AHMED M. ELSHAZLY^1,2, TUONG VI V. NGUYEN¹, DAVID A. GEWIRTZ^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.30, No.1, pp. 1-12, 2022, DOI:10.32604/or.2022.026459

Abstract PARP inhibitors have proven to be effective in conjunction with conventional therapeutics in the treatment of various solid as well as hematologic malignancies, particularly when the tumors are deficient in DNA repair pathways. However, as the case with other chemotherapeutic agents, their effectiveness is often compromised by the development of resistance. PARP inhibitors have consistently been reported to promote autophagy, a process that maintains cellular homeostasis and acts as an energy source by the degradation and reutilization of damaged subcellular organelles and proteins. Autophagy can exhibit different functional properties, the most prominent being cytoprotective. In addition, both cytotoxic and non-protective… More >

KAI DANG, HAFIZ MUHAMMAD UMER FAROOQ, YUAN GAO, XIAONI DENG, AIRONG QIAN^*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.2, pp. 269-281, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.023766

Abstract As a key coordinator of metabolism, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is vitally involved in skeletal muscle maintenance. AMPK exerts its cellular effects through its function as a serine/threonine protein kinase by regulating many downstream targets and plays important roles in the development and growth of skeletal muscle. AMPK is activated by phosphorylation and exerts its function as a kinase in many processes, including synthesis and degradation of proteins, mitochondrial biogenesis, glucose uptake, and fatty acid and cholesterol metabolism. Skeletal muscle atrophy is a result of various diseases or disorders and is characterized by a decrease in muscle mass. The pathogenesis… More >

Hyun-Jung Moon,1 So-Young Park,1 Su-Hoon Lee, Chi-Dug Kang, Sun-Hee Kim

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.7, pp. 835-847, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504019X15517850319579

Abstract Recently, novel therapeutic strategies have been designed with the aim of killing cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), and considerable interest has been generated in the development of specific therapies that target stemnessrelated marker of CSCs. In this study, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) significantly potentiated Hsp90 inhibitor 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG)-mediated cytotoxicity through apoptotic and autophagic cell death induction, but COX-2-inhibitory function was not required for NSAIDinduced autophagy in CD44-overexpressing human chronic myeloid leukemia K562 (CD44^highK562) cells. Importantly, we found that treatment with NSAIDs resulted in a dose-dependent increase in LC3-II level and decrease in p62 level and simultaneous reduction in multiple stemness-related markers… More >

Qing Wei¹, Rui Zhu¹, Junying Zhu, Rongping Zhao, Min Li

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.7, pp. 827-834, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15462920753012

Abstract Emerging evidence suggests that 17β-estradiol (E2) and estrogen receptor (ER) signaling are protective against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In our previous study, we showed that E2 suppressed the carcinogenesis and progression of HCC by targeting NLRP3 inflammasome activation, whereas the molecular mechanism by which the NLRP3 inflammasome initiated cancer cell death was not elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of NLRP3 inflammasome activation on cell death pathways and autophagy of HCC cells. First, we observed an increasing mortality in E2-treated HCC cells, and then apoptotic and pyroptotic cell death were both detected. The mortality of HCC cells was… More >

Lu Guo^*, Duankai Chen^†, Xing Yin^‡, Qingfeng Shu^†

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.4, pp. 487-494, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15323394008784

Abstract GSK-3 is a versatile protein kinase participating in many reactions. Currently, there is insufficient understanding of its influence on breast cancer (BC). In order to explore its influence on migration and invasion in BC, we investigated its expression in BC cell lines using qRT-PCR and Western blot (WB). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to examine the potential of GSK-3 to predict clinical outcome in BC patients. GSK-3 knockdown was achieved using an shRNA plasmid vector in T47D cells. Our research explored the biological reactions and downstream pathways involved. We found excessive GSK-3 expression in BC tissues, which was correlated with worse… More >

Weichen Hou^*, Lei Song^†, Yang Zhao^*, Qun Liu^*, Shuyan Zhang^‡

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.7-8, pp. 815-818, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504021X16240202939988

