Publications by authors named "Sepideh Aminzadeh-Gohari"

Article Synopsis
  • Mifepristone (MIF) is a synthetic hormone used for pharmacological abortions and treating certain medical conditions, and the study aimed to create a reliable method to measure MIF and its metabolite (MET) in plasma and tissue samples from mice.
  • The researchers developed a high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method that efficiently extracts and quantifies these substances, with quick run times and high sensitivity.
  • The method demonstrated effective separation and detection limits that could potentially be adapted for human medical research.
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Neuroblastoma (NB) is a childhood cancer in which amplification of the MYCN gene is the most acknowledged marker of poor prognosis. MYCN-amplified NB cells rely on both glycolysis and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) for energy production. Previously, we demonstrated that a ketogenic diet (KD) combined with metronomic cyclophosphamide (CP) delayed tumor growth in MYCN-amplified NB xenografts.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Neuroblastoma (NB) is a tough childhood cancer influenced by various factors, including the YAP/TAZ proteins, which complicate treatment options.
  • - The study found that Verteporfin (VPF), a drug that inhibits YAP/TAZ, effectively reduces the growth of YAP/TAZ-expressing NB cells without harming normal cells, suggesting it targets tumor cells selectively.
  • - Notably, VPF works independently of YAP expression and triggers cell stress and death through the formation of harmful protein complexes, indicating its potential as a promising treatment for NB.
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Aging represents a key risk factor for a plethora of diseases. Targeting detrimental processes which occur during aging, especially before onset of age-related disease, could provide drastic improvements in healthspan. There is increasing evidence that dietary restriction (DR), including caloric restriction, fasting, or fasting-mimicking diets, extend both lifespan and healthspan.

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Background: Growing evidence supports the use of low-carbohydrate/high-fat ketogenic diets as an adjunctive cancer therapy. However, it is unclear which genetic, metabolic, or immunological factors contribute to the beneficial effect of ketogenic diets. Therefore, we investigated the effect of ketogenic diets on the progression and metabolism of genetically and metabolically heterogeneous melanoma xenografts, as well as on the development of melanoma metastases in mice with a functional immune system.

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Melanomas are genetically and metabolically heterogeneous, which influences therapeutic efficacy and contributes to the development of treatment resistance in patients with metastatic disease. Metabolite phenotyping helps to better understand complex metabolic diseases, such as melanoma, and facilitates the development of novel therapies. Our aim was to characterize the tumor and plasma metabolomes of mice bearing genetically different melanoma xenografts.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Research using various methods showed that while melanoma cells have increased glycolysis and OXPHOS, their mitochondria are dysfunctional.
  • * Testing of different drugs revealed that ONC212 is a promising candidate for targeting mitochondrial respiration and inhibiting melanoma cell growth.
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Hürthle cell carcinoma (HCC) is a recurrent subtype of non-medullary thyroid cancer. HCC is characterized by profound whole-chromosome instability (w-CIN), resulting in a near-homozygous genome (NHG), a phenomenon recently attributed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during mitosis by malfunctioning mitochondria. We studied shared metabolic traits during standard and glucose-depleted cell culture in thyroid cancer cell lines (TCCLs), with or without a NHG, using quantitative analysis of extra and intracellular metabolites and ROS production following inhibition of complex III with antimycin A.

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Background: Cancer is one of the greatest public health challenges worldwide, and we still lack complementary approaches to significantly enhance the efficacy of standard anticancer therapies. The ketogenic diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with adequate amounts of protein, appears to sensitize most cancers to standard treatment by exploiting the reprogramed metabolism of cancer cells, making the diet a promising candidate as an adjuvant cancer therapy.

Scope Of Review: To critically evaluate available preclinical and clinical evidence regarding the ketogenic diet in the context of cancer therapy.

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The application of ketogenic diet (KD) (high fat/low carbohydrate/adequate protein) as an auxiliary cancer therapy is a field of growing attention. KD provides sufficient energy supply for healthy cells, while possibly impairing energy production in highly glycolytic tumor cells. Moreover, KD regulates insulin and tumor related growth factors (like insulin growth factor-1, IGF-1).

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The ketogenic diet (KD), a high-fat/low-carbohydrate/adequate-protein diet, has been proposed as a treatment for a variety of diseases, including cancer. KD leads to generation of ketone bodies (KBs), predominantly acetoacetate (AcAc) and 3-hydroxy-butyrate, as a result of fatty acid oxidation. Several studies investigated the antiproliferative effects of lithium acetoacetate (LiAcAc) and sodium 3-hydroxybutyrate on cancer cells in vitro.

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Article Synopsis
  • Even though we have personalized medicine that provides treatments based on individual needs, finding drugs that can work for many types of cancer at once would be a big improvement!
  • This article talks about new ideas and treatment options that focus on how cancer cells use energy from mitochondria, which are like the power plants of our cells!
  • Some older medications, like antibiotics and diabetes drugs, might help stop the growth of different cancers, especially by targeting a process called oxidative phosphorylation!
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Neuroblastoma (NB) is a pediatric malignancy characterized by a marked reduction in aerobic energy metabolism. Recent preclinical data indicate that targeting this metabolic phenotype by a ketogenic diet (KD), especially in combination with calorie restriction, slows tumor growth and enhances metronomic cyclophosphamide (CP) therapy of NB xenografts. Because calorie restriction would be contraindicated in most cancer patients, the aim of the present study was to optimize the KD such that the tumors are sensitized to CP without the need of calorie restriction.

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The ketogenic diet (KD), a high-fat low-carbohydrate diet, has shown some efficacy in the treatment of certain types of tumors such as brain tumors and neuroblastoma. These tumors are characterized by the Warburg effect. Because renal cell carcinoma (RCC) presents similar energetic features as neuroblastoma, KD might also be effective in the treatment of RCC.

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Hypothalamic alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is a key catabolic mediator of energy homeostasis. Its anorexigenic and hypermetabolic effects show characteristic age-related alterations that may be part of the mechanism of middle-aged obesity and geriatric anorexia/cachexia seen in humans and other mammals. We aimed to investigate the role of α-MSH in mitochondrial energy metabolism during the course of aging in a rodent model.

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Background: MYCN-amplification in high-grade Neuroblastoma (NB) tumors correlates with increased vascularization and therapy resistance. This study combines an anti-angiogenic approach with targeting NB metabolism for treatment.

Methods And Results: Metronomic cyclophosphamide (MCP) monotherapy significantly inhibited NB growth and prolonged host survival.

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Introduction: Neuroblastoma is a malignant pediatric cancer derived from neural crest cells. It is characterized by a generalized reduction of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. The goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of calorie restriction and ketogenic diet on neuroblastoma tumor growth and monitor potential adaptive mechanisms of the cancer's oxidative phosphorylation system.

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