IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "Dong, Zizheng"

Browsing by Author "Dong, Zizheng"

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14-3-3σ Contributes to Radioresistance by Regulating DNA Repair and Cell Cycle via PARP1 and CHK2
(AACR, 2017) Chen, Yifan; Li, Zhaomin; Dong, Zizheng; Beebe, Jenny; Yang, Ke; Fu, Liwu; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine
14-3-3σ has been implicated in the development of chemo and radiation resistance and in poor prognosis of multiple human cancers. While it has been postulated that 14-3-3σ contributes to these resistances via inhibiting apoptosis and arresting cells in G2–M phase of the cell cycle, the molecular basis of this regulation is currently unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that 14-3-3σ causes resistance to DNA-damaging treatments by enhancing DNA repair in cells arrested in G2–M phase following DNA-damaging treatments. We showed that 14-3-3σ contributed to ionizing radiation (IR) resistance by arresting cancer cells in G2–M phase following IR and by increasing non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair of the IR-induced DNA double strand breaks (DSB). The increased NHEJ repair activity was due to 14-3-3σ–mediated upregulation of PARP1 expression that promoted the recruitment of DNA-PKcs to the DNA damage sites for repair of DSBs. On the other hand, the increased G2–M arrest following IR was due to 14-3-3σ–induced Chk2 expression. Implications: These findings reveal an important molecular basis of 14-3-3σ function in cancer cell resistance to chemo/radiation therapy and in poor prognosis of human cancers.
14-3-3σ regulation of and interaction with YAP1 in acquired gemcitabine resistance via promoting ribonucleotide reductase expression
(Impact Journals, LLC, 2016-04-05) Qin, Li; Dong, Zizheng; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine
Gemcitabine is an important anticancer therapeutics approved for treatment of several human cancers including locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Its clinical effectiveness, however, is hindered by existence of intrinsic and development of acquired resistances. Previously, it was found that 14-3-3σ expression associates with poor clinical outcome of PDAC patients. It was also found that 14-3-3σ expression is up-regulated in gemcitabine resistant PDAC cells and contributes to the acquired gemcitabine resistance. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism of 14-3-3σ function in gemcitabine resistance and found that 14-3-3σ up-regulates YAP1 expression and then binds to YAP1 to inhibit gemcitabine-induced caspase 8 activation and apoptosis. 14-3-3σ association with YAP1 up-regulates the expression of ribonucleotide reductase M1 and M2, which may mediate 14-3-3σ/YAP1 function in the acquired gemcitabine resistance. These findings suggest a possible role of YAP1 signaling in gemcitabine resistance.
A novel survivin dimerization inhibitor without a labile hydrazone linker induces spontaneous apoptosis and synergizes with docetaxel in prostate cancer cells
(Elsevier, 2022) Peery, Robert; Cui, Qingbin; Kyei-Baffour, Kwaku; Josephraj, Sophia; Huang, Caoqinglong; Dong, Zizheng; Dai, Mingji; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Liu, Jing-Yuan; Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine
Survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, exists as a homodimer and is aberrantly upregulated in a wide spectrum of cancers. It was thought to be an ideal target due to its lack of expression in most adult normal tissues and importance in cancer cell survival. However, it has been challenging to target survivin due to its "undruggable" nature. We previously attempted to target its dimerization domain with a hypothesis that inhibiting survivin dimerization would promote its degradation in proteasome, which led to identification of a lead small-molecule inhibitor, LQZ-7F. LQZ-7F consists of a flat tetracyclic aromatic core with labile hydrazone linking a 1,2,5-oxadiazole moiety. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that LQZ-7F could be developed as a prodrug because the labile hydrazone linker could be hydrolyzed, releasing the tetracyclic aromatic core. To this end, we synthesized the tetracyclic aromatic core (LQZ-7F1) using reported procedure and tested LQZ-7F1 for its biological activities. Here we show that LQZ-7F1 has a significantly improved potency with submicromolar IC50's and induces spontaneous apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. It also more effectively inhibits survivin dimerization and induces survivin degradation in a proteasome-dependent manner than LQZ-7F. We also show that the combination of LQZ-7F1 and docetaxel have strong synergism in inhibiting prostate cancer cell survival. Together, we conclude that the hydrazone linker with the oxadiazole tail is dispensable for survivin inhibition and the survivin dimerization inhibitor, LQZ-7F, may be developed as a prodrug for prostate cancer treatment and to overcome docetaxel resistance.
