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The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is currently causing a large number of infections in many countries. A number of antiviral agents are approved or in clinical testing for the treatment of COVID-19. Despite the high number of mutations in the Omicron variant, we here show that Omicron isolates display similar sensitivity to eight of the most important anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs and drug candidates (including remdesivir, molnupiravir, and PF-07321332, the active compound in paxlovid), which is of timely relevance for the treatment of the increasing number of Omicron patients. Most importantly, we also found that the Omicron variant displays a reduced capability of antagonising the host cell interferon response. This provides a potential mechanistic explanation for the clinically observed reduced pathogenicity of Omicron variant viruses compared to Delta variant viruses.
Exploring mechanisms of drug resistance to targeted small molecule drugs is critical for an extended clinical benefit in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients carrying activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Here, we identified constitutive cell proliferation regulating inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2A) in the HCC4006rErlo0.5 NSCLC cell line adapted to erlotinib as a model of acquired drug resistance. Constitutive CIP2A resulted in a constitutive activation of Akt signaling. The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib was able to reduce CIP2A levels, which resulted in an activation of protein phosphatase 2A and deactivation of Akt. Combination experiments with erlotinib and bortezomib revealed a lack of interaction between the two drugs. However, the effect size of bortezomib was higher in HCC4006rErlo0.5, compared to the erlotinib-sensitive HCC4006 cells, as indicated by an increase in Emax (0.911 (95%CI 0.867–0.954) vs. 0.585 (95%CI 0.568–0.622), respectively) and decrease in EC50 (52.4 µM (95%CI 46.1–58.8 µM) vs. 73.0 µM (95%CI 60.4–111 µM), respectively) in the concentration–effect model, an earlier onset of cell death induction, and a reduced colony surviving fraction (0.38 ± 0.18 vs. 0.95 ± 0.25, respectively, n = 3, p < 0.05). Therefore, modulation of CIP2A with bortezomib could be an interesting approach to overcome drug resistance to erlotinib treatment in NSCLC.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the current coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Protease inhibitors are under consideration as virus entry inhibitors that prevent the cleavage of the coronavirus spike (S) protein by cellular proteases. Herein, we showed that the protease inhibitor aprotinin (but not the protease inhibitor SERPINA1/alpha-1 antitrypsin) inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in therapeutically achievable concentrations. An analysis of proteomics and translatome data indicated that SARS-CoV-2 replication is associated with a downregulation of host cell protease inhibitors. Hence, aprotinin may compensate for downregulated host cell proteases during later virus replication cycles. Aprotinin displayed anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in different cell types (Caco2, Calu-3, and primary bronchial epithelial cell air–liquid interface cultures) and against four virus isolates. In conclusion, therapeutic aprotinin concentrations exert anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. An approved aprotinin aerosol may have potential for the early local control of SARS-CoV-2 replication and the prevention of COVID-19 progression to a severe, systemic disease.
SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19. Severe COVID-19 disease has been associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation and thrombosis, but the mechanisms underlying COVID-19-related coagulopathy remain unknown. The risk of severe COVID-19 disease is higher in males than in females and increases with age. To identify gene products that may contribute to COVID-19-related coagulopathy, we analyzed the expression of genes associated with the Gene Ontology (GO) term “blood coagulation” in the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database and identified four procoagulants, whose expression is higher in males and increases with age (ADAMTS13, F11, HGFAC, KLKB1), and two anticoagulants, whose expression is higher in females and decreases with age (C1QTNF1, SERPINA5). However, the expression of none of these genes was regulated in a proteomics dataset of SARS-CoV-2-infected cells and none of the proteins have been identified as a binding partner of SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Hence, they may rather generally predispose individuals to thrombosis without directly contributing to COVID-19-related coagulopathy. In contrast, the expression of the procoagulant transferrin (not associated to the GO term “blood coagulation”) was higher in males, increased with age, and was upregulated upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Hence, transferrin warrants further examination in ongoing clinic-pathological investigations.
