In response to diverse stress stimuli, eukaryotic cells activate a common adaptive pathway, termed the integrated stress response (ISR), to restore cellular homeostasis. The core event in this pathway is the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha (eIF2α) by one of four members of the eIF2α kinase family, which leads to a decrease in global protein synthesis and the induction of selected genes, including the transcription factor ATF4, that together promote cellular recovery. The gene expression program activated by the ISR optimizes the cellular response to stress and is dependent on the cellular context, as well as on the nature and intensity of the stress stimuli. Although the ISR is primarily a pro‐survival, homeostatic program, exposure to severe stress can drive signaling toward cell death. Here, we review current understanding of the ISR signaling and how it regulates cell fate under diverse types of stress.

https://www.embopress.org/doi/pdf/10.15252/embr.201642195

The integrated stress response.

Most cancer cells exhibit increased glycolysis and use this metabolic pathway for generation of ATP as a main source of their energy supply. This phenomenon is known as the Warburg effect and is considered as one of the most fundamental metabolic alterations during malignant transformation. In recent years, there are significant progresses in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and the potential therapeutic implications. Biochemical and molecular studies suggest several possible mechanisms by which this metabolic alteration may evolve during cancer development. These mechanisms include mitochondrial defects and malfunction, adaptation to hypoxic tumor microenvironment, oncogenic signaling, and abnormal expression of metabolic enzymes. Importantly, the increased dependence of cancer cells on glycolytic pathway for ATP generation provides a biochemical basis for the design of therapeutic strategies to preferentially kill cancer cells by pharmacological inhibition of glycolysis. Several small molecules have emerged that exhibit promising anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo, as single agent or in combination with other therapeutic modalities. The glycolytic inhibitors are particularly effective against cancer cells with mitochondrial defects or under hypoxic conditions, which are frequently associated with cellular resistance to conventional anticancer drugs and radiation therapy. Because increased aerobic glycolysis is commonly seen in a wide spectrum of human cancers and hypoxia is present in most tumor microenvironment, development of novel glycolytic inhibitors as a new class of anticancer agents is likely to have broad therapeutic applications.

/pdf/glycolysis-inhibition-for-anticancer-treatment-40rjcq29jf.pdf

Glycolysis inhibition for anticancer treatment

In early studies on energy metabolism of tumor cells, it was proposed that the enhanced glycolysis was induced by a decreased oxidative phosphorylation. Since then it has been indiscriminately applied to all types of tumor cells that the ATP supply is mainly or only provided by glycolysis, without an appropriate experimental evaluation. In this review, the different genetic and biochemical mechanisms by which tumor cells achieve an enhanced glycolytic flux are analyzed. Furthermore, the proposed mechanisms that arguably lead to a decreased oxidative phosphorylation in tumor cells are discussed. As the O(2) concentration in hypoxic regions of tumors seems not to be limiting for the functioning of oxidative phosphorylation, this pathway is re-evaluated regarding oxidizable substrate utilization and its contribution to ATP supply versus glycolysis. In the tumor cell lines where the oxidative metabolism prevails over the glycolytic metabolism for ATP supply, the flux control distribution of both pathways is described. The effect of glycolytic and mitochondrial drugs on tumor energy metabolism and cellular proliferation is described and discussed. Similarly, the energy metabolic changes associated with inherent and acquired resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy of tumor cells, and those determined by positron emission tomography, are revised. It is proposed that energy metabolism may be an alternative therapeutic target for both hypoxic (glycolytic) and oxidative tumors.

https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1742-4658.2007.05686.x

Energy metabolism in tumor cells

Altered energy metabolism is a biochemical fingerprint of cancer cells that represents one of the “hallmarks of cancer”. This metabolic phenotype is characterized by preferential dependence on glycolysis (the process of conversion of glucose into pyruvate followed by lactate production) for energy production in an oxygen-independent manner. Although glycolysis is less efficient than oxidative phosphorylation in the net yield of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), cancer cells adapt to this mathematical disadvantage by increased glucose up-take, which in turn facilitates a higher rate of glycolysis. Apart from providing cellular energy, the metabolic intermediates of glycolysis also play a pivotal role in macromolecular biosynthesis, thus conferring selective advantage to cancer cells under diminished nutrient supply. Accumulating data also indicate that intracellular ATP is a critical determinant of chemoresistance. Under hypoxic conditions where glycolysis remains the predominant energy producing pathway sensitizing cancer cells would require intracellular depletion of ATP by inhibition of glycolysis. Together, the oncogenic regulation of glycolysis and multifaceted roles of glycolytic components underscore the biological significance of tumor glycolysis. Thus targeting glycolysis remains attractive for therapeutic intervention. Several preclinical investigations have indeed demonstrated the effectiveness of this therapeutic approach thereby supporting its scientific rationale. Recent reviews have provided a wealth of information on the biochemical targets of glycolysis and their inhibitors. The objective of this review is to present the most recent research on the cancer-specific role of glycolytic enzymes including their non-glycolytic functions in order to explore the potential for therapeutic opportunities. Further, we discuss the translational potential of emerging drug candidates in light of technical advances in treatment modalities such as image-guided targeted delivery of cancer therapeutics.

/pdf/tumor-glycolysis-as-a-target-for-cancer-therapy-progress-and-2b8jy98sx7.pdf

Tumor glycolysis as a target for cancer therapy: progress and prospects.

