Combination of Wnt/β-Catenin Targets S100A4 and DKK1 Improves Prognosis of Human Colorectal Cancer.

Metastasis is directly linked to colorectal cancer (CRC) patient survival. Wnt signaling through β-catenin plays a key role. Metastasis-inducing S100A4 is a Wnt/β-catenin target gene and a prognostic biomarker for CRC and other cancer types.

ATR inhibition reverses the resistance of homologous recombination deficient MGMT/MMR cancer cells to temozolomide.

The therapeutic efficacy of temozolomide (TMZ) is hindered by inherent and acquired resistance. Biomarkers such as MGMT expression and MMR proficiency are used as predictors of response. However, not all MGMT/MMR patients benefit from TMZ treatment, indicating a need for additional patient selection criteria.

Exposure time versus cytotoxicity for anticancer agents.

Purpose: Time is a critical factor in drug action. The duration of inhibition of the target or residence time of the drug molecule on the target often guides drug scheduling.

Methods: The effects of time on the concentration-dependent cytotoxicity of approved and investigational agents [300 compounds] were examined in the NCI60 cell line panel in 2D at 2, 3, 7 and in 3D 11 days.

The NCI Transcriptional Pharmacodynamics Workbench: A Tool to Examine Dynamic Expression Profiling of Therapeutic Response in the NCI-60 Cell Line Panel.

: The intracellular effects and overall efficacies of anticancer therapies can vary significantly by tumor type. To identify patterns of drug-induced gene modulation that occur in different cancer cell types, we measured gene-expression changes across the NCI-60 cell line panel after exposure to 15 anticancer agents. The results were integrated into a combined database and set of interactive analysis tools, designated the NCI Transcriptional Pharmacodynamics Workbench (NCI TPW), that allows exploration of gene-expression modulation by molecular pathway, drug target, and association with drug sensitivity.

Small Cell Lung Cancer Screen of Oncology Drugs, Investigational Agents, and Gene and microRNA Expression.

Background: Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) is an aggressive, recalcitrant cancer, often metastatic at diagnosis and unresponsive to chemotherapy upon recurrence, thus it is challenging to treat.

Methods: Sixty-three human SCLC lines and three NSCLC lines were screened for response to 103 US Food and Drug Administration-approved oncology agents and 423 investigational agents. The investigational agents library was a diverse set of small molecules that included multiple compounds targeting the same molecular entity.

The metastasis-associated gene S100A4 is a novel target of beta-catenin/T-cell factor signaling in colon cancer.

Background & Aims: Activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is frequently observed in colorectal cancers. Our aim was to elucidate the impact of gain-of-function beta-catenin on the metastasis-associated gene S100A4 in human colon cancer cell lines and tumors.

Methods: We analyzed cell lines heterozygous for gain-of-function and wild-type beta-catenin, and variants homozygous for gain- or loss-of-function mutation in beta-catenin, for S100A4 expression, cell motility, and in vivo metastasis.

Identification of specific calcitonin-like receptor residues important for calcitonin gene-related peptide high affinity binding.

Background: Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a vasoactive neuropeptide whose biological activity has potential therapeutic value for many vascular related diseases. CGRP is a 37 amino acid neuropeptide that signals through a G protein-coupled receptor belonging to the secretin receptor family. Previous studies on the calcitonin-like receptor (CLR), which requires co-expression of the receptor-activity-modifying protein-1 (RAMP1) to function as a CGRP receptor, have shown an 18 amino acid N-terminus sequence important for binding CGRP.

Elucidation of thioredoxin as a molecular target for antitumor quinols.

Heteroaromatic quinols 4-(benzothiazol-2-yl)-4-hydroxycyclohexa-2,5-dienone (1) and 4-(1-benzenesulfonyl-1H-indol-2-yl)-4-hydroxycyclohexa-2,5-dienone (2) exhibit potent and selective antitumor activity against colon, renal, and breast carcinoma cell lines in vitro (GI50 < 500 nmol/L). In vivo growth inhibition of renal, colon, and breast xenografts has been observed. Profound G2-M cell cycle block accompanied down-regulation of cdk1 gene transcription was corroborated by decreased CDK1 protein expression following treatment of HCT 116 cells with growth inhibitory concentrations of 1 or 2.

Genotoxic profiling of MCF-7 breast cancer cell line elucidates gene expression modifications underlying toxicity of the anticancer drug 2-(4-amino-3-methylphenyl)-5-fluorobenzothiazole.

A candidate antitumor agent, 2-(4-amino-3-methylphenyl)-5-fluorobenzothiazole (5F-203), was empirically discovered through the National Cancer Institute's Anticancer Drug Screen from a unique growth inhibitory-response profile, indicating a novel mechanism of action. 5F-203 activates the CYP1 family of cytochrome P450, involving aryl hydrocarbon receptor translocation into the nucleus. To characterize more completely the pathways involved in 5F-203 toxicity, cDNA microarrays were used to determine gene expression changes in MCF-7, a 5F-203-sensitive breast cancer cell line, after treatment with 1 microM 5F-203.