Sinomenine Suppresses Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells via Inhibiting MARCH1 and AMPK/STAT3 Signaling Pathway

Promotion of apoptosis and suppression of proliferation in tumor cells are popular strategies for developing anticancer drugs. Sinomenine (SIN), a plant-derived alkaloid, displays antitumor activity. However, the mechanism of action of SIN against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. Herein, several molecular technologies, such as Western Blotting, qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, and gene knockdown were applied to explore the role and mechanism of action of SIN in the treatment of HCC. It was found that SIN arrests HCC cell cycle at G0/G1 phase, induces apoptosis, and suppresses proliferation of HCC cells via down-regulating the expression of membrane-associated RING-CH finger protein 1 (MARCH1). Moreover, SIN induces cell death and growth inhibition through AMPK/STAT3 signaling pathway. MARCH1 expression was silenced by siRNA to explore its involvement in the regulation of AMPK/STAT3 signaling pathway. Silencing MARCH1 caused down-regulation of phosphorylation of AMPK, STAT3 and decreased cell viability and function. Our results suggested that SIN inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of HCC cells by MARCH1-mediated AMPK/STAT3 signaling pathway. This study provides new support for SIN as a clinical anticancer drug and illustrates that targeting MARCH1 could be a novel treatment strategy in developing anticancer therapeutics

CEP55 Promotes Cell Motility via JAK2–STAT3–MMPs Cascade in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies and has a poor prognosis. Novel diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for HCC are thus urgently needed. CEP55 plays a crucial role in regulating physical cytokinesis. Whether, and how, CEP55 contributes to HCC development remains unclear. Herein, we demonstrate that CEP55 is abnormally upregulated in HCC tissue, and these high levels of CEP55 are closely related to the poor prognosis of HCC patients. Knockdown of CEP55 expression significantly inhibits HCC cell migration and invasion. We also demonstrate that CEP55 physiologically interacts with JAK2 and promotes its phosphorylation; thus, it is a novel regulator of JAK2–STAT3 signaling and its target genes MMP2/9. Finally, blocking JAK2 or STAT3 blunts the stimulation of migration and invasion due to CEP55 overexpression. In summary, our results suggest that CEP55, as an oncogene, promotes HCC cell migration and invasion through regulating JAK2–STAT3–MMPs signaling

Bifunctional enzyme ATIC promotes propagation of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating AMPK-mTOR-S6 K1 signaling

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the cancer types with poor prognosis. To effectively treat HCC, new molecular targets and therapeutic approaches must be identified. 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase/inosine monophosphate (IMP) cyclohydrolase (ATIC), a bifunctional protein enzyme, catalyzes the last two steps of the de novo purine biosynthetic pathway. Whether ATIC contributes to cancer development remains unclear. Methods ATIC mRNA levels in different types of human HCC samples or normal tissues were determined from Gene Expression across Normal and Tumor tissue (GENT) database. The expression level of ATIC in human HCC samples or cell lines were examined by RT-PCR and western blot. Overall survival and disease-free survival of HCC patients in the ATIC low and ATIC high groups were determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Effects of ATIC knockdown by lentivirus infection were evaluated on cell-proliferation, cell-apoptosis, colony formation and migration. The mechanisms involved in HCC cells growth, apoptosis and migration were analyzed by western blot and Compound C (C-C) rescue assays. Results Here, we first demonstrated that expression of ATIC is aberrantly up-regulated in HCC tissues and high level of ATIC is correlated with poor survival in HCC patients. Knockdown of ATIC expression resulted in a dramatic decrease in proliferation, colony formation and migration of HCC cells. We also identified ATIC as a novel regulator of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its downstream signaling mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). ATIC suppresses AMPK activation, thus activates mTOR-S6 K1-S6 signaling and supports growth and motility activity of HCC cells. Conclusion Taken together, our results indicate that ATIC acts as an oncogenic gene that promotes survival, proliferation and migration by targeting AMPK-mTOR-S6 K1 signaling

Additional file 1: of Bifunctional enzyme ATIC promotes propagation of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating AMPK-mTOR-S6Â K1 signaling

Supplementary Materials. (DOCX 818 kb

Elevated SH3BP5 Correlates with Poor Outcome and Contributes to the Growth of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells

Current strategies are not especially successful in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The identification and characterization of oncogenes crucial to the survival and growth of leukemia cells will provide potential targets for the exploitation of novel therapies. Herein, we report that the elevated expression of SH3 domain-binding protein 5 (SH3BP5) significantly correlates with poor outcomes of AML patients. To test whether SH3BP5 contributes to the growth and survival of AML cells, we use the shRNA-encoding lentivirus system to achieve the knockdown of SH3BP5 expression in human AML cell lines U937, THP-1, Kasumi-1, and MV4-11. Functionally, the knockdown of SH3BP5 expression markedly inhibits the cell viability and induced apoptosis of these leukemia cells. Mechanistically, western blot analysis indicates that the knockdown of SH3BP5 expression decreases the phosphorylation of JNK and BAD. Moreover, the JNK agonist anisomycin rescues the growth inhibition phenotype of SH3BP5 deficiency in THP-1 cells. Moreover, the expression of SH3BP5 positively correlates with CD25 and CD123 levels. Finally, our study highlights the crucial role of SH3BP5 in promoting the survival of AML cells, and its suppression may be a potential therapeutic strategy for treating human AML

Oligosaccharide attenuates aging‐related liver dysfunction by activating Nrf2 antioxidant signaling

Abstract Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) is the depolymerized product of chitosan possessing various biological activities and protective effects against inflammation and oxidative injury. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant effects of COS supplements on aging‐related liver dysfunction. We found that COS treatment significantly attenuated elevated liver function biomarkers and oxidative stress biomarkers and decreased antioxidative enzyme activities in liver tissues in D‐galactose (D‐gal)‐treated mice. Furthermore, COS treatment significantly upregulated the expression of Nrf2 and its downstream target genes HO‐1, NQO1, and CAT. Moreover, in vitro experiments showed that COS treatment played a vital role in protecting H2O2‐exposed L02 cells against oxidative stress by activating Nrf2 antioxidant signaling. These data indicate that COS could protect against D‐gal‐induced hepatic aging by activating Nrf2 antioxidant signaling, which may provide novel applications for the prevention and treatment of aging‐related hepatic dysfunction