bims-lymeca 2022-11-06 papers

Issue of 2022‒11‒06
four papers selected by
Harilaos Filippakis
University of New England

Heliyon. 2022 Oct;8(10): e11179

Identification of active natural products that induce lysosomal biogenesis by lysosome-based screening and biological evaluation.

Xiao Ding, Xu Yang, Yueqin Zhao, Yinyuan Wang, Jimin Fei, Zhenpeng Niu, Xianxiang Dong, Xuenan Wang, Biao Liu, Hongmei Li, Xiaojiang Hao, Yuhan Zhao.

Lysosomal biogenesis is an essential adaptive process by which lysosomes exert their function in maintaining cellular homeostasis. Defects in lysosomal enzymes and functions lead to lysosome-related diseases, including lysosomal storage diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. Thus, activation of the autophagy-lysosomal pathway, especially induction of lysosomal biogenesis, might be an effective strategy for the treatment of lysosome-related diseases. In this study, we established a lysosome-based screening system to identify active compounds from natural products that could promote lysosomal biogenesis. The subcellular localizations of master transcriptional regulators of lysosomal genes, TFEB, TFE3 and ZKSCAN3 were examined to reveal the potential mechanisms. More than 200 compounds were screened, and we found that Hdj-23, a triterpene isolated from Walsura cochinchinensis, induced lysosomal biogenesis via activation of TFEB/TFE3. In summary, this study introduced a lysosome-based live cell screening strategy to identify bioactive compounds that promote lysosomal biogenesis, which would provide potential candidate enhancers of lysosomal biogenesis and novel insight for treating lysosome-related diseases.

Keywords: Autophagy; Lysosomal biogenesis; Lysosome-based screening; Natural products; TFEB and TFE3

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11179

Biol Pharm Bull. 2022 ;45(11): 1609-1615

Oxidative Stress Impairs Autophagy via Inhibition of Lysosomal Transport of VAMP8.

Yukiya Ohnishi, Daisuke Tsuji, Kohji Itoh.

Autophagy is a highly conserved intracellular degrading system and its dysfunction is considered related to the cause of neurodegenerative disorders. A previous study showed that the inhibition of endocytosis transport attenuates soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) protein transport to lysosomes and block autophagy. The other studies demonstrated oxidative stress, one of the inducers of neurodegenerative diseases inhibits endocytosis transport. Thus, we hypothesized that oxidative stress-induced endocytosis inhibition causes alteration of SNARE protein transport to lysosomes and impairs autophagy. Here, we demonstrated that oxidative stress inhibits endocytosis and decreased the lysosomal localization of VAMP8, one of the autophagy-related SNARE proteins in a human neuroblastoma cell line. Moreover, this oxidative stress induction blocked the autophagosome-lysosome fusion step. Since we also observed decreased lysosomal localization of VAMP8 and inhibition of autophagosome-lysosome fusion in endocytosis inhibitor-treated cells, oxidative stress may inhibit VAMP8 trafficking by suppressing endocytosis and impair autophagy. Our findings suggest that oxidative stress-induced inhibition of VAMP8 trafficking to lysosomes is associated with the development of neurodegenerative diseases due to the blocked autophagosome-lysosome fusion, and may provide a new therapeutic target for restoring the autophagic activity.

Keywords: autophagy; endocytosis; oxidative stress; soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) protein

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1248/bpb.b22-00131

Cancer Res. 2022 Nov 02. 82(21): 3884-3887

Challenges and Emerging Opportunities for Targeting mTOR in Cancer.

Kris C Wood, J Silvio Gutkind.

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays a key role in normal and malignant cell growth. However, pharmacologic targeting of mTOR in cancer has shown little clinical benefit, in spite of aberrant hyperactivation of mTOR in most solid tumors. Here, we discuss possible reasons for the reduced clinical efficacy of mTOR inhibition and highlight lessons learned from recent combination clinical trials and approved indications of mTOR inhibitors in cancer. We also discuss how the emerging systems level understanding of mTOR signaling in cancer can be exploited for the clinical development of novel multimodal precision targeted therapies and immunotherapies aimed at achieving tumor remission.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-0602

Front Oncol. 2022 ;12 1010506

Deregulated calcium signaling in blood cancer: Underlying mechanisms and therapeutic potential.

Tracey Immanuel, Jixia Li, Taryn N Green, Anna Bogdanova, Maggie L Kalev-Zylinska.

Intracellular calcium signaling regulates diverse physiological and pathological processes. In solid tumors, changes to calcium channels and effectors via mutations or changes in expression affect all cancer hallmarks. Such changes often disrupt transport of calcium ions (Ca2+) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or mitochondria, impacting apoptosis. Evidence rapidly accumulates that this is similar in blood cancer. Principles of intracellular Ca2+ signaling are outlined in the introduction. We describe different Ca2+-toolkit components and summarize the unique relationship between extracellular Ca2+ in the endosteal niche and hematopoietic stem cells. The foundational data on Ca2+ homeostasis in red blood cells is discussed, with the demonstration of changes in red blood cell disorders. This leads to the role of Ca2+ in neoplastic erythropoiesis. Then we expand onto the neoplastic impact of deregulated plasma membrane Ca2+ channels, ER Ca2+ channels, Ca2+ pumps and exchangers, as well as Ca2+ sensor and effector proteins across all types of hematologic neoplasms. This includes an overview of genetic variants in the Ca2+-toolkit encoding genes in lymphoid and myeloid cancers as recorded in publically available cancer databases. The data we compiled demonstrate that multiple Ca2+ homeostatic mechanisms and Ca2+ responsive pathways are altered in hematologic cancers. Some of these alterations may have genetic basis but this requires further investigation. Most changes in the Ca2+-toolkit do not appear to define/associate with specific disease entities but may influence disease grade, prognosis, treatment response, and certain complications. Further elucidation of the underlying mechanisms may lead to novel treatments, with the aim to tailor drugs to different patterns of deregulation. To our knowledge this is the first review of its type in the published literature. We hope that the evidence we compiled increases awareness of the calcium signaling deregulation in hematologic neoplasms and triggers more clinical studies to help advance this field.

Keywords: Calcium signaling; blood cells; calcium homeostasis; cancer biological pathways; leukaemia; lymphoma; myeloproliferative neoplasms; red cell abnormalities

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.1010506