Volume 21, number 2
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Karthikeyan M, Praveen B. M. Exploring the Role of Gentamicin in Cancer Treatment. Biotech Res Asia 2024;21(2).
Manuscript received on : 12-02-2024
Manuscript accepted on : 06-05-2024
Published online on:  31-05-2024

Plagiarism Check: Yes

Reviewed by: Dr. Sonam Sneha

Second Review by: Dr. Rupal Shah

Final Approval by: Dr. Wagih Ghannam

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Exploring the Role of Gentamicin in Cancer Treatment

Karthikeyan M* and Praveen B M

Srinivas University, Mukka, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India.

Corresponding Author E-mail: karthikeyanpgt@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Background: This comprehensive review explores the role of antibiotics in cancer development and treatment. The main mechanisms of cancer include abnormal growth and migration of cells with uncontrolled cell cycle, continuous self-renewal, and reproduction of cancer stem cells. Main Body: The review highlights the beneficial effects of cancer treatment with antibiotics, such as improving prognosis, reducing side effects, preventing or reducing wound infection, accelerating wound healing, and improving immune competence. However, the use of antibiotics can also significantly impact cancer treatments by causing microbial imbalance, decreasing immune capacity, and promoting inflammation. The review further discusses the potential of Gentamicin as a cancer treatment, its effects on sphingomyelin metabolism, and its potential as a sensitizing agent for cancer chemotherapy. Conclusion: The review concludes that while Gentamicin shows promise as a sensitizing agent, its application as an anticancer agent may be limited to specific drug combinations and cancer types. Future research is needed to further explore the relationship between mRNA and protein content in the context of Gentamicin treatment.

KEYWORDS: Antibiotic; Anticancer; Gentamicin; Sphingomyelin Metabolism

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Karthikeyan M, Praveen B. M. Exploring the Role of Gentamicin in Cancer Treatment. Biotech Res Asia 2024;21(2).

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Introduction

Malignant growth is a typical and often happening illness that genuinely imperils human well-being. As indicated by the perspective on current cell science, its fundamental instruments are unusual development and relocation of cells with uncontrolled cell cycle, nonstop selfrenewal furthermore, and propagation of disease undifferentiated cells 1. More than 8,000,000 individuals pass on from malignant growths each year, which puts extreme weight on monetary and social improvement all over planet 1. These days, weapons to battle tumors incorporate medical procedures, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and designated treatment2. Medical procedures alone have been offering a remedy for malignant growths for hundreds of years. With progression in present-day treatment, roughly half of all malignant growth patients are dealt with with radiotherapy given the general light harm to the body 2. Nonetheless, medical procedure and radiation treatment must be utilized to treat dangerous tumors, which are restricted locally to a specific organ 2. With the change in outlook in our comprehension of malignant growth as a fundamental infection, chemotherapy and designated treatment, which are utilized to kill malignant growth cells that have metastasized to far-off locales in the body, have expected to be a progressively bigger job in disease treatment and the difficulties to patient care ready by obtained obstruction or potentially the genotoxic nature of such medicines have begun to come all the more forcefully into center3. Anti-toxins allude to the optional metabolites created by microorganisms (counting microscopic organisms, growths, actinomycetes) or higher creatures and plants in the course of life that have against microbe or other exercises and can disrupt the improvement of other living cells 4. As per research discoveries, anti-toxins can advance malignant growth apoptosis, hinder disease development, and forestall malignant growth metastasis. For these reasons, anti-toxins are progressively being utilized to aid the therapy of diseases 5. In any case, the organization of anti-toxins can likewise aimlessly kill beneficial bacterial gatherings, for example, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, notwithstanding the pathogenic microscopic organisms 6. The digestive microbiome plays a vital part in disease treatment. Hence, the utilization of anti-toxins not just prompts disturbance of the microbiome, yet additionally decreases the body’s resistant limit and advances aggravation, which at last might affect and decrease the impact of malignant growth treatment 7. Given the situation with two sides of anti-infection agents in the advancement of malignant growth treatment, this survey points to investigating the job of anti-toxins in malignant growth improvement and treatment, wanting to give a better bearing and technique for the utilization of anti-toxins in the therapy of malignant growth illnesses later on.

