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Clinical Science (London, England :... Feb 2022NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3)-mediated macrophage pyroptosis plays an important role in sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI). Inhibition...
BACKGROUND
NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3)-mediated macrophage pyroptosis plays an important role in sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI). Inhibition of pyroptosis may be a way to alleviate inflammation as well as tissue damage triggered after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. The aim of the present study was to explore whether buformin (BF), a hypoglycemic agent, could alleviate sepsis-induced ALI by inhibiting pyroptosis.
METHODS
Wildtype C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group, BF group, LPS group and LPS+BF group. BF group and LPS+BF group were pretreated with BF at a dose of 25 mg/kg, and the changes were observed. In addition, BF was used to interfere with THP-1 cells. The therapeutic effect of BF has been verified by intraperitoneal injection of BF in vivo after LPS stimulation.
RESULTS
Inflammation and injury was significantly reduced in BF pretreated mice, and the indexes related to pyroptosis were suppressed. The phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in lung tissues of mice in the BF and LPS+BF groups was significantly higher. In THP-1 cells, the AMPK inhibitor, Compound C was added to demonstrate that BF worked via AMPK to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome. It was further demonstrated that BF up-regulated autophagy, which in turn promoted NLRP3 inflammasome degradation. On the other hand, BF decreased NLRP3 mRNA level by increasing nuclear factor-erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2). And BF showed a therapeutic effect after LPS challenge.
CONCLUSION
Our study confirmed that BF inhibited NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis in sepsis-induced ALI by up-regulating autophagy and Nrf2 protein level through an AMPK-dependent pathway. This provides a new strategy for clinical mitigation of sepsis-induced ALI.
Topics: AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; Acute Lung Injury; Animals; Autophagy; Buformin; Cell Line; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Macrophages; Male; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; NF-E2-Related Factor 2; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein; Pyroptosis; Sepsis; Mice
PubMed: 35132999
DOI: 10.1042/CS20211156 -
Open Life Sciences 2020Buformin has been reported to be a powerful anticancer drug by activating the AMPK signal. Herein, we aimed to investigate the effects of buformin on osteosarcoma.
BACKGROUND
Buformin has been reported to be a powerful anticancer drug by activating the AMPK signal. Herein, we aimed to investigate the effects of buformin on osteosarcoma.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Cellular proliferative abilities were determined by cell counting kit-8 and colony formation assays. Cellular invasion was investigated using a transwell system. Cell cycle was examined by flow cytometry. Western blot was performed to measure the expression of key proteins. Synergistic effects of buformin and cisplatin were validated in seven fresh osteosarcoma tissues.
RESULTS
Buformin suppressed the growth of U-2 OS cells in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 = 69.1 µM). Moreover, buformin induced cell cycle arrest ( < 0.001) and impaired cellular invasion ( = 0.038). Phosphorylation of AMPK was upregulated by buformin, while phosphorylation of S6, cyclin D1, and MMP9 were significantly downregulated. In addition, buformin notably induced accumulation of reactive oxygen species and lactate and eventually decreased ATP production. In both U-2 OS cells and the primary cultured osteosarcoma tissues, buformin increased tumor sensitivity to cisplatin.
CONCLUSIONS
Buformin could suppress tumor growth and invasion of osteosarcoma through directly targeting the AMPK signaling pathway. Moreover, buformin inhibited the abnormal metabolism and notably increased the cytotoxicity of cisplatin, and therefore represents a new potential treatment option for osteosarcoma.
PubMed: 33817229
DOI: 10.1515/biol-2020-0041 -
Journal of Drug Targeting Nov 2020Biguanides (i.e. metformin, phenformin and buformin) are antidiabetic drugs with potential antitumor effects. Herein, a polycationic polymer,... (Review)
Review
Biguanides (i.e. metformin, phenformin and buformin) are antidiabetic drugs with potential antitumor effects. Herein, a polycationic polymer, ,'-bis(cystamine)acrylamide-buformin (CBA-Bu), containing multiple biodegradable disulphide bonds and buformin-mimicking side chains was synthesised. CBA-Bu was equipped with high efficiency and safety profile for gene delivery, meanwhile exhibiting potential antitumor efficacy. As a gene vector, CBA-Bu was able to condense plasmid DNA (pDNA) into nano-sized (<200 nm), positively-charged (>30 mV) uniform polyplexes that were well resistant to heparin and DNase I. Due to the reduction responsiveness of the disulphide bonds, CBA-Bu/pDNA polyplexes could release the loaded pDNA in the presence of dithiothreitol, and induce extremely low cytotoxicity in NIH/3T3 and U87 MG cells. The transfection results showed that CBA-Bu had a cellular uptake efficiency comparable to 25 kDa PEI, while a significantly higher gene expression level. Additionally, CBA-Bu had a lower IC50 value than its non-biguanide counterpart in two cancer cell lines. Furthermore, CBA-Bu could activate AMPK and inhibit mTOR pathways in U87 MG cells, a mechanism involved in the antitumor effect of biguanides. Taken together, CBA-Bu represented an advanced gene vector combining desirable gene delivery capability with potential antitumor activity, which was promising to achieve enhanced therapeutic efficacy in antitumor gene therapy.
