ROS play an important role in ATPR inducing differentiation and inhibiting proliferation of leukemia cells by regulating the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive and mostly incurable hematological malignancy with frequent relapses after an initial response to standard chemotherapy. Therefore, novel therapies are urgently required to improve AML clinical outcomes. 4-Amino-2-trifluoromethyl-phenyl retinate (ATPR), a novel all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) derivative designed and synthesized by our team, has been proven to show biological anti-tumor characteristics in our previous studies. However, its potential effect on leukemia remains unknown. The present research aims to investigate the underlying mechanism of treating leukemia with ATPR in vitro. METHODS: In this study, the AML cell lines NB4 and THP-1 were treated with ATPR. Cell proliferation was analyzed by the CCK-8 assay. Flow cytometry was used to measure the cell cycle distribution and cell differentiation. The expression levels of cell cycle and differentiation-related proteins were detected by western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. The NBT reduction assay was used to detect cell differentiation. RESULTS: ATPR inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell differentiation and arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase. Moreover, ATPR treatment induced a time-dependent release of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, the PTEN/PI3K/Akt pathway was downregulated 24 h after ATPR treatment, which might account for the anti-AML effects of ATPR that result from the ROS-mediated regulation of the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations could help to develop new drugs targeting the ROS/PTEN/PI3K/Akt pathway for the treatment of AML.

MicroRNA-mRNA functional pairs for cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells / 癌症

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death in women worldwide. Cisplatin is the core of first-line chemotherapy for patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Many patients eventually become resistant to cisplatin, diminishing its therapeutic effect. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have critical functions in diverse biological processes. Using miRNA profiling and polymerase chain reaction validation, we identified a panel of differentially expressed miRNAs and their potential targets in cisplatin-resistant SKOV3/DDP ovarian cancer cells relative to cisplatin-sensitive SKOV3 parental cells. More specifically, our results revealed significant changes in the expression of 13 of 663 miRNAs analyzed, including 11 that were up-regulated and 2 that were down-regulated in SKOV3/DDP cells with or without cisplatin treatment compared with SKOV3 cells with or without cisplatin treatment. miRNA array and mRNA array data were further analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software. Bioinformatics analysis suggests that the genes ANKRD17, SMC1A, SUMO1, GTF2H1, and TP73, which are involved in DNA damage signaling pathways, are potential targets of miRNAs in promoting cisplatin resistance. This study highlights candidate miRNA-mRNA interactions that may contribute to cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer.