Revolutionizing breast cancer treatment: Harnessing the related mechanisms and drugs for regulated cell death (Review).

Breast cancer arises from the malignant transformation of mammary epithelial cells under the influence of various carcinogenic factors, leading to a gradual increase in its prevalence. This disease has become the leading cause of mortality among female malignancies, posing a significant threat to the health of women. The timely identification of breast cancer remains challenging, often resulting in diagnosis at the advanced stages of the disease. Conventional therapeutic approaches, such as surgical excision, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, exhibit limited efficacy in controlling the progression and metastasis of the disease. Regulated cell death (RCD), a process essential for physiological tissue cell renewal, occurs within the body independently of external influences. In the context of cancer, research on RCD primarily focuses on cuproptosis, ferroptosis and pyroptosis. Mounting evidence suggests a marked association between these specific forms of RCD, and the onset and progression of breast cancer. For example, a cuproptosis vector can effectively bind copper ions to induce cuproptosis in breast cancer cells, thereby hindering their proliferation. Additionally, the expression of ferroptosis­related genes can enhance the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to chemotherapy. Likewise, pyroptosis­related proteins not only participate in pyroptosis, but also regulate the tumor microenvironment, ultimately leading to the death of breast cancer cells. The present review discusses the unique regulatory mechanisms of cuproptosis, ferroptosis and pyroptosis in breast cancer, and the mechanisms through which they are affected by conventional cancer drugs. Furthermore, it provides a comprehensive overview of the significance of these forms of RCD in modulating the efficacy of chemotherapy and highlights their shared characteristics. This knowledge may provide novel avenues for both clinical interventions and fundamental research in the context of breast cancer.

Expression of cuproptosis-related gene COX17 in breast cancer tissues and cells and its association with clinical features and patient prognosis / 中国肿瘤生物治疗杂志

@#[摘 要] 目的：探究铜死亡相关基因COX17在乳腺癌组织和细胞中的表达及其与肿瘤免疫细胞浸润、临床特征和患者预后的关系。方法：通过多种数据库数据分析COX17在人体正常组织和泛癌组织与细胞中的表达及其与患者预后的关系、COX17基因突变情况、COX17表达水平与肿瘤免疫微环境的相关性、COX17在浸润性乳腺癌中表达水平及其与患者临床病理特征的相关性、在乳腺癌细胞中COX17基因遗传突变及甲基化情况、COX17差异共表达基因的功能富集分析，构建COX17蛋白质相互作用网络及功能分析。采用免疫组化法检测COX17蛋白在国人乳腺癌组织中的表达以验证数据库分析结果。结果：COX17 mRNA广泛分布于全身组织中且在多数癌组织中呈高表达，COX17蛋白在乳腺癌等癌组织中呈高表达，COX17 mRNA表达水平明显影响乳腺癌等癌症患者的预后，COX17基因在多种癌组织中突变频率高且其主要突变类型为错义突变、扩增和深度缺失，COX17 mRNA表达水平与多种肿瘤的肿瘤纯度和多种免疫细胞浸润存在相关性，COX17蛋白水平与乳腺癌临床分期、病理分型、淋巴结转移、患者性别和年龄有关联。免疫组化法检测结果证实在国人乳腺癌组织中COX17蛋白也呈高表达，COX17基因在乳腺癌中遗传突变和修饰特征分别是截断突变和启动子区高度甲基化。COX17蛋白与ATOX1等多种蛋白表达相关且构成复杂的相互作用网络，COX17在乳腺癌中差异表达基因主要涉及氧化还原酶活性、蛋白翻译、氧化磷酸化及TNF信号通路等生物过程。结论：COX17在乳腺癌组织和细胞中呈高表达，且与癌组织的免疫细胞浸润和患者预后相关，COX17是临床治疗乳腺癌的潜在靶点。

Bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification of Notch signalling pathway-related miRNA-mRNA subnetwork in extracellular vesicles during Echinococcus granulosus encystation.

BACKGROUND: Encystation of the protoscoleces (PSCs) of Echinococcus granulosus is the main cause of secondary hydatid dissemination in the intermediate host. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can transfer miRNAs into parasite cells to regulate mRNA expression. However, loading of developmental pathway-related miRNAs, such as those related to the Notch signalling pathway in EVs is unclear. Thus, we screened the miRNA-mRNA subnetwork involved in the Notch pathway during E. granulosus encystation in vitro and assessed changes in expression in the parasite and EVs. METHODS: mRNAs and miRNAs differentially expressed (DE) between PSCs and microcysts (MCs) were screened using high-throughput sequencing. DE mRNAs obtained from transcriptome analysis were intersected with mRNAs predicted to be targets of the conserved DE miRNAs of a small RNA library. DE miRNA functions were analysed using public databases, and a miRNA-mRNA subnetwork related to the Notch pathway was established. Notch pathway-related mRNA and miRNA expression of worms and EVs at different times was verified. RESULTS: In total, 1445 DE mRNAs between MCs and PSCs were screened after the intersection between 1586 DE mRNAs from the transcriptome and 9439 target mRNAs predicted using 39 DE miRNAs from the small RNA library. The DE mRNAs were clustered into 94 metabolic pathways, including the Notch pathway. Five DE miRNAs, including the most significantly expressed new DE miRNA, egr-new-mir0694-3p, corresponding to four target mRNAs (EgrG_000892700, EgrG_001029400, EgrG_001081400 and EgrG_000465800) were all enriched in the Notch pathway. The expression of the above mRNAs and miRNAs was consistent with the results of high-throughput sequencing, and the expression of each miRNA in EVs was verified. Annotated as ADAM17/TACE in the Notch pathway, EgrG_000892700 was down-regulated during PSC encystation. egr-miR-4989-3p and egr-miR-277a-3p expression in EVs after encystation was nearly five times that in EVs before encystation, which might regulate the expression of EgrG_000892700. CONCLUSIONS: Five miRNAs corresponding to four target mRNAs may be involved in regulating the Notch pathway during the PSC encystation. EVs may regulate the expression of EgrG_000892700 in PSCs because of continuous targeting of egr-miR-4989-3p and egr-miR-277a-3p and participate in the regulation the Notch pathway. The study might expand new ideas for blocking the secondary infection of E. granulosus PSCs via EVs miRNAs.

[Immunolocalization of the antioxidant protein TPx of Echinococcus granulosus].

AIM: To study the localization of the antioxidant protein thioredoxin peroxidase (TPx) of Echinococcus granulosus (EgTPx) in the protoscoleces (PSC) of parasite. METHODS: The protoscoleces of E.granulosus were aspirated and pooled from sheep liver hydatid cysts. After digested by pepsin, the sedimented protoscoleces were used for paraffin sections. The localization of the antioxidant protein TPx of EgTPx was determined by using(polyclonal antibody against rEgTPx) and indirect immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS: Indirect immunofluorescence staining analysis indicated that the rEgTPx was mainly distributed in tegument, subtegument and calcareous corpuscle cells of the protoscolex. CONCLUSION: The wide distribution and large sites of EgTPx in the parasite hare been clearly determined, which will help further investigation into the biological functions and application of TPx protein.