bims-istrec Biomed News
on Integrated stress response in cancer
Issue of 2022‒02‒06
seven papers selected by
Vincenzo Ciminale’s Lab
Istituto Oncologico Veneto
  1. ISRIB plus bortezomib triggers paraptosis in breast cancer cells via enhanced translation and subsequent proteotoxic stress.
  2. cFLIP downregulation is an early event required for endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in tumor cells.
  3. Protocatechuic acid protects hepatocytes against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress.
  4. KDELR2 knockdown synergizes with temozolomide to induce glioma cell apoptosis through the CHOP and JNK/p38 pathways.
  5. HBXIP is a novel regulator of the unfolded protein response that sustains tamoxifen resistance in ER+ breast cancer.
  6. Anticancer Effects of Taraxacum via Cell Cycle Arrest, Necrosis, Apoptosis, and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.
  7. Osthole Exerts Inhibitory Effects on Hypoxic Colon Cancer Cells via EIF2[Formula: see text] Phosphorylation-mediated Apoptosis and Regulation of HIF-1[Formula: see text].
  1. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2022 Jan 25. pii: S0006-291X(22)00108-5. [Epub ahead of print]596 56-62
    ISRIB plus bortezomib triggers paraptosis in breast cancer cells via enhanced translation and subsequent proteotoxic stress.
    Dong Min Lee, Min Ji Seo, Hong Jae Lee, Hyo Joon Jin, Kyeong Sook Choi.
      Despite the success of proteasome inhibitors (PIs) in treating hematopoietic malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MM), their clinical efficacy is limited in solid tumors. In this study, we investigated the involvement of the integrated stress response (ISR), a central cellular adaptive program that responds to proteostatic defects by tuning protein synthesis rates, in determining the fates of cells treated with PI, bortezomib (Bz). We found that Bz induces ISR, and this can be reversed by ISRIB, a small molecule that restores eIF2B-mediated translation during ISR, in both Bz-sensitive MM cells and Bz-insensitive breast cancer cells. Interestingly, while ISRIB protected MM cells from Bz-induced apoptosis, it enhanced Bz sensitivity in breast cancer cells by inducing paraptosis, the cell death mode that is accompanied by dilation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria. Combined treatment with ISRIB and Bz may shift the fate of Bz-insensitive cancer cells toward paraptosis by inducing translational rescue, leading to irresolvable proteotoxic stress.
    Keywords:  Apoptosis; Bortezomib; ISRIB; Paraptosis; The integrated stress response
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2022.01.082
  2. Cell Death Dis. 2022 Feb 03. 13(2): 111
    cFLIP downregulation is an early event required for endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in tumor cells.
    Rocío Mora-Molina, Daniela Stöhr, Markus Rehm, Abelardo López-Rivas.
      Protein misfolding or unfolding and the resulting endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress frequently occur in highly proliferative tumors. How tumor cells escape cell death by apoptosis after chronic ER stress remains poorly understood. We have investigated in both two-dimensional (2D) cultures and multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs) the role of caspase-8 inhibitor cFLIP as a regulator of the balance between apoptosis and survival in colon cancer cells undergoing ER stress. We report that downregulation of cFLIP proteins levels is an early event upon treatment of 2D cultures of colon cancer cells with ER stress inducers, preceding TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor 2 (TRAIL-R2) upregulation, caspase-8 activation, and apoptosis. Maintaining high cFLIP levels during ER stress by ectopic expression of cFLIP markedly inhibits ER stress-induced caspase-8 activation and apoptosis. Conversely, cFLIP knockdown by RNA interference significantly accelerates caspase-8 activation and apoptosis upon ER stress. Despite activation of the proapoptotic PERK branch of the unfolded protein response (UPR) and upregulation of TRAIL-R2, MCTSs are markedly more resistant to ER stress than 2D cultures of tumor cells. Resistance of MCTSs to ER stress-induced apoptosis correlates with sustained cFLIPL expression. Interestingly, resistance to ER stress-induced apoptosis is abolished in MCTSs generated from cFLIPL knockdown tumor cells. Overall, our results suggest that controlling cFLIP levels in tumors is an adaptive strategy to prevent tumor cell's demise in the unfavorable conditions of the tumor microenvironment.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-022-04574-6
  3. Curr Res Food Sci. 2022 ;5 222-227
    Protocatechuic acid protects hepatocytes against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress.
    Wu-Joo Lee, Seong-Ho Lee.
