Cancer Lett
October 2025
Calcium ions (Ca) act as important intracellular second messengers and play a key role in cellular physiological functions and signal transduction. Ca significantly affects the biological behavior of tumor cells by regulating mechanisms, such as cytoskeleton reorganization, cell migration, invasion, and immune escape. Although research on calcium homeostasis in tumor progression and metastasis was historically limited, it has recently received widespread attention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadiation-induced liver disease (RILD) severely impairs the outcome of patients receiving irradiation (IR); however, its underlying mechanism remains unknown. GSDMD drives the progression of pyroptosis, and can be induced by IR in the gut and bone marrow, but its role in RILD remains unknown. Here we show that GSDMD is significantly upregulated and positively correlated with RILD severity in a mouse model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) cells endure survival challenges, including treatment-induced ferroptosis. While adaptation to ferroptosis stress facilitates metastasis, reciprocal regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here, a CRISPR-Cas9 screen identifies N-acetylneuraminate synthase (NANS) as a ferroptosis promoter in CRC, regardless of its metabolic function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetastasis is the primary cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Hypoxia is a hallmark of solid tumors that promotes cellular metabolic adaptation and dissemination. However, the mechanisms linking hypoxia-regulated metabolic adaptation to CRC metastasis remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Colorectal cancer (CRC) presents significant treatment challenges due to its high heterogeneity and complex intercellular interactions. Further exploration of CRC subtypes and interactions among tumor-specific clusters will facilitate the development of personalized treatment strategies.
Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing and bulk RNA sequencing datasets were integrated to determine CRC metabolic subtypes by hierarchical clustering.
Aberrant activation of IL-18 signaling regulates tumor immune evasion and progression. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we report that long-chain acyl-CoA synthase 6 (ACSL6) is highly expressed in liver cancer and correlated with poor prognosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHolometabolous insects undergo morphological remodeling from larvae to pupae and to adults with typical changes in the cuticle; however, the mechanism is unclear. Using the lepidopteran agricultural insect Helicoverpa armigera, cotton bollworm, as a model, we revealed that the transcription factor RUNT-like (encoded by Runt-like) regulates the development of the pupal cuticle via promoting a pupal cuticle protein gene (HaPcp) expression. The HaPcp was highly expressed in the epidermis and wing during metamorphosis and was found being involved in pupal cuticle development by RNA interference (RNAi) analysis in larvae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe fat body of the holometabolous insect is remodeled by the degradation of the larval fat body and the development of the adult fat body during metamorphosis. However, the mechanism of adult fat body development is quite unclear. Using the agricultural pest Helicoverpa armigera, the cotton bollworm, as a model, we revealed that the development of adult fat body was regulated by glycolysis, triglyceride (triacylglycerol [TAG]) synthesis, cell proliferation, and cell adhesion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemotherapy resistance remains a major challenge in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Therefore, it is crucial to develop novel strategies to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy. Here, the fringe family is screened to determine their contribution to chemotherapy resistance in CRC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer metabolism mainly includes carbohydrate, amino acid and lipid metabolism, each of which can be reprogrammed. These processes interact with each other to adapt to the complicated microenvironment. Ferroptosis is a regulated cell death induced by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, which is morphologically different from apoptosis, necrosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, autophagy-dependent cell death and cuprotosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite the remarkable clinical success of immunotherapy and molecular targeted therapy in patients with advanced tumors, chemotherapy remains the most commonly used treatment for most tumor patients. Chemotherapy drugs effectively inhibit tumor cell proliferation and survival through their remarkable mechanisms. However, tumor cells often develop severe intrinsic and acquired chemoresistance under chemotherapy stress, limiting the effectiveness of chemotherapy and leading to treatment failure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug Resist Updat
January 2023
Oxaliplatin chemoresistance is a major challenge in the clinical treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC), which is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. In this study, we identified the tryptophan-aspartate repeat domain 43 (WDR43) as a potentially critical oncogenic factor in CRC pathogenesis through bioinformatics analysis. It was found that WDR43 is highly expressed in CRC tissues, and WDR43 overexpression is associated with poor prognosis of CRC patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe regulatory subunits (P60 in insects, P85 in mammals) determine the activation of the catalytic subunits P110 in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) in the insulin pathway for cell proliferation and body growth. However, the regulatory subunits also promote apoptosis via an unclear regulatory mechanism. Using Helicoverpa armigera, an agricultural pest, we showed that H.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe insulin receptor (INSR) binds insulin to promote body growth and maintain normal blood glucose levels. While it is known that steroid hormones such as estrogen and 20-hydroxyecdysone counteract insulin function, the molecular mechanisms responsible for this attenuation remain unclear. In the present study, using the agricultural pest lepidopteran Helicoverpa armigera as a model, we proposed that the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) induces dephosphorylation of INSR to counteract insulin function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCTSD/CathD/CATD (cathepsin D) is a lysosomal aspartic protease. A distinguishing characteristic of CTSD is its dual functions of promoting cell proliferation via secreting a pro-enzyme outside the cells as a ligand, and promoting apoptosis via the mature form of this enzyme inside cells; however, the regulation of its secretion, expression, and maturation is undetermined. Using the lepidopteran insect , a serious agricultural pest, as a model, we revealed the dual functions and regulatory mechanisms of CTSD secretion, expression, and maturation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOligomerization of stromal interacting molecule 1 (STIM1) promotes store-operated calcium entry (SOCE); however, the mechanism of STIM1 aggregation is unclear. Here, using the lepidopteran insect and agricultural pest cotton bollworm () as a model and immunoblotting, RT-qPCR, RNA interference (RNAi), and ChIP assays, we found that the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) up-regulates STIM1 expression via G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and the 20E nuclear receptor (EcRB1). We also identified an ecdysone-response element (EcRE) in the 5'-upstream region of the gene and also noted that STIM1 is located in the larval midgut during metamorphosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsulin promotes larval growth of insects by stimulating the synthesis of the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), which induces pupation and apoptosis. However, the mechanism underlying the coordinate regulation of insect pupation and apoptosis by these two functionally opposing hormones is still unclear. Here, using the lepidopteran insect and serious agricultural pest (cotton bollworm) as a model, we report that phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDK1) and forkhead box O (FoxO) play key roles in these processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
August 2017
The nuclear receptor EcRB1, which is activated by the insect steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), is reportedly phosphorylated by a protein kinase after 20E induction. However, the protein kinase has not been identified, and the significance of EcRB1 phosphorylation is unclear. In this study, we identified a protein kinase C δ (PKCδ) isoform (the E isoform) that phosphorylates EcRB1 in the lepidopteran , a serious agricultural pest worldwide, to promote apoptotic gene expression and apoptosis during metamorphosis.
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