The Protein Phosphatase Inhibitors Okadaic Acid and Calyculin A Induce Apoptosis in Human Osteoblastic Cells

To determine whether protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation can affect apoptosis in osteoblastic cells, we examined the effects of okadaic acid (OA) and calyculin A (CA) on cultured human osteoblastic cells Saos-2 and MG63, and mouse osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells. After reaching confluence, these cells were exposed to varying concentrations of OA or CA. OA and CA induced cell death in all three cell lines in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Marked nuclear condensation and fragmentation of chromatin were also observed in these cells by using the Hoechst 33342 stain. DNA ladder formation, a hallmark of apoptosis, was detected in Saos-2 and MG63 cells, but not in MC3T3-E1 cells by treatment of OA or CA. In the Saos-2 cells, OA- and CA-induced DNA ladder formation was dose-dependent with maximal effect at concentrations of 10 and 2 nM,respectively, and was time-dependent from 14 to 48 h. DNA ladder formation in response to OA and CA was revealed by using conventional ethidium bromide staining of electrophoresed DNA without using autoradiography. Beyond the maximal effects at the respective concentrations, however, cell death did not indicate DNA laddering, suggesting that phosphatase activity may be required for ladder formation. Our results indicate that apoptosis in the cultured osteoblastic cells is induced by moderate inhibition of PP-1 or PP-2A based on the known selectivity of okadaic acid and of calyculin A.     

OBATOCLAX and ABT-737 Induce ER Stress Responses in Human Melanoma Cells that Limit Induction of Apoptosis

Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins, in particular, Mcl-1, are known to play a critical role in resistance of human melanoma cells to induction of apoptosis by endoplasmic reticulum stress and other agents. The present study examined whether the BH3 mimetics, Obatoclax and ABT-737, which inhibit multiple anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins, would overcome resistance to apoptosis. We report that both agents induced a strong unfolded protein response (UPR) and that RNAi knockdown of UPR signalling proteins ATF6, IRE1α and XBP-1 inhibited Mcl-1 upregulation and increased sensitivity to the agents. These results demonstrate that inhibition of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins by Obatoclax and ABT-737 appears to elicit a protective feedback response in melanoma cells, by upregulation of Mcl-1 via induction of the UPR. We also report that Obatoclax, but not ABT-737, strongly induces autophagy, which appears to play a role in determining melanoma sensitivity to the agents.     

Curcumin Induces Apoptosis in Human Melanoma Cells through a Fas Receptor/Caspase-8 Pathway Independent of p53

In this study, we investigated the molecular pathways targeted by curcumin during apoptosis of human melanoma cell lines. We found that curcumin caused cell death in eight melanoma cell lines, four with wild-type and four with mutant p53. We demonstrate that curcumin-induced apoptosis is both dose- and time-dependent. We found that curcumin did not induce p53, suggesting that curcumin activates other apoptosis pathways. Our data show that curcumin activates caspases-3 and -8 but not caspase-9, supporting the rationale that apoptosis occurs via a membrane-mediated mechanism. Both a caspase-8 and broad-based caspase inhibitor, but not a caspase-9 specific inhibitor, suppressed curcumin-induced cell death. To further support our hypothesis that curcumin induces activation of a death receptor pathway, we show that curcumin induces Fas receptor aggregation in a FasL-independent manner and that low-temperature incubation, previously shown to inhibit receptor aggregation, prevented curcumin-induced cell death. Moreover, we demonstrate that expression of dominant negative FADD significantly inhibited curcumin-induced cell death. In addition, our results indicate that curcumin also blocks the NF-kappaB cell survival pathway and suppresses the apoptotic inhibitor, XIAP. Since melanoma cells with mutant p53 are strongly resistant to conventional chemotherapy, curcumin may overcome the chemoresistance of these cells and provide potential new avenues for treatment.     

