Project description:The emergence of natural products and their derivatives has notably influenced cancer treatment, making morusinol, an herbal medicine-derived monomer, a promising candidate. To comprehensively assess the impact of morusinol on DLBCL cell, we conducted whole transcriptome analysis (RNA sequencing, RNAseq) on the SU-DHL-2 cell line treated with either vehicle or morusinol.
Project description:The emergence of natural products and their derivatives has notably influenced cancer treatment, making morusinol, an herbal medicine-derived monomer, a promising candidate. To comprehensively assess the impact of morusinol on DLBCL cells, we conducted whole transcriptome analysis (RNA sequencing, RNAseq) on SU-DHL-8 and Farage cell lines treated with either vehicle or morusinol.
Project description:Combination therapies can be a promising tool to augment the antifungal activity of azole drugs against resistant Candida species. Here, we report the interaction between aprepitant, an antiemetic agent, and azole drugs against different Candida species including the emerging multidrug-resistant C. auris. Particularly, aprepitant enhanced the antifungal activity of itraconazole against C. auris by reducing its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) by 2-8 folds. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo infection model, the aprepitant/itraconazole combination significantly prolonged the survival of the infected nematodes by ~90% and reduced the fungal burden by ~92% relative to the untreated control. Interestingly, the aprepitant/itraconazole combination exerted a potent fungicidal activity against both planktonic and adherent C. auris biofilms. Further, aprepitant/itraconazole displayed broad-spectrum synergistic interactions against other medically important Candida species including C. albicans, C. krusie, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis (ƩFICI ranged from 0.08 to 031). Comparative transcriptomic profiling indicated aprepitant/itraconazole interferes significantly with metal ions homeostasis and compromises the ROS (reactive oxygen species) detoxification ability of C. auris. This study presents aprepitant as a novel, potent and broad-spectrum azole chemosensitizing agent that warrants further investigation.
Project description:Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, has a high degree of clinical and biological heterogeneity. Although most patients can be cured with R-CHOP immunochemotherapy,30-40% of patients have progression or recurrence after treatment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find new treatments to improve the survival rate of this group of patients. Natural small molecule drugs have unique advantages as anticancer agents due to their low toxicity and multiple targets. This project aims to explore potentially effective natural compounds as new therapeutic strategies for DLBCL. We found that Cinobufagin is a potentially effective therapeutic agent for DLBCL. Glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), a risk factor for poor prognosis in DLBCL, was a direct target of Cinobufagin. By inhibiting the enzyme activity of G6PD, Cinobufagin could inhibit DNA synthesis and the production of reductive NADPH, thereby inducing ROS accumulation and apoptosis of DLBCL cells. Our findings provide new strategies for the treatment of DLBCL.
Project description:Trifluoperazine (TFP), a typical antipsychotic primarily used for treating schizophrenia, exhibits anticancer effect on several types of cancer in recent years. Nevertheless, the effect of TFP on na-sopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is still unknown. In this study, we aimed to evaluate if TFP can be the potential therapeutic agent against NPC and to identify its underlying molecular mechanisms. We used four NPC cell lines, namely TW01, TW03, TW04, and BM, to assess the anticancer effects of TFP using cytotoxicity, wound healing, colony formation, and cell invasion assays. RNA se-quencing combined with Ingenuity Pathways Analysis was performed to identify the mechanism by which TFP influences NPC cells. Our data revealed that TFP decreased NPC cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. The invasion and migration of NPC cells were inhibited by TFP. RNA sequencing showed several anticancer molecular mechanisms after TFP administration. It is promising that the antipsychotic drug TFP can be used as a potential therapeutic regimen in NPC treatment in the future.
Project description:The limited number of antifungals and the emergence of multidrug-resistant Candida auris pose a significant challenge to human medicine. Here, we utilized combinatorial drug therapy as an approach to augment the activity of current azole antifungals against C. auris. We evaluated the fluconazole chemosensitization activity of 1547 FDA-approved drugs and clinical molecules against an azole-resistant strain of C. auris. This led to the discovery that lopinavir, an antiviral drug, is a potent agent capable of sensitizing C. auris to the effect of azole antifungals. At a therapeutically achievable concentration (4-8 µg/ml), lopinavir exhibited potent synergistic interactions with azole drugs, particularly with itraconazole, against C. auris (ΣFICI ranged from 0.05-0.50). The lopinavir/itraconazole combination enhanced the survival rate of C. auris-infected Caenorhabditis elegans by 90% and reduced the fungal burden in infected nematodes by 88.5% (p < 0.05). Moreover, lopinavir enhanced the antifungal activity of itraconazole against other medically important Candida species including C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis. Comparative transcriptomic profiling revealed that lopinavir interferes with glucose permeation and ATP synthesis. This compromises the function of the efflux pumps presents in C. auris enhancing sensitivity to azole antifungals, as demonstrated by Nile red efflux assays. This study presents lopinavir as a novel, potent and broad-spectrum azole chemosensitizing agent that warrants further investigation against recalcitrant Candida infections.