Repurposing Artemisinin and its Derivatives as Anticancer Drugs: A Chance or Challenge?

Cancer has become a global health problem, accounting for one out of six deaths. Despite the recent advances in cancer therapy, there is still an ever-growing need for readily accessible new therapies. The process of drug discovery and development is arduous and takes many years, and while it is ongoing, the time for the current lead compounds to reach clinical trial phase is very long.

Bispecific T cell engagers and their synergistic tumor immunotherapy with oncolytic viruses.

Tumor immunotherapy, especially T cell based therapy, is becoming the main force in clinical tumor therapies. Bispecific T cell engager (BiTE) uses the single chain variable fragments (scFv) of two antibodies to redirect T cells to kill target cells. BiTEs for hematologic tumors has been approved for clinical use, and BiTEs for solid tumors showed therapeutic effects in clinical trials.

Could gastrointestinal tumor-initiating cells originate from cell-cell fusion ?

Tumor-initiating cells (TICs) or cancer stem cells are believed to be responsible for gastrointestinal tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, and drug resistance. It is hypothesized that gastrointestinal TICs (giTICs) might originate from cell-cell fusion. Here, we systemically evaluate the evidence that supports or opposes the hypothesis of giTIC generation from cell-cell fusion both and .

Targeting Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1-Mediated Metastasis for Cancer Therapy.

Hypoxia is emerging as a crucial regulator of the tumor microenvironment; it governs the metastatic potential of multiple primary cancers. It is also potentially involved in the regulation of tumorigenesis, tumor metabolism, and proangiogenic activity. A wealth of clinical data across a wide range of cancer types has revealed strong correlations between hypoxia or the overexpression of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors and the rates of distant metastases and poor prognoses.

Identification of 22 Novel Motifs of the Cell Entry Fusion Glycoprotein B of Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Viruses: Sequence Analysis and Literature Review.

Herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) are widely spread throughout the world, causing infections from oral, and genital mucous membrane ulcerations to severe viral encephalitis. Glycoprotein B (gB) was the first HSV envelope glycoprotein identified to induce cell fusion. This glycoprotein initiates viral entry and thereby determines the infectivity of HSV, as well as oncolytic HSV (oHSV).

The Latest Battles Between EGFR Monoclonal Antibodies and Resistant Tumor Cells.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a tyrosine kinase receptor involved in homeostatic regulation of normal cells and carcinogenesis of epithelial malignancies. With rapid development of the precision medicine era, a series of new therapies targeting EGFR are underway. Four EGFR monoclonal antibody drugs (cetuximab, panitumumab, nimotuzumab, and necitumumab) are already on the market, and a dozen other EGFR monoclonal antibodies are in clinical trials.

Dendritic cell biology and its role in tumor immunotherapy.

As crucial antigen presenting cells, dendritic cells (DCs) play a vital role in tumor immunotherapy. Taking into account the many recent advances in DC biology, we discuss how DCs (1) recognize pathogenic antigens with pattern recognition receptors through specific phagocytosis and through non-specific micropinocytosis, (2) process antigens into small peptides with proper sizes and sequences, and (3) present MHC-peptides to CD4 and CD8 T cells to initiate immune responses against invading microbes and aberrant host cells. During anti-tumor immune responses, DC-derived exosomes were discovered to participate in antigen presentation.

Novel transcription regulatory sequences and factors of the immune evasion protein ICP47 (US12) of herpes simplex viruses.

Background: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can cause encephalitis. Its infected cell polypeptide 47 (ICP47), encoded by immediate-early gene US12, promotes immune escape. ICP47 was modified in the clinically approved oncolytic HSV (oHSV) T-Vec.

Correction to: The old CEACAMs find their new role in tumor immunotherapy.

Correction is needed to the original version of this article.

The old CEACAMs find their new role in tumor immunotherapy.

Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecules (CEACAMs) contain 12 family members(CEACAM1、CEACAM3、CEACAM4、CEACAM5、CEACAM6、CEACAM7、CEACAM8、CEACAM16、CEACAM18、CEACAM19、CEACAM20 and CEACAM21)and are expressed diversely in different normal and tumor tissues. CEA (CEACAM5) has been used as a tumor biomarker since 1965. Here we review the latest research and development of the structures, expression, and function of CEACAMs in normal and tumor tissues, and their application in the tumor diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.

Transcriptional Regulation of Latency-Associated Transcripts (LATs) of Herpes Simplex Viruses.

Herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) cause cold sores and genital herpes and can establish lifelong latent infection in neurons. An engineered oncolytic HSV (oHSV) has recently been approved to treat tumors in clinics. HSV latency-associated transcripts (LATs) are associated with the latent infection, but LAT transcriptional regulation was seldom reported.

Insights into Biological Role of LncRNAs in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are versatile regulators of gene expression and play crucial roles in diverse biological processes. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular program that drives plasticity during embryogenesis, wound healing, and malignant progression. Increasing evidence shows that lncRNAs orchestrate multiple cellular processes by modulating EMT in diverse cell types.

Oncolytic herpes simplex virus tumor targeting and neutralization escape by engineering viral envelope glycoproteins.

Oncolytic herpes simplex viruses (oHSVs) have been approved for clinical usage and become more and more popular for tumor virotherapy. However, there are still many issues for the oHSVs used in clinics and clinical trials. The main issues are the limited anti-tumor effects, intratumor injection, and some side effects.

Identification of Putative UL54 (ICP27) Transcription Regulatory Sequences Binding to Oct-1, v-Myb, Pax-6 and Hairy in Herpes Simplex Viruses.

An oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV) has proven amenable in oncolytic virotherapy and was approved to treat melanoma. The immediate-early (IE) protein ICP27 encoded by gene UL54 is essential for HSV infection. Post-transcriptional modification of UL54 would increase tumor targeting of oHSVs.

Interference of neutrophil-platelet interaction by YC-1: a cGMP-dependent manner on heterotypic cell-cell interaction.

N-Formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLP) activated neutrophils and then induced neutrophil-platelet complex formation in co-incubation condition. In addition, fMLP induce intracellular calcium mobilization in platelets, only when it is incubated along with neutrophils. This data established that fMLP-stimulated neutrophils activate platelets.