Functional and structural analysis of mice TRPC6 with human analogue through homology modelling.

Homology models are increasingly used to determine structural and functional relationships of genes and proteins in biomedical research. In the current study, for the first time, we compared the TRPC6 gene in mouse and human. The protein encoded by this gene forms a receptor activated calcium channel in cell membrane. Defects in this gene have been implicated in a wide range of diseases including glioblastomas. To determine the structural similarities in mouse and human TRPC6, we used standard bioinformatics tools such as fold prediction to identify the protein 3D structure, sequence-structure comparison, and prediction of template and protein structure. We also used glioblastoma cell line U373MG and human glioblastoma tumour tissues to study the expression of TRPC6 in disease conditions to implicate this gene in pathological ailment. Based on the results we conclude that human TRPC6 contains 90% identity and 93% similarity with mouse TRPC6, suggesting that this protein is well conserved in these two species. These isoforms likely demonstrate similar mechanisms in regulating gene expression; thus TRPC6 studies in mice may be extrapolated to humans.

Combined targeting of PDK1 and EGFR triggers regression of glioblastoma by reversing the Warburg effect.

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most aggressive primary brain tumor in adults. Overexpression of the EGF receptor (EGFR) is recognized as a widespread oncogenic signature in glioblastoma multiforme, but the complexity of its contributions is not fully understood, nor the most effective ways to leverage anti-EGFR therapy in this setting. Hypoxia is known to drive the aggressive character of glioblastoma multiforme by promoting aerobic glycolysis rather than pyruvate oxidation carried out in mitochondria (OXPHOS), a phenomenon termed the Warburg effect, which is a general feature of oncogenesis. In this study, we report that hypoxia drives expression of the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK1) and EGFR along with the hypoxia-inducing factor (HIF)-1α in human glioblastoma multiforme cells. PDK1 is a HIF-1-regulated gene and our findings indicated that hypoxia-induced PDK1 expression may promote EGFR activation, initiating a feed-forward loop that can sustain malignant progression. RNAi-mediated attenuation of PDK1 and EGFR lowered PDK1-EGFR activation and decreased HIF-1α expression, shifting the Warburg phenotype to OXPHOS and inhibiting glioblastoma multiforme growth and proliferation. In clinical specimens of glioblastoma multiforme, we found that immunohistochemical expression of PDK1, EGFR, and HIF-1α were elevated in glioblastoma multiforme specimens when compared with normal brain tissues. Collectively, our studies establish PDK1 as a key driver and candidate therapeutic target in glioblastoma multiforme.