Cancer Lett
September 2025
Tumor protein 53 (TP53)-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by poor outcomes and the quick development of treatment resistance. Here, we report that simultaneous inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) with dinaciclib and CAY10603, respectively, eliminates the therapeutic response gap between TP53-mutant and TP53 wild-type AML. Biochemical profiling showed that CAY10603 is not only HDAC6-selective but also exhibits pan-HDAC activity similar to suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, enabling dual targeting of transcriptional and cell cycle pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeritoneal fibrosis is a pathological alteration of the peritoneal membrane occurring in pro-inflammatory conditions, including peritoneal dialysis (PD), a renal replacement therapy. Characteristic of this process is the acquisition of invasive/pro-fibrotic abilities by mesothelial cells (MCs) through induction of mesothelial to mesenchymal transition (MMT), a cell-specific form of EMT. Long noncoding (lnc) RNAs act as major players in physiologic regulatory circuitries of the cell.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistone deacetylase (HDAC) impairment is strongly related to various cancers as well as neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases. Considering HDACs' crucial role as drug targets, over the past decade, the development of HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) has gained significant interest in the pharmaceutical field. To date, five HDAC inhibitors have been approved by the FDA, and many are currently in clinical trials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Sirtuins (SIRTs) play a critical role in redox and metabolic regulation of the myocardium; however, the cardioprotective potential of SIRT5 in terms of infarct size (IS) reduction is still elusive. Herein, we employed the newly synthesized SIRT5-specific agonist, MC3215, developed by our group, to explore for the first time the pharmacological activation of SIRT5 as a target for cardioprotection.
Methods And Results: In in vitro screening experiments, SIRT1 and SIRT5 agonists, namely, MC2606 and MC3215, at 1-20 μΜ were added to cardiomyoblasts (H9c2) and human endothelial cells (EA.
infections remain a major public health issue mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. While Praziquantel is the primary treatment for schistosomiasis, its limitations include resistance development and poor efficacy against juvenile worms. Given the biological similarities between tumor and parasite-infected cells, LSD1 inhibitors─primarily explored as anticancer agents─have been investigated for their antiparasitic potential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis
October 2025
Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1), a class III histone deacetylase, is a key regulator of gene expression in various immune cell types, including neutrophils, during infection and acute inflammation. Herein, we studied the effect of the Sirt1 activator (SRT2183) and inhibitor (EX527) on the neutrophil pools in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL), lung, blood and bone marrow (BM) in mild and severe influenza A virus (IAV) infection. We defined the correlation between parameters characteristic for neutrophil migration, their functional state and the infection-induced lung injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Antimicrob Chemother
July 2025
Objectives: To develop a multiplex RT-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assay to quantify sex-specific Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte transcripts (pfCCp4, pfMGET), for evaluating the impact of drug treatments on gametocyte viability for malaria transmission-blocking drug development.
Methods: We optimized an RT-qPCR assay incorporating a normalization transcript to use the ΔΔCt method (differences in Cycle threshold) to quantify gametocyte transcript levels. The assay was used on ex vivo gametocytes from P.
The alteration of the lysine acetyltransferase activity and protein-protein interactions of the transcriptional co-activators CREB-binding protein (CBP) and p300 is linked to the development of both solid and hematological cancers. To target both functions of CBP/p300, two PROTAC-based chemical degraders are developed by linking the CBP/p300 catalytic inhibitor C646 and the Cereblon (CRBN) ligand thalidomide via polyethylene glycol-based linkers. Both compounds exhibit submicromolar inhibition of CBP/p300 and decrease their levels in the SU-DHL-10 lymphoma cell line at low-micromolar concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Proximity-inducing compounds promote protein-protein interactions by bringing proteins into close spatial alignment. Among them, targeted protein degradation (TPD) compounds are noteworthy for their potential to target previously 'undruggable' proteins. Native mass spectrometry (nMS), a technique that enables the detection of non-covalent interactions, is emerging as a key tool for studying compound-induced ternary complex formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe accumulation of senescent cells contributes to aging and related diseases; therefore, discovering safe senolytic agents-compounds that selectively eliminate senescent cells-is a critical priority. Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitors (HSP90i), traditionally investigated for cancer treatment, have shown potential as senolytic agents. However, inhibitors face formulation, toxicity, and cost challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSince the emergence of AIDS, the non-nucleoside HIV-1 RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) have attracted the attention of scientists and clinicians due to their high potency and specificity combined with low toxicity. 3,4-Dihydro-2-alkoxy-6-benzyl-4-oxopyrimidines (DABOs) are a family of NNRTIs described since 1992, and the best members among -, , and ,-DABOs showed high anti-HIV-1 potency in both cellular and enzymatic assays. During 30 years of research, the central 4-(3)-pyrimidinone nucleus has been decorated with 2,6-dihaloaryl or cyclohexyl groups at the methylene at C6, alkyl- or (arylalkyl/aroylalkyl)thio/amino chains at C2, and hydrogen or a small alkyl group at C5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNADPH oxidases (NOXs) are enzymes dedicated to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and are implicated in cancer, neuroinflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases. VAS2870 is a covalent inhibitor of mainly NOX2 and NOX5. It alkylates a conserved active-site cysteine, blocking productive substrate binding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Pharmacol Transl Sci