      Oxidative stress is a main cause of tissue damage and highly associated with incidence of human chronic diseases. Among the major target organs attacked by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the liver. Protocatechuic acid (PCA) is a phenolic compound found in green tea, acai oil and some mushroom species that possesses strong antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activity and may have benefits as a natural phytochemical for prevention of human diseases. However, the protective effect of PCA on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative stress specifically in the liver has not yet been investigated. The current study aims to observe if PCA possesses protective activity against H2O2-induced oxidative stress in HepG2 human liver cancer cells. Relative to untreated control cells, treatment of HepG2 cells with PCA reduced H2O2-induced cell death and mitigated H2O2-induced production of ROS; furthermore, it mitigated the H2O2-induced increase of caspase-3/7 enzyme activity, expression of cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress genes including activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), serine/threonine-protein kinase/endoribonuclease inositol-requiring enzyme 1 α (IRE1α) and phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK). These findings indicate that PCA effectively protects hepatic cells from H2O2-induced oxidative stress and cell death.
    Keywords:  Apoptosis; HepG2; Hepatocytes; Oxidative stress; Protocatechuic acid
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crfs.2022.01.006
  4. Transl Cancer Res. 2021 Jul;10(7): 3491-3506
    KDELR2 knockdown synergizes with temozolomide to induce glioma cell apoptosis through the CHOP and JNK/p38 pathways.
    Guofeng Zhang, Bin Wang, Shiqi Cheng, Hengyi Fan, Shaowen Liu, Bin Zhou, Weibin Liu, Rui Liang, Youjia Tang, Yan Zhang.
      Background: The C-terminal tetrapeptide Lys-Asp-Glu-Leu receptors (KDELRs) are transmembrane proteins that regulate ER stress (ERS) response, growth, differentiation, and immune responses. There is an association between KDELR2and promotion of glioblastoma tumorigenesis. The aim of the present study was to explore the functional mechanism of KDELR2 in glioma and during response to chemotherapy to temozolomide (TMZ).Methods: The expression of KDELR2 in glioma tissues and cells was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, western blot and RT-qPCR assay. Then role of KDELR2 was demonstrated by CCK8, colony formation, flow cytometry and Hochest 33258 assays. The expression of genes (ATF4, ATF6, PERK, eIF2-α, GRP78 and CHOP) in U373 cells was evaluated by RT-qPCR. The protein expression of genes (cleaved caspase 3, caspase 3, cleaved PARP, PARP, Bax, Bcl-2, JNK, p-JNK, p38, p-p38, ATF4, ATF6, XBP-1s, PERK, p-PERK, GRP78 and CHOP) was measured by western blot assay.
    Results: The expression of KDELR2 was upregulated in high-grade gliomas tissues. KDELR2 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation but increased cell apoptosis. Further, Knockdown of KDELR2 also activated the ER stress (ERS)-dependent CHOP pathway, and resulted in increased levels of phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38. Moreover, the combination of KDELR2 knockdown and TMZ application showed a synergistic cytotoxic effect in U373 cells through the ERS-dependent CHOP and JNK/p38 pathways.
    Conclusions: KDELR2 knockdown induces apoptosis and sensitizes glioma cells to TMZ, which is mediated by the ERS-dependent CHOP and JNK/p38 pathways.
    Keywords:  CHOP; JNK/p38; KDELR2; apoptosis; glioma; temozolomide
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.21037/tcr-21-869
  5. J Biol Chem. 2022 Jan 27. pii: S0021-9258(22)00084-9. [Epub ahead of print] 101644
    HBXIP is a novel regulator of the unfolded protein response that sustains tamoxifen resistance in ER+ breast cancer.
    Shenghong Zhang, Ranran Wang, Xinyue Wang, Xueling Guo, Yanyan Du, Xin Guo, Xinlan Zong, Changhui Zhu, Xiaolei Zhou.
      Endocrine therapy-resistant estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer cells often exhibit an augmented capacity to maintain endoplasmic reticulum (EnR) homeostasis under adverse conditions. Oncoprotein hepatitis B X-interacting protein (HBXIP) is a known transcriptional coactivator that promotes cancer development. However, it is unclear whether HBXIP participates in maintaining EnR homeostasis and promoting drug-resistance in ER+ breast cancer. Here, we report that tamoxifen-resistant (TmaR) breast cancer cells exhibit increased expression of HBXIP, which acts as an inactivator of the unfolded protein response (UPR) to diminish tamoxifen (TAM)-induced EnR stress. We show that HBXIP deficiency promotes EnR-associated degradation (ERAD), enhances UPR-element (UPRE) reporter activity and cellular oxidative stress, and ultimately attenuates the growth of TmaR cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that HBXIP acts as a chaperone of UPR transducer inositol-requiring enzyme 1a (IRE1α) and diminishes production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in TamR breast cancer cells. Upon loss of HBXIP expression, TAM treatment hyperactivates IRE1α and its downstream proapoptotic pathways and simultaneously induces accumulation of intracellular ROS. This elevated ROS programmatically activates the other two branches of the UPR, mediated by PKR-like ER kinase (PERK) and activating transcription factor 6α (ATF6α). Clinical investigations and Kaplan-Meier plotter analysis revealed that HBXIP is highly expressed in TamR breast cancer tissues. Furthermore, reinforced HBXIP expression associated with a high recurrence and poor relapse-free survival rates in tamoxifen monotherapy ER+ breast cancer patients. These findings indicate that HBXIP is a novel regulator of EnR homeostasis and a potential target for TamR breast cancer therapy.
