Crucial role of the NSE1 RING domain in Smc5/6 stability and FANCM-independent fork progression.

The Smc5/6 complex is a highly conserved molecular machine involved in the maintenance of genome integrity. While its functions largely depend on restraining the fork remodeling activity of Mph1 in yeast, the presence of an analogous Smc5/6-FANCM regulation in humans remains unknown. We generated human cell lines harboring mutations in the NSE1 subunit of the Smc5/6 complex.

Metformin exhibits antineoplastic effects on Pten-deficient endometrial cancer by interfering with TGF-β and p38/ERK MAPK signalling.

Metformin is a widespread antidiabetic agent that is commonly used as a treatment against type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Regarding its therapeutic potential, multiple studies have concluded that Metformin exhibits antineoplastic activity on several types of cancer, including endometrial carcinoma. Although Metformin's antineoplastic activity is well documented, its cellular and molecular anticancer mechanisms are still a matter of controversy because a plethora of anticancer mechanisms have been proposed for different cancer cell types.

In Vivo Intra-Uterine Delivery of TAT-Fused Cre Recombinase and CRISPR/Cas9 Editing System in Mice Unveil Histopathology of Pten/p53-Deficient Endometrial Cancers.

Phosphatase and TENsin homolog (Pten) and p53 are two of the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor genes in endometrial cancer. However, the functional consequences and histopathological manifestation of concomitant p53 and Pten loss of function alterations in the development of endometrial cancer is still controversial. Here, it is demonstrated that simultaneous Pten and p53 deletion is sufficient to cause epithelial to mesenchymal transition phenotype in endometrial organoids.

The ERK5/NF-κB signaling pathway targets endometrial cancer proliferation and survival.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common type of gynecologic cancer in women of developed countries. Despite surgery combined with chemo-/radiotherapy regimens, overall survival of patients with high-risk EC tumors is poor, indicating a need for novel therapies. The MEK5-ERK5 pathway is activated in response to growth factors and to different stressors, including oxidative stress and cytokines.

Lack of extracellular matrix switches TGF-β induced apoptosis of endometrial cells to epithelial to mesenchymal transition.

The extracellular matrix and the correct establishment of epithelial cell polarity plays a critical role in epithelial cell homeostasis and cell polarity. In addition, loss of tissue structure is a hallmark of carcinogenesis. In this study, we have addressed the role of extracellular matrix in the cellular responses to TGF-β.

Antitumor Effects of Ral-GTPases Downregulation in Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common tumor in the central nervous system in adults. This neoplasia shows a high capacity of growth and spreading to the surrounding brain tissue, hindering its complete surgical resection. Therefore, the finding of new antitumor therapies for GBM treatment is a priority.

Elimination of Vitamin D Signaling Causes Increased Mortality in a Model of Overactivation of the Insulin Receptor: Role of Lipid Metabolism.

Vitamin D (VD) deficiency has been associated with cancer and diabetes. Insulin signaling through the insulin receptor (IR) stimulates cellular responses by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway. PTEN is a tumor suppressor and a negative regulator of the pathway.

Endometrial PTEN Deficiency Leads to SMAD2/3 Nuclear Translocation.

TGF-β has a dichotomous function, acting as tumor suppressor in premalignant cells but as a tumor promoter for cancerous cells. These contradictory functions of TGF-β are caused by different cellular contexts, including both intracellular and environmental determinants. The TGF-β/SMAD and the PI3K/PTEN/AKT signal transduction pathways have an important role in the regulation of epithelial cell homeostasis and perturbations in either of these two pathways' contributions to endometrial carcinogenesis.

ENDOG Impacts on Tumor Cell Proliferation and Tumor Prognosis in the Context of PI3K/PTEN Pathway Status.

EndoG influences mitochondrial DNA replication and is involved in somatic cell proliferation. Here, we investigated the effect of expression on proliferation in different tumor models. Noteworthy, deficiency reduced proliferation of endometrial tumor cells expressing low PTEN/high -AKT levels, and deletion blunted the growth of PTEN-deficient 3D endometrial cultures.

Involvement of the mitochondrial nuclease EndoG in the regulation of cell proliferation through the control of reactive oxygen species.

The apoptotic nuclease EndoG is involved in mitochondrial DNA replication. Previous results suggested that, in addition to regulate cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, EndoG could be involved in cell proliferation. Here, by using in vivo and cell culture models, we investigated the role of EndoG in cell proliferation.

T-Type Calcium Channels as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Vemurafenib-Resistant BRAF Melanoma.

Melanoma is a malignant neoplasia that is highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is associated with poor prognosis in advanced stage. Targeting melanoma that harbors the common BRAF mutation with kinase inhibitors, such as vemurafenib, reduces tumor burden, but these tumors frequently acquire resistance to these drugs. We previously proposed that T-type calcium channel (TTCC) expression may serve as a biomarker for melanoma progression and prognosis, and we showed that TTCC blockers reduce migration and invasion rates because of autophagy blockade only in BRAF-mutant melanoma cells.

Cytoplasmic cyclin D1 regulates glioblastoma dissemination.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly invasive brain neoplasia with an elevated recurrence rate after surgical resection. The cyclin D1 (Ccnd1)/Cdk4-retinoblastoma 1 (RB1) axis is frequently altered in GBM, leading to overproliferation by RB1 deletion or by Ccnd1-Cdk4 overactivation. High levels of Ccnd1-Cdk4 also promote GBM cell invasion by mechanisms that are not so well understood.

