Ricerc@Sapienza

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and angiogenesis are crucial events for development of aggressive and often fatal Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas (OSCCs). Both promote cancer progression and metastasis development, but while the former induces the loss of E-cadherin expression and, hence cadherin switching; the latter produces haematic blood vessel neo-formation and contribute to OSCC cell growth, tumor mass development, and dissemination. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has an important role, not only in angiogenic mechanisms, but also in favoring cancer invasion.

This review discusses the rational for further studies of COX-2 inhibitors-NO releaser hybrids (NO-Coxibs) in the pharmacological treatment of the airway inflammation in Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Our research group developed several classes of NO-Coxibs for the pharmacological treatment of arthritis, and among them several compounds showed an outstanding in vivo efficacy and good pharmacokinetic properties. The good antiinflammatory properties displayed by these compounds during the previous screening could, by itself, suggest appropriate candidates for further testing in CF.

Cigarette smoking is a recognized risk factor for colon cancer and nicotine, the
principal active component of tobacco, plays a pivotal role in increasing colon cancer
cell growth and survival. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of
nicotine on cellular Caco-2 and HCT-8 migration and invasion, focusing on epithelial
to mesenchymal transition (EMT) induction, and COX-2 pathway involvement. In
both these cell lines, treatment with nicotine increased COX-2 expression and the