HIV-1 exploits Hes-1 expression during pre-existing HPV-16 infection for cancer progression.

Unlabelled: High Risk Human Papilloma Viruses (HR-HPV) persistently infect women with Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1). HPV-16 escapes immune surveillance in HIV-1 positive women receiving combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). HIV-1 Tat and HPV E6/E7 proteins exploit Notch signaling.

Prostate Apoptosis Response-4 (Par-4): A Novel Target in Pyronaridine-Induced Apoptosis in Glioblastoma (GBM) Cells.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive form of brain tumor with a median survival of approximately 12 months. With no new drugs in the last few decades and limited success in clinics for known therapies, drug repurposing is an attractive choice for its treatment. Here, we examined the efficacy of pyronaridine (PYR), an anti-malarial drug in GBM cells.

Sclerotium rolfsii lectin induces opposite effects on normal PBMCs and leukemic Molt-4 cells by recognising TF antigen and its variants as receptors.

Sclerotium rolfsii lectin (SRL) exerts apoptotic effect against various cancer cells and an antitumor activity on mice with colon and breast cancer xenografts. The current study aimed to explore its exquisite carbohydrate specificity on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and leukemic T-cells. SRL, showed strong binding (>98%) to resting/activated PBMCs, leukemic Molt-4 and Jurkat cell lines.

Hemozoin-induced activation of human monocytes toward M2-like phenotype is partially reversed by antimalarial drugs-chloroquine and artemisinin.

Plasmodium falciparum malaria is the most severe form of malaria with several complications. The malaria pigment-hemozoin (Hz) is associated with severe anemia, cytokine dysfunction, and immunosuppression, thus making it an interesting target for developing new strategies for antimalarial therapy. Monocytes (MO) in circulation actively ingest Hz released by Plasmodium parasites and secrete pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.

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.

Sclerotium rolfsii lectin induces stronger inhibition of proliferation in human breast cancer cells than normal human mammary epithelial cells by induction of cell apoptosis.

Sclerotium rolfsii lectin (SRL) isolated from the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotium rolfsii has exquisite binding specificity towards O-linked, Thomsen-Freidenreich (Galβ1-3GalNAcα1-Ser/Thr, TF) associated glycans. This study investigated the influence of SRL on proliferation of human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and ZR-75), non-tumorigenic breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A) and normal mammary epithelial cells (HMECs). SRL caused marked, dose-dependent, inhibition of proliferation of MCF-7 and ZR-75 cells but only weak inhibition of proliferation of non-tumorigenic MCF-10A and HMEC cells.

Gene expression analysis of laminin-1-induced neurite outgrowth in human mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow.

The mechanisms underlying the differentiation of Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) toward neuronal cell type are not clearly understood. Earlier, we reported that laminin-1 induces neurite outgrowth in human MSCs via c-Jun/AP-1 activation through ERK, JNK, and Akt pathways. In this study, we demonstrate that laminin-1 increases the expression of proneural gene, neuroD1 and induces the expression of immediate-early biomarkers of neuronal cell-programming-Egr1, Egr3, PC3, and PC4.

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.

Sodium valproate potentiates staurosporine-induced apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells via Akt/survivin independently of HDAC inhibition.

Sodium valproate (VPA) has been recently identified as a selective class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor and explored for its potential as an anti-cancer agent. The anti-cancer properties of VPA are generally attributed to its HDAC inhibitory activity indicating a clear overlap of these two actions, but the underlying mechanisms of its anti-tumor effects are not clearly elucidated. The present study aimed to delineate the molecular mechanism of VPA in potentiating cytotoxic effects of anti-cancer drugs with focus on inhibition of HDAC activity.

Geraniin and amariin, ellagitannins from Phyllanthus amarus, protect liver cells against ethanol induced cytotoxicity.

Ethanol mediated free radical generation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of liver injuries and alcoholic liver diseases. In the present study two ellagitannins namely geraniin and amariin isolated from Phyllanthus amarus were examined for their ability to protect mouse liver slices against ethanol induced toxicity and possible mechanism of its protection. Oxidative stress markers such as, lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl formation, amount of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine and antioxidant enzymes levels were measured using specific biochemical assays.

The TF-antigen binding lectin from Sclerotium rolfsii inhibits growth of human colon cancer cells by inducing apoptosis in vitro and suppresses tumor growth in vivo.

Glycan array analysis of Sclerotium rolfsii lectin (SRL) revealed its exquisite binding specificity to the oncofetal Thomsen-Friedenreich (Galβ1-3GalNAcα-O-Ser/Thr, T or TF) antigen and its derivatives. This study shows that SRL strongly inhibits the growth of human colon cancer HT29 and DLD-1 cells by binding to cell surface glycans and induction of apoptosis through both the caspase-8 and -9 mediated signaling. SRL showed no or very weak binding to normal human colon tissues but strong binding to cancerous and metastatic tissues.

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.

Development of energetic pharmacophore for the designing of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine derivatives as selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors.

We present here the Energetic pharmacophore model representing complementary features of the 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine for selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibition. For the development of pharmacophore hypothesis, a total of 43 previously reported compounds were docked on active site of COX-2 enzyme. The generated pharmacophore features were ranked using energetic terms of Glide XP docking for 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine scaffold to optimize its structure requirement for COX-2 inhibition.

c-Jun/AP-1 transcription factor regulates laminin-1-induced neurite outgrowth in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells: role of multiple signaling pathways.

In this study, we demonstrated that laminin-1 (LM-1) induces neurite outgrowth and enhances the expression of neurofilament-L and MAP2 in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The c-Jun transcription factor was strongly activated by LM-1 during neurite induction. Suppression of c-Jun inhibited the expression of the c-Jun target genes α6 integrin and neurofilament-L, resulting in the loss of neurite outgrowth.

Rictor regulates MMP-9 activity and invasion through Raf-1-MEK-ERK signaling pathway in glioma cells.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and highly aggressive type of primary brain tumor. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) secrete TNF-α that activates important survival pathways including Akt (PKB)/mTOR network. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) network functions downstream of PI3K/Akt pathway to regulate cell growth, proliferation and survival.

Magnetite/CdTe magnetic-fluorescent composite nanosystem for magnetic separation and bio-imaging.

A new synthesis protocol is described to obtain a CdTe decorated magnetite bifunctional nanosystem via dodecylamine (DDA) as cross linker. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and fluorescence microscopy are used to characterize the constitution, size, composition and physical properties of these superparamagnetic-fluorescent nanoparticles. These CdTe decorated magnetite nanoparticles were then functionalized with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody to specifically target cells expressing this receptor.

Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL) induces mitogenesis and cytokine production in human PBMC via p38 MAPK and STAT-5 signaling pathways.

Background: Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL), purified from phytopathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia bataticola is highly mitogenic towards human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The lectin has sugar specificity towards N-glycans and binds to glycoproteins containing complex N-glycans (Nagre et al., Glycoconj J.