• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.121-129
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• 2018

CXCR6 is a major target in drug design as it is a determinant receptor in many diseases like AIDS, Type I Diabetes, some cancer types, atherosclerosis, tumor formation, liver disease and steatohepatitis. In this study, we propose the active site residues of CXCR6 molecule. We employed homology modelling and molecular docking approach to generate the 3D structure for CXCR6 and to explore its interaction between the antagonists and agonists. 3D models were generated using 14 different templates having high sequence identity with CXCR6. Surflex docking studies using pyridine and pyrimidine derivatives enabled the analysis of the binding site and finding of the important residues involved in binding. 3D structure of CXCL16, a natural ligand for CXCR6, was modelled using PHYRE and protein - protein docking was performed using ClusPro. The residues which were found to be crucial in interaction with the ligand are THR110, PHE113, TYR114, GLN160, GLN195, CYS251 and SER255. This study can be used as a guide for therapeutic studies of human CXCR6.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5281-5286
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• 2012

Purpose: Receptor 7 (CXCR7) has recently been characterized as a novel receptor for CXCL12/SDF-1 (stromal cell derived factor-1). Given the demonstrated importance of CXCL12/SDF-1 in angiogenesis and tumour metastasis, we hypothesized that CXCR7 may also play a role in tumour pathogenesis. Located in the limited space of the intracranial cavity, any brain tumours can be inherently serious and life-threatening. However, the expression of CXCR7 in pituitary adenoma, neurilemmoma or hemangioblastoma remains to be elucidated. Therefore, we aimed to determine the potential contribution of CXCR7 in the development of brain tumours. Methods: In this study we examined and quantified the mRNA expression of CXCR7 in four different human brain tumours - 27 patients with neurilemmoma (8 patients), pituitary adenoma (7 patients), hemangioblastoma (6 patients), or meningioma (6 patients) undergoing surgical resection in the West China Hospital of Sichuan University. There were 15 females and 12 males aged from 28 to 70 years old. Total RNA was isolated and mRNA was measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using SPSS 11.0 statistical software to compare the mRNA levels of CXCR7 among four groups. Results: We found that CXCR7 mRNA was detected in all tumour samples. Quantitative results showed that the levels of CXCR7 mRNA in brain tissues from patients with neurilemmoma or meningioma were significantly higher than those with pituitary adenoma or hemangioblastoma. Conclusions: The results suggest that the CXCR7 may play a role in progression, metastasis and angiogenesis of brain tumours.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 2016

CXC chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) is a prominent chemokine receptor on neutrophils. The neutrophilic inflammation in the lung diseases is found to be largely regulated through CXCR2 receptor. Antagonist of CXCR2 may reduce the neutrophil chemotaxis and alter the inflammatory response. Hence, in the present study, ligand based Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) was performed on a series of CXCR2 antagonist named pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile-6-alkyl derivatives. The optimum CoMFA model was obtained with statistically significant cross-validated coefficients ($q^2$) of 0.568 and conventional coefficients ($r^2$) of 0.975. The contour maps suggest the important structural modifications and this study can be used to guide the development of potent CXCR2 antagonist.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.209-215
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• 2017

CXC chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) is a prominent chemokine receptor on neutrophils. CXCR2 antagonist may reduce the neutrophil chemotaxis and alter the inflammatory response because the neutrophilic inflammation in the lung diseases is found to be largely regulated through CXCR2 receptor. Hence, in the present study, Topomer based Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (Topomer CoMFA) was performed on a series of CXCR2 antagonist named pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile-6-alkyl derivatives. The best Topomer COMFA model was obtained with significant cross-validated correlation coefficient ($q^2$ = 0.487) and non cross-validated correlation coefficients ($r^2$ = 0.980). The model was evaluated with six external test compounds and its $r^2{_{pred}}$ was found to be 0.616. The steric and electrostatic contribution map show that presence of bulkier and electropositive group around cyclopropyl ring may contribute more for improving the biological activities of these compounds. The generated Topomer CoMFA model could be helpful for future design of novel and structurally related CXCR2 antagonists.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.78-84
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• 2017

CXC chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) is a prominent chemokine receptor on neutrophils. CXCR2 antagonist may reduce the neutrophil chemotaxis and alter the inflammatory response because the neutrophilic inflammation in the lung diseases is found to be largely regulated through CXCR2 receptor. Hence, in the present study, Hologram based Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship Study was performed on a series of CXCR2 antagonist named pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile-6-alkyl derivatives. The best HQSAR model was obtained using atoms, bonds, and chirality as fragment distinction parameter using hologram length 151 and 6 components with fragment size of minimum 4 and maximum 7. Significant cross-validated correlation coefficient ($q^2=0.774$) and non cross-validated correlation coefficients ($r^2=0.977$) were obtained. The model was then used to evaluate the six external test compounds and its $r^2_{pred}$ was found to be 0.614. Contribution map show that presence of cyclopropyl ring and its bulkier substituent's makes big contributions for improving the biological activities of the compounds. We hope that our HQSAR model and analysis will be helpful for future design of novel and structurally related CXCR2 antagonists.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.177-184
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• 2016

CXC chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) is a prominent chemokine receptor on neutrophils and it regulates the neutrophilic inflammation in the lung diseases. CXCR2 antagonist may reduce the neutrophil chemotaxis and alter the inflammatory response. Hence, in the present study, ligand based Comparative Molecular Similar Indices Analysis (CoMSIA) was performed on a series of CXCR2 antagonist named pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile-6-alkyl derivatives. The optimum CoMSIA model was obtained with statistically significant cross-validated coefficients ($q^2$) of 0.582 and conventional coefficients ($r^2$) of 0.987 with steric, electrostatic, hydrophobic, donor and acceptor fields. The contour maps suggest the important structural modifications and this study can be used to guide the development of potent CXCR2 antagonist.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.130-139
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• 2017

