Publications by authors named "Pilar Roca"

Chemoresistance remains a major challenge in the treatment of breast and colorectal cancer. For this reason, finding reliable predictive biomarkers of response to chemotherapy has become a significant research focus in recent years. However, validating in vitro results may be problematic due to the outcome heterogeneity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Early-stage invasive ductal carcinoma displays high survival rates due to early detection and treatments. However, there is still a chance of relapse of 3-15% after treatment. The aim of this study was to uncover the distinctive transcriptomic characteristics and monitoring prognosis potential of peritumoral tissue in early-stage cases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Metformin, a widely used anti-diabetic drug, has garnered attention for its potential in cancer management, particularly in breast and colorectal cancer. It is established that metformin reduces mitochondrial respiration, but its specific molecular targets within mitochondria vary. Proposed mechanisms include inhibiting mitochondrial respiratory chain Complex I and/or Complex IV, and mitochondrial glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, among others.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Alkylphospholipids (APLs) have been studied as anticancer drugs that interfere with biological membranes without targeting DNA. Although their mechanism of action is not fully elucidated yet, it is known that they disrupt the intracellular trafficking of cholesterol and its metabolism. Here, we analyzed whether APLs could also interfere with mitochondrial function.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide and is detected in late stages because of a lack of early and specific biomarkers. Tumors can release extracellular vesicles (EVs), which participate in different functions, such as carrying nucleic acids to target cells; promoting angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis; and preparing an adequate tumor microenvironment. Finally, bowel lavage fluid (BLF) is a rarely used sample that is obtained during colonoscopy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Calorie restriction (CR), defined as a reduction of the total calorie intake of 30% to 60% without malnutrition, is the only nutritional strategy that has been shown to extend lifespan, prevent or delay the onset of age-associated diseases, and delay the functional decline in a wide range of species. However, little is known about the effects of CR when started early in life. We sought to analyze the effects of CR in the skeletal muscle of young Wistar rats.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic inflammation can induce malignant cell transformation, having an important role in all colorectal cancer (CRC) phases. Non-tumor adjacent tissue plays an important role in tumor progression, but its implication in CRC has not yet been fully elucidated. The aim was to analyze the expression of inflammatory, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and metastasis-related proteins in both tumor and non-tumor adjacent tissues from CRC patients by western blot.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Genistein could play a crucial role in modulating three closely linked physiological processes altered during cancer: oxidative stress, mitochondrial biogenesis, and inflammation. However, genistein's role in colorectal cancer remains unclear. We aimed to determine genistein's effects in two colon cancer cells: HT29 and SW620, primary and metastatic cancer cells, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) has recently been introduced as a standard staging technique in endometrial cancer (EC). There are some issues regarding team experience and para-aortic detection.

