In this work, pH/redox dual-responsive carbon dots (CDs-RGD-Pt(IV)-PEG) were fabricated for tumor extracellular microenvironment triggered targeting and enhanced anticancer drug delivery. The system consists of fluorescent carbon dots as imaging-guided drug nanocarriers, cisplatin(IV) as prodrug, and RGD peptide as active targeting ligand, which is covered by monomethoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG) through tumor extracellular pH (6.5-6.8) responsive benzoic-imine bond. The drug nanocarriers could be tracked by multicolor fluorescence of carbon dots. After the hydrolysis of benzoic-imine bond at the tumor extracellular pH to expose the inner targeting RGD peptide, the drug nanocarriers showed effective uptake by cancer cells through RGD-integrin αvβ3 (ligand-receptor) interaction. Upon the internalization, the loaded cisplatin(IV) prodrug was reduced to cytotoxic cisplatin in reductive cytosol of cancer cells to exhibit therapeutic effects. Confocal imaging, flow cytometry, and cell viability assays using CDs-RGD-Pt(IV)-PEG were performed to reveal the enhanced uptake and better therapeutic efficiency to cancer cells with high integrin αvβ3 expression at tumor extracellular pH than that in physiological condition. The developed CDs-RGD-Pt(IV)-PEG offers a new strategy to provide safe and effective therapeutic agents based on carbon dots for promising cancer therapy.

BackgroundWe had previously demonstrated overexpression of fibroblast growth factor receptor-4 (FGFR4) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, additional molecular mechanisms resulting in amplified FGFR4 signaling in HCC remain under-studied. Here, we studied the mechanistic role of its co-receptor klotho-beta (KLB) in driving elevated FGFR4 activity in HCC progression.ResultsQuantitative real-time PCR analysis identified frequent elevation of KLB gene expression in HCC tumors relative to matched non-tumor tissue, with a more than two-fold increase correlating with development of multiple tumors in patients. KLB-silencing in Huh7 cells decreased cell proliferation and suppressed FGFR4 downstream signaling. While transient repression of KLB-FGFR4 signaling decreased protein expression of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a HCC diagnostic marker, prolonged inhibition enriched for resistant HCC cells exhibiting increased liver stemness.ConclusionsElevated KLB expression in HCC tissues provides further credence to the oncogenic role of increased FGFR4 signaling in HCC progression and represents a novel biomarker to identify additional patients amenable to anti-FGFR4 therapy. The restricted tissue expression profile of KLB, together with the anti-proliferative effect observed with KLB-silencing, also qualifies it as a specific and potent therapeutic target for HCC patients. The enrichment of a liver stem cell-like population in response to extended KLB-FGFR4 repression necessitates further investigation to target the development of drug resistance.

Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) play a critical role in the manifestation of cancer cell properties, and respective signaling mechanisms have been studied extensively on immortalized tumor cells. To characterize and analyze commonly used cancer cell lines with regard to variations in the primary structure of all expressed PTKs, we conducted a cDNA-based sequence analysis of the entire tyrosine kinase transcriptome of 254 established tumor cell lines. The profiles of cell line intrinsic PTK transcript alterations and the evaluation of 155 identified polymorphisms and 234 somatic mutations are made available in a database designated ''Tykiva'' (tyrosine ki nome variant). Tissue distribution analysis and/or the localization within defined protein domains indicate functional relevance of several genetic alterations. The cysteine replacement of the highly conserved Y367 residue in fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 or the Q26X nonsense mutation in the tumor-suppressor kinase CSK are examples, and may contribute to cell line-specific signaling characteristics and tumor progression. Moreover, known variants, such as epidermal growth factor receptor G719S, that were shown to mediate anticancer drug sensitivity could be detected in other than the previously reported tumor types. Our data therefore provide extensive system information for the design and interpretation of cell line-based cancer research, and may stimulate further investigations into broader clinical applications of current cancer therapeutics.

Supplementary Text from Genetic Alterations in the Tyrosine Kinase Transcriptome of Human Cancer Cell Lines