Over twenty years of intensive work toward improvement of cisplatin, and with hundreds of platinum drugs tested, has resulted in the introduction of the widely used carboplatin and of oxaliplatin used only for a very narrow spectrum of cancers. A number of interesting platinum compounds including the orally administered platinum drug JM216, nedaplatin, the sterically hindered platinum(II) complex ZD0473, the trinuclear platinum complex BBR3464, and the liposomal forms Lipoplatin and SPI-77 are under clinical evaluation. This review summarizes the molecular mechanisms of platinum compounds for DNA damage, DNA repair and induction of apoptosis via activation or modulation of signaling pathways and explores the basis of platinum resistance. Cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin and most other platinum compounds induce damage to tumors via induction of apoptosis; this is mediated by activation of signal transduction leading to the death receptor mechanisms as well as mitochondrial pathways. Apoptosis is responsible for the characteristic nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity and most other toxicities of the drugs. The major limitation in the clinical applications of cisplatin has been the development of cisplatin resistance by tumors. Mechanisms explaining cisplatin resistance include the reduction in cisplatin accumulation inside cancer cells because of barriers across the cell membrane, the faster repair of cisplatin adducts, the modulation of apoptotic pathways in various cells, the upregulation in transcription factors, the loss of p53 and other protein functions and a higher concentration of glutathione and metallothioneins in some type of tumors. A number of experimental strategies to overcome cisplatin resistance are at the preclinical or clinical level such as introduction of the bax gene, inhibition of the JNK pathway, introduction of a functional p53 gene, treatment of tumors with aldose reductase inhibitors and others. Particularly important are combinations of platinum drug treatments with other drugs, radiation and the emerging gene therapy regimens.

https://www.spandidos-publications.com/10.3892/or.10.6.1663/download

Cisplatin and platinum drugs at the molecular level. (Review).

The action of Lonidamine [1-(2,4-chlorobenzyl)-1H-indazol-3-carboxylic acid] on respiration and aerobic lactate production of several murine tumor cells and normal differentiated murine cells was investigated. Lonidamine reduced the oxygen consumption in both normal and neoplastic cells. In contrast, it increased the aerobic glycolysis of normal cells but inhibited that of tumor cells. This selective action might be ascribed to the inhibition of mitochondrially bound hexokinase, which is usually absent in normal differentiated cells.

Lonidamine, a Selective Inhibitor of Aerobic Glycolysis of Murine Tumor Cells

The action of Lonidamine [1-(2,4-dichlorobenzyl)-1-H-indazol-3-carboxylic acid] on oxygen consumption and the rate of aerobic and anaerobic lactate production by Ehrlich ascites tumor cells has been investigated. The rate of oxygen consumption decreases exponentially with the increase of Lonidamine concentration, with maximal inhibition occurring at 0.40 mm Lonidamine. The rate of aerobic lactate production is inhibited to the same extent as is the oxygen consumption. However, the maximum effect is observed at 0.12 mm Lonidamine, and the decrease is linear with Lonidamine concentration. Anaerobic lactate production is more sensitive to Lonidamine, and complete inhibition can be observed by raising the concentration to 0.6 mm. The possibility that the decrease observed in lactate production was secondary to the inhibition of sodium- and potassium-containing adenosinetriphosphatase was excluded, because the drug has no effect on this enzyme. Mitochondrial adenosinetriphosphatase was not affected. Lonidamine was, however, shown to inhibit the activity of mitochondrially bound hexokinase to approximately the same extent as it inhibited aerobic glycolysis (∼70%). It is concluded that inhibition of the glycolysis of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells by Lonidamine results from an effect of the drug on the mitochondrially bound hexokinase.

https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/41/11_Part_1/4661.full.pdf

Effect of lonidamine on the energy metabolism of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

Morphological changes in rat germ cell mitochondria are described. In diplotene and secondary spermatocytes and in the spermatids of the Golgi, cap and acrosomal phases, the mitochondria take on a rounded appearance with the inner space containing the matrix flattened against the outer membrane and the intracristal spaces considerably swollen (“condensed” mitochondria).

Morphological, histochemical and biochemical studies on germ cell mitochondria of normal rats.

1079 Che-1 is a RNA polymerase II binding protein involved in the transcription of E2F target genes and induction of cell proliferation. Here we show that Che-1 contributes to DNA damage response and its depletion sensitizes cells to anti-cancer agents. The checkpoint kinases ATM/ATR and Chk2 physically and functionally interact with Che-1 and promote its phosphorylation and accumulation in response to DNA damage. These Che-1 modifications induce a specific recruitment of Che-1 on the TP53 and p21 promoters, however, we found that Che-1 does not affect the consequent transcription of p53 in response to DNA damage. Interestingly, it has a profound effect on the basal expression of p53, which is preserved following DNA damage. Notably, Che-1 contributes to the maintenance of the G2/M checkpoint induced by DNA-damage. These findings identify a new mechanism by which the checkpoint kinases ATM/ATR and Chk2 regulate responses to DNA damage.

Aristide Floridi

Papers

Lonidamine, a Selective Inhibitor of Aerobic Glycolysis of Murine Tumor Cells

Effect of lonidamine on the energy metabolism of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

Morphological, histochemical and biochemical studies on germ cell mitochondria of normal rats.

Che-1 phosphorylation by ATM/ATR and CHK2 kinases activates p53 transcription and the g2/m checkpoint

Sites of inhibition of mitochondrial electron transport by cadmium.