Category Archives: Cancer

Transmembrane protein 97 exhibits oncogenic properties via enhancing LRP6-mediated Wnt signaling in breast cancer

Transmembrane protein 97 exhibits oncogenic properties via enhancing LRP6-mediated Wnt signaling in breast cancer

By Huifang Zhu, Zijie Su, Jiong Ning, Liang Zhou, Lifeng Tan, Sapna Sayed, Jiaxing Song, Zhongyuan Wang, Huan Li, Qi Sun, Shanshan Liu, Ou Sha, Feng Leng, Xianxiong Chen & Desheng Lu Excerpt from the article published in Cell Death & Disease 12, 912 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-021-04211-8 Editor’s Highlights Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), negative for estrogen receptor (ER), […]

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Multifunctional thiosemicarbazones targeting sigma receptors: in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities in pancreatic cancer models

Multifunctional thiosemicarbazones targeting sigma receptors: in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities in pancreatic cancer models

By Mauro Niso, Joanna Kopecka, Francesca Serena Abatematteo, Francesco Berardi, Chiara Riganti, and Carmen Abate Excerpt from the article published in Cellular Oncology 44, 1307–1323 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13402-021-00638-5 Editor’s Highlights Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer characterized by a poor prognosis and a five-year survival rate of ~ 8 %.  Surgery represents the […]

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Histatin-1 is an endogenous ligand of the sigma-2 receptor

Histatin-1 is an endogenous ligand of the sigma-2 receptor

By Kyung-No Son, Hyun Lee, Dhara Shah, Sushma Kalmodia, Ryan Cree Miller, Marwan Ali, Arun Balasubramaniam, Stephanie M. Cologna, Hyunjoon Kong, Deepak Shukla, and Vinay Kumar Aakalu Excerpt from the manuscript published in final edited form in FEBS J. 2021 Jul 7 : 10.1111/febs.16108.  DOI: 10.1111/febs.16108 Editor’s Highlights The Sigma-2 receptor (S2R) was recently identified as the […]

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σ2 Receptor and Its Role in Cancer with Focus on a MultiTarget Directed Ligand (MTDL) Approach

σ2 Receptor and Its Role in Cancer with Focus on a MultiTarget Directed Ligand (MTDL) Approach

By Francesca Serena Abatematteo, Mauro Niso, Enza Lacivita, and Carmen Abate Excerpt from the article published in Molecules. 2021;26(12):3743. Published 2021 Jun 19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26123743 Editor’s Highlights The role in the proliferative status of cells has directed the σ2-related scientific interest towards cancer research. The σ2 receptor modulates ER stress [74], likely through control of Ca2+ release […]

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Structural and Functional Significance of the Endoplasmic Reticulum Unfolded Protein Response Transducers and Chaperones at the Mitochondria–ER Contacts: A Cancer Perspective

Structural and Functional Significance of the Endoplasmic Reticulum Unfolded Protein Response Transducers and Chaperones at the Mitochondria–ER Contacts: A Cancer Perspective

By Giuseppina Amodio, Valentina Pagliara, Ornella Moltedo, and Paolo Remondelli Excerpt from the article published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, volume 9, 26 March 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.641194 Editor’s Highlights The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) presides over the biogenesis and maintenance of almost all the cell compartment and is associated to protein synthesis and translocation. Membrane contact […]

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Role of Sigma-1 Receptor in Calcium Modulation: Possible Involvement in Cancer

Role of Sigma-1 Receptor in Calcium Modulation: Possible Involvement in Cancer

By Ilaria Pontisso, and Laurent Combettes Excerpt from the article published in Genes (Basel). 2021 Jan 22;12(2):139. PMID: 33499031; PMCID: PMC7911422. DOI: 10.3390/genes12020139 Editor’s Highlights Calcium (Ca2+) plays a fundamental role as a second messenger. One important site for Ca2+ regulation is the interface between the ER and the mitochondria, the so-called mitochondrial-associated membranes (MAMs).  The sigma-1 […]

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Study of the Relationship between Sigma Receptor Expression Levels and Some Common Sigma Ligand Activity in Cancer Using Human Cancer Cell Lines of the NCI-60 Cell Line Panel

Study of the Relationship between Sigma Receptor Expression Levels and Some Common Sigma Ligand Activity in Cancer Using Human Cancer Cell Lines of the NCI-60 Cell Line Panel

By Evangelia Sereti, Chrisiida Tsimplouli, Elisavet Kalaitsidou, Nikos Sakellaridis, and Konstantinos Dimas Excerpt from the article published in Biomedicines 9, no. 1: 38, 5 January 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9010038 Editor’s Highlights Many potential mechanisms of action have been proposed to mediate sigma ligands’ anticancer efficacy, including apoptosis , autophagy, lysosomal destabilization, mitochondria destabilization and ferroptosis. The most relevant MoA is related to either […]

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Sigma-2 Receptor—A Potential Target for Cancer/Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment via Its Regulation of Cholesterol Homeostasis

Sigma-2 Receptor—A Potential Target for Cancer/Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment via Its Regulation of Cholesterol Homeostasis

By Kai Yang, Cheng Zeng, Changcai Wang, Meng Sun, Dan Yin, and Taolei Sun Excerpt from the article published in Molecules 25, no. 22: 5439, 2020 https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25225439 Editor’s Highlights Recently transmembrane protein 97 (TMEM97) was identified as a sigma-2 receptor identity using mass spectrometry after affinity purification from the liver. TMEM97/sigma-2 receptor forms a trimeric complex […]

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Sigma 1 Receptor is Overexpressed in Hepatocellular Adenoma: Involvement of ERα and HNF1α

Sigma 1 Receptor is Overexpressed in Hepatocellular Adenoma: Involvement of ERα and HNF1α

By Laure Villemain, Sylvie Prigent, Aurélie Abou-Lovergne, Laura Pelletier, Magali Chiral, Marco Pontoglio, Fabienne Foufelle, Stefano Caruso, Raphael Pineau, Sandra Rebouissou, Eric Chevet, Jessica Zucman-Rossi, and Laurent Combettes Excerpt from the article published in Cancers (Special Issue Therapeutic Targeting of the Unfolded Protein Response in Cancer) 2020; 12(8):2213. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12082213 Editor’s Highlights Hepatocellular adenomas (HCAs) are rare […]

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NO1, a New Sigma 2 Receptor/TMEM97 Fluorescent Ligand, Downregulates SOCE and Promotes Apoptosis in the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Lines

NO1, a New Sigma 2 Receptor/TMEM97 Fluorescent Ligand, Downregulates SOCE and Promotes Apoptosis in the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Lines

By Carlos Cantonero, Pedro Javier Camello, Carmen Abate, Francesco Berardi, Gines Maria Salido, Juan Antonio Rosado, and Pedro C. Redondo Excerpt from the article published in Cancers 12, no. 2: 257. 21 January 2020, DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12020257 Editor’s Highlights Cancer cell proliferation results from a dysregulated cell cycle and an impaired cell-death signaling mechanism, where changes in […]

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