Corrigendum: eIF3a Regulation of NHEJ Repair Protein Synthesis and Cellular Response to Ionizing Radiation
(Frontiers Media, 2021-01-07) Tumia, Rima; Wang, Chao J.; Dong, Tianhan; Ma, Shijie; Beebe, Jenny; Chen, Juan; Dong, Zizheng; Liu, Jing-Yuan; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00753.].
Dynamic vs Static ABCG2 Inhibitors to Sensitize Drug Resistant Cancer Cells
(Public Library of Science, 2010-12-07) Peng, Hui; Qi, Jing; Dong, Zizheng; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine
Human ABCG2, a member of the ATP-binding cassette transporter superfamily, plays a key role in multidrug resistance and protecting cancer stem cells. ABCG2-knockout had no apparent adverse effect on the development, biochemistry, and life of mice. Thus, ABCG2 is an interesting and promising target for development of chemo-sensitizing agents for better treatment of drug resistant cancers and for eliminating cancer stem cells. Previously, we reported a novel two mode-acting ABCG2 inhibitor, PZ-39, that induces ABCG2 degradation in addition to inhibiting its activity. In this manuscript, we report our recent progresses in identifying two different groups of ABCG2 inhibitors with one inhibiting only ABCG2 function (static) and the other induces ABCG2 degradation in lysosome in addition to inhibiting its function (dynamic). Thus, the inhibitor-induced ABCG2 degradation may be more common than we previously anticipated and further investigation of the dynamic inhibitors that induce ABCG2 degradation may provide a more effective way of sensitizing ABCG2-mediated MDR in cancer chemotherapy.
Effective targeting of the survivin dimerization interface with small molecule inhibitors
(AACR, 2016-01) Qi, Jing; Dong, Zizheng; Liu, Jianguo; Peery, Robert C.; Zhang, Shaobo; Liu, Jingyuan; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, IU School of Medicine
Many oncoproteins are considered undruggable because they lack enzymatic activities. In this study, we present a small-molecule–based anticancer agent that acts by inhibiting dimerization of the oncoprotein survivin, thereby promoting its degradation along with spontaneous apoptosis in cancer cells. Through a combination of computational analysis of the dimerization interface and in silico screening, we identified one compound that induced proteasome-dependent survivin degradation. Analysis of a set of structural analogues led us to identify a lead compound (LQZ-7F), which was effective in blocking the survival of multiple cancer cell lines in a low micromolar concentration range. LQZ-7F induced proteasome-dependent survivin degradation, mitotic arrest, and apoptosis, and it blocked the growth of human tumors in mouse xenograft assays. In addition to providing preclinical proof of concept for a survivin-targeting anticancer agent, our work offers novel in silico screening strategies to therapeutically target homodimeric oncogenic proteins considered undruggable.
eIF3 Regulation of Protein Synthesis, Tumorigenesis, and Therapeutic Response
(SpringerLink, 2017) Yin, Ji-Ye; Dong, Zizheng; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine
Translation initiation is the rate-limiting step of protein synthesis and highly regulated. Eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3) is the largest and most complex initiation factor consisting of 13 putative subunits. A growing number of studies suggest that eIF3 and its subunits may represent a new group of proto- oncogenes and associates with prognosis. They regulate translation of a subset of mRNAs involved in many cellular processes including proliferation, apoptosis, DNA repair, and cell cycle. Therefore, unveiling the mechanisms of eIF3 action in tumorigenesis may help identify attractive targets for cancer therapy. Here, we describe a series of methods used in the study of eIF3 function in regulating protein synthesis, tumorigenesis, and cellular response to therapeutic treatments.