Objective: to report the accuracy of SLN detection in EC with a dual tracer (ICG and Tc99) and dual injection site (cervix and fundus) during the learning curve.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Most colorectal cancer (CRC) patients die as a consequence of metastasis. Mitochondrial dysfunction could enhance cancer development and metastatic progression. We aimed to evaluate the adaptations associated with mitochondrial function in tumor tissues from stages III and IV of human CRC and whether they could ultimately be used as a therapeutic target in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers with high mortality rates, especially when detected at later stages. Early detection of CRC can substantially raise the 5-year survival rate of patients, and different efforts are being put into developing enhanced CRC screening programs. Currently, the faecal immunochemical test with a follow-up colonoscopy is being implemented for CRC screening.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Xanthohumol (XN) is a prenylated flavonoid known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and has been studied as an anti-cancer agent. In this study, we aimed at analysing the effect of XN on a primary colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line, HT29, on cell viability, inflammatory and antioxidant gene expression, and metabolism. For this purpose, cells were treated with 10 nM and 10 µM XN, and cell viability, HO production, lipid peroxidation and gene expression of inflammatory, antioxidant, and mitochondrial-related genes, as well as protein levels of metabolic enzymes, were determined.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Obesity, a physiological situation where different proinflammatory cytokines and hormones are secreted, is a major risk factor for breast cancer. Mitochondrial functionality exhibits a relevant role in the tumorigenic potential of a cancer cell. In the present study, it has been examined the influence of an obesity-related inflammation ELIT treatment (17β-estradiol, leptin, IL-6, and TNFα), which aims to stimulate the hormonal conditions of a postmenopausal obese woman on the mitochondrial functionality and invasiveness of MCF7 and T47D breast cancer cell lines, which display a different ratio of both estrogen receptor isoforms, ERα and ERβ.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phytoestrogens are a large group of natural compounds found in more than 300 plants. They have a close structural similarity to estrogens, which allow them to bind to both estrogen receptors (ER), ERα and ERβ, presenting a weak estrogenic activity. Phytoestrogens have been described as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic, anti-allergic, and anti-tumoral agents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Selenium is a micronutrient which is found in many foods, with redox status modulation activity. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of two chemical forms of selenoamino acids, Seleno-L-methionine and Seleno-L-cystine (a diselenide derived from selenocysteine), at different concentrations on cell viability, hydrogen peroxide production, antioxidant enzymes, UCP2 protein expression, as well as lipid and protein oxidative damage in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Results showed that Seleno-L-methionine did not cause an increase in hydrogen peroxide production at relatively low concentrations, accompanied by a rise in the antioxidant enzymes catalase and MnSOD, and UCP2 protein expression levels.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Compared to other organs, the brain is especially exposed to oxidative stress. In general, brains from young females tend to present lower oxidative damage in comparison to their male counterparts. This has been attributed to higher antioxidant defenses and a better mitochondrial function in females, which has been linked to neuroprotection in this group.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Antioxidant defences and oxidative stress are related to development, progression and malignancy of colorectal cancer. However, their role in early stages of cancer remains unknown. More and more recent studies have revealed that non-tumour adjacent tissue is not a normal tissue.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The TP53 tumor suppressor gene is the most frequently altered gene in tumors and mutant p53 isoforms can acquire oncogenic properties referred to as gain-of-function (GOF). In this study, we used wild-type (A375) and mutant p53 (MeWo) melanoma cell lines to assess the regulation of the mitochondrial antioxidant manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) by mutant p53. The effects of mutant p53 were evaluated by qPCR, immunoblotting, enzyme activity assay, cell proliferation assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay after cellular transfection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The International Prognostic Index (IPI) is the most widely used score for non-Hodgkin lymphoma but lacks the ability to identify a high-risk population in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Low absolute lymphocyte count and high monocytes have proved to be unfavourable factors. Red-cell distribution width (RDW) has been associated with inflammation and beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) with tumour load.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) is the main mitochondrial deacetylase and targets several crucial enzymes against oxidative stress. Recent reports suggest that SIRT3 could also participate in the quality and quantity control of mitochondria. The aim of this study was to analyze whether SIRT3 silencing in colon cancer cells could affect mitochondrial biogenesis and impair mitochondrial function.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women of developed countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the phytoestrogen genistein on the inflammatory profile in three breast cancer cell lines with different oestrogen receptors alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ) ratio. MCF-7 (high ERα/ERβ ratio), T47D (low ERα/ERβ ratio), and MDA-MB-231 (ERα-negative) cells were treated with 1 µM of genistein for 48 h (cell proliferation and ROS production) or 4 h (mRNA expression of 18S, ERα, ERβ, pS2, Sirtuin1, IL-1β, NF-κB, COX-2, TGFβ1, PPARγ).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Xanthohumol (XN) is a hop-derived prenylflavonoid and have been reported to exhibit anticancer properties in several types of cancer. It presents a great interest against colon cancer due to high exposure of this compound in this tissue. Metastatic SW620 cell line was treated with doses ranging from 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The TP53 tumor suppressor gene is the most frequently altered gene in tumors and mutant p53 gain-of-function isoforms actively promote cancer malignancy.

Methods: A panel of wild-type and mutant p53 cancer cell lines of different tissues, including pancreas, breast, skin, and lung were used, as well as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with different TP53 gene status. The effects of mutant p53 were evaluated by confocal microscopy, reactive oxygen species production assay, immunoblotting, and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction after cellular transfection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of malignant cancer-related morbidity and mortality, with a higher incidence in developed countries and a high mortality rate mainly attributable to metastases. The aim of the present study was to determine the metabolic adaptations related to oxidative stress in tumor tissue from advanced stages (III and IV) of CRC and whether they could be used as potential biomarkers for clinical applications. To tackle this aim, we have analyzed the protein expression levels related to oxidative stress and the enzymatic activities of MnSOD and catalase, comparing samples of non-tumor adjacent tissue and tumor tissue of CRC patients in stages III and IV.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) is the major mitochondria deacetylase and regulates ROS levels by targeting several key proteins, such as those involved in mitochondrial function and antioxidant defenses. This way, SIRT3 balances ROS production and scavenging and promotes cell survival. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of SIRT3 silencing on the antioxidant response in SW620 colon cancer cell line, and whether this intervention could improve efficacy of oxaliplatin, a common drug used to treat colon cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF