肺腺癌细胞株A549差异表达蛋白的蛋白质组学分析

融合细胞株Eahy926是人肺腺癌细胞株A549和人脐静脉内皮细胞杂交而成的永生化细胞株,具有血管内皮细胞的特性,已广泛用于内皮细胞相关研究. 本研究应用蛋白质组学技术分析融合细胞株Eahy926与亲本人肺腺癌细胞株A549的蛋白质差异表达,探讨融合细胞生物学特性变化及其机制. 对Eahy926和亲本A549的细胞总蛋白质进行双向凝胶电泳,在PDQuest软件辅助下找出差异表达蛋白质点,经肽质量指纹图谱(peptide mass fingerprinting, PMF) 和串级质谱(tandem mass spectrometry,TMS) 分析,SWISS-PROT数据库检索,成功鉴定出28个差异蛋白,如CATB、CK8、CK18、annexin A2、GRP78、HSP90、HSP60、vimentin等一些与分子伴侣、氧化应激、能量代谢、信号转导等有关,并与肿瘤细胞分裂增殖、分化凋亡、侵袭转移、免疫逃逸以及肿瘤血管生长密切关联的蛋白质. 研究发现,融合细胞株Eahy926和人肺腺癌细胞株A549的蛋白质组表达谱存在明显差异,这将有助于今后进一步探讨肿瘤细胞与内皮细胞的相互作用机制及其融合细胞的特性,筛选肿瘤增殖和转移相关蛋白质及分子标志物,亦可为肿瘤的抗血管生成治疗提供新思路.     

Gambogic acid inhibits Hsp90 and deregulates TNF-α/NF-κB in HeLa cells

Gambogic acid (GB) is an important anti-cancer drug candidate, but the target protein by which it exerts its anti-cancer effects has not been identified. This study is the first to show that GB inhibits heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and down-regulates TNF-α/NF-κB in HeLa cells. The effects of GB on Hsp90 were studied by characterizing its physical interactions with Hsp90 upon binding, the noncompetitive inhibition of Hsp90 ATPase activity, and the degradation of Hsp90 client proteins (i.e., Akt, IKK) in HeLa cells. GB seems to bind to the N-terminal ATP-binding domain of Hsp90. Additionally, GB suppresses the activation of TNF-α/NF-κB and decreases XIAP expression levels and the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax, which in turn induces HeLa cell apoptosis. Thus, GB represents a promising therapeutic agent for cancer; it may also be useful as a probe to increase understanding of the biological functions of Hsp90.     

Reactive oxygen species generation and mitochondrial dysfunction in the apoptotic cell death of human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells by a dietary compound withaferin A with concomitant protection by <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-acetyl cysteine

Induction of apoptosis in cancer cells has become the major focus of anti-cancer therapeutics development. WithaferinA, a major chemical constituent of Withania somnifera, reportedly shows cytotoxicity in a variety of tumor cell lines while its molecular mechanisms of action are not fully understood. We observed that withaferinA primarily induces oxidative stress in human leukemia HL-60 cells and in several other cancer cell lines. The withanolide induced early ROS generation and mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ_mt) loss, which preceded release of cytochrome c, translocation of Bax to mitochondria and apoptosis inducing factor to cell nuclei. These events paralleled activation of caspases −9, −3 and PARP cleavage. WA also activated extrinsic pathway significantly as evidenced by time dependent increase in caspase-8 activity vis-à-vis TNFR-1 over expression. WA mediated decreased expression of Bid may be an important event for cross talk between intrinsic and extrinsic signaling. Furthermore, withaferinA inhibited DNA binding of NF-κB and caused nuclear cleavage of p65/Rel by activated caspase-3. N-acetyl-cysteine rescued all these events suggesting thereby a pro-oxidant effect of withaferinA. The results of our studies demonstrate that withaferinA induced early ROS generation and mitochondrial dysfunction in cancer cells trigger events responsible for mitochondrial -dependent and -independent apoptosis pathways.