December 2024
FTO, an -methyladenosine (mA) and ,2'--dimethyladenosine (mA) RNA demethylase, is a promising target for treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) due to the significant anticancer activity of its inhibitors in preclinical models. Here, we demonstrate that the FTO inhibitor FB23-2 suppresses proliferation across both AML and CML cell lines, irrespective of FTO dependency, indicating an alternative mechanism of action. Metabolomic analysis revealed that FB23-2 induces the accumulation of dihydroorotate (DHO), a key intermediate in pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis catalyzed by human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDNA methylation, as exemplified by cytosine-C5 methylation in mammals and adenine-N6 methylation in bacteria, is a key epigenetic process. Developing non-nucleoside inhibitors to cause DNA hypomethylation is crucial for treating various conditions without the toxicities associated with existing cytidine-based hypomethylating agents. This study characterized fifteen quinoline-based analogs, particularly compounds with additions like a methylamine (9) or methylpiperazine (11), which demonstrate similar low micromolar inhibitory potency against human DNMT1 and Clostridioides difficile CamA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe sirtuin family comprises seven NAD-dependent enzymes which catalyze protein lysine deacylation and mono ADP-ribosylation. Sirtuins act as central regulators of genomic stability and gene expression and control key processes, including energetic metabolism, cell cycle, differentiation, apoptosis, and aging. As a result, all sirtuins play critical roles in cellular homeostasis and organism wellness, and their dysregulation has been linked to metabolic, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadiotherapy (RT) plays a critical role in the management of rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the prevalent soft tissue sarcoma in childhood. The high risk PAX3-FOXO1 fusion-positive subtype (FP-RMS) is often resistant to RT. We have recently demonstrated that inhibition of class-I histone deacetylases (HDACs) radiosensitizes FP-RMS both in vitro and in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRNA can directly control protein activity in a process called riboregulation; only a few mechanisms of riboregulation have been described in detail, none of which have been characterized on structural grounds. Here, we present a comprehensive structural, functional, and phylogenetic analysis of riboregulation of cytosolic serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT1), the enzyme interconverting serine and glycine in one-carbon metabolism. We have determined the cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of human SHMT1 in its free- and RNA-bound states, and we show that the RNA modulator competes with polyglutamylated folates and acts as an allosteric switch, selectively altering the enzyme's reactivity vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceuticals (Basel)
June 2024
Cancer cells modulate their metabolism, creating an acidic microenvironment that, in turn, can favor tumor progression and chemotherapy resistance. Tumor cells adopt strategies to survive a drop in extracellular pH (pHe). In the present manuscript, we investigated the contribution of mitochondrial sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) to the adaptation and survival of cancer cells to a low pHe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpitranscriptomics represents a further layer of gene expression regulation. Specifically, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) regulates RNA maturation, stability, degradation, and translation. Regarding microRNAs (miRNAs), while it has been reported that m6A impacts their biogenesis, the functional effects on mature miRNAs remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer is one of the primary causes of mortality worldwide. Despite nowadays are numerous therapeutic treatments to fight tumor progression, it is still challenging to completely overcome it. It is known that Histone Deacetylases (HDACs), epigenetic enzymes that remove acetyl groups from lysines on histone's tails, are overexpressed in various types of cancer, and their inhibition represents a valid therapeutic strategy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntituberculosis drugs, mostly developed over 60 years ago, combined with a poorly effective vaccine, have failed to eradicate tuberculosis. More worryingly, multiresistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) are constantly emerging. Innovative strategies are thus urgently needed to improve tuberculosis treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: DNA methylation, as exemplified by cytosine-C5 methylation in mammals and adenine-N6 methylation in bacteria, is a crucial epigenetic mechanism driving numerous vital biological processes. Developing non-nucleoside inhibitors to cause DNA hypomethylation is a high priority, in order to treat a variety of significant medical conditions without the toxicities associated with existing cytidine-based hypomethylating agents. In this study, we have characterized fifteen quinoline-based analogs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer stem cells (CSCs) are a niche of highly tumorigenic cells featuring self-renewal, activation of pluripotency genes, multidrug resistance, and ability to cause cancer relapse. Seven HDACi (1-7), showing either hydroxamate or 2'-aminoanilide function, were tested in colorectal cancer (CRC) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) CSCs to determine their effects on cell proliferation, H3 acetylation levels and in-cell HDAC activity. Two uracil-based hydroxamates, 5 and 6, which differ in substitution at C5 and C6 positions of the pyrimidine ring, exhibited the greatest cytotoxicity in GBM (5) and CRC (6) CSCs, followed by the pyridine-hydroxamate 2, with 2- to 6-fold higher potency than the positive control SAHA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF