Chalcone-containing phthalocyanines: Determination of photophysical and photochemical properties and cytotoxicity on breast cancer cell models Tuğba Küçük, Kevser Harmandar, Bahar Aydoğdu, Meltem Göksel, Pelin Balcik-Ercin, Hanife İbişoğlu, Devrim Atilla Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, 2025 The synthesis of new Zn(II), and Si(IV) phthalocyanine (Pc) derivatives containing chalcone group was successfully achieved and the compounds were characterized by MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy, FT-IR, 1H NMR, [Formula: see text]C NMR, and UV-vis spectral data. The photophysical and photochemical properties of these novel Pcs were investigated in DMF. The in vitro cytotoxic effect of the compounds on mammary breast adenocarcinoma cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and normal mammary breast epithelium (MCF-12A) were evaluated by using the WST assay. Based on the WST assay analysis, cytotoxicity of the Pc derivatives to mammary breast carcinoma cells was compared to normal mammary breast epithelium cells dependent on light illumination. The results of the present investigation demonstrate that all the Pc derivatives containing the chalcone group have a phototoxic effect on mammary breast cancer cells and could be promising photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents for further studies.
SIX1 Downregulation Suppresses Self-renewal Capacity and THY1 Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and SIX1 Dominate the Survival in Liver Cancer Pelin Balcik-Ercin, , Arzu Aysan, Nazli Salik, Esma Erciyas, , , , and Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology, 2023 BACKGROUND/AIMS Sine oculis homeoprotein 1 exerts an essential role in embryonic development, and it was also identified to be reactivated in various types of mammalian cancer. The sine oculis homeoprotein 1 transcription factor was demonstrated to induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition, regulate crucial genes associated with cancer progression, and increase the oncogenic potential of cells. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the role of sine oculis homeoprotein 1 in cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sine oculis homeoprotein 1 gene expression was tested with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in different cancer types. Sine oculis homeoprotein 1 expression was suppressed by short hairpin RNA transduction in the SNU398 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line. The effects of sine oculis homeoprotein 1 on cell proliferation, drug resistance, and sphere formation were assessed in shSIX1 cells. Immunohistochemical and in silico analyses were performed to determine the prognostic role of sine oculis homeoprotein 1 expression. RESULTS The upregulated expression levels of sine oculis homeoprotein 1 were revealed to be correlated with the stage of the disease in breast, colon, and liver cancer, with liver cancer exhibiting the highest expression profile. Sine oculis homeoprotein 1 downregulation significantly affected cell proliferation and suppressed sorafenib resistance and sphere-forming ability. Furthermore, sine oculis homeoprotein 1 knockdown cells were identified to have decreased CD90 levels, essential for cancer stem cell properties. Finally, sine oculis homeoprotein 1 expression was a CD90-independent biomarker for the clinical prognosis of liver cancer. CONCLUSION The results of this study showed that the knockdown of sine oculis homeoprotein 1 expression might help to prevent hepatocarcinogenesis by increasing drug sensitivity and controlling tumor sphere formation. Overall, these results indicated that sine oculis homeoprotein 1 expression might be useful as a diagnostic marker for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
An investigation of bacteriocin nisin anti-cancer effects and FZD7 protein interactions in liver cancer cells Pelin Balcik-Ercin, Belgin Sever Chemico Biological Interactions, 2022 The bacteriocin, nisin, produced by Lactococcus and Streptococcus species during fermentation, is widely used for bio preservatives in a wide variety of foods. Liver cancer has a high mortality rate and is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Recently, researchers have shown the anti-cancer effects of nisin through in vitro and in vivo studies. This study aimed to investigate the effect of nisin on liver cancer cell lines, which represented two subgroups of the disease model. Nisin exhibited significant growth inhibition and apoptosis in both cell lines, HuH-7, and SNU182. Drug resistance is the main problem in liver cancer and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition has a role in the development of drug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma. The expression of EMT transcription factors ZEB1, SNAI1, and TWIST1 were analyzed depending on nisin treatment, TWIST1 expression was down-regulated after nisin treatment compared to the untreated SNU182 and HuH-7 cell lines. Besides, due to the reported correlation between the overexpression of Frizzled (FZD) proteins, specifically FZD7, in primary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), molecular docking was assessed for Nisin A in the binding site of FZD7. Results confirmed that Nisin A was able to form important hydrogen bonding with key residues. This research not only determined the role of nisin in different liver cancer cell models but it also provided the first result of FZD7 and nisin interaction.
