Tumor microenvironment activation amplify oxidative stress promoting tumor energy remodeling for mild photothermal therapy and cuproptosis.

Tumor metabolic reprogramming requires high levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to maintain treatment resistance, which poses major challenges to chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. Especially, high levels of ATP promote copper ion efflux for limiting the curative effect of cuproptosis. Here, an H2S-responsive mesoporous Cu2Cl(OH)3-loading chemotherapeutic cisplatin (CDDP) was synthesized, and the final nanoparticle, CDDP@Cu2Cl(OH)3-CDs (CDCuCDs), was encapsulated by electrostatic action with carbon dots (CDs). CDCuCDs reacted with overproduction H2S in colon tumor to produce photothermic copper sulfide for photothermal therapy. CDDP was released by lysis to achieve chemotherapeutic effects. Importantly, CDDP elevated H2O2 levels in cells through a cascade reaction and continuously transforms H2O2 into highly cytotoxic •OH through chemodynamic therapy between H2O2 and Cu+, which enables nanoparticles to generate •OH and improve the chemotherapeutic efficacy. Highly toxic •OH disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis, prohibiting it from performing normal energy-supplying functions. Down-regulated ATP inhibits heat shock protein expression, which promotes the therapeutic effect of mild photothermal therapy and reduces the efflux of intracellular copper ions, thus improving the therapeutic effect of cuproptosis. Our research provides a potential therapeutic strategy using overproduction H2S responses in tumors, allowing tumor microenvironment-activated •OH nanogenerators to promote tumor energy remodeling for cancer treatment.

H2S-driven chemotherapy and mild photothermal therapy induced mitochondrial reprogramming to promote cuproptosis.

The elevated level of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in colon cancer hinders complete cure with a single therapy. However, excessive H2S also offers a treatment target. A multifunctional cascade bioreactor based on the H2S-responsive mesoporous Cu2Cl(OH)3-loaded hypoxic prodrug tirapazamine (TPZ), in which the outer layer was coated with hyaluronic acid (HA) to form TPZ@Cu2Cl(OH)3-HA (TCuH) nanoparticles (NPs), demonstrated a synergistic antitumor effect through combining the H2S-driven cuproptosis and mild photothermal therapy. The HA coating endowed the NPs with targeting delivery to enhance drug accumulation in the tumor tissue. The presence of both the high level of H2S and the near-infrared II (NIR II) irradiation achieved the in situ generation of photothermic agent copper sulfide (Cu9S8) from the TCuH, followed with the release of TPZ. The depletion of H2S stimulated consumption of oxygen, resulting in hypoxic state and mitochondrial reprogramming. The hypoxic state activated prodrug TPZ to activated TPZ (TPZ-ed) for chemotherapy in turn. Furthermore, the exacerbated hypoxia inhibited the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate, decreasing expression of heat shock proteins and subsequently improving the photothermal therapy. The enriched Cu2+ induced not only cuproptosis by promoting lipoacylated dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase (DLAT) heteromerization but also performed chemodynamic therapy though catalyzing H2O2 to produce highly toxic hydroxyl radicals ·OH. Therefore, the nanoparticles TCuH offer a versatile platform to exert copper-related synergistic antitumor therapy.

Oxfendazole Induces Apoptosis in Ovarian Cancer Cells by Activating JNK/MAPK Pathway and Inducing Reactive Oxygen Species Generation.