新型冠状病毒抗体和小分子抑制剂的研究现状

世界卫生组织已宣布新型冠状病毒感染（coronavirus disease 2019,COVID-19）的爆发为全球大流行。中和抗体和小分子抑制剂在预防及治疗COVID-19中发挥重要作用。尽管已开发出了多种中和抗体以及疫苗,但是随着病原体严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2(severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,SARS-CoV-2)的不断变异,现有的抗体及疫苗面临巨大的挑战。小分子抑制剂主要通过干扰病毒与宿主的结合以及病毒自身的复制达到消灭病毒以及抑制病毒感染的作用,并且对SARS-CoV-2突变株具有广谱抑制作用,是当前研究的热点。近年来国内外学者对SARS-CoV-2的小分子抑制剂做了大量的研究工作,本文根据中和抗体识别的抗原表位以及小分子抑制剂的作用机制分别对用于预防及治疗COVID-19的中和抗体和小分子抑制剂进行综述,讨论其研究现状,并展望小分子抑制剂的应用前景,以期为该领域的进一步研究提供参考。     

Topoisomerase I Inhibitors,Shikonin and Topotecan,Inhibit Growth and Induce Apoptosis of Glioma Cells and Glioma Stem Cells

Gliomas, the most malignant form of brain tumors, contain a small subpopulation of glioma stem cells (GSCs) that are implicated in therapeutic resistance and tumor recurrence. Topoisomerase I inhibitors, shikonin and topotecan, play a crucial role in anti-cancer therapies. After isolated and identified the GSCs from glioma cells successfully, U251, U87, GSCs-U251 and GSCs-U87 cells were administrated with various concentrations of shikonin or topotecan at different time points to seek for the optimal administration concentration and time point. The cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis were detected using cell counting kit-8 and flow cytometer to observe the inhibitory effects on glioma cells and GSCs. We demonstrated that shikonin and topotecan obviously inhibited proliferation of not only human glioma cells but also GSCs in a dose- and time-dependent manner. According to the IC50 values at 24 h, 2 μmol/L of shikonin and 3 μmol/L of topotecan were selected as the optimal administration concentration. In addition, shikonin and topotecan induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 and S phases and promoted apoptosis. The down-regulation of Bcl-2 expression with the activation of caspase 9/3-dependent pathway was involved in the apoptosis process. Therefore, the above results showed that topoisomerase I inhibitors, shikonin and topotecan, inhibited growth and induced apoptosis of GSCs as well as glioma cells, which suggested that they might be the potential anticancer agents targeting gliomas to provide a novel therapeutic strategy.     

Novel Inhibitors Induce Large Conformational Changes of GAB1 Pleckstrin Homology Domain and Kill Breast Cancer Cells

The Grb2-associated binding protein 1 (GAB1) integrates signals from different signaling pathways and is over-expressed in many cancers, therefore representing a new therapeutic target. In the present study, we aim to target the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of GAB1 for cancer treatment. Using homology models we derived, high-throughput virtual screening of five million compounds resulted in five hits which exhibited strong binding affinities to GAB1 PH domain. Our prediction of ligand binding affinities is also in agreement with the experimental K _D values. Furthermore, molecular dynamics studies showed that GAB1 PH domain underwent large conformational changes upon ligand binding. Moreover, these hits inhibited the phosphorylation of GAB1 and demonstrated potent, tumor-specific cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 and T47D breast cancer cell lines. This effort represents the discovery of first-in-class GAB1 PH domain inhibitors with potential for targeted breast cancer therapy and provides novel insights into structure-based approaches to targeting this protein.     

CARP-1 Functional Mimetics: A Novel Class of Small Molecule Inhibitors of Medulloblastoma Cell Growth

