Targeting ferroptosis in melanoma: cancer therapeutics.

Melanoma is an aggressive kind of skin cancer; its rate has risen rapidly over the past few decades. Melanoma reports for only about 1% of skin cancers but leads to a high majority of skin cancer deaths. Thus, new useful therapeutic approaches are currently required, to state effective treatments to consistently enhance the overall survival rate of melanoma patients. Ferroptosis is a recently identified cell death process, which is different from autophagy, apoptosis, necrosis, and pyroptosis in terms of biochemistry, genetics, and morphology which plays an important role in cancer treatment. Ferroptosis happens mostly by accumulating iron and lipid peroxides in the cell. Recently, studies have revealed that ferroptosis has a key role in the tumor's progression. Especially, inducing ferroptosis in cells can inhibit the tumor cells' growth, leading to back warding tumorigenesis. Here, we outline the ferroptosis characteristics from its basic role in melanoma cancer and mention its possible applications in melanoma cancer treatment. Video Abstract.

Accelerating skin regeneration and wound healing by controlled ROS from photodynamic treatment.

Cellular metabolisms produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are essential for cellular signaling pathways and physiological functions. Nevertheless, ROS act as "double-edged swords" that have an unstable redox balance between ROS production and removal. A little raise of ROS results in cell proliferation enhancement, survival, and soft immune responses, while a high level of ROS could lead to cellular damage consequently protein, nucleic acid, and lipid damages and finally cell death. ROS play an important role in various pathological circumstances. On the contrary, ROS can show selective toxicity which is used against cancer cells and pathogens. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is based on three important components including a photosensitizer (PS), oxygen, and light. Upon excitation of the PS at a specific wavelength, the PDT process begins which leads to ROS generation. ROS produced during PDT could induce two different pathways. If PDT produces control and low ROS, it can lead to cell proliferation and differentiation. However, excess production of ROS by PDT causes cellular photo damage which is the main mechanism used in cancer treatment. This review summarizes the functions of ROS in living systems and describes role of PDT in production of controllable ROS and finally a special focus on current ROS-generating therapeutic protocols for regeneration and wound healing.

Effect of Photobiomodulation on Structure and Function of Extracellular Vesicle Secreted from Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

The current study intended to evaluate the effect of photobiomodulation on the morphology and function of EVs secreted from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from periodontal ligament (PDL) and the adipose tissue (ADSCs) (from buccal fat pad) in vitro. These cells were irradiated at 660 nm or kept in dark as control. EVs were then isolated from each group using ultracentrifugation. EVs were defined by flow cytometry and Western blot. Electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the morphology of EVs. Then, MTT and wound-healing scratch assays were applied to compare the cell survival and migration of human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells treated with the EVs obtained from the four groups. According to SEM images, isolated EV were round and cup-shaped in all groups showing no destructive effects of laser irradiation on EV morphology. MTT test results revealed a statistically significant difference between the HDF cells treated with different EV groups from hPDLSCs-Dark in comparison with control (0 µg/mL) (P < 0.05) and treated with exosome from hPDLSCs-Irradiation cells compared with dark group (P < 0.05). However, scratch wound-healing assay did not show a significant difference between various groups (P ˃ 0.05). Further studies with different irradiation protocols are recommended to find an optimal strategy.

Characteristics of circRNA and its approach as diagnostic tool in melanoma.

One of the most common types of cancer in the world is skin cancer, which has been divided into two groups: non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancer. Different external and internal agents are considered as risk factors for melanoma skin cancer pathogenesis but the exact mechanisms are not yet confirmed. Genetic and epigenetic changes, UV exposure, arsenic compounds, and chemical substances are contributory factors to the development of melanoma. A correlation has emerged between new therapies and the discovery of a basic molecular pattern for skin cancer patients. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are described as a unique group of extensively expressed endogenous regulatory RNAs with closed-loop structure bonds connecting the 5' and 3' ends, which are commonly expressed in mammalian cells. In this review, we describe the biogenesis of circular RNAs and its function in cancerous conditions focusing on the crosstalk between different circRNAs and melanoma. Increasing evidence suggests that circRNAs appears to be relative to the origin and development of skin-related diseases like malignant melanoma. Different circular RNAs like hsa_circ_0025039, hsa_circRNA006612, circRNA005537, and circANRIL, by targeting different cellular and molecular targets (e.g., CDK4, DAB2IP, ZEB1, miR-889, and let-7 c-3p), can participate in melanoma cancer progression.