Oridonin-induced mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in esophageal cancer cells by inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR and Ras/Raf pathways

Oridonin, an active diterpenoid isolated from Rabdosia rubescens, has been reported for its antitumor activity on several cancers. However, its effect on human esophageal cancer remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that oridonin could inhibit the growth of human esophageal cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Oridonin not only suppressed the proliferation, but also induced cell cycle arrest and mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in KYSE-30, KYSE-150, and EC9706 cells with dose-dependent manner. Further mechanism studies revealed that oridonin led cell cycle arrest in esophageal cancer cells via downregulating cell cycle-related proteins, such as cyclin B1 and CDK2, while upregulating p53 and p21. Oridonin also increased proapoptotic protein Bax and reduced antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, as well as the increased expression of cleaved caspase-3, -8, and -9. In addition, oridonin treatment could significantly inhibit the PI3K/Akt/mTOR and Ras/Raf signaling pathway. In vivo results further demonstrated that oridonin treatment markedly inhibited tumor growth in the esophageal cancer xenograft mice model. Taken together, these results suggest that oridonin may be a potential anticancer agent for the treatment of esophageal cancer.     

PI3K/AKT/mTOR信号通路及其在卵巢癌治疗中的应用

卵巢癌是女性生殖系统常见的恶性肿瘤,发病率居于妇科恶性肿瘤第三位,死亡率居于妇科恶性肿瘤之首。目前对卵巢癌的标准治疗包括肿瘤细胞减灭术及卡铂和紫杉醇的联合化疗。PI3K/AKT/mTOR信号通路在卵巢癌的细胞增殖、侵袭、细胞周期进展、血管生成及耐药中发挥重要作用,是卵巢癌中最常发生改变的细胞内途径。本文对PI3K/AKT/mTOR信号通路及其在卵巢癌增殖和进展中的影响、PI3K/AKT/mTOR信号通路抑制剂在卵巢癌中的治疗应用做简要综述。     

Ropivacaine inhibits proliferation and invasion and promotes apoptosis and autophagy in bladder cancer cells via inhibiting PI3K/AKT pathway

Application of a certain concentration of local anesthetics during tumor resection inhibits the progression of tumor. The effects of ropivacaine in bladder cancer (BC) have never been explored. We explored the effects of ropivacaine on the progression of BC in vitro and in vivo. CCK8 assay and EDU staining was conducted to examine cell proliferation. Flow cytometry and transwell assay were performed to evaluate apoptosis and invasion, respectively. Expression of light chain 3 (LC3) was observed through immunofluorescence. Furthermore, the xenograft tumor model of BC was built to detect the effects of ropivacaine in vivo. IHC and TUNEL assay were conducted to detect cell proliferation and apoptosis in vivo. Ropivacaine inhibited the proliferation of T24 and 5639 cells with the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 20.08 and 31.86 µM, respectively. Ropivacaine suppressed the invasion ability and induces the apoptosis of cells. Besides, ropivacaine triggers obvious autophagy in BC cells. Moreover, ropivacaine blocks the PI3K/AKT signal pathway in BC cells. The impact of ropivacaine on cell viability, motility, and autophagy was reversed by 740 Y-P, the activator of PI3K/AKT signal pathway. The in vivo experiments demonstrated that ropivacaine inhibited the proliferation and mobility of BC. Ropivacaine has anti-carcinoma effects in BC via inactivating PI3K/AKT pathway, providing a new theoretical reference for the use of local anesthetics in the treatment of BC.     

PLS3 predicts poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer and promotes cancer cell proliferation via PI3K/AKT signaling

Plastin-3 plays a key role in cancer cell proliferation and invasion, but its prognostic value in pancreatic cancer (PACA) remains poorly defined. In this study, we show that PLS3 messenger RNA is overexpressed in PACA tissue compared with normal tissue. We accumulated 207 cases of PACA specimens to perform immunohistochemical analysis and demonstrated that PLS3 levels correlate with T-classification (p < .001) and pathology (p < .001). Furthermore, overall survival rates (p < .001) in tumors with high PLS3 expression were poor, as assessed through Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. PLS3 was found to be an independent prognostic factor for PACA through multivariate Cox regression analysis. Moreover, we found that PLS3 enhances the proliferation and invasion of tumor cells as assessed through Cell Counting Kit-8, wounding healing assays, and Transwell assays. The upregulation of PLS3 also led to enhanced phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/protein kinase B signaling in PACA cells. These data suggest that PLS3 is a biomarker to estimate PACA progression and represents a molecular target for PACA therapy.     

