RESUMO
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play an important role in cancer treatment resistance and disease progression. Identifying an effective anti-CSC agent may lead to improved disease control. We used CSC-associated gene signatures to identify drug candidates that may inhibit CSC growth by reversing the CSC gene signature. Thiostrepton, a natural cyclic oligopeptide antibiotic, was the top-ranked candidate. In non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, thiostrepton inhibited CSC growth in vitro and reduced protein expression of cancer stemness markers, including CD133, Nanog and Oct4A. In addition, metastasis-associated Src tyrosine kinase signalling, cell migration and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were all inhibited by thiostrepton. Mechanistically, thiostrepton treatment led to elevated levels of tumour suppressor miR-98. Thiostrepton combined with gemcitabine synergistically suppressed NSCLC cell growth and induced apoptosis. The inhibition of NSCLC tumours and CSC growth by thiostrepton was also demonstrated in vivo. Our findings indicate that thiostrepton, an established drug identified in silico, is an inhibitor of CSC growth and a potential enhancer of chemotherapy in NSCLC.
Assuntos
Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/genética , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Células-Tronco Neoplásicas/metabolismo , Tioestreptona/farmacologia , Células A549 , Animais , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/metabolismo , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/patologia , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Movimento Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Movimento Celular/genética , Proliferação de Células/genética , Sobrevivência Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Sobrevivência Celular/genética , Simulação por Computador , Transição Epitelial-Mesenquimal/efeitos dos fármacos , Transição Epitelial-Mesenquimal/genética , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica/métodos , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/metabolismo , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patologia , Camundongos Endogâmicos NOD , Camundongos SCID , MicroRNAs/genética , Proteína Homeobox Nanog/genética , Proteína Homeobox Nanog/metabolismo , Células-Tronco Neoplásicas/patologia , Transdução de Sinais/efeitos dos fármacos , Transdução de Sinais/genética , Ensaios Antitumorais Modelo de Xenoenxerto/métodosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: It is well documented that the nitric oxide (NO) might be directly involved in brain response to hypobaric hypoxia, and could contribute to memory deficiencies. Recent studies have shown that melatonin could attenuate hypoxia or ischemia-induced nerve injuries by decreasing the production of free radicals. The present study, using immunohistochemical and immunoblot methods, aimed to explore whether melatonin treatment may affect the expression of nitric oxide system and protein nitration, and provide neuroprotection in the rat hippocampus injured by hypobaric hypoxia. Prior to hypoxic treatment, adult rats were pretreated with melatonin (100 mg/kg, i.p.) before they were exposed to the altitude chamber with 48 Torr of the partial oxygen concentration (pO2) for 7 h to mimic the ambience of being at 9000 m in height. They were then sacrificed after 0 h, 1, and 3 days of reoxygenation. RESULTS: The results obtained from the immunohistochemical and immunoblotting analyses showed that the expressions of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nitrotyrosine (Ntyr) and Caspase 3 in the hypoxic hippocampus were increased from 0 h to 3 days of reoxygenation. Interestingly, the hypoxia-induced increase of nNOS, eNOS, iNOS, Ntyr and Caspase 3 protein expression was significantly depressed in the hypoxic rats treated with melatonin. CONCLUSIONS: Activation of the nitric oxide system and protein nitration constitutes a hippocampal response to hypobaric hypoxia and administration of melatonin could provide new therapeutic avenues to prevent and/or treat the symptoms produced by hypobaric hypoxia.
