Biochemistry and Pharmacology - Research Publications

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    Repurposing the selective estrogen receptor modulator bazedoxifene to suppress gastrointestinal cancer growth.
    Thilakasiri, P ; Huynh, J ; Poh, AR ; Tan, CW ; Nero, TL ; Tran, K ; Parslow, AC ; Afshar-Sterle, S ; Baloyan, D ; Hannan, NJ ; Buchert, M ; Scott, AM ; Griffin, MD ; Hollande, F ; Parker, MW ; Putoczki, TL ; Ernst, M ; Chand, AL (EMBO Press, 2019)
    Excessive signaling through gp130, the shared receptor for the interleukin (IL)6 family of cytokines, is a common hallmark in solid malignancies and promotes their progression. Here, we established the in vivo utility of bazedoxifene, a steroid analog clinically approved for the treatment of osteoporosis, to suppress gp130-dependent tumor growth of the gastrointestinal epithelium. Bazedoxifene administration reduced gastric tumor burden in gp130Y757F mice, where tumors arise exclusively through excessive gp130/STAT3 signaling in response to the IL6 family cytokine IL11. Likewise, in mouse models of sporadic colon and intestinal cancers, which arise from oncogenic mutations in the tumor suppressor gene Apc and the associated β-catenin/canonical WNT pathway, bazedoxifene treatment reduces tumor burden. Consistent with the proposed orthogonal tumor-promoting activity of IL11-dependent gp130/STAT3 signaling, tumors of bazedoxifene-treated Apc-mutant mice retain excessive nuclear accumulation of β-catenin and aberrant WNT pathway activation. Likewise, bazedoxifene treatment of human colon cancer cells harboring mutant APC did not reduce aberrant canonical WNT signaling, but suppressed IL11-dependent STAT3 signaling. Our findings provide compelling proof of concept to support the repurposing of bazedoxifene for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers in which IL11 plays a tumor-promoting role.
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    EPO does not promote interaction between the erythropoietin and beta-common receptors (vol 8, 12457, 2018)
    Shing, KSCT ; Broughton, SE ; Nero, TL ; Gillinder, K ; Ilsley, MD ; Ramshaw, H ; Lopez, AF ; Griffin, MDW ; Parker, MW ; Perkins, AC ; Dhagat, U (NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2019-05-21)
    A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.
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    EPO does not promote interaction between the erythropoietin and beta-common receptors
    Shing, KSCT ; Broughton, SE ; Nero, TL ; Gillinder, K ; Ilsley, MD ; Ramshaw, H ; Lopez, AF ; Griffin, MDW ; Parker, MW ; Perkins, AC ; Dhagat, U (NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2018-08-20)
    A direct interaction between the erythropoietin (EPOR) and the beta-common (βc) receptors to form an Innate Repair Receptor (IRR) is controversial. On one hand, studies have shown a functional link between EPOR and βc receptor in tissue protection while others have shown no involvement of the βc receptor in tissue repair. To date there is no biophysical evidence to confirm a direct association of the two receptors either in vitro or in vivo. We investigated the existence of an interaction between the extracellular regions of EPOR and the βc receptor in silico and in vitro (either in the presence or absence of EPO or EPO-derived peptide ARA290). Although a possible interaction between EPOR and βc was suggested by our computational and genomic studies, our in vitro biophysical analysis demonstrates that the extracellular regions of the two receptors do not specifically associate. We also explored the involvement of the βc receptor gene (Csf2rb) under anaemic stress conditions and found no requirement for the βc receptor in mice. In light of these studies, we conclude that the extracellular regions of the EPOR and the βc receptor do not directly interact and that the IRR is not involved in anaemic stress.