Topics: AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; Animals; Buformin; Cell Line, Tumor; Gene Transfer Techniques; Genetic Therapy; Genetic Vectors; Humans; Inhibitory Concentration 50; Mice; NIH 3T3 Cells; Nanoparticles; Neoplasms; Plasmids; Polyamines
PubMed: 32312081
DOI: 10.1080/1061186X.2020.1729770 -
American Journal of Translational... 2016Biguanides are anti-diabetic drugs that are thought to have anti-tumorigenic effects. Most pre-clinical studies have focused on metformin for cancer treatment and...
OBJECTIVE
Biguanides are anti-diabetic drugs that are thought to have anti-tumorigenic effects. Most pre-clinical studies have focused on metformin for cancer treatment and prevention; however, buformin may be potentially more potent than metformin. Given this, our goal was to evaluate the effects of buformin on cell growth, adhesion and invasion in endometrial cancer cell lines.
METHODS
The ECC-1 and Ishikawa endometrial cancer cell lines were used. Cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay. Apoptosis and cell cycle analysis was performed by FITC Annexin V assay and propidium iodide staining, respectively. Adhesion was analyzed using the laminin adhesion assay. Invasion was assessed using the transwell invasion assay. The effects of buformin on the AMPK/mTOR pathway were determined by Western immunoblotting.
RESULTS
Buformin and metformin inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner in both endometrial cancer cell lines. IC50s were 1.4-1.6 mM for metformin and 8-150 μM for buformin. Buformin induced cell cycle G1 phase arrest in the ECC-1 cells and G2 phase arrest in the Ishikawa cells. For both ECC-1 and Ishikawa cells, treatment with buformin resulted in induction of apoptosis, reduction in adhesion and invasion, activation of AMPK and inhibition of phosphorylated-S6. Buformin potentiated the anti-proliferative effects of paclitaxel in both cell lines.
CONCLUSION
Buformin has significant anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic effects in endometrial cancer cells through modulation of the AMPK/mTOR pathway. IC50 values were lower for buformin than metformin, suggesting that buformin may be more potent for endometrial cancer treatment and worthy of further investigation.
PubMed: 27398153
DOI: No ID Found -
Cancer Biology & Therapy Jun 2018Buformin is an old anti-diabetic agent and manifests potent anti-tumor activities in several malignancies. In the present study, we aimed to explore the functions of...
Buformin is an old anti-diabetic agent and manifests potent anti-tumor activities in several malignancies. In the present study, we aimed to explore the functions of buformin in human cervical cancer. As our data shown, buformin exhibited significant anti-proliferative effects in a dose-dependent manner in 4 cervical cancer cell lines. Compared to the control, buformin notably suppressed colony formation and increased ROS production in C33A, Hcc94 and SiHa cells. Flow cytometric analysis showed that buformin induced marked cell cycle arrest but only resulted in mild apoptosis. The invasion of C33A and SiHa cells sharply declined with buformin treatment. Consistently, western blotting showed that buformin activated AMPK and suppressed S6, cyclin D1, CDK4, and MMP9. Moreover, we found that buformin enhanced glucose uptake and LDH activity, increased lactate level, while decreased ATP production in cervical cancer cells. In addition, low doses of buformin synergized with routine chemotherapeutic drugs (such as paclitaxel, cisplatin, and 5-FU) to achieve more significant anti-tumor effects. In vivo, a single use of buformin exerted moderate anti-tumor effects, and the combination with buformin and paclitaxel exhibited even greater suppressive effects. Buformin also consistently showed synergistic effects with paclitaxel in treating primary cultures of cervical cancer cells. Take together, we are the first to demonstrate that buformin suppresses cellular proliferation and invasion through the AMPK/S6 signaling pathway, which arrests cell cycle and inhibits cellular invasion. Buformin also could synergize with routine chemotherapies, producing much more powerful anti-tumor effects. With these findings, we strongly support buformin as a potent choice for treating cervical cancer, especially in combination with routine chemotherapy.