Beneficial effects of cancer treatment with antibiotics

The gainful impacts of disease treatment with anti-infection agents incorporate their capacity to further develop guess, diminish aftereffects, forestall or lessen wound contamination, speed up injury mending, and work on safe capability. Adjuvant antimicrobials can likewise work on the safe capability of the body, send off an assault on disease, advance the general circumstance, and forestall the repeat and metastasis of malignant growth. Moreover, anti-infection agents have been found to have anticancer impacts through systems, for example, against proliferative, supportive of apoptotic, and hostile to epithelial-mesenchymal-progress (EMT) capacities. Notwithstanding, it’s critical to take note of that the utilization of antimicrobials can likewise significantly affect disease medicines by causing microbial irregularity, diminishing insusceptible limit, and advancing irritation8. 

Genatmicin-induced downregulation of PTEN, VDR, and neutral sphingomyelinase

Sphingomyelin (SM) is a bioactive sphingolipid that plays as an important role in cell signaling, proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and cancer. The metabolic pathway of this molecule entails various enzymes and second messengers including ceramide and DAGs to maintain balanced phosphatidylcholine (PC). Sphingomyelinase is the enzyme that hydrolyses SM to generate phosphocholine and ceramide while SM-synthase produces it from PC’s phosphocholine using DAG as another mediatory molecule. In different cellular processes like apoptosis of tumor cells and cancer progression, various sphingomyelinase isoforms degrade SM9.

PTEN, a gene, for suppressing tumors by regulating cell growth and division interacts with VDR, a receptor that mediates the effects of vitamin D. Together they play crucial roles in various cellular processes, including cancer development. Additionally, the enzyme neutral sphingomyelinase is involved in the metabolism of sphingolipids. Has been linked to both cancer progression and apoptosis in tumor cells9.

In NCI N87 cancer cells treated with Gentamicin we observed a decrease in the levels of PTEN, VDR, and neutral sphingomyelinase. This downregulation was accompanied by inhibited cell proliferation reduced cell count and viability as an increase in apoptotic cytotoxicity. These results suggest that Gentamicin has the potential to affect the expression of these molecules that are contributors, to cancer development9.

Upregulation Of Acid Sphingomyelinase

An enzyme that has been associated with cancer development and cell death due to apoptosis in tumor cells is acid sphingomyelinase. It has an essential function relating to the transformation of cancer susceptibility as well as the prevention of anticancer therapies from being effective. This suggests a possible usage of this enzyme in designing therapeutic interventions against cancer cells because its levels increase after administering Gentamicin to these cells9.

Advances in Anticancer Action of Gentamicin

In an  investigation, it was revealed that human stomach cancer cell proliferation can be blocked by Gentamicin. It was observed that the more the doses increased, the more cell growth was inhibited significantly, the viability of cells decreased and forced them to undergo apoptosis. Also, some genes and proteins associated with aggressiveness and proliferation of cancer cells were downregulated as a result of Gentamicin treatment. These findings show that Gentamicin has some effectiveness as a potential therapeutic tool for cancer treatment9.

CDKN1A and CDKN1B are genes that encode for proteins involved in cell cycle regulation. They produce cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, which play a critical role in controlling the progression of the cell cycle. These proteins are known to inhibit the activity of cyclin-CDK complexes, thereby regulating the transition of cells from one phase of the cell cycle to the next. Upregulation of CDKN1A and CDKN1B can lead to cell cycle arrest and inhibition of cell proliferation, which is significant in the context of cancer treatment9. 