Medulloblastomas (MBs) constitute an aggressive class of intracranial pediatric tumors. Current multimodality treatments for MBs include surgery, ionizing radiation, and chemotherapy. Toxic side effects of therapies coupled with high incidence of recurrence and the metastatic spread warrant development of more effective, less toxic therapies for this disease. CARP-1/CCAR1 is a peri-nuclear phospho-protein that is a co-activator of the cell cycle regulatory anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) E3 ligase. CARP-1 functional mimetics (CFMs) are a novel class of small molecule compounds that interfere with CARP-1 binding with APC/C subunit APC-2, and suppress growth of a variety of cancer cells in part by promoting apoptosis. Here we investigated MB growth inhibitory potential of the CFMs and found that CFM-4 inhibits growth of MB cells in part by inducing CARP-1 expression, promoting PARP cleavage, activating pro-apoptotic stress-activated protein kinases (SAPK) p38 and JNK, and apoptosis. Gene-array-based analysis of the CFM-4-treated Daoy MB cells indicated down-regulation of a number of key cell growth and metastasis-promoting genes including cell motility regulating small GTP binding protein p21Rac1, and extracellular matrix metallopeptidase (MMP)-10. Moreover, CFM-4 treatment stimulated expression of a number of molecules such as neurotrophin (NTF)3, and NF-κB signaling inhibitors ABIN1 and 2 proteins. Overexpression of NTF3 resulted in reduced MB cell viability while knock-down of NTF3 interfered with CFM-4-dependent loss of viability. CFMs also attenuated biological properties of the MB cells by blocking their abilities to migrate, form colonies in suspension, and invade through the matrix-coated membranes. Together our data support anti-MB properties of CFM-4, and provide a proof-of-concept basis for further development of CFMs as potential anti-cancer agents for MBs.     

Hypoxia-Induced Apoptosis in Human Cells with Normal p53 Status and Function, without Any Alteration in the Nuclear Protein Level

We have studied hypoxia-induced inactivation of cells from three established human cell lines with different p53 status. Hypoxia was found to induce apoptosis in cells expressing wild-type p53 (MCF-7 cells), but not in cells where p53 is either mutated (T-47D cells), or abrogated by expression of the HPV18 E6 oncoprotein (NHIK 3025 cells). Apoptosis was demonstrated by DNA fragmentation, using agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA and DNA nick end labeling (TUNEL). We demonstrate that extremely hypoxic conditions (<4 ppm O₂) do not cause any change of expression in the p53 protein level in these three cell lines. In addition, the localization of p53 in MCF-7 cells was found exclusively in the nucleus in only some of the cells both under aerobic and hypoxic conditions. Furthermore, no correlation was found between the p53-expression level and whether or not a cell underwent apoptosis. Flow cytometric TUNEL analysis of MCF-7 cells revealed that initiation of apoptosis occurred in all phases of the cell cycle, although predominantly for cells in S phase. Apoptosis was observed only during a limited time window (i.e., ≈10 to ≈24 h) after the onset of extreme hypoxia. While 66% of the MCF-7 cells lost their ability to form visible colonies following 15 h exposure to extreme hypoxia, only ∼28% were induced to apoptosis, suggesting that ∼38% were inactivated by other death processes. Commitment to apoptotic cell death was observed in MCF-7 cells even for oxygen concentrations as high as 5000 ppm. Our present results indicate that the p53 status in these three tumor cell lines does not have any major influence on cell's survival following exposure to extremely hypoxic conditions, whereas following moderate hypoxia, cells expressing functional p53 enhanced their susceptibility to cell death. Taken together, although these results suggest that functional p53 might play a role in the induction of apoptosis during hypoxia, other factors seem to be equally important.     

XPO1 Inhibition Preferentially Disrupts the 3D Nuclear Organization of Telomeres in Tumor Cells

Previous work has shown that the three‐dimensional (3D) nuclear organization of telomeres is altered in cancer cells and the degree of alterations coincides with aggressiveness of disease. Nuclear pores are essential for spatial genome organization and gene regulation and XPO1 (exportin 1/CRM1) is the key nuclear export protein. The Selective Inhibitor of Nuclear Export (SINE) compounds developed by Karyopharm Therapeutics (KPT‐185, KPT‐330/selinexor, and KPT‐8602) inhibit XPO1 nuclear export function. In this study, we investigated whether XPO1 inhibition has downstream effects on the 3D nuclear organization of the genome. This was assessed by measuring the 3D telomeric architecture of normal and tumor cells in vitro and ex vivo. Our data demonstrate for the first time a rapid and preferential disruption of the 3D nuclear organization of telomeres in tumor cell lines and in primary cells ex vivo derived from treatment‐naïve newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. Normal primary cells in culture as well as healthy lymphocyte control cells from the same patients were minimally affected. Using both lymphoid and non‐lymphoid tumor cell lines, we found that the downstream effects on the 3D nuclear telomere structure are independent of tumor type. We conclude that the 3D nuclear organization of telomeres is a sensitive indicator of cellular response when treated with XPO1 inhibitors. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 2711–2719, 2016. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Cellular Physiology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Diverse Small Molecule Inhibitors of Human Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease APE1 Identified from a Screen of a Large Public Collection