$CXCR5^+$ T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are associated with aberrant autoantibody production in patients with antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases including lupus. Follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells expressing CXCR5 and Bcl6 have been recently identified as a specialized subset of $Foxp3^+$ regulatory T (Treg) cells that control germinal center reactions. In this study, we show that retroviral transduction of CXCR5 gene in $Foxp3^+$ Treg cells induced a stable expression of functional CXCR5 on their surface. The Cxcr5-transduced Treg cells maintained the expression of Treg cell signature genes and the suppressive activity. The expression of CXCR5 as well as Foxp3 in the transduced Treg cells appeared to be stable in vivo in an adoptive transfer experiment. Moreover, Cxcr5-transduced Treg cells preferentially migrated toward the CXCL13 gradient, leading to an effective suppression of antibody production from B cells stimulated with Tfh cells. Therefore, our results demonstrate that enforced expression of CXCR5 onto Treg cells efficiently induces Tfr cell-like properties, which might be a promising cellular therapeutic approach for the treatment of antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases.

• Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.369-377
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• 2018

Background: Chemokine receptor CXC chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) and its ligand CXC motif chemokine 12 (CXCL12; stromal cell-derived factor-1) are implicated in tumor growth, metastasis, and tumor cell-microenvironment interaction. A number of studies have reported that increased CXCR4 expression is associated with worse prognosis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), but its prognostic significance has not been studied in TNBC patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Two hundred eighty-three TNBC patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed. Tissue microarray was constructed from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue and immunohistochemistry for CXCR4 and CXCL12 was performed. Expression of each marker was compared with clinicopathologic characteristics and outcome. Results: High cytoplasmic CXCR4 expression was associated with younger age (p=.008), higher histologic grade (p=.007) and lower pathologic stage (p=.045), while high CXCL12 expression was related to larger tumor size (p=.045), positive lymph node metastasis (p=.005), and higher pathologic stage (p=.017). The patients with high cytoplasmic CXCR4 experienced lower distant recurrence (p=.006) and better recurrence-free survival (RFS) (log-rank p=.020) after adjuvant chemotherapy. Cytoplasmic CXCR4 expression remained an independent factor of distant recurrence (p=.019) and RFS (p=.038) after multivariate analysis. Conclusions: High cytoplasmic CXCR4 expression was associated with lower distant recurrence and better RFS in TNBC patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. This is the first study to correlate high CXCR4 expression to better TNBC prognosis, and the underlying mechanism needs to be elucidated in further studies.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.476-484
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• 2017

C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) stimulates cancer metastasis. NF-${\kappa}B$ regulates CXCR4 expression in cancer cells, and O-GlcNAc modification of NF-${\kappa}B$ promotes its transcriptional activity. Here, we determined whether CXCR4 expression is affected by O-GlcNAcylation of NF-${\kappa}B$ in lung metastasis of cervical cancer. We found elevated levels of O-linked-N-actylglucosamine transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcylation in cervical cancer cells compared to those in non-malignant epithelial cells and detected increased expression of NF-${\kappa}B$ p65 (p65) and CXCR4 in cervical cancer cells. Knockdown of OGT inhibited the O-GlcNAcylation of p65 and decreased CXCR4 expression levels in HeLa cells. Thiamet G treatment increased O-GlcNAcylated p65, which subsequently enhanced CXCR4 expression levels. Inhibition of O-GlcNAcylation by 6-Diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) treatment decreased p65 activation, eventually inhibiting CXCR4 expression in HeLa cells. Lung tissues from mice engrafted with OGT-knockdown HeLa cells (shOGT) exhibited lower expression of Ki-67 and HPV E6 and E7 oncogenes compared to lung tissues from mice engrafted with control HeLa cells (shCTL). In addition, lung tissues from mice engrafted with shOGT cells exhibited lower p65 and CXCR4 immunoreactivity compared to tissues from mice engrafted with shCTL cells. Taken together, our data suggest that p65 O-GlcNAcylation promotes lung metastasis of cervical cancer cells by activating CXCR4 expression.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1073-1076
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• 2015

Background: To explore the relationship between CXCR4, CD133 co-expression and clinicopathological features as well as prognosis of patients with phase II~III colon cancer. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine paraffin-embedded samples of tumor tissue and epithelial tissue adjacent to cancer were collected from patients with colon cancer undergoing radical surgery in Baotou Cancer Hospital from January, 2010 to June, 2011. CXCR4 and CD133 expression was detected using immunohistochemistry and its relationship with clinicopathological features and the 3-year survival rate was analyzed. Results: In the tumor tissue and colonic epithelial tissue adjacent to cancer, the positive expression rates of CXCR4 were respectively 61.2% (30/49) and 8.16% (4/49), while those of CD133 being 36.7% (18/49) and 6.12% (3/49). CXCR4 and CD133 expression in tumor tissue was not related to patient age, gender, primary focal sites, tumor size, TNM staging, histological type, tumor infiltration depth and presence or absence of lymphatic metastasis, but CXCR4 and CD133 co-expression was associated with TNM staging and lymphatic metastasis. The 3-year survival rate of patients with CXCR4 and CD133 co-expression was 27.3% (3/11), and that of the remainderwas 76.3% (29/38), the difference being significant ($X^2=7.0206$, p=0.0081). Conclusions: CXCR4 and CD133 co-expression may be a risk factor for poor prognosis of patients with stage II~III colon cancer.