Tumor suppressive function of E2F-1 on PTEN-induced serrated colorectal carcinogenesis.

Many human cancers present Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) deficiency and between 20 and 30% of colorectal tumors show PTEN loss. The transcription factor, E2 promoter binding factor 1 (E2F-1), exhibits tumor promoter or suppressive functions depending on cellular type and tissue context, but its role in the progression and development of colorectal carcinogenesis was largely unknown. Here, using a tamoxifen-inducible PTEN knockout mouse model, we have demonstrated that loss of PTEN leads to the development of colorectal tumorigenesis through the serrated pathway.

Palbociclib has antitumour effects on Pten-deficient endometrial neoplasias.

PTEN is one of the most frequently mutated genes in human cancers. The frequency of PTEN alterations is particularly high in endometrial carcinomas. Loss of PTEN leads to dysregulation of cell division, and promotes the accumulation of cell cycle complexes such as cyclin D1-CDK4/6, which is an important feature of the tumour phenotype.

Autophagy orchestrates adaptive responses to targeted therapy in endometrial cancer.

Targeted therapies in endometrial cancer (EC) using kinase inhibitors rarely result in complete tumor remission and are frequently challenged by the appearance of refractory cell clones, eventually resulting in disease relapse. Dissecting adaptive mechanisms is of vital importance to circumvent clinical drug resistance and improve the efficacy of targeted agents in EC. Sorafenib is an FDA-approved multitarget tyrosine and serine/threonine kinase inhibitor currently used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, advanced renal carcinoma and radioactive iodine-resistant thyroid carcinoma.

Endometrial Carcinoma: Specific Targeted Pathways.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the western world with more than 280,000 cases per year worldwide. Prognosis for EC at early stages, when primary surgical resection is the most common initial treatment, is excellent. Five-year survival rate is around 70 %.

Effects of the multikinase inhibitors Sorafenib and Regorafenib in PTEN deficient neoplasias.

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) axis is frequently dysregulated in cancer due to mutations in different nodes of the pathway or constitutive activation of receptor tyrosine kinases. Multikinase inhibitors as sorafenib and regorafenib represent a therapeutic approach for the treatment of these types of tumours. In the present study, we have evaluated the anti-tumoural effects of Sorafenib and Regorafenib on endometrial, prostate and thyroid neoplasias.

Biological Effects of Temsirolimus on the mTOR Pathway in Endometrial Carcinoma: A Pharmacodynamic Phase II Study.

Objective: The PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is frequently aberrantly activated in endometrial carcinoma (EC). Temsirolimus is an mTOR inhibitor that has shown clinical activity in EC. We aimed to characterize the biological effects on mTOR pathway of temsirolimus in treatment-naive patients with primary EC, and to identify potential biomarkers associated with a short-term exposure to temsirolimus.

Cytoplasmic cyclin D1 regulates cell invasion and metastasis through the phosphorylation of paxillin.

Cyclin D1 (Ccnd1) together with its binding partner Cdk4 act as a transcriptional regulator to control cell proliferation and migration, and abnormal Ccnd1·Cdk4 expression promotes tumour growth and metastasis. While different nuclear Ccnd1·Cdk4 targets participating in cell proliferation and tissue development have been identified, little is known about how Ccnd1·Cdk4 controls cell adherence and invasion. Here, we show that the focal adhesion component paxillin is a cytoplasmic substrate of Ccnd1·Cdk4.

Characterization of cytoplasmic cyclin D1 as a marker of invasiveness in cancer.

Cyclin D1 (Ccnd1) is a proto-oncogen amplified in many different cancers and nuclear accumulation of Ccnd1 is a characteristic of tumor cells. Ccnd1 activates the transcription of a large set of genes involved in cell cycle progress and proliferation. However, Ccnd1 also targets cytoplasmic proteins involved in the regulation of cell migration and invasion.

2-phenylethynesulphonamide (PFT-μ) enhances the anticancer effect of the novel hsp90 inhibitor NVP-AUY922 in melanoma, by reducing GSH levels.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs), are molecular chaperones that assist the proper folding of nascent proteins. This study aims to evaluate the antitumour effects of the hsp90 inhibitor NVP-AUY922 in melanoma, both in vitro and in vivo. Our results show that NVP-AUY922 inhibits melanoma cell growth in vitro, with down regulation of multiple signalling pathways involved in melanoma progression such as NF-ĸB and MAPK/ERK.

Deletion of Pten in CD45-expressing cells leads to development of T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma but not myeloid malignancies.

Since its discovery in the late 1990s, Pten has turned out to be one of the most important tumor suppressor genes. Pten loss results in increased activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway, which is associated with increased proliferation, survival, and neoplastic growth. Here, we have addressed the effects of conditional deletion of Pten in hematopoietic cells by crossing Pten conditional knockout mice with a knock-in mouse expressing the Cre recombinase in the CD45 locus.

Bioluminescence Imaging to Monitor the Effects of the Hsp90 Inhibitor NVP-AUY922 on NF-κB Pathway in Endometrial Cancer.

Purpose: In this study, we first aimed to evaluate the effects in vitro and in vivo, of the Hsp90 inhibitor NVP-AUY922, in endometrial cancer (EC). We also aimed to track nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signalling, a key pathway involved in endometrial carcinogenesis and to check whether NVP-AUY922 treatment modulates it both in vitro and in vivo.

Procedures: I n vitro effects of NVP-AUY922 on EC cell growth and the signalling pathways were assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), clonogenic assays, Western Blot and luciferase assay.