    Keywords:  Breast cancer; Endoplasmic reticulum stress; HBXIP; Tamoxifen resistance; Unfolded protein response
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101644
  6. Am J Chin Med. 2022 Feb 03. 1-19
    Anticancer Effects of Taraxacum via Cell Cycle Arrest, Necrosis, Apoptosis, and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.
    Chien-Jung Lin, Shu-Ting Liu, Rong-Chi Yang, Li-Hsiang Wang, Chen-Chen Tsai, Teng-Wei Chen, Shih-Ming Huang.
      Dandelion (Taraxacum species) is a wild plant with over 2500 species. Flavonoids, phenolic compounds, saponins, sesquiterpenes, and sugars have been detected in the organs of Taraxacum, and for centuries it has been used in traditional medicine for the relief and treatment of various diseases. However, details of its working mechanism remain unclear. Bioactive compounds in herbal extracts generally have low yields, which makes their isolation and purification intensive in terms of time and cost. Here, to assess their versatility and safety, we applied aqueous extracts of two species of Taraxacum, T. mongolicum and T. formosanum, including extracts of both fresh and dried T. formosanum, to compare their potential antitumor effects on HeLa human cervical cancer cells, three liver cancer cell lines, and one normal liver cell line. After being treated with a lower dose of Taraxacum, the upregulation of subG1 and S populations, as well as increased levels of p-eIF2[Formula: see text]-to-eIF2[Formula: see text] ratio, were observed in HeLa cells, whereas the downregulation of S population and the absence of mRNA expressions were detected in HeLa cells when being treated with a higher dose of Taraxacum. These results indicated that Taraxacumcould induce apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress while suppressing proliferation, transcription, colony formation, migration, and invasion. What's more, we also found that the effects of fresh T. formosanum were much stronger than that of T. mongolicumin HeLa cells. Based on these results, we suggest that T. formosanum may contain specific compound(s) that are potentially useful for cancer therapy. However, much work remains to identify these effective compounds for the future application of Taraxacumto cancer therapy.
    Keywords:  Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress; Robotic Stress; T. Formosanum; Taraxacum
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X22500227
  7. Am J Chin Med. 2022 Feb 03. 1-17
    Osthole Exerts Inhibitory Effects on Hypoxic Colon Cancer Cells via EIF2[Formula: see text] Phosphorylation-mediated Apoptosis and Regulation of HIF-1[Formula: see text].
    Kui-Yuan Peng, Tz-Chong Chou.
      Hypoxic microenvironment and dysregulated endoplasmic reticulum stress/unfolded protein response (UPR) system are considered important factors that promote cancer progression. Although osthole extracted from Cnidium monnieri(Fructus Cnidii) has been confirmed to exhibit an anticancer activity in various cancers, the effects of osthole in hypoxic colon cancer cells have not been explored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether osthole has an inhibitory effect on hypoxic colon cancer HCT116 cells and further investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Treatment with osthole significantly attenuated the cell viability, proliferation, and migration in hypoxic HCT116 cells. Osthole also activated UPR signaling such as phospho-eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha (EIF2[Formula: see text]/ATF4/CHOP/DR5 cascade accompanied by upregulation of pro-apoptotic proteins. Moreover, the tubule-like formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells, the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor A, and the expression and activity of hypoxia-inducible factor-1[Formula: see text] (HIF-1[Formula: see text] in hypoxic HCT116 cells were markedly suppressed by osthole. However, suppressing EIF2[Formula: see text] phosphorylation with salubrinal or ISRIB markedly reversed the effects of osthole on the expressions of pro-apoptotic proteins and HIF-1[Formula: see text]. Co-treatment of hypoxic HCT116 cells with osthole greatly increased the sensitivity to cisplatin and the expressions of phospho-EIF2[Formula: see text] and cleaved caspase 3. Collectively, the inhibitory effect of osthole in hypoxic HCT116 cells may be associated with EIF2[Formula: see text] phosphorylation-mediated apoptosis and translational repression of HIF-1[Formula: see text]. Taken together, osthole may be a potential agent in the treatment of colon cancer.
    Keywords:  Colon Cancer; EIF2[Formula: see text]; HIF-1[Formula: see text]; Hypoxia; Osthole; Unfolded Protein Response
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X22500240
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