Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The G-Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor Agonist G-1 Suppresses Proliferation Of Ovarian Cancer Cells By Blocking Tubulin Polymerization., Cheng Wang, Xiangmin Lv, Chunbo He, G Hua, M-Y Tsai, John S. Davis

Journal Articles: Obstetrics & Gynecology

The G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER) has recently been reported to mediate the non-genomic action of estrogen in different types of cells and tissues. G-1 (1-[4-(6-bromobenzo[1,3] dioxol-5yl)-3a,4,5,9b-tetrahydro-3H-cyclopenta[c]quinolin-8-yl]-ethanone) was developed as a potent and selective agonist for GPER. G-1 has been shown to induce the expression of genes and activate pathways that facilitate cancer cell proliferation by activating GPER. Here we demonstrate that G-1 has an anticancer potential with a mechanism similar to vinca alkaloids, the commonly used chemotherapy drugs. We found that G-1 blocks tubulin polymerization and thereby interrupts microtubule assembly in ovarian cancer cells leading to the arrest of …

Discovery Of Molecular Associations Among Aging, Stem Cells, And Cancer Based On Gene Expression Profiling., Xiaosheng Wang

Journal Articles: Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy

The emergence of a huge volume of "omics" data enables a computational approach to the investigation of the biology of cancer. The cancer informatics approach is a useful supplement to the traditional experimental approach. I reviewed several reports that used a bioinformatics approach to analyze the associations among aging, stem cells, and cancer by microarray gene expression profiling. The high expression of aging- or human embryonic stem cell-related molecules in cancer suggests that certain important mechanisms are commonly underlying aging, stem cells, and cancer. These mechanisms are involved in cell cycle regulation, metabolic process, DNA damage response, apoptosis, p53 signaling …

Marked Improvement Of Cytotoxic Effects Induced By Docetaxel On Highly Metastatic And Androgen-Independent Prostate Cancer Cells By Downregulating Macrophage Inhibitory Cytokine-1., M Mimeault, Sonny L. Johansson, Surinder K. Batra

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

BACKGROUND: Overexpression of macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1) frequently occurs during the progression of prostate cancer (PC) to androgen-independent (AI) and metastatic disease states and is associated with a poor outcome of patients.

METHODS: The gain- and loss-of-function analyses of MIC-1 were performed to establish its implications for aggressive and chemoresistant phenotypes of metastatic and AI PC cells and the benefit of its downregulation for reversing docetaxel resistance.

RESULTS: The results have indicated that an enhanced level of secreted MIC-1 protein in PC3 cells is associated with their acquisition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition features and higher invasive capacity and docetaxel resistance. Importantly, …

Hypoxia-Inducing Factors As Master Regulators Of Stemness Properties And Altered Metabolism Of Cancer- And Metastasis-Initiating Cells., Murielle Mimeault, Surinder K. Batra

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Accumulating lines of experimental evidence have revealed that hypoxia-inducible factors, HIF-1α and HIF-2α, are key regulators of the adaptation of cancer- and metastasis-initiating cells and their differentiated progenies to oxygen and nutrient deprivation during cancer progression under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Particularly, the sustained stimulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R), stem cell factor (SCF) receptor KIT, transforming growth factor-β receptors (TGF-βRs) and Notch and their downstream signalling elements such as phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/molecular target of rapamycin (mTOR) may lead to an enhanced activity of HIFs. Moreover, the up-regulation of HIFs in cancer cells may …