Journal: Genes & Diseases

Article Title: PAK1 inhibition synergistically enhances the anti-tumor efficacy of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancers

doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101887

Figure Lengend Snippet: PAK1 regulates homologous recombination (HR) repair and olaparib sensitivity in ovarian cancer cells. (A, B) HR (A) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) (B) repair efficiencies in control and PAK1-depleted HEK293T cells, evaluated using HR and NHEJ reporter systems. Data were presented as mean ± standard error of the mean from three independent experiments. (C) Western blotting analysis of PAK2 and PAK3 in control and PAK2/PAK3-depleted HEK293T cells. (D – G) HR (D, F) and NHEJ (E, G) repair efficiencies in control and PAK2/PAK3-depleted HEK293T cells, evaluated using HR and NHEJ reporter systems. (H, I) Cell cycle distribution in control and PAK1-depleted Ovcar8 cells, analyzed by flow cytometry. (J, K) RAD51 foci formation in Ovcar8 cells treated with 10 μM olaparib for 24 h: (J) representative images and (K) quantification. More than 200 cells were analyzed per experiment. (L, N) The survival of control or PAK1-depleted Ovcar8 (L) and SKOV-3 (N) cells, assessed by colony formation assay. (M, O) Phosphorylation of CHK1 in control or PAK1-depleted Ovcar8 (M) and SKOV-3 (O) cells, treated with 10 μM olaparib for 6 h. (P, Q) The survival of control, (P) PAK2-depleted, or (Q) PAK3-depleted Ovcar8 cells, assessed by colony formation assay. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean from three independent experiments. Scale bars = 50 μm.

Article Snippet: Chlorodeoxyuridine (Cidu), 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (Idu), and the PAK1 inhibitor IPA-3 were sourced from MedChemExpress, while the PARP inhibitor olaparib was acquired from TargetMol.

Techniques: Homologous Recombination, Non-Homologous End Joining, Control, Western Blot, Flow Cytometry, Colony Assay, Phospho-proteomics

Journal: Genes & Diseases

Article Title: PAK1 inhibition synergistically enhances the anti-tumor efficacy of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancers

doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101887

Figure Lengend Snippet: PAK1 regulates homologous recombination (HR) repair and olaparib sensitivity dependent on its kinase activity. PAK1-depleted cells were transfected with wild-type PAK1 or the K299R kinase mutant for 24 h. (A) Western blotting analysis of PAK1 and CHK1 phosphorylation in transfected Ovcar8 cells treated with 10 μM olaparib for 6 h. (B) The survival of transfected Ovcar8 cells treated with different concentrations of olaparib for 2 weeks, assessed by colony formation assay. (C) HR activity in transfected HEK293T cells co-transfected with HR reporter plasmids, followed by HR assay after 48 h. (D, E) RAD51 foci formation in transfected Ovcar8 cells treated with 10 μM olaparib for 24 h: (D) representative images and (E) quantification. Over 200 cells were analyzed in each experiment. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean from three independent experiments.

Article Snippet: Chlorodeoxyuridine (Cidu), 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (Idu), and the PAK1 inhibitor IPA-3 were sourced from MedChemExpress, while the PARP inhibitor olaparib was acquired from TargetMol.

Techniques: Homologous Recombination, Activity Assay, Transfection, Mutagenesis, Western Blot, Phospho-proteomics, Colony Assay

Journal: Genes & Diseases

Article Title: PAK1 inhibition synergistically enhances the anti-tumor efficacy of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancers

doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101887

Figure Lengend Snippet: PAK1 inhibition enhances the efficiency of olaparib in ovarian cancer cells. (A) Western blotting analysis of PAK1 and CHK1 phosphorylation in Ovcar8 cells treated with 10 μM olaparib, 10 μM IPA-3, or their combination for 6 h. (B) Homologous recombination (HR) efficiency in HEK293T cells transfected with HR reporter plasmids, treated with olaparib, IPA-3, or both, followed by HR assay. (C, D) RAD51 foci formation in Ovcar8 cells treated with olaparib, IPA-3, or their combination for 24 h: (C) representative images and (D) quantification. More than 200 cells were analyzed per experiment. (E, F) The survival of Ovcar8 (E) and SKOV-3 (F) cells treated with olaparib alone or in combination with IPA-3, assessed by colony formation assay. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean from three independent experiments. Statistical significance was determined by a two-tailed t -test, with P -values < 0.05 considered significant.

