Advances in Cancer Research provides invaluable information on the exciting and fast-moving field of cancer research. Here, once again, outstanding and original reviews are presented on a variety of topics — Volume 122 explores subjects related to redox, including: redox homeostasis in epithelial-derived cancers; reactive oxygen species in normal and tumor stem cells; and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and redox regulation. Provides information on cancer research Outstanding and original reviews Suitable for researchers and students
Living cells require a constant supply of energy for the orchestration of a variety of biological processes in fluctuating environmental conditions. In heterotrophic organisms, energy mainly derives from the oxidation of carbohydrates and lipids, whose chemical bonds breakdown allows electrons to generate ATP and to provide reducing equivalents needed to restore the antioxidant systems and prevent from damage induced by reactive oxygen and nitric oxide (NO)-derived species (ROS and RNS). Studies of the last two decades have highlighted that cancer cells reprogram the metabolic circuitries in order to sustain their high growth rate, invade other tissues, and escape death. Therefore, this broad metabolic reorganization is mandatory for neoplastic growth, allowing the generation of adequate amounts of ATP and metabolites, as well as the optimization of redox homeostasis in the changeable environmental conditions of the tumor mass. Among these, ROS, as well as NO and RNS, which are produced at high extent in the tumor microenvironment or intracellularly, have been demonstrated acting as positive modulators of cell growth and frequently associated with malignant phenotype. Metabolic changes are also emerging as primary drivers of neoplastic onset and growth, and alterations of mitochondrial metabolism and homeostasis are emerging as pivotal in driving tumorigenesis. Targeting the metabolic rewiring, as well as affecting the balance between production and scavenging of ROS and NO-derived species, which underpin cancer growth, opens the possibility of finding selective and effective anti-neoplastic approaches, and new compounds affecting metabolic and/or redox adaptation of cancer cells are emerging as promising chemotherapeutic tools. In this Research Topic we have elaborated on all these aspects and provided our contribution to this increasingly growing field of research with new results, opinions and general overviews about the extraordinary plasticity of cancer cells to change metabolism and redox homeostasis in order to overcome the adverse conditions and sustain their “individualistic” behavior under a teleonomic viewpoint.
This reference book, which is the second volume of Targeting Oxidative Stress in Cancer, explores oxidative stress as the potential therapeutic target for cancer therapy. The initial chapters discuss the molecular mechanisms of oxidative stress and its effects on different signaling pathways. Subsequently, the sections examine the impact of redox signaling on tumor cell proliferation and consider the therapeutic potential of dietary phytochemicals and nutraceuticals in reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced cancer. In turn, it examines the evidence supporting the use of Vitamin C in cancer management, before presenting various synthetic and natural compounds that have therapeutic implications for oxidative stress-induced cancer. It also explores the correlation between non-coding RNA and oxidative stress. Furthermore, the book summarizes the role of stem cells in ROS-induced cancer therapy and reviews the therapeutic applications of nanoparticles to alter redox haemostasis in cancer cells. Lastly, it explores heat-shock proteins, ubiquitin ligases, and probiotics as potential therapeutic agents in ROS-mediated cancer. This book is a useful resource for basic and translational scientists as well as clinicians interested in the field of oxidative stress and cancer therapy.
This essential volume comprehensively discusses redox-active therapeutics, focusing particularly on their molecular design, mechanistic, pharmacological and medicinal aspects. The first section of the book describes the basic aspects of the chemistry and biology of redox-active drugs and includes a brief overview of the redox-based pathways involved in cancer and the medical aspects of redox-active drugs, assuming little in the way of prior knowledge. Subsequent sections and chapters describe more specialized aspects of central nervous system injuries, neurodegenerative diseases, pain, radiation injury and radioprotection (such as of brain, lungs, head and neck and erectile function) and neglected diseases (e.g., leishmaniasis). It encompasses several major classes of redox-active experimental therapeutics, which include porphyrins, salens, nitrones, and most notably metal-containing (e.g., Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sb) drugs as either single compounds or formulations with nanomaterials and quantum dots. Numerous illustrations, tables and figures enhance and complement the text; extensive references to relevant literature are also included. Redox-Active Therapeutics is an invaluable addition to Springer’s Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice series. It is essential reading for researchers, clinicians and graduate students interested in understanding and exploring the Redoxome—the organism redox network—as an emerging frontier in drug design, redox biology and medicine.
Nearly a century of scientific research has revealed that mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the most common and consistent phenotypes of cancer cells. A number of notable differences in the mitochondria of normal and cancer cells have been described. These include differences in mitochondrial metabolic activity, molecular composition of mitochondria and mtDNA sequence, as well as in alteration of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins. This book, Mitochondria and Cancer, edited by Keshav K. Singh and Leslie C. Costello, presents thorough analyses of mitochondrial dysfunction as one of the hallmarks of cancer, discusses the clinical implications of mitochondrial defects in cancer, and as unique cellular targets for novel and selective anti-cancer therapy.
This volume examines in detail the role of chronic inflammatory processes in the development of several types of cancer. Leading experts describe the latest results of molecular and cellular research on infection, cancer-related inflammation and tumorigenesis. Further, the clinical significance of these findings in preventing cancer progression and approaches to treating the diseases are discussed. Individual chapters cover cancer of the lung, colon, breast, brain, head and neck, pancreas, prostate, bladder, kidney, liver, cervix and skin as well as gastric cancer, sarcoma, lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma.
Genetic alterations in cancer, in addition to being the fundamental drivers of tumorigenesis, can give rise to a variety of metabolic adaptations that allow cancer cells to survive and proliferate in diverse tumor microenvironments. This metabolic flexibility is different from normal cellular metabolic processes and leads to heterogeneity in cancer metabolism within the same cancer type or even within the same tumor. In this book, we delve into the complexity and diversity of cancer metabolism, and highlight how understanding the heterogeneity of cancer metabolism is fundamental to the development of effective metabolism-based therapeutic strategies. Deciphering how cancer cells utilize various nutrient resources will enable clinicians and researchers to pair specific chemotherapeutic agents with patients who are most likely to respond with positive outcomes, allowing for more cost-effective and personalized cancer therapeutic strategies.
Many physiological conditions such as host defense or aging and pathological conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes are associated with the accumulation of high levels of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species. This generates a condition called oxidative stress. Low levels of reactive oxygen species, however, which are continuously produced during aerobic metabolism, function as important signaling molecules, setting the metabolic pace of cells and regulating processes ranging from gene expression to apoptosis. For this book we would like to recruit the experts in the field of redox chemistry, bioinformatics and proteomics, redox signaling and oxidative stress biology to discuss how organisms achieve the appropriate redox balance, the mechanisms that lead to oxidative stress conditions and the physiological consequences that contribute to aging and disease.