The major human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease APE1 plays a pivotal role in the repair of base damage via participation in the DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway. Increased activity of APE1, often observed in tumor cells, is thought to contribute to resistance to various anticancer drugs, whereas down-regulation of APE1 sensitizes cells to DNA damaging agents. Thus, inhibiting APE1 repair endonuclease function in cancer cells is considered a promising strategy to overcome therapeutic agent resistance. Despite ongoing efforts, inhibitors of APE1 with adequate drug-like properties have yet to be discovered. Using a kinetic fluorescence assay, we conducted a fully-automated high-throughput screen (HTS) of the NIH Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository (MLSMR), as well as additional public collections, with each compound tested as a 7-concentration series in a 4 µL reaction volume. Actives identified from the screen were subjected to a panel of confirmatory and counterscreen tests. Several active molecules were identified that inhibited APE1 in two independent assay formats and exhibited potentiation of the genotoxic effect of methyl methanesulfonate with a concomitant increase in AP sites, a hallmark of intracellular APE1 inhibition; a number of these chemotypes could be good starting points for further medicinal chemistry optimization. To our knowledge, this represents the largest-scale HTS to identify inhibitors of APE1, and provides a key first step in the development of novel agents targeting BER for cancer treatment.     

Gastrodin Inhibits Glutamate-Induced Apoptosis of PC12 Cells via Inhibition of CaMKII/ASK-1/p38 MAPK/p53 Signaling Cascade

Previous research demonstrated that glutamate induces neuronal injury partially by increasing intracellular Ca²⁺ concentrations ([Ca²⁺]_i), and inducing oxidative stress, leading to a neurodegenerative disorder. However, the mechanism of glutamate-induced injury remains elusive. Gastrodin, a major active component of the traditional herbal agent Gastrodia elata (GE) Blume, has been recognized as a potential neuroprotective drug. In the current study, a classical injury model based on glutamate-induced cell death of rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells was used to investigate the neuroprotective effect of gastrodin, and its potential mechanisms involved. In this paper, the presence of gastrodin inhibits glutamate-induced oxidative stress as measured by the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and superoxide dismutase (SOD); gastrodin also prevents glutamate-induced [Ca²⁺]_i influx, blocks the activation of the calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) and the apoptosis signaling-regulating kinase-1 (ASK-1), inhibits phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated kinase (MAPK). Additionally, gastrodin blocked the expression of p53 phosphorylation, caspase-3 and cytochrome C, reduced bax/bcl-2 ratio induced by glutamate in PC12 cells. All these findings indicate that gastrodin protects PC12 cells from the apoptosis induced by glutamate through a new mechanism of the CaMKII/ASK-1/p38 MAPK/p53-signaling pathway.     

Mechanistic Evaluation of a Novel Small Molecule Targeting Mitochondria in Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Background

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers with a 5-year survival rate of 6%. Therapeutic options are very limited and there is an unmet medical need for safe and efficacious treatments. Cancer cell metabolism and mitochondria provide unexplored targets for this disease. We recently identified a novel class of triphenylphosphonium salts, TP compounds, with broad- spectrum anticancer properties. We examined the ability of our prototypical compound TP421– chosen for its fluorescent properties – to inhibit the growth of pancreatic cancer cells and further investigated the molecular mechanisms by which it exerts its anticancer effects.

Methodology/Principal Findings

TP421 exhibited sub-micromolar IC₅₀ values in all the pancreatic cancer cell lines tested using MTT and colony formation assays. TP421 localized predominantly to mitochondria and induced G₀/G₁ arrest, ROS accumulation, and activation of several stress-regulated kinases. Caspase and PARP-1 cleavage were observed indicating an apoptotic response while LC3B-II and p62 were accumulated indicating inhibition of autophagy. Furthermore, TP421 induced de-phosphorylation of key signaling molecules involved in FAK mediated adhesion that correlated with inhibition of cell migration.