Low-dose naltrexone plays antineoplastic role in cervical cancer progression through suppressing PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

The incidence of cervical cancer is increasing annually worldwide. Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) has been reported to delay tumor progression, but the mechanism remains unclear. Here, we found that low-dose naltrexone could upregulate the expression of OGFr. Additionally, LDN could suppress the abilities of colony formation, migration and invasion in cervical cancer cells. LDN could also inhibit cervical cancer progression in mice model. Moreover, LDN indirectly reduced the expressions of PI3K, pAKT and mTOR in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, LDN may be considered a potential treatment option for cervical cancer.     

The KMT1A/TIMP3/PI3K/AKT circuit regulates tumor growth in cervical cancer

The epigenetic mechanism of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP3), a well-known tumor suppressor, in cervical cancer (CC) is still unclear. Integrated GEO database, protein interaction network, and a pan-cancer analysis revealed a KMT1A/TIMP3 axis in CC. KMT1A was highly expressed, and TIMP3 was poorly expressed in CC tissues and cells. KMT1A inhibited the activity of TIMP3. Silencing of KMT1A hampered the proliferation, migration, invasion, tumorigenesis and metastases of CC cells in vivo, and increased the apoptosis of cells. TIMP3 downregulation promoted the malignant phenotype and in vivo tumorigenesis and metastasis of CC cells. KMT1A downregulation impaired PI3K/AKT pathway in cells, while TIMP3 silencing promoted PI3K/AKT pathway activity. We propose a novel perspective that KMT1A involves in the growth and metastases via the TIMP3/PI3K/AKT axis in CC. In summary, our study identified a vital role played by KMT1A in the development of CC and the epigenetic mechanism, indicating that targeting KMT1A-related pathways could be conducive to the therapies for CC.     

Surface chemistry induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis of breast cancer cells via PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

Tumor cell can be significantly influenced by various chemical groups of the extracellular matrix proteins. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in the interaction between cancer cells and functional groups in the extracellular matrix remain unknown. Using chemically modified surfaces with biological functional groups (CH₃, NH₂, OH), it was found that hydrophobic surfaces modified with CH₃ and NH₂ suppressed cell proliferation and induced the number of apoptotic cells. Mitochondrial dysfunction, cytochrome c release, Bax upregulation, cleaved caspase-3 and PARP, and Bcl-2 downregulation indicated that hydrophobic surfaces with CH₃ and NH₂ triggered the activation of intrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway. Cells on the CH₃- and NH₂-modified hydrophobic surfaces showed downregulated expression and activation of integrin β1, with a subsequent decrease of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activity. The RhoA/ROCK/PTEN signaling was then activated to inhibit the phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT, which are essential for cell proliferation. However, pretreatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with SF1670, a PTEN inhibitor, abolished the hydrophobic surface-induced activation of the intrinsic pathway. Taken together, the present results indicate that CH₃- and NH₂-modified hydrophobic surfaces induce mitochondria-mediated apoptosis by suppressing the PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway, but not OH surfaces. These findings are helpful to understand the interaction between extracellular matrix and cancer cells, which might provide new insights into the mechanism potential intervention strategies for tumor prognosis.     

PI3K/AKT信号通路调控Myogenin和MCK基因的表达

骨骼肌分化过程受多个信号通路调控, PI3K/AKT信号通路是其中最重要的信号转导通路之一。PI3K/AKT信号通路可以调控骨骼肌分化, 但在染色质水平上的调控机制还不是很清楚。文章以小鼠成肌细胞(C2C12)为研究材料, 采用免疫印迹、染色质免疫共沉淀(Chromatin immunoprecipitation, ChIP)、定量PCR (Q-PCR)的方法研究PI3K/AKT信号通路调控Myogenin和MCK基因的表达。研究发现, C2C12细胞分化过程中添加PI3K/AKT信号通路激活剂处理24 h, Myogenin和MCK蛋白表达水平显著升高, 组蛋白H3K27me3去甲基化酶UTX的表达也升高, H3K27me3在Myogenin基因启动子区和MCK基因启动子及增强子区的富集与对照组相比显著降低。用PI3K/AKT信号通路抑制剂处理, 结果相反。因此, PI3K/AKT信号通路可能通过调控组蛋白去甲基化酶UTX的表达活性改变靶基因的H3K27me3的富集进而调控骨骼肌分化。     