Recently, we have shown that SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus isolates are less effective at inhibiting the host cell interferon response than Delta viruses. Here, we present further evidence that reduced interferon-antagonising activity explains at least in part why Omicron variant infections are inherently less severe than infections with other SARS-CoV-2 variants. Most importantly, we here also show that Omicron variant viruses display enhanced sensitivity to interferon treatment, which makes interferons promising therapy candidates for Omicron patients, in particular in combination with other antiviral agents.
SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19. Severe COVID-19 disease has been associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation and thrombosis, but the mechanisms underlying COVID-19-related coagulopathy remain unknown. Since the risk of severe COVID-19 disease is higher in males than in females and increases with age, we combined proteomics data from SARS-CoV-2-infected cells with human gene expression data from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database to identify gene products involved in coagulation that change with age, differ in their levels between females and males, and are regulated in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. This resulted in the identification of transferrin as a candidate coagulation promoter, whose levels increases with age and are higher in males than in females and that is increased upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. A systematic investigation of gene products associated with the GO term “blood coagulation” did not reveal further high confidence candidates, which are likely to contribute to COVID-19-related coagulopathy. In conclusion, the role of transferrin should be considered in the course of COVID-19 disease and further examined in ongoing clinic-pathological investigations.
Resistance formation after initial therapy response (acquired resistance) is common in high-risk neuroblastoma patients. YM155 is a drug candidate that was introduced as a survivin suppressant. This mechanism was later challenged, and DNA damage induction and Mcl-1 depletion were suggested instead. Here we investigated the efficacy and mechanism of action of YM155 in neuroblastoma cells with acquired drug resistance. The efficacy of YM155 was determined in neuroblastoma cell lines and their sublines with acquired resistance to clinically relevant drugs. Survivin levels, Mcl-1 levels, and DNA damage formation were determined in response to YM155. RNAi-mediated depletion of survivin, Mcl-1, and p53 was performed to investigate their roles during YM155 treatment. Clinical YM155 concentrations affected the viability of drug-resistant neuroblastoma cells through survivin depletion and p53 activation. MDM2 inhibitor-induced p53 activation further enhanced YM155 activity. Loss of p53 function generally affected anti-neuroblastoma approaches targeting survivin. Upregulation of ABCB1 (causes YM155 efflux) and downregulation of SLC35F2 (causes YM155 uptake) mediated YM155-specific resistance. YM155-adapted cells displayed increased ABCB1 levels, decreased SLC35F2 levels, and a p53 mutation. YM155-adapted neuroblastoma cells were also characterized by decreased sensitivity to RNAi-mediated survivin depletion, further confirming survivin as a critical YM155 target in neuroblastoma. In conclusion, YM155 targets survivin in neuroblastoma. Furthermore, survivin is a promising therapeutic target for p53 wild-type neuroblastomas after resistance acquisition (neuroblastomas are rarely p53-mutated), potentially in combination with p53 activators. In addition, we show that the adaptation of cancer cells to molecular-targeted anticancer drugs is an effective strategy to elucidate a drug’s mechanism of action.
The efficacy of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in ovarian cancer is often limited by the development of drug resistance. In most ovarian cancer cells, cisplatin activates extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 (ERK1/2) signalling. Phosphoprotein enriched in astrocytes (PEA-15) is a ubiquitously expressed protein, capable of sequestering ERK1/2 in the cytoplasm and inhibiting cell proliferation. This and other functions of PEA-15 are regulated by its phosphorylation status. In this study, the relevance of PEA-15 phosphorylation state for cisplatin sensitivity of ovarian carcinoma cells was examined. The results of MTT-assays indicated that overexpression of PEA-15AA (a non-phosphorylatable variant) sensitised SKOV-3 cells to cisplatin. Phosphomimetic PEA-15DD did not affect cell sensitivity to the drug. While PEA-15DD facilitates nuclear translocation of activated ERK1/2, PEA-15AA acts to sequester the kinase in the cytoplasm as shown by Western blot. Microarray data indicated deregulation of thirteen genes in PEA-15AA-transfected cells compared to non-transfected or PEA-15DD-transfected variants. Data derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) showed that the expression of seven of these genes including EGR1 (early growth response protein 1) and FLNA (filamin A) significantly correlated with the therapy outcome in cisplatin-treated cancer patients. Further analysis indicated the relevance of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/antioxidant response element (Nrf2/ARE) signalling for the favourable effect of PEA-15AA on cisplatin sensitivity. The results warrant further evaluation of the PEA-15 phosphorylation status as a potential candidate biomarker of response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
Incorporation of doxorubicin in different polymer nanoparticles and their anticancer activity
(2019)
Background: Nanoparticles are under investigation as carrier systems for anticancer drugs. The expression of efflux transporters such as the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCB1 is an important resistance mechanism in therapy-refractory cancer cells. Drug encapsulation into nanoparticles has been shown to bypass efflux-mediated drug resistance, but there are also conflicting results. To investigate whether easy-to-prepare nanoparticles made of well-tolerated polymers may circumvent transporter-mediated drug efflux, we prepared poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), polylactic acid (PLA), and PEGylated PLGA (PLGA-PEG) nanoparticles loaded with the ABCB1 substrate doxorubicin by solvent displacement and emulsion diffusion approaches and assessed their anticancer efficiency in neuroblastoma cells, including ABCB1-expressing cell lines, in comparison to doxorubicin solution.