Conclusions/Significance

TP421 is a representative compound of a new promising class of mitochondrial-targeted agents useful for pancreatic cancer treatment. Because of their unique mechanism of action and efficacy further development is warranted.     

A Novel Compound,L34, Induced Apoptosis in Human Gastric Cancer Cells

Selectively apoptosis-targeting compounds in gastrointestinal cancers attract broad interest. Here, we investigated a synthetic sulfonamide, 4-bromo-N-(5-ethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indol-8-yl)benzenesulfonamide (L34). It showed high activity against gastric cancer cells SGC-7901, causing apoptosis, which was associated with downregulation of caspase-3 and XIAP, upegulation of cleaved caspase-3, and cleavage of PARP. Hence, L34 might be a potent chemotherapeutic agent against human gastric cancer.     

Distinct Pools of cdc25C Are Phosphorylated on Specific TP Sites and Differentially Localized in Human Mitotic Cells

Background

The dual specificity phosphatase cdc25C was the first human cdc25 family member found to be essential in the activation of cdk1/cyclin B1 that takes place at the entry into mitosis. Human cdc25C is phosphorylated on Proline-dependent SP and TP sites when it becomes active at mitosis and the prevalent model is that this phosphorylation/activation of cdc25C would be part of an amplification loop with cdk1/cyclin B1.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Using highly specific antibodies directed against cdc25C phospho-epitopes, pT67 and pT130, we show here that these two phospho-forms of cdc25C represent distinct pools with differential localization during human mitosis. Phosphorylation on T67 occurs from prophase and the cdc25C-pT67 phospho-isoform closely localizes with condensed chromosomes throughout mitosis. The phospho-T130 form of cdc25C arises in late G2 and associates predominantly with centrosomes from prophase to anaphase B where it colocalizes with Plk1. As shown by immunoprecipitation of each isoform, these two phospho-forms are not simultaneously phosphorylated on the other mitotic TP sites or associated with one another. Phospho-T67 cdc25C co-precipitates with MPM2-reactive proteins while pT130-cdc25C is associated with Plk1. Interaction and colocalization of phosphoT130-cdc25C with Plk1 demonstrate in living cells, that the sequence around pT130 acts as a true Polo Box Domain (PBD) binding site as previously identified from in vitro peptide screening studies. Overexpression of non-phosphorylatable alanine mutant forms for each isoform, but not wild type cdc25C, strongly impairs mitotic progression showing the functional requirement for each site-specific phosphorylation of cdc25C at mitosis.

Conclusions/Significance

These results show for the first time that in human mitosis, distinct phospho-isoforms of cdc25C exist with different localizations and interacting partners, thus implying that the long-standing model of a cdc25C/cdk1 multi-site auto amplification loop is implausible.     

Advanced Glycation End Products Induce Human Corneal Epithelial Cells Apoptosis through Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species and Activation of JNK and p38 MAPK Pathways

Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) has been implicated in the progression of diabetic keratopathy. However, details regarding their function are not well understood. In the present study, we investigated the effects of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and JNK, p38 MAPK on AGE-modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) induced Human telomerase-immortalized corneal epithelial cells (HUCLs) apoptosis. We found that AGE-BSA induced HUCLs apoptosis and increased Bax protein expression, decreased Bcl-2 protein expression. AGE-BSA also induced the expression of receptor for advanced glycation end product (RAGE). AGE-BSA-RAGE interaction induced intracellular ROS generation through activated NADPH oxidase and increased the phosphorylation of p47phox. AGE-BSA induced HUCLs apoptosis was inhibited by pretreatment with NADPH oxidase inhibitors, ROS quencher N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or neutralizing anti-RAGE antibodies. We also found that AGE-BSA induced JNK and p38 MAPK phosphorylation. JNK and p38 MAPK inhibitor effectively blocked AGE-BSA-induced HUCLs apoptosis. In addition, NAC completely blocked phosphorylation of JNK and p38 MAPK induced by AGE-BSA. Our results indicate that AGE-BSA induced HUCLs apoptosis through generation of intracellular ROS and activation of JNK and p38 MAPK pathways.