Topics: AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Buformin; Cell Proliferation; Female; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Paclitaxel; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
PubMed: 29400636
DOI: 10.1080/15384047.2018.1433504 -
Diabetologia Sep 2017Metformin (dimethylbiguanide) has become the preferred first-line oral blood glucose-lowering agent to manage type 2 diabetes. Its history is linked to Galega...
Metformin (dimethylbiguanide) has become the preferred first-line oral blood glucose-lowering agent to manage type 2 diabetes. Its history is linked to Galega officinalis (also known as goat's rue), a traditional herbal medicine in Europe, found to be rich in guanidine, which, in 1918, was shown to lower blood glucose. Guanidine derivatives, including metformin, were synthesised and some (not metformin) were used to treat diabetes in the 1920s and 1930s but were discontinued due to toxicity and the increased availability of insulin. Metformin was rediscovered in the search for antimalarial agents in the 1940s and, during clinical tests, proved useful to treat influenza when it sometimes lowered blood glucose. This property was pursued by the French physician Jean Sterne, who first reported the use of metformin to treat diabetes in 1957. However, metformin received limited attention as it was less potent than other glucose-lowering biguanides (phenformin and buformin), which were generally discontinued in the late 1970s due to high risk of lactic acidosis. Metformin's future was precarious, its reputation tarnished by association with other biguanides despite evident differences. The ability of metformin to counter insulin resistance and address adult-onset hyperglycaemia without weight gain or increased risk of hypoglycaemia gradually gathered credence in Europe, and after intensive scrutiny metformin was introduced into the USA in 1995. Long-term cardiovascular benefits of metformin were identified by the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) in 1998, providing a new rationale to adopt metformin as initial therapy to manage hyperglycaemia in type 2 diabetes. Sixty years after its introduction in diabetes treatment, metformin has become the most prescribed glucose-lowering medicine worldwide with the potential for further therapeutic applications.
Topics: Biguanides; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Metformin
PubMed: 28776081
DOI: 10.1007/s00125-017-4318-z -
Cancers May 2022In the present study, we characterized the metabolic background of different Acute Myeloid Leukemias' (AMLs) cells and described a heterogeneous and highly flexible...
In the present study, we characterized the metabolic background of different Acute Myeloid Leukemias' (AMLs) cells and described a heterogeneous and highly flexible energetic metabolism. Using the Seahorse XF Agilent, we compared the metabolism of normal hematopoietic progenitors with that of primary AML blasts and five different AML cell lines. We assessed the efficacy and mechanism of action of the association of high doses of ascorbate, a powerful oxidant, with the metabolic inhibitor buformin, which inhibits mitochondrial complex I and completely shuts down mitochondrial contributions in ATP production. Primary blasts from seventeen AML patients, assayed for annexin V and live/dead exclusion by flow cytometry, showed an increase in the apoptotic effect using the drug combination, as compared with ascorbate alone. We show that ascorbate inhibits glycolysis through interfering with HK1/2 and GLUT1 functions in hematopoietic cells. Ascorbate combined with buformin decreases mitochondrial respiration and ATP production and downregulates glycolysis, enhancing the apoptotic effect of ascorbate in primary blasts from AMLs and sparing normal CD34+ bone marrow progenitors. In conclusion, our data have therapeutic implications especially in fragile patients since both agents have an excellent safety profile, and the data also support the clinical evaluation of ascorbate-buformin in association with different mechanism drugs for the treatment of refractory/relapsing AML patients with no other therapeutic options.
PubMed: 35626170
DOI: 10.3390/cancers14102565 -
Journal of Experimental & Clinical... Feb 2017Metformin, an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of Type II diabetes, has emerged as a promising anti-cancer agent. Other biguanide analogs, including buformin and...
BACKGROUND
Metformin, an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of Type II diabetes, has emerged as a promising anti-cancer agent. Other biguanide analogs, including buformin and phenformin, are suggested to have similar properties. Although buformin was shown to reduce mammary tumor burden in carcinogen models, the anti-cancer effects of buformin on different breast cancer subtypes and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of buformin on erbB-2-overexpressing breast cancer with in vitro and in vivo models.
METHODS
MTT, cell cycle, clonogenic/CFC, ALDEFLUOR, tumorsphere, and Western blot analyses were used to determine the effects of buformin on cell growth, stem cell populations, stem cell-like properties, and signaling pathways in SKBR3 and BT474 erbB-2-overexpressing breast cancer cell lines. A syngeneic tumor cell transplantation model inoculating MMTV-erbB-2 mice with 78617 mouse mammary tumor cells was used to study the effects of buformin (1.2 g buformin/kg chow) on tumor growth in vivo. MMTV-erbB-2 mice were also fed buformin for 10 weeks, followed by analysis of premalignant mammary tissues for changes in morphological development, mammary epithelial cell (MEC) populations, and signaling pathways.
