scholarly journals Upregulation of the δ opioid receptor in liver cancer promotes liver cancer progression both in vitro and in vivo

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 1281-1290 ◽  
Author(s):  
BO TANG ◽  
YANG LI ◽  
SHENGGUANG YUAN ◽  
STEPHEN TOMLINSON ◽  
SONGQING HE
Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (23) ◽  
pp. 7236
Author(s):  
Yazan J. Meqbil ◽  
Hongyu Su ◽  
Robert J. Cassell ◽  
Kendall L. Mores ◽  
Anna M. Gutridge ◽  
...  

The δ-opioid receptor (δOR) holds great potential as a therapeutic target. Yet, clinical drug development, which has focused on δOR agonists that mimic the potent and selective tool compound SNC80 have largely failed. It has increasingly become apparent that the SNC80 scaffold carries with it potent and efficacious β-arrestin recruitment. Here, we screened a relatively small (5120 molecules) physical drug library to identify δOR agonists that underrecruit β-arrestin, as it has been suggested that compounds that efficaciously recruit β-arrestin are proconvulsant. The screen identified a hit compound and further characterization using cellular binding and signaling assays revealed that this molecule (R995045, compound 1) exhibited ten-fold selectivity over µ- and κ-opioid receptors. Compound 1 represents a novel chemotype at the δOR. A subsequent characterization of fourteen analogs of compound 1, however did not identify a more potent δOR agonist. Computational modeling and in vitro characterization of compound 1 in the presence of the endogenous agonist leu-enkephalin suggest compound 1 may also bind allosterically and negatively modulate the potency of Leu-enkephalin to inhibit cAMP, acting as a ‘NAM-agonist’ in this assay. The potential physiological utility of such a class of compounds will need to be assessed in future in vivo assays.


2020 ◽  
pp. jbc.RA120.015335
Author(s):  
Yuan Deng ◽  
Ming Li ◽  
Minghui Zhuo ◽  
Peng Guo ◽  
Qiang Chen ◽  
...  

Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) contribute to the high rate of tumor heterogeneity, metastasis, therapeutic resistance, and recurrence. Histone lysine demethylase 4D (KDM4D or JMJD2D) is highly expressed in colon and liver tumors, where it promotes cancer progression; however, the role of JMJD2D in CSCs remains unclear. Here, we show that JMJD2D expression was increased in liver cancer stem-like cells (LCSCs); downregulation of JMJD2D inhibited the self-renewal of LCSCs in vitro and in vivo and inhibited the lung metastasis of LCSCs by reducing the survival and the early lung seeding of circulating LCSCs. Mechanistically, JMJD2D promoted LCSC self-renewal by enhancing the expression of CSC markers EpCAM and Sox9; JMJD2D reduced H3K9me3 levels on the promoters of EpCAM and Sox9 to enhance their transcription via interaction with β-catenin/TCF4 and Notch1 intracellular domain, respectively. Restoration of EpCAM and Sox9 expression in JMJD2D-knockdown liver cancer cells rescued the self-renewal of LCSCs. Pharmacological inhibition of JMJD2D using 5-c-8HQ reduced the self-renewal of LCSCs and liver cancer progression. Collectively, our findings suggest that JMJD2D promotes LCSC self-renewal by enhancing EpCAM and Sox9 expression via Wnt/β-catenin and Notch signaling pathways and is a potential therapeutic target for liver cancer.


1996 ◽  
Vol 213 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-208
Author(s):  
Josephine Lai ◽  
Maureen Riedl ◽  
Laura S. Stone ◽  
Ulf Arvidsson ◽  
Edward J. Bilsky ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1731-1738 ◽  
Author(s):  
JIN LU ◽  
ZEFENG LIU ◽  
LINGLING ZHAO ◽  
HUIMIN TIAN ◽  
XIUHUA LIU ◽  
...  

Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
van Tienderen ◽  
Groot Koerkamp ◽  
IJzermans ◽  
van der Laan ◽  
Verstegen

Primary liver cancer, consisting predominantly of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), remains one of the most lethal malignancies worldwide. This high malignancy is related to the complex and dynamic interactions between tumour cells, stromal cells and the extracellular environment. Novel in vitro models that can recapitulate the tumour are essential in increasing our understanding of liver cancer. Herein, primary liver cancer-derived organoids have opened up new avenues due to their patient-specificity, self-organizing ability and potential recapitulation of many of the tumour properties. Organoids are solely of epithelial origin, but incorporation into co-culture models can enable the investigation of the cellular component of the tumour microenvironment. However, the extracellular component also plays a vital role in cancer progression and representation is lacking within current in vitro models. In this review, organoid technology is discussed in the context of liver cancer models through comparisons to other cell culture systems. In addition, the role of the tumour extracellular environment in primary liver cancer will be highlighted with an emphasis on its importance in in vitro modelling. Converging novel organoid-based models with models incorporating the native tumour microenvironment could lead to experimental models that can better recapitulate liver tumours in vivo.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2100224
Author(s):  
Qiu‐Chen Bi ◽  
Rong‐Guang Luo ◽  
Yan‐Shu Li ◽  
Jun Zhao ◽  
Xin Fu ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 175 (14) ◽  
pp. 2881-2896 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Dietis ◽  
H Niwa ◽  
R Tose ◽  
J McDonald ◽  
V Ruggieri ◽  
...  

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