Enantioselective Total Synthesis of Cotylenin A.

A convergent enantioselective total synthesis of cotylenin A is described. The A-ring fragment, prepared via the catalytic asymmetric intramolecular cyclopropanation developed in our laboratory, and the C-ring fragment, prepared from a known chiral compound via a modified acyl radical cyclization, were successfully assembled by the Utimoto coupling reaction. The formidable carbocyclic eight-membered ring of cotylenin A was efficiently constructed by a palladium-mediated cyclization.

NKX2-1/TITF1/TTF-1-Induced ROR1 is required to sustain EGFR survival signaling in lung adenocarcinoma.

We and others previously identified NKX2-1, also known as TITF1 and TTF-1, as a lineage-survival oncogene in lung adenocarcinomas. Here we show that NKX2-1 induces the expression of the receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1), which in turn sustains a favorable balance between prosurvival PI3K-AKT and pro-apoptotic p38 signaling, in part through ROR1 kinase-dependent c-Src activation, as well as kinase activity-independent sustainment of the EGFR-ERBB3 association, ERBB3 phosphorylation, and consequential PI3K activation. Notably, ROR1 knockdown effectively inhibited lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, irrespective of their EGFR status, including those with resistance to the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib.

Proteasomal non-catalytic subunit PSMD2 as a potential therapeutic target in association with various clinicopathologic features in lung adenocarcinomas.

We previously identified PSMD2, a subunit of the 19S regulatory complex of proteasomes, as a constituent of a signature associated with the acquisition of metastatic phenotype and poor prognosis in lung cancers. In the present study, we found that knockdown of PSMD2 decreased proteasome activity, and induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in lung cancer cell lines. These effects of siRNA-mediated PSMD2 inhibition were associated with changes in the balance between phosphorylated AKT and p38, as well as with induction of p21.