Results: The resulting nanoparticles covered a size range between 73 and 246 nm. PLGA-PEG nanoparticle preparation by solvent displacement led to the smallest nanoparticles. In PLGA nanoparticles, the drug load could be optimised using solvent displacement at pH 7 reaching 53 µg doxorubicin/mg nanoparticle. These PLGA nanoparticles displayed sustained doxorubicin release kinetics compared to the more burst-like kinetics of the other preparations. In neuroblastoma cells, doxorubicin-loaded PLGA-PEG nanoparticles (presumably due to their small size) and PLGA nanoparticles prepared by solvent displacement at pH 7 (presumably due to their high drug load and superior drug release kinetics) exerted the strongest anticancer effects. However, nanoparticle-encapsulated doxorubicin did not display increased efficacy in ABCB1-expressing cells relative to doxorubicin solution.
Conclusion: Doxorubicin-loaded nanoparticles made by different methods from different materials displayed substantial discrepancies in their anticancer activity at the cellular level. Optimised preparation methods resulted in PLGA nanoparticles characterised by increased drug load, controlled drug release, and high anticancer efficacy. The design of drug-loaded nanoparticles with optimised anticancer activity at the cellular level is an important step in the development of improved nanoparticle preparations for anticancer therapy. Further research is required to understand under which circumstances nanoparticles can be used to overcome efflux-mediated resistance in cancer cells.
Incorporation of doxorubicin in different polymer nanoparticles and their anti-cancer activity
(2018)
Nanoparticles are under investigation as carrier systems for anti-cancer drugs. They have been shown to accumulate in cancer tissues through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, to reduce toxicity to non-target tissues, and to protect drugs from preliminary inactivation. However, nanoparticle preparations are not commonly compared for their anti-cancer effects at the cellular level. Here, we prepared doxorubicin-loaded nanoparticles based on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), polylactic acid (PLA), and PEGylated PLGA (PLGA-PEG) by solvent displacement and emulsion diffusion approaches. The resulting nanoparticles covered a size range between 73 and 246 nm. PLGA-PEG nanoparticle preparation by solvent displacement resulted in the smallest nanoparticles. In PLGA nanoparticles, the drug load could be optimised using solvent displacement at pH7 reaching 53 µg doxorubicin/mg nanoparticle. In addition, these PLGA nanoparticles displayed sustained doxorubicin release kinetics compared to the more burst-like kinetics of the other preparations. In neuroblastoma cells, doxorubicin-loaded PLGA-PEG nanoparticles (presumably due to their small size) and PLGA nanoparticles prepared by solvent displacement at pH7 (presumably due to their high drug load and superior drug release kinetics) exerted the strongest anti-cancer effects. In conclusion, doxorubicin-loaded nanoparticles made by different methods from different materials displayed substantial discrepancies in their anti-cancer activity at the cellular level. Optimised preparation methods resulted in PLGA nanoparticles characterised by increased drug load, controlled drug release, and high anti-cancer efficacy. The design of drug-loaded nanoparticles with optimised anti-cancer activity at the cellular level is an important step in the development of improved nanoparticle preparations for anti-cancer therapy.