SLC1A3 promotes gastric cancer progression via the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway

Gastric cancer is a major cause of mortality worldwide. The glutamate/aspartate transporter SLC1A3 has been implicated in tumour metabolism and progression, but the roles of SLC1A3 in gastric cancer remain unclear. We used bioinformatics approaches to analyse the expression of SLC1A3 and its role in gastric cancer. The expression levels of SLC1A3 were examined using RT‐qPCR and Western bolting. SLC1A3 overexpressing and knock‐down cell lines were constructed, and the cell viability was evaluated. Glucose consumption, lactate excretion and ATP levels were determined. The roles of SLC1A3 in tumour growth were evaluated using a xenograft tumour growth model. SLC1A3 was found to be overexpressed in gastric cancer, and this overexpression was associated with poor prognosis. In vitro and in vivo assays showed that SLC1A3 affected glucose metabolism and promoted gastric cancer growth. GSEA analysis suggested that SLC1A3 was positively associated with the up‐regulation of the PI3K/AKT pathway. SLC1A3 overexpression activated the PI3K/AKT pathway and up‐regulated GLUT1, HK II and LDHA expression. The PI3K/AKT inhibitor LY294002 prevented SLC1A3‐induced glucose metabolism and cell proliferation. Our findings indicate that SLC1A3 promotes gastric cancer progression via the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. SLC1A3 is therefore a potential therapeutic target in gastric cancer.     

Effects of streptozotocin-induced type 1 maternal diabetes on PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in the hippocampus of rat neonates

Diabetes in pregnancy impairs hippocampus development in offspring, leading to behavioral problems and learning deficits. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in the regulation of neuronal proliferation, survival and death. The present study was designed to examine the effects of maternal diabetes on PKB/Akt expression and phosphorylation in the developing rat hippocampus. Wistar female rats were maintained diabetic from a week before pregnancy through parturition and male offspring was killed at first postnatal day (P1). The hippocampal expression and phosphorylation level of PKB/Akt, one of the key molecules in PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blot analysis. We found a significant bilateral downregulation of AKT1 gene expression in the hippocampus of pups born to diabetic mothers (p?<?0.05). Interestingly, our results revealed a marked upregulation of Akt1 gene in insulin-treated group compared with other groups (p?<?0.05). The western blot analysis also showed the reduction of phosphorylation level of all AKT isoforms in both diabetic and insulin-treated groups compared with control (p?<?0.05). Moreover, the results showed a significant increase in phosphorylation level of AKT in insulin-treated group compared with the diabetic group. These results represent that diabetes during pregnancy strongly influences the regulation of PKB/AKT in the developing rat hippocampus. Furthermore, although the control of glycemia by insulin administration is not sufficient to prevent the alterations in PKB/Akt expression, it modulates the phosphorylation process, thus ultimately resulting in a situation comparable to that found in the normal condition.     

Retracted: Sapylin inhibits lung cancer cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis by attenuating PI3K/AKT signaling

Sapylin (OK-432) revealed biological properties in cancers. In this study, the effect of sapylin on lung cancer cell A549 was investigated. A549 cell lines were treated with sapylin (0.1, 0.5, and 1 KE/mL) for different time intervals. A549 cell proliferation and apoptosis was determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide/Ki67 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Western blot was used to determine the expressions of proteins involved in proliferation, apoptosis, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/serine/threonine kinase (PI3K/AKT), Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway. Level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was insured by using the ROS kit. Sapylin inhibited A549 cell viability and the expressions of proliferation-related proteins (cyclin E1 and D1) in dose- and time-dependent manners. Sapylin promoted apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manners. Sapylin also promoted the expressions of apoptotic proteins (cleaved caspase-3 and 8) in dose- and time-dependent manners. Furthermore, sapylin increased the intracellular concentration of ROS in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, the high expression of ROS level might induce inhibition of cell viability and increase cell apoptosis. The mechanistic study revealed that sapylin inactivated the PI3K/AKT and Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathways. Our findings suggest that sapylin inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis in lung cancer cells, thus providing a new theoretical basis for the treatment of lung cancer.     

