Hematopoiesis and Leukemia Laboratory, Research Unit on Cell Differentiation and Cancer, Faculty of High Studies Zaragoza, National Autonomous University of Mexico, 09230, Mexico City, Mexico.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Faculty of High Studies Zaragoza, National Autonomous University of Mexico, 56410, Mexico City, Mexico.
Med Oncol. 2024 Jul 11;41(8):200. doi: 10.1007/s12032-024-02403-8.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with over 10 million fatalities annually. While tumors can be surgically removed and treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, hormonal therapy, or combined therapies, current treatments often result in toxic side effects in normal tissue. Therefore, researchers are actively seeking ways to selectively eliminate cancerous cells, minimizing the toxic side effects in normal tissue. Caseins and its derivatives have shown promising anti-cancer potential, demonstrating antitumor and cytotoxic effects on cells from various tumor types without causing harm to normal cells. Collectively, these data reveals advancements in the study of caseins and their derivative peptides, particularly providing a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanism of action in cancer therapy. These mechanisms occur through various signaling pathways, including (i) the increase of interferon-associated STAT1 signaling, (ii) the suppression of stemness-related markers such as CD44, (iii) the attenuation of the STAT3/HIF1-α signaling, (iv) the down-expression of uPAR and PAI-1, (v) the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and reduced intracellular ATP production, (vi) the increase of caspase-3 activity, and (vii) the suppression of TLR4/NF-кB signaling. Therefore, we conclude that casein could be an effective adjuvant for cancer treatment.
癌症是全球主要死因之一，每年导致超过 1000 万人死亡。虽然肿瘤可以通过手术切除和化疗、放疗、免疫疗法、激素疗法或联合疗法进行治疗，但目前的治疗方法往往会导致正常组织产生毒性副作用。因此，研究人员正在积极寻找选择性消除癌细胞的方法，最大限度地减少正常组织的毒性副作用。酪蛋白及其衍生物已显示出有希望的抗癌潜力，对来自各种肿瘤类型的细胞表现出抗肿瘤和细胞毒性作用，而不会对正常细胞造成伤害。总的来说，这些数据揭示了酪蛋白及其衍生肽研究的进展，特别是对癌症治疗中分子作用机制有了全面的了解。这些机制通过各种信号通路发生，包括（i）干扰素相关 STAT1 信号的增加，（ii）抑制与干细胞相关的标志物，如 CD44，（iii）STAT3/HIF1-α 信号的衰减，（iv）uPAR 和 PAI-1 的下调，（v）线粒体膜电位丧失和细胞内 ATP 产生减少，（vi）caspase-3 活性增加，以及（vii）TLR4/NF-кB 信号的抑制。因此，我们得出结论，酪蛋白可能是癌症治疗的有效辅助剂。
