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Signalling pathways in pancreatic cancer and its treatment by targeting of mitochondria
Ezrová, Zuzana ; Neužil, Jiří (advisor) ; Masařík, Michal (referee) ; Divoký, Vladimír (referee)
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of malignant diseases. Asymptomatic early tumour stages, tumour heterogeneity, cancer cell plasticity and unusually dense pancreatic stroma are responsible for the poor prognosis attributed to late diagnosis and therapy resistance. Therefore, targeting of a pivotal element common for any cell type within the tumour, e.g. mitochondria, may bring significant improvement. In this work, we demonstrate mitochondrial targeting of metformin, an anti-diabetic drug associated with reduced risk of developing pancreatic cancer, substantially increases accumulation of the compound in mitochondria. In consequence, we show that mitochondrially targeted metformin, MitoMet, eliminates pancreatic cancer cells in more than 1000-fold lower concentration than used for its parental compound. Following interaction with respiratory complex I (CI), MitoMet inhibits mitochondrial respiration, activates AMP-activated protein kinase pathway and causes depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential in pancreatic cancer cells. Moreover, MitoMet induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, which is partially mediated via increased level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and suppresses pancreatic tumour growth in vivo. Interestingly, SMAD4-deficient pancreatic cancer cells manifest...
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The study of the influence of vitamin E analogues on malignant mesothelioma
Kovářová, Jaromíra ; Neužil, Jiří (advisor) ; Kozubík, Alois (referee) ; Vítek, Libor (referee)
Cancer is a leading cause of death in the western world and is increasing in frequency world-wide. Although diagnosis, treatment and therapeutic approaches to cancer have improved, many types of cancer are still lethal due to the lack of radical treatment. One of the fatal neoplastic disease types with poor prognosis is represented by malignant mesothelioma (MM). MM is characterised by very high mortality rate and limited therapeutic options. The etiology of the disease is mainly associated with exposure to asbestos fibres. The incidence of MM is increasing in many countries. The search for novel molecular targets, anti-cancer strategies and drugs, which would considerably improve the treatment is of great importance. Certain new drugs, especially those with specific molecular targets, show high selectivity in their action to cancer cells, and have considerably increased the cure rate in some types of cancer. Mitochondria have recently emerged as a very promising target for anti-cancer agents. A group of compounds with anti-cancer activity that induce apoptosis by way of mitochondrial destabilisation, termed 'mitocans', have been a recent focus of research. Several mitocans have been shown to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells and suppress the growth of many types of carcinomas in...
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