eIF3a Regulation of NHEJ Repair Protein Synthesis and Cellular Response to Ionizing Radiation
(Frontiers, 2020-08-19) Tumia, Rima; Wang, Chao J.; Dong, Tianhan; Ma, Shijie; Beebe, Jenny; Chen, Juan; Dong, Zizheng; Liu, Jing-Yuan; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine
Translation initiation in protein synthesis regulated by eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) is a crucial step in controlling gene expression. eIF3a has been shown to regulate protein synthesis and cellular response to treatments by anticancer agents including cisplatin by regulating nucleotide excision repair. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that eIF3a regulates the synthesis of proteins important for the repair of double-strand DNA breaks induced by ionizing radiation (IR). We found that eIF3a upregulation sensitized cellular response to IR while its downregulation caused resistance to IR. eIF3a increases IR-induced DNA damages and decreases non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) activity by suppressing the synthesis of NHEJ repair proteins. Furthermore, analysis of existing patient database shows that eIF3a expression associates with better overall survival of breast, gastric, lung, and ovarian cancer patients. These findings together suggest that eIF3a plays an important role in cellular response to DNA-damaging treatments by regulating the synthesis of DNA repair proteins and, thus, eIIF3a likely contributes to the outcome of cancer patients treated with DNA-damaging strategies including IR.
EIF3i Promotes Colon Oncogenesis by Regulating COX-2 Protein Synthesis and β-Catenin Activation
(Nature Publishing Group, 2014-08-07) Qi, Jing; Dong, Zizheng; Liu, Jianguo; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine
Translational control of gene expression has recently been recognized as an important mechanism controlling cell proliferation and oncogenesis and it mainly occurs in the initiation step of protein synthesis that involves multiple eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs). Many eIFs have been found to have aberrant expression in human tumors and the aberrant expression may contribute to oncogenesis. However, how these previously considered house-keeping proteins are potentially oncogenic remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the expression of eIF3i in human colon cancers, tested its contribution to colon oncogenesis, and determined the mechanism of eIF3i action in colon oncogenesis. We found that eIF3i expression was up-regulated in both human colon adenocarcinoma and adenoma polyps as well as in model inducible colon tumorigenic cell lines. Over-expression of ectopic eIF3i in intestinal epithelial cells causes oncogenesis by directly up-regulating synthesis of COX-2 protein and activates the β-catenin/TCF4 signaling pathway that mediates the oncogenic function of eIF3i. Together, we conclude that eIF3i is a proto-oncogene that drives colon oncogenesis by translationally up-regulating COX-2 and activating β-catenin signaling pathway. These findings imply that protooncogenic eIFs likely exert their tumorigenic function by regulating/altering the synthesis level of down-stream tumor suppressor or oncogenes.
FASN negatively regulates p65 expression by reducing its stability via Thr254 phosphorylation and isomerization by Pin1
(Elsevier, 2024) Barlow, Lincoln; Josephraj, Sophia; Gu, Boqing; Dong, Zizheng; Zhang, Jian-Ting; Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine
FASN, the sole cytosolic enzyme responsible for de novo palmitate synthesis in mammalian cells, has been associated with poor prognosis in cancer and shown to cause drug and radiation resistance by upregulating DNA damage repair via suppression of p65 expression. Targeting FASN by repurposing proton pump inhibitors has generated impressive outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer patients. While p65 regulation of DNA damage repair was thought to be due to its suppression of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 gene transcription, the mechanism of FASN regulation of p65 expression was unknown. In this study, we show that FASN regulates p65 stability by controlling its phosphorylation at Thr254, which recruits the peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase Pin1 that is known to stabilize many proteins in the nucleus. This regulation is mediated by palmitate, the FASN catalytic product, not by FASN protein per se. This finding of FASN regulation of p65 stability via phosphorylation of Thr254 and isomerization by Pin1 implicates that FASN and its catalytic product palmitate may play an important role in regulating protein stability in general and p65 more specifically.

Browsing by Author "Dong, Zizheng"

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