Project description:We investigated the antitumoral effect of verteporfin in YAP/AKT hydrodynamic tail vein injected murine models and we analyzed the correlative change of immune cell profile and stemness with the treatment of verteporfin by using flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing
Project description:Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a heterogenous malignancy that arises from the biliary epithelium and has a poor clinical prognosis. The Hippo/yes-associated protein (YAP) pathway has been reported to affect various aspects of tumorigenesis, with high expression of YAP1 being negatively associated with survival in CCA patients. Thus, we investigated the antitumoral effect of verteporfin, a YAP1 pathway inhibitor, in YAP1/AKT hydrodynamic tail vein injected murine models. We also used flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to analyze the change in the immune cell profile and malignant cell stemness following verteporfin treatment. Our results demonstrated reduced liver weight and tumor formation in verteporfin-treated groups compared to that of a vehicle-treated group. Immune cell profiling through flow cytometry showed that relative to the vehicle, verteporfin induced a higher ratio of tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) M1/M2 and increased the percentage of activated CD8 T cell population (CD8+CD25+ and CD8+CD69+). scRNA-seq analysis showed significantly increased TAM M1 populations following verteporfin treatment and decreased proportions of stem-like cells within the malignant cell population. In summary, this study indicates that in CCA YAP/AKT murine models, verteporfin reduces tumorigenesis by polarizing anti-tumoral TAM and activating CD8 T cells and decreasing stem-like malignant cell proportions in the tumor microenvironment.
Project description:Together with TEAD4 the Hippo pathway effector YAP stimulates chromosomal instability. Verteporfin is known to disrupt the physical YAP/TEAD interaction and tehrefore might prevent from chromosomal instability in liver cancer. Immortalized HCC cell line hepG2 is treated with Verteporfin for 24 hours.
Project description:Verteporfin (VP) inhibts colon cancer growth in vivo and in cell lines by inducing high molecular weight oligomerization of proteins. The antitumor effect of VP is independent of its YAP inhibitor activity. Tumor hypoxia contributes partly to antitumor effect of VP by impairing clearance of VP-induced high molecular weight aggregates.
Project description:Verteporfin (trade name Visudyne) is a medication used as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy to eliminate the abnormal blood vessels in the eye associated with conditions such as the wet form of macular degeneration. Verteporfin accumulates in these abnormal blood vessels and, when stimulated by nonthermal red light with a wavelength of 689 nm[1] in the presence of oxygen, produces highly reactive short-lived singlet oxygen and other reactive oxygen radicals, resulting in local damage to the endothelium and blockage of the vessels. Recently, it was reported that VP has chemotherapeutic effect in cancer. To identify the gene expression profile in gastric cancer cells by VP, we performed microarray.
Project description:Together with TEAD4 the Hippo pathway effector YAP stimulates chromosomal instability. Verteporfin is known to disrupt the physical YAP/TEAD interaction and tehrefore might prevent from chromosomal instability in liver cancer.
Project description:BackgroundCholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the primary hepatobiliary malignant neoplasms with only 10% of 5-year survival rate. Promising immunotherapy with the blockade of immune checkpoints has no clear benefit in CCA. The inhibition of YAP1 signaling by verteporfin has shown encouraging results by inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. This study aimed to evaluate the potential benefit of the combination of verteporfin and anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) in CCA mouse model.MethodsWe assessed the cytotoxicity of verteporfin in human CCA cell lines in vitro, including both intrahepatic CCA and extrahepatic CCA cells. We examined the in vitro effect of verteporfin on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and stemness. We evaluated the in vivo efficacy of verteporfin, anti-PD-1, and a combination of both in subcutaneous CCA mouse model.ResultsOur study showed that verteporfin reduced tumor cell growth and enhanced apoptosis of human CCA tumor cells in vitro in a dose-dependent fashion. Nevertheless, verteporfin impaired stemness evidenced by reduced spheroid formation and colony formation, decreased numbers of cells with aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and positive cancer stem cell markers (all P < 0.05). The combination of verteporfin and anti-PD-1 reduced tumor burden in CCA subcutaneous SB1 tumor model compared to either agent alone.ConclusionsVerteporfin exhibits antitumor effects in both intrahepatic and extrahepatic CCA cell lines and the combination with anti-PD-1 inhibited tumor growth.