Inactive state-selective KRAS(G12C) inhibitors demonstrate a 30-40% response rate and result in approximately 6-month median progression-free survival in patients with lung cancer. The genetic basis for resistance to these first-in-class mutant GTPase inhibitors remains under investigation. Here we evaluated matched pre-treatment and post-treatment specimens from 43 patients treated with the KRAS(G12C) inhibitor sotorasib.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a neurocognitive state between normal cognitive aging and dementia, with evidence of neuropsychological changes but insufficient functional decline to warrant a diagnosis of dementia. Individuals with MCI are at increased risk for progression to dementia; and an appreciable proportion display neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), also a known risk factor for dementia. Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) is thought to be an underdiagnosed contributor to MCI/dementia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKRAS GTPases are activated in one-third of cancers, and KRAS(G12C) is one of the most common activating alterations in lung adenocarcinoma. KRAS(G12C) inhibitors are in phase-I clinical trials and early data show partial responses in nearly half of patients with lung cancer. How cancer cells bypass inhibition to prevent maximal response to therapy is not understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a subset of cells within tumours that exhibit self-renewal properties and the capacity to seed tumours. CSCs are typically refractory to conventional treatments and have been associated to metastasis and relapse. Salinomycin operates as a selective agent against CSCs through mechanisms that remain elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe principles that govern the evolution of tumors exposed to targeted therapy are poorly understood. Here we modeled the selection and propagation of an amplification in the BRAF oncogene (BRAF) in patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDXs) that were treated with a direct inhibitor of the kinase ERK, either alone or in combination with other ERK signaling inhibitors. Single-cell sequencing and multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses mapped the emergence of extra-chromosomal amplification in parallel evolutionary trajectories that arose in the same tumor shortly after treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe paradigm of cancer stem cells (CSCs) defines the existence of cells exhibiting self-renewal and tumor-seeding capacity. These cells have been associated with tumor relapse and are typically resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic agents. Over the past decade, chemical biology studies have revealed a significant number of small molecules able to alter the proliferation of these cells in various settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnthracyclines such as doxorubicin are used extensively in the treatment of cancers. Anthraquinone-related angucyclines also exhibit antiproliferative properties and have been proposed to operate via similar mechanisms, including direct genome targeting. Here, we report the chemical synthesis of marmycin A and the study of its cellular activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGinsenoside F2 (F2) was assessed for its antiproliferative activity against breast cancer stem cells (CSCs). F2 induced apoptosis in breast CSCs by activating the intrinsic apoptotic pathway and mitochondrial dysfunction. Concomitantly, F2 induced the formation of acidic vesicular organelles, recruitment of GFP-LC3-II to autophagosomes, and elevation of Atg-7 levels, suggesting that F2 initiates an autophagic progression in breast CSCs.
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