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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

New treatment target NRG3/ERBB4 for canine brain tumors

By Noguchi, Shunsuke et al.·Published in Experimental cell research·2021·Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Japan·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: The NRG3/ERBB4 signaling cascade as a novel therapeutic target for canine glioma.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A study found that dogs with glioma, a type of brain tumor, often have poor outcomes even after surgery or radiation. Researchers discovered that a specific microRNA (miR-190a) is lower in these tumors and can help slow down tumor growth by targeting a protein called NRG3. They also found that a medication called afatinib was more effective at inhibiting the growth of glioma cells compared to other treatments. This suggests that targeting the NRG3/ERBB4 signaling pathway could be a new way to treat canine glioma more effectively.

People also search for: dog brain tumor treatment · canine glioma therapy · afatinib for dogs · glioma symptoms in dogs

Abstract

Canine glioma is a common brain tumor with poor prognosis despite surgery and/or radiation therapy. Therefore, newer and more effective treatment modalities are needed. Neuregulin 3 (NRG3) has known to be a ligand of ERBB4. This study aimed to investigate the usefulness of the NRG3/ERBB4 signaling cascade as a novel therapeutic target in canine glioma. We found out that microRNA (miR)-190a was downregulated in canine brain tumor tissues, including glioma and meningioma. miR-190a directly targeted NRG3 and inhibited the growth of canine glioma cells. The level of p-Akt, which is a downstream target of ERBB4 signaling, was decreased by transfection with miR-190a. NRG3 silencing also suppressed cell growth and decreased the levels of p-Akt and p-ERK1/2, and NRG3 overexpression exhibited opposed effects in canine glioma J3T-1 cells. The mRNA level of erbb4 was significantly upregulated in glioma tissues compared with that in normal brain tissues and meningioma tissues. Furthermore, compared with gefitinib and lapatinib, afatinib exerted a greater inhibitory effect on the growth of canine glioma cells. In conclusion, NRG3/ERBB4 signaling is negatively regulated by miR-190a and contributes to the growth of canine glioma cells, indicating that it may be a promising therapeutic target in canine glioma.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33508276/