Project description:DKFZ-608 induces oxidative stress in the cytoplasm of treated cancer cell lines. The molecular reason for this is the inhibition of the cytoplamic thioredoxin reductase TRXR1. The EC50 of cytotoxicity differes substantialy in SCLC (hypersensitive) and NSCLC (resistant). The experiment aims to identify stress response pathways induced by the compound which could explain the cytotoxic activity of the compound and its differential effect.
Project description:Red meat consumption is associated with an increased colon cancer risk. Heme, present in red meat, injures the colon surface epithelium by luminal cytotoxicity and reactive oxygen species. This surface injury is compensated by hyperproliferation and hyperplasia of crypt cells, which was induced by a changed surface to crypt signalling as recently described. It is unknown whether the change in signaling is caused by cytotoxic stress and/or by oxidative stress, as these processes were never studied separately. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the possible differential effects of dietary heme on these luminal stressors and their impact on the colonic mucosa after 2, 4, 7 and 14 days of heme feeding. Mice received a purified humanized control diet or this diet supplemented with 0.2 µmol heme/g. Oxidative stress was measured as Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) in fecal water. Cytotoxicity of fecal water was quantified with a bioassay. Epithelial cell proliferation was determined by Ki67 immunohistochemistry and mucosal responses were further studied in detail by whole genome transcriptomics. Dietary heme caused instantaneous and delayed changes in the luminal contents which were reflected in the mucosa. Instantaneous, there was an increase in reactive oxygen species leading to increased levels of lipid peroxidation products. Mucosal gene expression showed an instantaneous antioxidant response and PPAR target gene activation. After day 4 cytotoxicity of the colonic contents was increased and hyperproliferation was initiated, indicating that cytotoxicity was causal for the initiation of hyperproliferation. Several oncogenes were activated and tumor protein 53 was inhibited. In conclusion, dietary heme caused an instantaneous production of reactive oxygen species in mouse colon. A lag time was observed in the formation of cytotoxicity which coincided with the initiation hyperproliferation. Keywords: expression profiling by array Mice were fed a Westernized high fat control diet, or the same diet supplemented with 0.2 µmol heme/g diet. After different days of intervention, mice were killed and gene expression was profiled in colon.
Project description:Englerin A (EA) is a small molecule natural product with selective cytotoxicity against renal cancer cells. EA has been shown to induce apoptosis and cell death through cell cycle arrest and/or insulin signaling pathways. However, its specific biological mode of action or targets in renal cancer remains enigmatic. In this study, we employed advanced mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics approaches to identify EA’s functional roles in renal cancer. We identified 10,940 phosphorylation sites of which 706 sites exhibited EA-dependent phosphorylation changes. Integrated analysis of motifs and interaction networks suggested activation of stress-activated kinases including p38 upon EA treatment. Of note, a downstream target of p38, HSP27, was found to be hyperphosphorylated on multiple sites upon EA treatment. Among these, a novel site Ser65 on HSP27, which was further validated by targeted proteomics, was shown to be crucial for EA-induced cytotoxicity in renal cancer cells. Taken together, these data reveal the complex signaling cascade that is induced upon EA treatment and importantly provide insights onto its effects on downstream molecular signaling.