ASPIC

Investigadores do Grupo de Oncologia Molecular e Patologia Viral (GOMPV) do Centro de Investigação do IPO-Porto (CI-IPOP), em colaboração com investigadores do Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), estabeleceram um modelo in vitro 3D de cancro da próstata resistente à castração, aplicável na identificação de microRNAs derivados de vesículas extracelulares (VEs) preditivos do desenvolvimento de resistência à enzalutamida (ENZ).

Study shows that diosgenin, a phytosteroid sapogenin, suppresses viability and promotes apoptosis of human prostate cancer cells with effects enhanced by the activation of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor activation. 

Authors and Affiliations:

Marília I. Figueira¹, Ricardo Marques², Henrique J. Cardoso¹, Lara R. S. Fonseca¹, Ana P. Duarte¹, Samuel Silvestre¹ and Sílvia Socorro¹

Estudo mostra que a diosgenina, uma sapogenina fitoesteróide, suprime a viabilidade e promove a apoptose de células cancerígenas da próstata humana com efeitos potenciados pela ativação do recetor de estrogénios acoplado à proteína G.

Autores e afiliações:

Marília I. Figueira¹, Ricardo Marques², Henrique J. Cardoso¹, Lara R. S. Fonseca¹, Ana P. Duarte¹, Samuel Silvestre¹ and Sílvia Socorro¹

The study "Combination of gold nanoparticles with near-infrared light as an alternative approach for melanoma management" investigated the combination of gold nanoparticles with near-infrared laser irradiation as a promising therapeutic strategy for melanoma treatment. The different assays conducted demonstrated nanoparticles or the laser alone did not cause significant cytotoxic effects. In contrast, the combined therapy substantially reduced cell viability and induced cell death through an apoptotic mechanism.

O estudo "Combination of gold nanoparticles with near-infrared light as an alternative approach for melanoma management" investigou a combinação de nanopartículas de ouro com irradiação laser, na região do infravermelho próximo, como uma estratégia terapêutica promissora para o tratamento do melanoma. Os diferentes ensaios realizados demonstraram que as nanopartículas ou o laser isolados não causaram efeitos citotóxicos significativos. Pelo contrário, a terapia combinada reduziu de forma substancial a viabilidade celular e induziu a morte celular por um mecanismo apoptótico.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the main causes of cancer death worldwide. Thus, the main objective of this work was to develop a new targeted lipid-polymer hybrid nanosystem that could allow the simultaneous transport of different therapeutic agents, namely antitumor drugs and nucleic acids, and their specific delivery in HCC cells. This formulation has the capability to mediate combined chemotherapy and gene therapy, as it efficiently loaded and delivered, in target cells, the drugs selumetinib and perifosine, and the PTEN transgene.

O carcinoma hepatocelular (CHC) é uma das principais causas de morte por cancro em todo o mundo. Assim, o principal objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um novo nanossistema híbrido lípido-polímero direcionado que permitisse o transporte simultâneo de diferentes agentes terapêuticos, nomeadamente fármacos antitumorais e ácidos nucleicos, e a sua entrega específica às células CHC. Esta formulação tem a capacidade de mediar a combinação de quimioterapia e terapia génica, uma vez que entregou eficazmente os fármacos selumetinib e perifosina, e o transgene PTEN, nas células alvo.

Researchers from the Molecular Oncology and Viral Pathology Group (GOMPV) at the IPO-Porto Research Center (CI-IPOP), in collaboration with researchers from the Departments of Medical Oncology, Onco-Hematology, and Occupational Health at IPO-Porto, conducted a study on the immune response of cancer patients to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination booster. The project focused on studying humoral immunity over time in patients who were undergoing active treatment when they received the vaccine booster dose, using a group of healthy individuals as a control.

The therapeutic landscape in breast cancer has benefited from the development of variate antibody-based therapies. Yet, pre-clinical models capable of recapitulating the complex crosstalk within the tumor microenvironment (TME) are needed to properly address the effect of such therapies. In this work, we devised cell models able to accommodate different cell populations (3D-3), by adding stromal and immune components to multicellular tumor spheroids. The models were microencapsulated in alginate and kept under stirred conditions, to recreate critical hallmarks of the TME.