Eckol, a potential inhibitor of aryl hydrocarbon receptor, inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells Pelin Balcik-Ercin Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology, 2022 The present study was designed to explore phlorotannin eckol protein targets and evaluate the anti-cancer effects of eckol against human breast cancer cells. ProTox-II server and protein-ligand docking analysis deter-mined the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as a putative target of eckol. The AhR has been determined as a potential target for breast cancer treatment. The effect of eckol treatment on proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle activities was detected in MDA-MB-231 and SK-BR-3 breast cancer cell lines which were selected dependent on AhR expression profiles. Consistent with the AhR expression profile, MDA-MB-231 cells were more sensitive to eckol treatment compared to SK-BR-3 cells in proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle results. Eckol treatment shows a significant antiproliferative and apoptotic response in breast cancer cells. Overall, these results indicated that the action of eckol may be related to the AhR gene regulation in different breast cancer cell lines.
Bis[N,N′-bis(anilino)glioximato]platinum(II) complex: synthesis, characterization and biological activity Özge Eroğlu Gülümsek, Esma Erciyas Baykal, Cansu Küçükpolat, Emel Önal, Pelin Balcik-Ercin, Tamer Yagci, Vefa Ahsen, Ayşe Gül Gürek Journal of Coordination Chemistry, 2022 N,N′-bis(aniline)glyoxime (H2L, 1) has been prepared from aniline and (E,E)-dichloroglyoxime (DCGO) or (E,E)-dibromoglyoxime (DBGO). The reaction of N,N′-bis(aniline)glyoxime (H2L, 1) with solution of PtCl2 in dimethylsulfoxide produced brown-colored bis(E,E-dioximato)platinum(II) complex {[(E,E)-Pt(HL)2]} (1a) featuring N-chelating ligand. The crystal structure of this complex has been identified by X-ray diffraction on a single-crystal. In vitro assay of proliferation, cell death, DNA-damage and cell uptake activities of 1 and 1a were tested in HCC cell lines, SNU-182 and HUH-7. 1a has an anti-proliferative effect in HCC cells, however, 1 did not. Furthermore, the cellular uptake of 1a was relatively high compared to cisplatin cellular platinum levels. Compatible with proliferation and cellular uptake results, treatment with 1a caused DNA-damage and subsequent apoptosis in both HCC cell lines.
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal plasticity in circulating tumor cell lines sequentially derived from a patient with colorectal cancer Pelin Balcik-Ercin, Laure Cayrefourcq, Rama Soundararajan, Sendurai A. Mani, Catherine Alix-Panabières Cancers, 2021 Metastasis is a complicated and only partially understood multi-step process of cancer progression. A subset of cancer cells that can leave the primary tumor, intravasate, and circulate to reach distant organs are called circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Multiple lines of evidence suggest that in metastatic cancer cells, epithelial and mesenchymal markers are co-expressed to facilitate the cells’ ability to go back and forth between cellular states. This feature is called epithelial-to-mesenchymal plasticity (EMP). CTCs represent a unique source to understand the EMP features in metastatic cascade biology. Our group previously established and characterized nine serial CTC lines from a patient with metastatic colon cancer. Here, we assessed the expression of markers involved in epithelial–mesenchymal (EMT) and mesenchymal–epithelial (MET) transition in these unique CTC lines, to define their EMP profile. We found that the oncogenes MYC and ezrin were expressed by all CTC lines, but not SIX1, one of their common regulators (also an EMT inducer). Moreover, the MET activator GRHL2 and its putative targets were strongly expressed in all CTC lines, revealing their plasticity in favor of an increased MET state that promotes metastasis formation.
