Limiting serine availability during tumor progression promotes muscle wasting in cancer cachexia.

Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterized by a progressive loss of body weight occurring in about 80% of cancer patients, frequently representing the leading cause of death. Dietary intervention is emerging as a promising therapeutic strategy to counteract cancer-induced wasting. Serine is the second most-consumed amino acid (AA) by cancer cells and has emerged to be strictly necessary to preserve skeletal muscle structure and functionality.

Development of High-Loading Trastuzumab PLGA Nanoparticles: A Powerful Tool Against HER2 Positive Breast Cancer Cells.

Background: Trastuzumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody directed against HER2, is routinely used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer with a good response rate. However, concerns have arisen in the clinical practice due to adverse side effects. One way to overcome these limitations is to encapsulate trastuzumab in nanoparticles to improve cytotoxic activity, increase intracellular drug concentrations, escape the immune system and avoid systemic degradation of the drug in vivo.

Quercetin's Dual Mode of Action to Counteract the Sp1-miR-27a Axis in Colorectal Cancer Cells.

Quercetin (Qc) inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells. The molecular mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated; however, interplay with some miRNAs has been reported, specifically with miR-27a, an onco-miRNA overexpressed in several malignancies. Here, we show that Qc reduces cell viability and induces apoptosis in HCT116 and HT-29 colon cancer cells, by upregulating negative modulators of proliferation pathways such as Sprouty2, PTEN and SFRP1.

Transcriptomic Analysis of Colorectal Cancer Cells Treated with Oil Production Waste Products (OPWPs) Reveals Enrichment of Pathways of Mitochondrial Functionality.

Oil production waste products (OPWPs) derive from olive mill and represent a crucial environmental problem due to their high polyphenolic content able to pollute the ground. One option to reduce the OPWPs' environmental impact is to exploit polyphenols' biological properties. We sought to analyze the transcriptomic variations of colorectal cancer cells exposed to the OPWPs extracts and hydroxytyrosol, the major component, to recognize unknown and ill-defined characteristics.

SHMT2-mediated mitochondrial serine metabolism drives 5-FU resistance by fueling nucleotide biosynthesis.

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a key component of chemotherapy for colorectal cancer (CRC). 5-FU efficacy is established by intracellular levels of folate cofactors and DNA damage repair strategies. However, drug resistance still represents a major challenge.