Epigenetic Regulations of Cancer Stem Cells by the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Pathway

Compelling evidence has demonstrated that tumor bulk comprises distinctive subset of cells generally referred as cancer stem cells (CSCs) that has been proposed as a strong sustainer and promoter of tumorigenesis and therapeutic resistance. These distinguished properties of CSCs have raised interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern the maintenance of these cells. Numerous experimental and epidemiological studies have demonstrated that exposure to environmental toxins such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is strongly involved in cancer initiation and progression. The PAH-induced carcinogenesis is shown to be mediated through the activation of a cytosolic receptor, aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)/Cytochrome P4501A pathway, suggesting a possible direct link between AhR and CSCs. Several recent studies have investigated the role of AhR in CSCs self-renewal and maintenance, however the molecular mechanisms and particularly the epigenetic regulations of CSCs by AhR have not been reviewed before. In this review, we first summarize the crosstalk between AhR and cancer genetics, with particular emphasis on mechanisms relevant to CSCs such as Wnt/β-catenin pathway, Notch pathway, NF-κB pathway, PTEN-PI3K/Akt pathway and Drug Resistance-mediating pathways. The second part of this review discusses the recent advances and studies highlighting the epigenetic mechanisms mediated by the AhR pathway that control CSC gene expression, self-renewal, and chemoresistance in various human cancers. Furthermore, the review also sheds light on the importance of targeting the epigenetic pathways as a novel therapeutic approach against CSCs

In vivo and in vitro studies evaluating the chemopreventive effect of metformin on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated breast carcinogenesis

Metformin (MET) is a clinically used anti-hyperglycemic agent that shows activities against chemically-induced animal models of cancer. A study from our laboratory showed that MET protectes against 7, 12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced carcinogenesis in vitro human non-cancerous epithelial breast cells (MCF10A) via activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). However, it is unclear whether MET can prevent the initiation of breast carcinogenesis in an in vivo rat model of AhR-induced breast carcinogenesis. Therefore, the main aims of this study are to examine the effect of MET on protecting against rat breast carcinogenesis induced by DMBA and to explore whether this effect is medicated through the AhR pathway. In this study, treatment of female rats with DMBA initiated breast carcinogenesis though inhibiting apoptosis and tumor suppressor genes while inducing oxidative DNA damage and cell cycle proliferative markers. This effect was associated with activation of AhR and its downstream target genes; cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) and CYP1B1. Importantly, MET treatment protected against DMBA-induced breast carcinogenesis by restoring DMBA effects on apoptosis, tumor suppressor genes, DNA damage, and cell proliferation. Mechanistically using in vitro human breast cancer MCF-7 cells, MET inhibited breast cancer stem cells spheroids formation and development by DMBA, which was accompanied by a proportional inhibition in CYP1A1 gene expression. In conclusion, the study reports evidence that MET is an effective chemopreventive therapy for breast cancer by inhibiting the activation of CYP1A1/CYP1B1 pathway in vivo rat model

Targeting Cancer Stem Cells with Novel 4-(4-Substituted phenyl)-5-(3,4,5-trimethoxy/3,4-dimethoxy)-benzoyl-3,4-dihydropyrimidine-2(1H)-one/thiones

Novel 4-(4-substituted phenyl)-5-(3,4,5-trimethoxy/3,4-dimethoxy)-benzoyl-3,4-dihydropyrimidine-2(1H)-one/thione derivatives (DHP 1–9) were designed, synthesized, characterized and evaluated for antitumor activity against cancer stem cells. The compounds were synthesized in one pot. Enaminones E1 and E2 were reacted with substituted benzaldehydes and urea/thiourea in the presence of glacial acetic acid. The synthesized compounds were characterized by spectral analysis. The compounds were screened in vitro against colon cancer cell line (LOVO) colon cancer stem cells. Most of the compounds were found to be active against side population cancer stem cells with an inhibition of >50% at a 10 μM concentration. Compounds DHP-1, DHP-7 and DHP-9 were found to be inactive. Compound DHP-5 exhibited an in vitro anti-proliferative effect and arrested cancer cells at the Gap 2 phase (G2) checkpoint and demonstrated an inhibitory effect on tumor growth for a LOVO xenograft in a nude mouse experiment

Cell cycle disruption and apoptotic activity of 3-aminothiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazole-2-carbonitrile and its homologues

3-aminothiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazole-2-carbonitrile (2) was prepared and upon hydrolysis using concentrated sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid resulted in the corresponding 3-aminothiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazole-2-carboxamide derivative (3). Cyclization of the 2 using acetic anhydride or formic acid gave the corresponding pyrimido[4',5':4,5]thiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazol-4(3H)-one (5) in good yields. Acetylation of 2 with acetic anhydride in pyridine afforded N-acetylaminothiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazole-2-carbonitrile (6). In vitro antiproliferative activities of synthesized compounds were investigated at The National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA, according to their applied protocol. Compound 6 revealed significant antiproliferative activity, however, weak activity was shown by the other derivatives. Cell cycle disruption and apoptotic activity of 6 were studied, interestingly, 6 has the ability to arrest G2/M phase and it can induce apoptosis in time dependent manner. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserve

Biginelli Synthesis of Novel Dihydropyrimidinone Derivatives Containing Phthalimide Moiety

