BACKGROUND Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant tumor in women. AIM To investigate BC-associated hub genes to obtain a better understanding of BC tumorigenesis. METHODS In total, 1203 BC samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database, which included 113 normal samples and 1090 tumor samples. The limma package of R software was used to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in tumor tissues compared with normal tissues. The cluster Profiler package was used to perform Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of upregulated and downregulated genes. Univariate Cox regression was conducted to explore the DEGs with statistical significance. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis was employed to investigate the hub genes using the CytoHubba plug-in of Cytoscape software. Survival analyses of the hub genes were carried out using the Kaplan-Meier method. The expression level of these hub genes was validated in the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database and Human Protein Atlas database. RESULTS A total of 1317 DEGs (fold change > 2; P < 0.01) were confirmed through bioinformatics analysis, which included 744 upregulated and 573 downregulated genes in BC samples. KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the upregulated genes were mainly enriched in the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, cell cycle, and the p53 signaling pathway (P < 0.01); and the downregulated genes were mainly enriched in the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling pathway, and AMP-activated protein kinase signaling pathway (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION In view of the results of PPI analysis, which were verified by survival and expression analyses, we conclude that MAD2L1, PLK1, SAA1, CCNB1, SHCBP1, KIF4A, ANLN, and ERCC6L may act as biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis in BC patients.

In the field of epigenetics, histone deacetylases (HDACs) are important members and well validated targets for anti-cancer drugs discovery. In this study, we designed and synthesized twenty-seven novel hydroxamic acid-based HDAC inhibitors (HDACis) with benzyl-triazole as the core skeleton. Most target compounds displayed excellent inhibition rates toward HDACs. Among them, compounds ZM-22 to ZM-27 with inhibition rates more than 90% toward HDACs exhibited potent inhibitory activity toward HDAC6, and ZM-23 possessed the best selectivity to HDAC6 over HDAC1. The high potency of compound ZM-23 toward HDAC6 was rationalized by molecular docking simulation. This series of compounds is worthy for further anti-cancer activity evaluation and structural optimization works.

Histone deacetylases have proven to be promising targets for the development of anticancer drugs. In this work, we reported the design and synthesis of a series of 20 novel hydroxamic acid-based histone deacetylase inhibitors with 4-piperidin-4-yl-triazole as the core structure. Five newly obtained compounds displayed excellent HDAC6 inhibitory activities. Among them, compounds WY-12 and WY-15 also exhibited excellent antiproliferative activities against six human tumor cell lines. WY-15 could increase the level of acetylated histone H3 in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, WY-15 remarkably induced cell cycle arrest of Sy5y cancer cells in G0 /G1 phase. Finally, the high potency of compound WY-15 toward HDAC6 was rationalized by molecular docking study.

In epigenetics, histone deacetylases (HDACs) are well validated targets for the development of anticancer drugs. In this work, we reported the design and synthesis of a series of twenty two novel (E)-N-hydroxycinnamamide-based HDAC inhibitors with 4-aminopiperidine1-carboxamide as the core structure. Most newly synthesized compounds displayed high inhibition rates toward HDAC at the concentration of 1 μM. Among them, the inhibition rates of compounds LYP-2, LYP-3, LYP-6, and LYP-15 were more than 75%. Furthermore, compounds LYP-2, LYP-3, and LYP-6 potently inhibited the activity of HDAC6 with selectivity over HDAC1. We chose LYP-2 and LYP-6 to test its antiproliferative effect on breast cancer cells MCF-7. Either LYP-2 or LYP-6 alone moderately suppressed the cell growth, but could synergistically enhance the inhibitory effect of bortezomib. These results suggested that combined HDAC6 inhibitor and bortezomib regimen might be an option for breast cancer treatment.

Histone deacetylase is an important member of epigenetics and a well validated target for anti-cancer drug discovery. In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of twenty-one novel hydroxamic acid-based histone deacetylase inhibitors with 4-piperidin-4-yl-triazole as the core skeleton. Most target compounds displayed excellent inhibition rates toward histone deacetylases at the concentration of 1 μM. Among them, the inhibition rates of two compounds MH1-18 and MH1-21 exceeded 90%. Furthermore, these two compounds selectively inhibited the activity of histone deacetylase 6 with low IC50 values. The high potency of them toward histone deacetylase 6 was rationalized by molecular docking studies. We found that MH1-18 and MH1-21 moderately inhibited the proliferation of four human cancer cell lines SGC-7901, NCI-H226, MCF-7, and HL-60. However, MH1-21 showed potent efficacy in suppressing the migration of MCF-7 cells. Results obtained in the current study shed light on designing potent HDAC6 inhibitors as anti-cancer agents.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have proven to be promising targets for the development of anti-cancer drugs. In this study, we reported a series of novel chalcone based tubulin and HDAC dual-targeting inhibitors. Three compounds inhibited the activities of HDAC and tubulin polymerization simultaneously and displayed anti-proliferative activities toward eleven human tumor cell lines. Compound 8a remarkably induced growth inhibition, apoptosis and G2/M phase arrest of A549 tumor cells. Finally, the inhibitory activities of 8a against HDAC6 and tubulin were rationalized by molecular docking studies.

In recent years, chemical liver injury cases increased significantly in Asian countries, and the imbalance in redox system was believed to be the main cause. Purple sweet potato anthocyanins (PSPA) have been shown to exert antioxidant activity and oxidative-stress-associated functional protein modulation through various signaling pathways, so it is considered to have the potential of liver injury preventive activity. In order to evaluate the hepatoprotective potency of PSPA according to its free radical scavenging and antioxidant effects, three acute chemical liver injury models were set up with ethanol, acetaminophen and carbon tetrachloride. PSPA at moderate and high doses obviously attenuated the tested serum biomarker levels and liver index in our experiments. Besides, one chronic liver injury model set up with carbon tetrachloride was also applied, in which PSPA was orally administrated after the liver damage had been formed. Both the serum biomarker levels and histopathological analysis showed that PSPA was able to attenuated chronic liver injury. Our experimental results demonstrated the potential of PSPA as an oral hepatoprotective agent against chemical liver injury from food plant.

This study investigated the molecular mechanisms of polypeptides from Chlamys farreri (PCF)'s anti-apoptotic effects in ultraviolet A-rays (UVA) exposed HaCaT cells. UVA-induced apoptosis in HaCaT cells was confirmed with Hoechst 33258 fluorescent staining; PCF treatment inhibited UVA-induced apoptosis in HaCaT cells, increased transcriptional activities of heat shock factor protein 1 (HSF1) and the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), whereas inhibited activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK), expression of xanthine oxidese (XO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and release of nitric oxide (NO)/reactive oxygen species (ROS). Meanwhile, the HSF1 transcription inhibitor quercetin increased UVA-induced apoptosis, activation of JNK, expression of XO and iNOS and release of NO/ROS. Among the two NO release peaks we found in UVA exposed HaCaT cells, XO inhibitor oxypurinol was found to be able to inhibit NO release at 3h post UVA exposure but not 18h, while iNOS inhibitor S-methylisothiourea sulfate (SMT) was found to inhibit iNOS expression and NO release at 18h but not 3h. PCF's protection against UVA-induced apoptosis in HaCaT cells involves increased transcriptional activity of HSF1, increased expression of HSP70, and the subsequential inhibition of JNK pathway, XO and iNOS expression and ROS/NO release.