TRPM7 transactivates the FOSL1 gene through STAT3 and enhances glioma stemness.

INTRODUCTION: We previously reported that TRPM7 regulates glioma cells' stemness through STAT3. In addition, we demonstrated that FOSL1 is a response gene for TRPM7, and the FOSL1 gene serves as an oncogene to promote glioma proliferation and invasion. METHODS: In the present study, we determined the effects of FOSL1 on glioma stem cell (GSC) markers CD133 and ALDH1 by flow cytometry, and the maintenance of stem cell activity by extreme limiting dilution assays (ELDA). To further gain insight into the mechanism by which TRPM7 activates transcription of the FOSL1 gene to contribute to glioma stemness, we constructed a FOSL1 promoter and its GAS mutants followed by luciferase reporter assays and ChIP-qPCR in a glioma cell line and glioma patient-derived xenoline. We further examined GSC markers ALDH1 and TRPM7 as well as FOSL1 by immunohistochemistry staining (IHC) in brain tissue microarray (TMA) of glioma patients. RESULTS: We revealed that FOSL1 knockdown reduces the expression of GSC markers CD133 and ALDH1, and FOSL1 is required to maintain stem cell activity in glioma cells. The experiments also showed that mutations of - 328 to - 336 and - 378 to - 386 GAS elements markedly reduced FOSL1 promoter activity. Constitutively active STAT3 increased while dominant-negative STAT3 decreased FOSL1 promoter activity. Furthermore, overexpression of TRPM7 enhanced while silencing of TRPM7 reduced FOSL1 promoter activity. ChIP-qPCR assays revealed that STAT3, present in nuclear lysates of glioma cells stimulated by constitutively activated STAT3, can bind to two GAS elements, respectively. We demonstrated that deacetylation of FOSL1 at the Lys-116 residue located within its DNA binding domain led to an increase in FOSL1 transcriptional activity. We found that the expression of TRPM7, ALDH1, and FOSL1 protein is associated with grades of malignant glioma, and TRPM7 protein expression correlates to the expression of ALDH1 and FOSL1 in glioma patients. CONCLUSIONS: These combined results demonstrated that TRPM7 induced FOSL1 transcriptional activation, which is mediated by the action of STAT3, a mechanism shown to be important in glioma stemness. These results indicated that FOSL1, similar to GSC markers ALDH1 and TRPM7, is a diagnostic marker and potential drug target for glioma patients.

Progress in Glioma Stem Cell Research.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) represents a diverse spectrum of primary tumors notorious for their resistance to established therapeutic modalities. Despite aggressive interventions like surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, these tumors, due to factors such as the blood-brain barrier, tumor heterogeneity, glioma stem cells (GSCs), drug efflux pumps, and DNA damage repair mechanisms, persist beyond complete isolation, resulting in dismal outcomes for glioma patients. Presently, the standard initial approach comprises surgical excision followed by concurrent chemotherapy, where temozolomide (TMZ) serves as the foremost option in managing GBM patients. Subsequent adjuvant chemotherapy follows this regimen. Emerging therapeutic approaches encompass immunotherapy, including checkpoint inhibitors, and targeted treatments, such as bevacizumab, aiming to exploit vulnerabilities within GBM cells. Nevertheless, there exists a pressing imperative to devise innovative strategies for both diagnosing and treating GBM. This review emphasizes the current knowledge of GSC biology, molecular mechanisms, and associations with various signals and/or pathways, such as the epidermal growth factor receptor, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, HGFR/c-MET, NF-κB, Wnt, Notch, and STAT3 pathways. Metabolic reprogramming in GSCs has also been reported with the prominent activation of the glycolytic pathway, comprising aldehyde dehydrogenase family genes. We also discuss potential therapeutic approaches to GSC targets and currently used inhibitors, as well as their mode of action on GSC targets.

Evaluating the structural and immune mechanism of Interleukin-6 for the investigation of goat milk peptides as potential treatments for COVID-19.

The function of Immune control, haematopoiesis, and inflammation all depend on the cytokine Interleukin 6 (IL-6), and higher expression of IL-6 is seen in COVID-19 and other diseases. The immune protein IL-6 activation is dependent on binding interactions with IL-6Rα, mIL-6R, and sIL-6R for its cellular function. Termination of these reaction could benefit for controlling the over-expression in COVID-19 patients and that may arise as inhibitors for controlling COVID-19. Traditionally, the goat milk has been prescribed as medicine in ayurvedic practice and through this work, we have explored the benefits of peptides from goat milk as IL-6 inhibitors, and it have the potential of inhibiting the over expression of IL-6 and control the COVID-19 disease. Computational experiments have shown that goat peptides had strong interactions with IL-6, with higher scoring profiles and energy efficiency ranging from -6.00 kcal/mol to -9.00 kcal/mol in docking score and -39.00 kcal/mol in binding energy. Especially the YLGYLEQLLR, VLVLDTDYK and AMKPWIQPK peptides from goat milk holds better scoring and shows strong interactions were identified as the most potential IL-6 inhibitor candidates in this study. Peptides from Goat proteins, which are capable of binding to the IL-6 receptor with strong binding conformations, have no negative effects on other immune system proteins.

Comprehensive Analysis of SARS-COV-2 Drug Targets and Pharmacological Aspects in Treating the COVID-19.

Corona viruses are enveloped, single-stranded RNA (Ribonucleic acid) viruses, and they cause pandemic diseases having a devastating effect on both human healthcare and the global economy. To date, six corona viruses have been identified as pathogenic organisms, which are significantly responsible for the infection and cause severe respiratory diseases. Among them, the novel SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2) caused a major outbreak of coronavirus diseases in 2019 (COVID-19). Coronaviridae family members can affect both humans and animals. In humans, coronaviruses cause a severe acute respiratory syndrome with mild to severe outcomes. Several structural and genomics aspects have been investigated, and the genome encodes about 30 proteins most of them with unknown function though they share remarkable sequence identity with other proteins. There are no potent drugs against SARS-CoV-2 and several trials are underway to investigate the possible therapeutic agents against viral infection. However, some of the antiviral drugs that have been investigated against SARS-CoV-2 are under clinical trials. In the current review, we comparatively emphasize the emergence and pathogenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 and their infection, and discuss the various putative drug targets of both viral and host receptors for developing effective vaccines and therapeutic combinations to overcome the viral outbreak.

Exploring the inhibitory potential of bioactive compound from Luffa acutangula against NF-κB-A molecular docking and dynamics approach.

Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a transcription factor, plays a crucial role in the regulation of various physiological processes such as differentiation, cell proliferation and apoptosis. It also coordinates the expression of various soluble proinflammatory mediators like cytokines and chemokines. The 1, 8-dihydroxy-4-methylanthracene-9, 10-dione (DHMA) was isolated from Luffa acutangala and its in vitro cytotoxic activity against NCI-H460 cells was reported earlier. It also effectively induces apoptosis through suppressing the expression NF-κB protein. Based on experimental evidence, the binding affinity of compound 1 with NF-κB p50 (monomer) and NF-κB-DNA was investigated using molecular docking and its stability was confirmed through molecular dynamic simulation. The reactivity of the compound was evaluated using density functional theory (DFT) calculation. From the docking results, we noticed that the hydroxyl group of DHMA forms hydrogen bond interactions with polar and negatively charged amino acid Tyr57 and Asp239 and the protein-ligand complex was stabilized through pi-pi stacking with the help of polar amino acid His114, which plays a key role in binding of NF-κB to DNA at a site of DNA-binding region (DBR). The result indicates that the isolated bioactive compound DHMA might have altered the binding affinity between DNA and NF-κB. These findings suggest that potential use of DHMA in cancer chemoprevention and therapeutics.