A new series of novel Biginelli compounds, 5-benzoyl-substituted phenyl-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione (1−10), were synthesized from enaminone, 2-{4-[(2E)-3-(dimethylamino)prop-2-enoyl]phenyl}-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione (IV), which was synthesized by refluxing 2-(4-acetylphenyl)-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione (III), with dimethylformamide-dimethylacetal (DMF-DMA) without solvent for 12 h. The compound 2-(4-acetylphenyl)-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione (III) was obtained by reacting phthalic anhydride (I) with para-aminoacetophenone (II) in glacial acetic acid for 2 h. The dihydropyrimidinone derivatives containing phthalimide moiety (1–10) were obtained by reacting enaminone, 2-{4-[(2E)-3-(dimethylamino) prop-2-enoyl] phenyl}-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione (IV), with urea and different substituted benzaldehydes in the presence of glacial acetic acid for 3 h. Simple and efficient method was employed to synthesize the dihydropyrimidinone derivatives containing phthalimide moiety. Structures of all the synthesized compounds were characterized by spectroscopic methods

Synthesis of New [1,2,4]Triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazines and Study of Their Anti-Candidal and Cytotoxic Activities

New triazolothiadiazine derivatives 5a–h were synthesized from 4-amino-3-(4-pyridyl)-5-mercapto-4H-1,2,4-triazole (3) with substituted aryl hydrazonoyl chlorides 4a–h. The compounds were tested in vitro against eleven Candida species and compared with standard drug ketoconazole. Among these compounds, the compounds bearing p-chlorophenyl 5e, p-methoxyphenyl 5c, phenyl 5a, and p-sulphonamidophenyl 5g substituents on triazolothiadiazine system were found to be the most effective derivatives against Candida species. Compound 5e was the most effective compound against C. parapsilosis (ATCC 22019), C. albicans (ATCC 66027), C. specie [blood] 12810, and C. specie [urine] 300 with MIC value of 6.25 μg/mL, whereas ketoconazole exhibits the inhibitory activity with MIC value of 3–30 μg/mL against all tested strains. It was clear that there is a positive correlation between anti-Candidal activity and p-chlorophenyl substitution on triazolothiadiazine ring. All the synthesized compounds were also investigated for their potential cytotoxicity on noncancer cell line (MCF-12) using WST-1 assay. Three compounds 5d, 5a, and 5h were found to have the same IC50 value as that of standard drug ketoconazole against noncancer cell line MCF-12 (IC50 ≥ 1.0 × 105 μg/mL)

Crosstalk between aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and BCL-2 pathways suggests the use of AhR antagonist to maintain normal differentiation state of mammary epithelial cells during BCL-2 inhibition therapy

Introduction: Activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor upon exposure to environmental pollutants promotes development of breast cancer stem cell (CSCs). BCL-2 family proteins protect cancer cells from the apoptotic effects of chemotherapeutic drugs. However, the crosstalk between AhR and the BCL-2 family in CSC development remains uninvestigated. Objectives: This study explored the interaction mechanisms between AhR and BCL-2 in CSC development and chemoresistance. Methods: A quantitative proteomic analysis study was performed as a tool for comparative expression analysis of breast cancer cells treated by AhR agonist. The basal and inducible levels of BCL-2, AhR, and CYP1A1 in vitro breast cancer and epithelial cell lines and in vivo mice animal models were determined by RT-PCR, Western blot analysis, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, silencing of the target, and immunohistochemistry. In addition, an in silico toxicity study was conducted using DEREK software. Results: Activation of the AhR/CYP1A1 pathway in mice increased EpCAMHigh/CD49fLow CD61+ luminal progenitor-like cells in early tumor formation but not in advanced tumors. In parallel, a chemoproteomic study on breast cancer MCF-7 cells revealed that the BCL-2 protein expression was the most upregulated upon AhR activation. The crosstalk between the AhR and BCL-2 pathways in vitro and in vivo modulated the CSCs features and chemoresistance. Interestingly, inhibition of BCL-2 in mice by venetoclax (VCX) increased EpCAMHigh/CD49fLow CD61+ luminal progenitor-like cells, causing inhibition of epithelial lineage markers, disruption of mammary gland branching and induced the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in mammary epithelial cells (MECs). The combined treatment of VCX and AhR antagonists in mice corrected the abnormal differentiation in MECs and protected mammary gland branching and cell identity. Conclusions: This is the first study to report crosstalk between AhR and BCL-2 in breast CSCs and provides the rationale for using a combined treatment of BCL-2 inhibitor and AhR antagonist for more effective cancer prevention and treatment

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Biginelli Dihydropyrimidinone Derivatives Containing Imidazole Moiety

Enaminone, (2E)-1-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) phenyl]-4-methylpent-2-en-1-one (II) was synthesized by refluxing 1-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) phenyl] ethan-1-one (I) with dimethylforamide dimethylacetal (DMF–DMA) under solvent-free condition for 12 hours. Finally, the dihydropyrimidinone derivatives containing imidazole moiety (1–15) were obtained by reacting enaminone, (2E)-1-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) phenyl]-4-methylpent-2-en-1-one (II) with urea and different substituted benzaldehydes in the presence of glacial acetic acid. Dihydropyrimidinone derivatives containing imidazole moiety were synthesized in excellent yield by means of a simple and efficient method. All the compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis. The structures of all the compounds were confirmed by modern spectroscopic methods