Biological effects of essential oils - A review

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for driving plasticity during development, but is an unintentional behaviour of cells during cancer progression. The EMT-associated reprogramming of cells not only suggests that fundamental changes may occur to several regulatory networks but also that an intimate interplay exists between them. Disturbance of a controlled epithelial balance is triggered by altering several layers of regulation, including the transcriptional and translational machinery, expression of non-coding RNAs, alternative splicing and protein stability.

Regulatory networks defining EMT during cancer initiation and progression

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular programme that is known to be crucial for embryogenesis, wound healing and malignant progression. During EMT, cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix interactions are remodelled, which leads to the detachment of epithelial cells from each other and the underlying basement membrane, and a new transcriptional programme is activated to promote the mesenchymal fate. In the context of neoplasias, EMT confers on cancer cells increased tumour-initiating and metastatic potential and a greater resistance to elimination by several therapeutic regimens. In this Review, we discuss recent findings on the mechanisms and roles of EMT in normal and neoplastic tissues, and the cell-intrinsic signals that sustain expression of this programme. We also highlight how EMT gives rise to a variety of intermediate cell states between the epithelial and the mesenchymal state, which could function as cancer stem cells. In addition, we describe the contributions of the tumour microenvironment in inducing EMT and the effects of EMT on the immunobiology of carcinomas. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial for embryogenesis, wound healing and cancer development, and confers greater resistance to cancer therapies. This Review discusses the mechanisms of EMT and its roles in normal and neoplastic tissues, the contribution of cell-intrinsic signals and the microenvironment to inducing EMT, and its effects on the immunobiology of carcinomas.

New insights into the mechanisms of epithelial–mesenchymal transition and implications for cancer

Emerging Biological Principles of Metastasis

Eating five servings of fruits and vegetables per day! This is what is highly recommended and heavily advertised nowadays to the general public to stay fit and healthy! Drinking green tea on a regular basis, eating chocolate from time to time, as well as savoring a couple of glasses of red wine per day have been claimed to increase life expectancy even further! Why? The answer is in fact still under scientific scrutiny, but a particular class of compounds naturally occurring in fruits and vegetables is considered to be crucial for the expression of such human health benefits: the polyphenols! What are these plant products really? What are their physicochemical properties? How do they express their biological activity? Are they really valuable for disease prevention? Can they be used to develop new pharmaceutical drugs? What recent progress has been made toward their preparation by organic synthesis? This Review gives answers from a chemical perspective, summarizes the state of the art, and highlights the most significant advances in the field of polyphenol research.

Plant Polyphenols: Chemical Properties, Biological Activities, and Synthesis

Skin is the largest human organ and is continuously exposed to various exogenous and endogenous trigger factors affecting body homeostasis. A number of mechanisms, including genetic, inflammatory and autoimmune ones, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cutaneous diseases. Recently, there has been considerable interest in the role that extracellular vesicles, particularly exosomes, play in human diseases, through their modulation of multiple signaling pathways. Exosomes are nano-sized vesicles secreted by all cell types. They function as cargo carriers shuttling proteins, nucleic acids, lipids etc., thus impacting the cell-cell communications and transfer of vital information/moieties critical for skin homeostasis and disease pathogenesis. This review summarizes the available knowledge on how exosomes affect pathogenesis of cutaneous diseases, and highlights their potential as future targets for the therapy of various skin diseases.

https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/23/9264/pdf

Exosomes: Emerging Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets in Cutaneous Diseases.

Breast cancer is one of the most common type of cancers as well as a principal cause of cancer-related deaths in womenworldwide Although research has provided a better understanding and diagnosis of breast cancer, studies in breast cancer therapeuticsare still far from satisfactory Recent research on microRNAs (miRNAs) has implicated these tiny regulatory molecules in progression ofbreast cancer with the possibility of exploiting them as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers The loss of tumor suppressor miRNAsor overexpression of oncogenic miRNAs can lead to breast cancer tumorigenesis or metastasis However, the next step – linking miRNAsto cancer therapeutics – is still under progression The roles of miRNAs exhibit much potential in breast cancer therapy, but currentlyneed to be further studied and evaluated in order to better understand how to apply laboratory results to clinical medicine Here we providean update on our current understanding of miRNAs as molecular targets for diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of breast cancers

MicroRNAs in breast cancer therapy.

Trastuzumab represents the predominant therapy to target breast cancer subtype marked by HER2 amplification. It has been in use for two decades and its continued importance is underlined by recent FDA approvals of its biosimilar and conjugated versions. Progression to an aggressive disease with acquisition of resistance to trastuzumab remains a major clinical concern. In addition to a number of cellular signaling pathways being investigated, focus in recent years has also shifted to epigenetic and non-coding RNA basis of acquired resistance against trastuzumab. This article provides a succinct discussion on the most recent advances in our understanding of such factors.

Current Updates on Trastuzumab Resistance in HER2 Overexpressing Breast Cancers.

Rapidly developing resistance against different therapeutics is a major stumbling block in the standardization of therapy. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-mediated signaling has emerged as one of the most highly and extensively studied signal transduction cascade that induces apoptosis in cancer cells. Rapidly emerging cutting-edge research has helped us to develop a better understanding of the signaling machinery involved in inducing apoptotic cell death. However, excitingly, cancer cells develop resistance against TRAIL-induced apoptosis through different modes. Loss of cell surface expression of TRAIL receptors and imbalance of stoichiometric ratios of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins play instrumental roles in rewiring the machinery of cancer cells to develop resistance against TRAIL-based therapeutics. Natural products have shown excellent potential to restore apoptosis in TRAIL-resistant cancer cell lines and in mice xenografted with TRAIL-resistant cancer cells. Significantly refined information has previously been added and continues to enrich the existing pool of knowledge related to the natural-product-mediated upregulation of death receptors, rebalancing of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins in different cancers. In this mini review, we will set spotlight on the most recently published high-impact research related to underlying mechanisms of TRAIL resistance and how these deregulations can be targeted by natural products to restore TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in different cancers.

https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/8/2010/pdf

Natural Product Mediated Regulation of Death Receptors and Intracellular Machinery: Fresh from the Pipeline about TRAIL-Mediated Signaling and Natural TRAIL Sensitizers.

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Activated K-ras and INK4a/Arf deficiency cooperate during the development of pancreatic cancer by activation of notch and NF-κB signaling pathways (PLoS ONE (2011) 6, 6, (e20537) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020537)

Aamir Ahmad

Papers

Exosomes: Emerging Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets in Cutaneous Diseases.

MicroRNAs in breast cancer therapy.

Current Updates on Trastuzumab Resistance in HER2 Overexpressing Breast Cancers.

Natural Product Mediated Regulation of Death Receptors and Intracellular Machinery: Fresh from the Pipeline about TRAIL-Mediated Signaling and Natural TRAIL Sensitizers.

Activated K-ras and INK4a/Arf deficiency cooperate during the development of pancreatic cancer by activation of notch and NF-κB signaling pathways (PLoS ONE (2011) 6, 6, (e20537) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020537)