Autophagy participates in the protection role of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in acute myocardial infarction via PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI); thus we aimed to explore improvement effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (VD3) on the AMI and its potential mechanism. AMI models were constructed using male C57/BL6J mice and randomly treated with normal saline or VD3, using sham rats as control. Heart functions, myocardial damage, apoptosis, and inflammation were evaluated. Cardiomyocytes isolated from 3-day-old suckling mice were used for in vitro verification. After VD3 treatment, AMI-induced cardiac dysfunction was reversed with better cardiac function parameters. VD3 treatment reduced inflammatory cell infiltration and myocardial infarction area accompanied by the reduction of inflammatory factors and myocardial infarction markers compared with the AMI group. VD3 treatment obviously alleviated AMI-induced myocardial apoptosis, along with Bcl-2 upregulation and downregulation of caspase-3, caspase-9, and Bax. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments revealed that VD3 enhanced the expression of LC3II and Beclin-1 and decreased soluble p62. Furthermore, VD3 enhanced the AMI-caused inhibition of PI3K, p-AKT, and p-mTOR expression, which was conversely reversed by the addition of 3-methyladenine in vitro. The study highlights the improvement effects of VD3 on cardiac functions. We proposed a potential mechanism that VD3 protects against myocardial damage, inflammation, and apoptosis by promoting autophagy through PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.     

Retracted: Paeoniflorin promotes angiogenesis and tissue regeneration in a full-thickness cutaneous wound model through the PI3K/AKT pathway

The treatment of wounds remains a clinical challenge because of poor angiogenesis under the wound bed, and increasingly, the patients' need for functional and aesthetically pleasing scars. For the wound healing process, new blood vessels which can deliver nutrients and oxygen to the wound area are necessary. In this study, we investigated the pro-angiogenesis ability and mechanism in wound healing of paeoniflorin (PF), which is a traditional Chinese medicine. In our in vitro results, the ability for proliferation, migration and in vitro angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells was promoted by coculturing with PF (1.25–5 μM). Meanwhile, molecular docking studies revealed that PF has excellent binding abilities to phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT), and consistent with our western blot results, that PF suppressed PI3K and AKT phosphorylation. Furthermore, to investigate the healing effect of PF in vivo, we constructed a full-thickness cutaneous wound model in rats. PF stimulated the cellular proliferation status, collagen matrix deposition and remodeling processes in vitro and new blood vessel formation at the wound bed resulting in efficient wound healing after intragastric administration of 10 mg·kg⁻¹·day⁻¹ in vivo. Overall, PF performed the pro-angiogenetic effect in vitro and accelerating wound healing in vivo. In summary, the capacity for angiogenesis in endothelial cells could be enhanced by PF treatment via the PI3K/AKT pathway in vitro and could accelerate the wound healing process in vivo through collagen deposition and angiogenesis in regenerated tissue. This study provides evidence that application of PF represents a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of cutaneous wounds.     

PC-1解除S6K对AKT信号通路的负反馈抑制

目的:通过建立过表达PC-1的前列腺癌LNCaP细胞系及敲低PC-1表达的C4-2细胞系,探究PC-1激活AKT信号通路的分子机制。方法:将PC-1基因及针对PC-1的siRNA序列,分别克隆至慢病毒表达载体pCDH-EF1-Myc-MCS-T2A-Puro及干扰载体pSIH1-H1-Puro,包装成慢病毒后分别感染前列腺癌LNCaP及C4-2细胞,通过Western印迹鉴定PC-1过表达及敲低效果,并检测PI3K/AKT/mTOR信号通路相关蛋白S6K、AKT的磷酸化水平。结果:PC-1过表达时,S6K磷酸化水平下降,而AKT的磷酸化水平上升。结论:PC-1可以通过抑制S6K激酶活性,解除其对AKT的负反馈抑制作用,从而激活AKT激酶的活性。     

Combination therapy Eve and Pac to induce apoptosis in cervical cancer cells by targeting PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways

This study aimed to investigate the anti-cervical cancer effects of everolimus (Eve) and paclitaxel (Pac) when used alone or in combination. Human cervical cancer cells HeLa and SiHa were divided into four group: Blank control group (control), everolimus group (Eve), paclitaxel group (Pac) and combined therapy group (Eve?+?Pac). The cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay and the cell cloning ability was detected by clonegenic assay. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis. Meanwhile, the expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and their phosphorylated proteins were studied by western blot. The HeLa and SiHa cells proliferation and cloning ability were significantly inhibited in drug treatment groups compared with control group (p?相似文献   

Resveratrol suppresses the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in PC-3 cells by down-regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

Resveratrol possesses a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties and has been an ideal alternative drug for the treatment of different cancers, including prostate cancer. However, the mechanisms by which resveratrol inhibits the growth of prostate cancer are still not fully elucidated. To understand the effect of resveratrol on the apoptosis and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of prostate cancer as well as its related mechanism, we investigated the potential use of resveratrol in PC-3 prostate cancer cells in vitro using real-time PCR, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, Western blotting, etc. Resveratrol suppresses the PC-3 prostate cancer cell growth and induces apoptosis. Resveratrol also influences the expression of EMT-related proteins (increased E-cadherin and decreased Vimentin expression). Finally, resveratrol also suppressed Akt phosphorylation in PC-3 cells. This study indicates that resveratrol may be a potential anti-cancer treatment for prostate cancer; moreover, it provides new evidence that resveratrol suppresses prostate cancer growth and metastasis.     

LINC01133 aggravates the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway

LncRNAs exhibit crucial roles in various pathological diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, it is significant to recognize the dysregulated lncRNAs in HCC progression. Recently, LINC01133 has been identified in several tumors. However, the biological role of LINC01133 in HCC remains poorly understood. Currently, we focused on the function of LINC01133 in HCC development. We observed that LINC01133 was significantly increased in HCC cells including HepG2, Hep3B, MHCC-97L, SK-Hep-1, and MHCC-97H cells compared with the normal human liver cell line HL-7702. In addition, PI3K/AKT signaling was highly activated in HCC cells. Knockdown of LINC01133 was able to inhibit HCC cell proliferation, cell colony formation, cell apoptosis, and blocked cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase. For another, downregulation of LINC01133 repressed HCC cell migration and invasion. Subsequently, the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was strongly suppressed by silence of LINC01133 in Hep3B and HepG2 cells. Then, in vivo tumor xenografts models were established using Hep3B cells to explore the function of LINC01133 in HCC progression. Consistently, our study indicated that knockdown of LINC01133 dramatically repressed HCC tumor progression through targeting the PI3K/AKT pathway in vivo. Taken these together, we revealed that LINC01133 contributed to HCC progression by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway.     

PI3K regulates the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in atherosclerosis through part-dependent AKT signaling pathway

PI3K is a downstream target of multiple cell-surface receptors, which acts as a crucial modulator of both cell polarization and survival. PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is commonly involved in cancer, atherosclerosis, and other diseases. However, its role in cardiovascular diseases, especially in atherosclerosis, remains to be further investigated. To determine the effect of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway on cellular inflammatory response and oxidative stress, PI3K inhibitor (GDC0941) and AKT inhibitor (MK2206) were used. First, THP-1 cells were incubated with ox-LDL (100 µg/ml) to establish an in vitro atherosclerosis model. The inflammatory factors and foam cell formation were then evaluated to ascertain and compare the effects of PI3K and AKT inhibition. ApoE^−/− mice fed a high-fat diet were used to assess the roles of PI3K and AKT in aortic plaque formation. Our results showed that the inhibition of PI3K or AKT could suppress the activation of NLRP3, decreased the expression levels of p-p65/p65 and reduced the production of mitochondrial reaction oxygen species (mitoROS) in THP-1 cells. Inhibition of PI3K or AKT could also reduced atherosclerosis lesion and plaque area, and decreased the levels of NLRP3 and IL-1β in ApoE^−/− mice. The effect of PI3K inhibition was more significant than AKT. Therefore, PI3K inhibition can retard the progress of atherosclerosis. Besides, there may be other AKT-independent pathways that regulate the formation of atherosclerosis.