Gentamicin Alters Sphingomyelin Metabolism

Sphingomyelin digestion includes the breakdown and combination of sphingomyelin, a bioactive sphingolipid. A complex organization incorporates different proteins liable for keeping up with the equilibrium of sphingomyelin and phosphatidylcholine. This cycle produces auxiliary go-betweens, for example, ceramide and diacylglycerol, which assume significant parts in cell flagging, multiplication, separation, and apoptosis. The breakdown of sphingomyelin is completed by various sphingomyelinase (SMase) isoenzymes, while its union includes sphingomyelin synthase. The concentrate likewise featured the effect of Gentamicin on modifying sphingomyelin digestion, which is pertinent about malignant growth treatment9.

The investigation discovered that Gentamicin treatment prompted modifications in sphingomyelin digestion. In particular, it prompted a downregulation of unbiased sphingomyelinase (nSMase) and an upregulation of corrosive sphingomyelinase (aSMase) quality articulation. These progressions in sphingomyelin digestion are connected to the hindrance of disease cell development and give experiences into the possible systems of activity of Gentamicin in malignant growth treatment9.

aSMase a potential target of Gentamicin 

the review recommends that corrosive sphingomyelinase (aSMase) can be viewed as an expected objective of Gentamicin (GM) in disease cells. The examination showed that GM explicitly upregulated the quality and protein articulation of aSMase in malignant growth cells, demonstrating that aSMase could be a particular objective of GM with regards to disease treatment9.

CDKN1B and GADD45A are qualities that are associated with apoptosis and cell cycle guideline 1. GADD45A is a quality that is frequently prompted by DNA harm and other pressure signals related to development capture and apoptosis 2. CDKN1B is a quality that encodes a protein that ties to cyclin-subordinate kinases and represses their movement, consequently controlling movement through the cell cycle 110-12.

Overexpression of CDKN1B and GADD45A qualities can diversely affect the cell cycle and apoptosis. Overexpression of GADD45A has been displayed to restrict multiplication in various cell lines with development hindrance in light of GADD45A articulation happening paying little heed to p53 status 1. Then again, overexpression of CDKN1B can prompt cell cycle capture by hindering the movement of cyclin-subordinate kinases13,14.

In relationship with SM digestion changes, at 24 h of culture, 2 mM GM changed the quality articulation. The quality articulation alludes to that of untreated lymphocytes, in SUP-T1 cells, GAPDH, B2M, CDKN1A, and CDKN1B were down-communicated. GM treatment reestablished the outflow of GAPDH, B2M, and CDKN1A to values like those of lymphocytes (esteems near solidarity) and caused the overexpression of CDKN1B. The particularity of the activity of GM was upheld by the perception that the medication marginally expanded the statement of these qualities when the treatment was completed on lymphocytes. Running against the norm, GADD45A overexpressed in lymphoma cells and GM didn’t initiate changes . It will be intriguing to study with regards to the future the connection among mRNA and protein content15.

Gentamicin has been found to have the potential as a sharpening specialist for disease chemotherapy. It can expand the viability of specific anticancer medications, for example, camptothecin, digitoxin, and vinblastine, in vitro for non-little cell cellular breakdown in the lungs (NSCLC) cells. The sharpening impact is dependent on the receptive oxygen species (ROS) reaction produced by gentamicin. In any case, it’s vital to take note that gentamicin doesn’t sharpen NSCLC cells to every anticancer medication. Consequently, while it shows a guarantee as a sharpening specialist, its application as an anticancer specialist might be restricted to explicit medication blends and malignant growth types15.

Conclusion

Gentamicin has been found to have potential as a sensitizing agent for cancer chemotherapy. It can increase the effectiveness of certain anticancer drugs, such as camptothecin, digitoxin, and vinblastine, in vitro for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. However, it’s important to note that gentamicin doesn’t sensitize NSCLC cells to all anticancer drugs. Therefore, while it shows promise as a sensitizing agent, its application as an anticancer agent may be limited to specific drug combinations and cancer types.

Acknowledgment

Not applicable

Conflict of interest

Authors has no conflict of interest

Funding source

There is no funding sources.

Authors’ Contribution

Dr. Karthikeyan contributed for the selection of topic . Both the authors equally contributed for the review and preparation

Ethics Approval Statement

Not applicable

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