Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors, temsirolimus and torin 1, attenuate stemness-associated properties and expression of mesenchymal markers promoted by phorbol-myristate-acetate and oncostatin-M in glioblastoma cells.

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway is crucial for tumor survival, proliferation, and progression, making it an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. In glioblastoma, activated mammalian target of rapamycin promotes invasive phenotype and correlates with poor patient survival. A wide range of mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors are currently being evaluated for cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative activity in various tumor types but are not explored sufficiently for controlling tumor invasion and recurrence.

Tamoxifen-induced cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells is mediated by glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) via AKT (Thr308) regulation.

Glucose regulated protein 78 (GRP78) has recently been suggested to be associated with drug resistance in breast cancer patients. However, the precise role of GRP78 in drug resistance and the involved signaling pathways are not clearly understood. In the present study, we show that among a panel of drugs, namely Paclitaxel (TAX), Doxorubicin (DOX), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), UCN-01 and Tamoxifen (TAM) used, TAM alone up-regulated the expression of GRP78 significantly and induced apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells.

Suppression of the invasive potential of Glioblastoma cells by mTOR inhibitors involves modulation of NFκB and PKC-α signaling.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive type of brain tumors in adults with survival period <1.5 years of patients. The role of mTOR pathway is documented in invasion and migration, the features associated with aggressive phenotype in human GBM.

Oncostatin-M differentially regulates mesenchymal and proneural signature genes in gliomas via STAT3 signaling.

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most malignant of the brain tumors is classified on the basis of molecular signature genes using TCGA data into four subtypes- classical, mesenchymal, proneural and neural. The mesenchymal phenotype is associated with greater aggressiveness and low survival in contrast to GBMs enriched with proneural genes. The proinflammatory cytokines secreted in the microenvironment of gliomas play a key role in tumor progression.

Secretory prostate apoptosis response (Par)-4 sensitizes multicellular spheroids (MCS) of glioblastoma multiforme cells to tamoxifen-induced cell death.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant form of brain tumor and is associated with resistance to conventional therapy and poor patient survival. Prostate apoptosis response (Par)-4, a tumor suppressor, is expressed as both an intracellular and secretory/extracellular protein. Though secretory Par-4 induces apoptosis in cancer cells, its potential in drug-resistant tumors remains to be fully explored.

Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL) induces phenotypic and functional characteristics of macrophages in THP-1 cells and human monocytes.

We have previously reported that a fungal lectin, Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL), stimulates proliferation and secretion of Th1/Th2 cytokines in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). In the present study, we evaluated the ability of RBL to differentiate human monocytes to macrophages. RBL induced morphological changes indicative of differentiation in primary monocytes and THP-1 cells.

Expression and regulation of prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) in human glioma stem cells in drug-induced apoptosis.

Gliomas are the most common and aggressive of brain tumors in adults. Cancer stem cells (CSC) contribute to chemoresistance in many solid tumors including gliomas. The function of prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) as a pro-apoptotic protein is well documented in many cancers; however, its role in CSC remains obscure.

Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL) induces caspase-8-mediated apoptosis in human T-cell leukemia cell lines but not in normal CD3 and CD34 positive cells.

We have previously demonstrated immunostimulatory activity of a fungal lectin, Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL), towards normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The present study aimed to explore the anticancer activities of RBL using human leukemic T-cell lines, Molt-4, Jurkat and HuT-78. RBL exhibited significant binding (>90%) to the cell membrane that was effectively inhibited by complex glycoproteins such as mucin (97% inhibition) and asialofetuin (94% inhibition) but not simple sugars such as N-acetyl-D-galactosamine, glucose and sucrose.

CD45-mediated signaling pathway is involved in Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL)-induced proliferation and Th1/Th2 cytokine secretion in human PBMC.

We earlier reported the mitogenic and immunostimulatory activities of Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL), purified from phytopathogenic fungus R. bataticola in human PBMC. The lectin demonstrates specificity towards glycoproteins containing complex N-glycans.