Article Snippet: Chlorodeoxyuridine (Cidu), 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (Idu), and the PAK1 inhibitor IPA-3 were sourced from MedChemExpress, while the PARP inhibitor olaparib was acquired from TargetMol.

Techniques: Inhibition, Western Blot, Phospho-proteomics, Homologous Recombination, Transfection, Colony Assay, Two Tailed Test

Journal: Genes & Diseases

Article Title: PAK1 inhibition synergistically enhances the anti-tumor efficacy of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancers

doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101887

Figure Lengend Snippet: PAK1 inhibition promotes olaparib-induced replication stress and DNA damage. (A, B) DNA fiber assay for the length of CIdU (red) tracks in Ovcar8 cells treated with olaparib, IPA-3, or their combination for 6 h: (A) representative images and (B) quantification. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation, analyzed by a two-tailed unpaired t -test. (C, D) Immunoblot analysis of chromatin and soluble fractions of Ovcar8 cells treated with olaparib, IPA-3, or both for 6 h, probing for the indicated antibodies (C), or IPOND (isolation of proteins on nascent DNA) analysis of RPA1 and RPA2 at replication forks (D). (E, F) γ-H2AX foci formation in Ovcar8 cells treated with olaparib, IPA-3, or their combination for 24 h: (E) representative images and (F) quantification. More than 100 cells were counted per experiment. (G) RNA sequencing analysis of Ovcar8 cells treated with olaparib and IPA-3. Differentially expressed genes were classified based on fold change ≥ 1.5 or ≤ 0.5, with P < 0.05. (H) Biological process analysis of up- and down-regulated genes in the combination treatment compared with IPA-3 alone. (I, J) GSEA of up- and down-regulated genes in the combination treatment compared with IPA-3 alone. (K) The heatmap displaying up-regulated genes associated with DNA repair. (L) The quantitative real-time PCR showed the up-regulated genes associated with DNA repair. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean from three independent experiments. Statistical significance was determined by a two-tailed t -test. Two-sided P -values < 0.05 were considered significant. Scale bars = 50 μm.

Article Snippet: Chlorodeoxyuridine (Cidu), 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (Idu), and the PAK1 inhibitor IPA-3 were sourced from MedChemExpress, while the PARP inhibitor olaparib was acquired from TargetMol.

Techniques: Inhibition, Standard Deviation, Two Tailed Test, Western Blot, Isolation, RNA Sequencing, Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Journal: Genes & Diseases

Article Title: PAK1 inhibition synergistically enhances the anti-tumor efficacy of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancers

doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101887

Figure Lengend Snippet: Combination of IPA-3 and olaparib synergistically suppresses ovarian cancer xenograft tumor growth. OVCAR8 and SKOV-3 cells were subcutaneously implanted into NOD-SCID mice, and the animals were treated with control (DMSO), IPA-3 (10 mg/kg), olaparib (50 mg/kg), or their combination (intraperitoneally, 3 days × 6 times). (A, B, L, M) Serum AST and ALT were measured for Ovcar8 (A, B) and SKOV-3 (L, M) xenografts. (C, D, N, O) Tumor images and growth curves for Ovcar8 (C, D) and SKOV-3 (N, O) xenografts. Data were expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean from five independent samples. Statistical significance was assessed by a two-tailed unpaired t -test. (E–K, P – V ) Hematoxylin-eosin, Ki-67, γ-H2AX, and cleaved caspase-3 staining in tumor tissues, evaluated by immunohistochemistry for Ovcar8 (E–K) and SKOV-3 (P–V) xenografts. Quantification is shown in the corresponding panels. Images of 10 random fields per section were analyzed using ImageJ software. Scale bars = 50 μm. Statistical analysis was performed using a two-tailed t -test and two-way ANOVA. P -values < 0.05 were considered significant.

Article Snippet: Chlorodeoxyuridine (Cidu), 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (Idu), and the PAK1 inhibitor IPA-3 were sourced from MedChemExpress, while the PARP inhibitor olaparib was acquired from TargetMol.