Abstract The role of miRNAs in the radiosensitivity of glioma cells and the underlying mechanism is still far from clear. In the present study, we detected six downregulated and seven upregulated miRNAs in the serum after radiotherapy compared with paired serum samples before radiotherapy via miRNA panel PCR. Among these, miR-17-5p was highly reduced (fold change = −4.21). Further, we validated the levels of miR-17-5p in all serum samples with qRT-PCR. In addition, statistical analysis suggested that a reduced miR-17-5P level was positively associated with advanced clinical stage of glioma, incidence of relapse, and tumor differentiation. Moreover, we provided evidence that… More >

DONGMEI GAO^1,#, JIAOE CHEN^2,#, HONGZHANG LI^2,*, JUN ZHAO^3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.10, pp. 2275-2280, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.021008

Abstract Introduction: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is reported to be involved in the occurrence of many human diseases. To further investigate the biological changes of HCMV, we analyzed the relevant factors that affect the autophagy caused by HCMV infection. Methods: Firstly, we cultured human embryonic lung fibroblasts (HELF) cells with HCMV infection, and evaluated the effects of HELF cells infected with different viruses through Enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA), Real-time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR), Acridine orange (AO) staining and Western blotting (WB) experiments. Results: Through the above experiments, we found that the combined treatment of HCMV infection and carbamazepine, rapamycin and si-mTOR… More >

YAPING WANG^1,2,#,*; XIAOHONG XUE^2,#; ZHEN ZHAO^1,#; XIAOLIN LI²; ZHIYONG ZHU¹

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.7, pp. 1651-1659, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.018559

Abstract The pathogenesis of high altitude-related gastric mucosal injury remains poorly understood, this study aimed to investigate the role of autophagy in hypoxia-induced apoptosis of rat gastric mucosal cells. Rats were randomized into four groups which were maintained at an altitude of 400 m (P) or received no treatment (H), autophagy inducer rapamycin (H+AI) or autophagy inhibitor 3-MA (H+AB) at an altitude of 4,300 m for 1, 7, 14 and 21 days, respectively, and the morphology, ultrastructure, autophagy, and apoptosis of gastric mucosal tissues were examined. Gastric mucosal epithelial cells CC-R039 were cultured under conditions of normoxia, 2% O2 (hypoxia), or… More >

JIAN XU^1,#, HAILONG GE^1,#, CHEN CHAO¹, FENG MO¹, YU WANG¹, DENGKUI ZHANG¹, XIAOXIAO ZHENG², LI ZHENG², XUEMEI LU², WEI CHEN², QUN XU^1,*, WEIXIN YU^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.6, pp. 1493-1503, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.016962

Abstract Although sorafenib has been found to prolong the survival time of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), sorafenib resistance remains an important challenge. Increasing studies have demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) contribute to drug resistance in a wide number of cancers. Human periodontal ligament stem cell (PDLSC) osteogenesis impairment-related lncRNA (POIR) is a recently defined lncRNA for which little is known regarding its function. Our study aimed to reveal the role of POIR in the development of HCC cell sorafenib resistance. The level of POIR expression in patients and tumor cells was examined by Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR)… More >

Xubin Yin¹, Bing Yang², Ming Su², Shaoshan Sun¹, Hao Wang^1,*

Oncologie, Vol.23, No.4, pp. 533-546, 2021, DOI:10.32604/oncologie.2021.018705

Abstract Background: Tumor recurrence is one of the major problems that affect the postoperative efficacy of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) treatment. Autophagy is known to have a dual-sided effect on tumors. However, studies on autophagy and prognosis are limited. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between autophagy and OSCC recurrence. Materials and methods: 72 patients with OSCC were followed for 5 years after curative surgery. Tissue specimens from each patient were divided into tumor, normal, and marginal groups. Autophagy protein expression was assessed by western blotting and immunofluorescence. Statistical significance was evaluated using the chi-square test.… More >