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common and high mortality type of cancer among women worldwide. The majority of patients with OC respond to chemotherapy initially; however, most of them become resistant to chemotherapy and results in a high level of treatment failure in OC. Therefore, novel agents for the treatment of OC are urgently required. Benzimidazole anthelmintics might have the promising efficacy for cancer therapy as their selectively binding activity to ß-tubulin. Recent study has shown that one of the benzimidazole anthelmintics oxfendazole inhibited cell growth of non-small cell lung cancer cells, revealing its anti-cancer activity; however, the pharmacological action and detailed mechanism underlying the effects of oxfendazole on OC cells remain unclear. Therefore, the present study investigated the cytotoxic effects of oxfendazole on OC cells. Our results demonstrated that oxfendazole significantly decreased the viability of OC cells. Oxfendazole inhibited the proliferation, induced G2/M phase arrest and apoptotic cell death in A2780 cells. The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway was activated and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was increased in OC cells treated with oxfendazole; oxfendazole-induced apoptosis was notably abrogated when co-treated with JNK inhibitor SP600125 and ROS scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), indicating that JNK/MAPK pathway activation and ROS accumulation was associated with the oxfendazole-induced apoptosis of OC cells. Moreover, oxfendazole could also induce the proliferation inhibition and apoptosis of cisplatin resistant cells. Collectively, these results revealed that oxfendazole may serve as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of OC.

Faecalibacterium prausnitzii Improves Lipid Metabolism Disorder and Insulin Resistance in Type 2 Diabetic Mice.

Purpose: Additional effective therapeutic strategies for Type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients are urgently needed. Gut microbiota plays an important role in T2D development and is a promising treatment strategy for T2D patients. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (F. prausnitzii) is regarded as one of the most important bacterial indicators for a healthy gut, but the mechanisms of its anti-diabetic properties are still unclear. Methods and Results: The abundance of F. prausnitzii in feces of patients with T2D was detected by using qPCR. The effects of F. prausnitzii on glucose homeostasis, insulin resistance (IR), dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis and inflammation were investigated in type 2 diabetic (T2D) db/db mice. We also investigated F. prausnitzii in people. Our results showed that the abundance of F. prausnitzii was significantly lower in T2D patients compared to healthy subjects. In T2D mice, we found that F. prausnitzii treatment significantly decreased fasting blood glucose and IR index, indicating improved glucose intolerance as well as IR. Furthermore, based on evaluation of lipid-regulating enzyme activities and proinflammatory cytokine levels, F. prausnitzii was not only able to improve inflammation in both adipose tissue and liver, but also ameliorate hepatic steatosis through inhibiting the activity of hepatic lipogenic enzymes. Conclusion: These results suggested that F. prausnitzii might serve as a therapeutic option for T2D by improved IR, lipid metabolism and inflammation.

KCNH3 Predicts Poor Prognosis and Promotes Progression in Ovarian Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death among women; accordingly, new biomarkers of OC are urgently needed. Potassium voltage-gated channel sub-family H member 3 (KCNH3) is a voltage-gated potassium channel member involved in cognitive function and diabetes. Here, we aimed to elucidate the role and potential molecular mechanisms of KCNH3 in OC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: KCNH3 expression levels in OC tissues were analyzed using TCGA data and confirmed by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry in OC tissues. The cell counting kit-8 was used to assess cell proliferation in OC cells in which KCNH3 was knocked-down with small interference RNA (siRNA). Wound-healing and transwell invasion assays were used to assess migratory and invasive abilities, respectively. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were determined using a flow cytometer. Gene set enrichment analysis and Western blot were used to investigate the potential pathways of KCNH3 in OC development. RESULTS: TCGA data and RT-qPCR results from patients with OC revealed high KCNH3 expression in OC tissues compared to normal ovarian tissues. Survival analysis in patients with OC suggested that high KCNH3 expression might be an independent predictor for poor overall survival and disease-free survival. In vitro studies showed that KCNH3 silencing in OC cells could inhibit cell proliferation and migration ability, and induce apoptosis and G2/M phase arrest. Furthermore, Western blot results showed that KCNH3 silencing might induce downregulation of RPA1 and RPA2 expression level in both SKOV3 and COC1 cells. CONCLUSION: KCNH3 plays an important role in cancer progression in patients with OC. Further investigation might reveal KCNH3 as a potential biomarker for prognosis or diagnosis in OC.