Techniques: Control, Two Tailed Test, Staining, Immunohistochemistry, Software

Journal: Genes & Diseases

Article Title: PAK1 inhibition synergistically enhances the anti-tumor efficacy of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancers

doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101887

Figure Lengend Snippet: Combination of IPA-3 and olaparib synergistically suppresses ovarian cancer cells' growth in patient-derived organoid and patient-derived xenograft models. (A, B, D, E) Ovarian cancer organoids were treated with IPA-3 (200 nM), olaparib (200 nM), or both for 3 days. Representative bright-field images and quantitative analysis are shown. (C, F) Western blotting analysis of CHK1 phosphorylation and cleaved caspase-3 in ovarian cancer organoids treated with IPA-3 (200 nM), olaparib (200 nM), or both for 3 days. (G, H) Patient-derived xenograft models were established by transplanting tumor tissues into 6-week-old female BALB/c nude mice. Mice were treated with DMSO, IPA-3 (10 mg/kg), olaparib (50 mg/kg), or their combination. Tumor images (G) and growth curves (H) are shown. (I–O) Immunohistochemical analysis of hematoxylin-eosin, cleaved caspase-3, γ-H2AX, and Ki-67 levels in tumor tissues. Quantification of staining is shown in (K), (M), and (O). Data were represented as mean ± standard deviation. Images of 10 random fields per section were recorded for analysis. Statistical significance was assessed using a two-tailed t -test and a two-way ANOVA. P -values < 0.05 were considered significant. Scale bars = 50 μm.

Article Snippet: Chlorodeoxyuridine (Cidu), 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (Idu), and the PAK1 inhibitor IPA-3 were sourced from MedChemExpress, while the PARP inhibitor olaparib was acquired from TargetMol.

Techniques: Derivative Assay, Western Blot, Phospho-proteomics, Immunohistochemical staining, Staining, Standard Deviation, Two Tailed Test

Journal: Biomedical Reports

Article Title: Peroxiredoxin 4 suppresses ferroptosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by activating the phosphoinositide 3-kinase  signaling pathway

doi: 10.3892/br.2026.2133

Figure Lengend Snippet: PRDX4 is an important regulator of ferroptosis in ESCC cells. (A) Determination of MDA, LPO and GSH contents in KYSE270 cells after transfection with PRDX4 siRNA. (B) Western blot analysis of the protein levels of GPX4, SLC7A11 and PTGS2 in KYSE270 cells transfected with PRDX4 siRNA. (C) The relative protein levels of GPX4, SLC7A11 and PTGS2 in KYSE270 cells transfected with PRDX4 siRNA. (D) Determination of MDA, LPO and GSH contents in KYSE30 cells after transfection with pcDNA3.1-PRDX4. (E) Western blot analysis of the protein levels of GPX4, SLC7A11 and PTGS2 in KYSE30 cells transfected with pcDNA3.1-PRDX4. (F) The relative protein levels of GPX4, SLC7A11 and PTGS2 in KYSE30 cells transfected with pcDNA3.1-PRDX4. (G) Detection of the levels of MDA, LPO and GSH in the control group, PRDX4 siRNA group and PRDX4 siRNA plus Fer-1 group in KYSE270 cells. (H) Western blot analysis of the protein expression levels of GPX4, SLC7A11 and PTGS2 in the control group, PRDX4 siRNA group and PRDX4 siRNA plus Fer-1 group in KYSE270 cells. (I) The relative protein levels of GPX4, SLC7A11 and PTGS2 in the control group, PRDX4 siRNA group and PRDX4 siRNA plus Fer-1 group in KYSE270 cells. (J) Detection of the levels of MDA, LPO and GSH in the pcDNA3.1 group, pcDNA3.1-PRDX4 group and pcDNA3.1-PRDX4 plus erastin group in KYSE30 cells. (K) Western blot analysis of the protein expression levels of GPX4, SLC7A11 and PTGS2 in the pcDNA3.1 group, pcDNA3.1-PRDX4 group and pcDNA3.1-PRDX4 plus erastin group in KYSE30 cells. (L) The relative protein levels of GPX4, SLC7A11 and PTGS2 in the pcDNA3.1 group, pcDNA3.1-PRDX4 group and pcDNA3.1-PRDX4 plus erastin group in KYSE30 cells. ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001 and **** P<0.0001, indicate statistical significance. PRDX4, peroxiredoxin 4; ESCC, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; siRNA, small interfering RNA; MDA, malondialdehyde; LPO, lipid peroxidation; GSH, glutathione; GPX4, glutathione peroxidase 4; SLC7A11, solute carrier family 7 member 11; PTGS2, prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2; Fer-1, ferrostatin-1; ns, not significant.

Article Snippet: The cells were then treated with erastin (5 μM), ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1; 10 μM), 740 Y-P (20 μM) and LY294002 (20 μM) (all from TargetMol Chemicals Corporation) for 24 h at 37 ̊C.