RESULTS
Buformin significantly inhibited SKBR3 and BT474 cell growth, and in vivo activity was demonstrated by considerable growth inhibition of syngeneic tumors derived from MMTV-erbB-2 mice. In particular, buformin suppressed stem cell populations and self-renewal in vitro, which was associated with inhibited receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and mTOR signaling. Consistent with in vitro data, buformin suppressed mammary morphogenesis and reduced cell proliferation in MMTV-erbB-2 mice. Importantly, buformin decreased MEC populations enriched with mammary reconstitution units (MRUs) and tumor-initiating cells (TICs) from MMTV-erbB-2 mice, as supported by impaired clonogenic and mammosphere formation in primary MECs. We further demonstrated that buformin-mediated in vivo inhibition of MEC stemness is associated with suppressed activation of mTOR, RTK, ER, and β-catenin signaling pathways.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, our results provide evidence for buformin as an effective anti-cancer drug that selectively targets TICs, and present a novel prevention and/or treatment strategy for patients who are genetically predisposed to erbB-2-overexpressing breast cancer.
Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Breast Neoplasms; Buformin; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Cell Survival; Drug Repositioning; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Neoplastic Stem Cells; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; Receptor, ErbB-2; Signal Transduction; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; Up-Regulation; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
PubMed: 28193239
DOI: 10.1186/s13046-017-0498-0 -
Forensic Science International Sep 2020An autopsy for a suicidal case of a male in his 40s, who had died of poisoning due to ingestion of a large amount of buformin, was performed at our department. Buformin...
Postmortem distribution/redistribution of buformin in body fluids and solid tissues in an autopsy case using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with QuEChERS extraction method.
An autopsy for a suicidal case of a male in his 40s, who had died of poisoning due to ingestion of a large amount of buformin, was performed at our department. Buformin is biganide class agent used for patients of diabetes mellitus, which can occasionally cause severe lactic acidosis. The autopsy was performed about 10 days after his death, and the direct cause of his death was judged as asphyxia due to the aspiration of stomach contents into the airway. The nine body fluids and eight solid tissues specimens were dealt with for investigating postmortem distribution/redistribution of buformin in a whole body; femoral vein blood, right and left heart blood, pericardial fluid, urine, bile, stomach contents, small intestine contents, cerebrospinal fluid, the brain, lung, heart muscle, liver, spleen, kidney and skeletal muscle were examined. For extracting buformin from specimens, a modified QuEChERS method including dispersive solid-phase extraction was employed, followed by the analysis by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Buformin in various kinds of human matrices were quantified by the standard addition method in this study, which can overcome the matrix effects and recovery rates without use of blank human matrices. All concentrations of buformin in specimens examined in this case were extremely higher than those of previously reported poisoning cases. The concentrations of buformin in left and right heart blood and femoral vein blood specimens of this case were 399, 216 and 261μg/mL, respectively; although the direct cause of his death was judged as asphyxia due to occlusion of airway with stomach contents, the vomiting was thought to be provoked by buformin poisoning. In this study, marked differences of buformin concentrations between brain tissue and cerebral spiral fluids, and other specimens were observed, which suggested that its distribution was influenced also by blood-brain-barrier. Although a number of buformin poisoning cases were published so far, they gave sporadic data on its concentrations and/or distribution in some limited human specimens. This study is the first to describe detailed distribution/redistribution of buformin in a whole human body quantified by using LC-MS/MS.
Topics: Adult; Asphyxia; Bile; Brain Chemistry; Buformin; Chromatography, Liquid; Drug Overdose; Gastrointestinal Contents; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Intestine, Small; Kidney; Liver; Lung; Male; Muscle, Skeletal; Myocardium; Pericardial Fluid; Postmortem Changes; Respiratory Aspiration; Solid Phase Extraction; Spleen; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
PubMed: 32615395
DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110376 -
Experimental Biology and Medicine... Oct 2018Our idea originated in the thought of discovering new effects of old drugs. Although this study is a basic research, it is very close to clinical treatment. Flow...
Our idea originated in the thought of discovering new effects of old drugs. Although this study is a basic research, it is very close to clinical treatment. Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence were used to verify that buformin increases radiosensitivity. We aimed to address one of the thorniest problems in treatment process. Based on discovering new effects of old drugs, it is feasible to use buformin as an anticancer drug in clinical application. This will provide new ideas for clinical treatment.
PubMed: 32459508
DOI: 10.1177/1535370218813320