Techniques: Transfection, Western Blot, Control, Expressing, Small Interfering RNA

Journal: Emerging Microbes & Infections

Article Title: Lactoferrin blocks orthopoxvirus entry via heparan sulphate and regulates host antiviral pathways

doi: 10.1080/22221751.2026.2631205

Figure Lengend Snippet: Lactoferrin inhibits orthopoxvirus infection by blocking viral entry through heparan sulphate binding. (A) Time-of-addition kinetics of 2.5 mg/ml bLf against vvTT infection (MOI = 0.1). Viral loads quantified at 14 hpi by Western blot and RT-qPCR. Data = mean ± SD ( n = 3). **** p < 0.0001 (one-way ANOVA with Dunnett's test). (B) Representative immunofluorescence images of vvTT-infected Vero E6 cells treated with 2.5 mg/ml bLf at indicated time points. Viral A27L protein (green), nuclei (DAPI, blue). Scale bars = 100 μm. (C) The inhibitory activity of lactoferrin at concentrations of 2.5, 1.25, and 0.625 mg/ml during the entry stage was quantified using RT-qPCR. Data = mean ± SD ( n = 3), **** p < 0.0001 (one-way ANOVA with Dunnett's test). (D) Post-entry curve depicted the replication dynamics of vvTT (MOI = 0.01) in Vero E6 cells after 2.5 mg/ml lactoferrin treatment. Tecovirimat at a concentration of 100 nM served as a positive control. Viral copies were quantified using a standard plasmid and analysed by absolute quantification methods. Data = mean ± SD ( n = 3). (E) Heparin competition assay. Lactoferrin (250 μg/ml) pre-incubated with heparin (HS) at indicated ratios during vvTT infection (MOI = 0.1). Viral loads quantified by RT-qPCR at 24 hpi. Data = mean ± SD ( n = 3). (F) Differential scanning fluorimetry showing direct lactoferrin-heparan sulphate binding. Thermal shift (Tm) of bLf (100 μg/ml) with increasing HS concentrations (0.02-200 μg/ml). Data = mean ± SD ( n = 3). (G) Sodium chlorate pre-treatment depletes cell-surface HSPGs and inhibit vvTT (MOI = 0.1) infection. Viral yields quantified by RT-qPCR at 24 hpi. Data = mean ± SD ( n = 3).

Article Snippet: Antiviral reference compounds brincidofovir (Cat. TQ0095, TargetMol) and tecovirimat (Cat. V3886, InvivoChem) were used for combination therapy studies.

Techniques: Infection, Blocking Assay, Binding Assay, Western Blot, Quantitative RT-PCR, Immunofluorescence, Activity Assay, Concentration Assay, Positive Control, Plasmid Preparation, Quantitative Proteomics, Competitive Binding Assay, Incubation

Journal: Emerging Microbes & Infections

Article Title: Lactoferrin blocks orthopoxvirus entry via heparan sulphate and regulates host antiviral pathways

doi: 10.1080/22221751.2026.2631205

Figure Lengend Snippet: Bovine lactoferrin exhibits therapeutic efficacy against VACV infection in vivo . (A) Experimental design for prophylactic bLf treatment. (B) Quantification of viral load in lung tissues. Viral genome copies were quantified as genomes per gram of tissue (left), while virus titres were calculated as PFU per gram of tissue (right). The data analysis performed using GraphPad Prism version 8.0. Data = mean ± SD ( n = 4), * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (two-tailed t -test). (C) Quantitative analysis of infectious viral particles in the lung with 100 mg/kg lactoferrin, 50 mg/kg tecovirimat and PBS treatment based on plaque assay. (D) Weight loss dynamics and survival rates monitored daily for 7 days and clinical and pathological scoring of mice. (E) H&E staining and IHC analysis of the lung sections. The sections exhibited diffuse degeneration and necrosis of the epithelial lining (black arrows), along with haemorrhage, edema (red arrows), and fibrin exudation into the surrounding alveoli (blue arrows). IHC analysis conducted using a human anti-VACV A27L monoclonal antibody (brown signal). Mock was the blank control group without virus infection. The slides were digitized using a Pannoramic MIDI histoscanner (3DHISTECH), and the images analysed with CaseViewer software. Scale bars, each representing 50 micrometers, are provided for reference in each image.

Article Snippet: Antiviral reference compounds brincidofovir (Cat. TQ0095, TargetMol) and tecovirimat (Cat. V3886, InvivoChem) were used for combination therapy studies.

Techniques: Drug discovery, Infection, In Vivo, Virus, Two Tailed Test, Plaque Assay, Staining, Control, Software