内皮抑素抗黑色素瘤血管新生时间窗及最佳剂量的研究

目的:获取不同黑色素瘤发展阶段的荷瘤鼠的最佳治疗时间以及最佳用药量。方法:将肿瘤大小不等的雄性黑色素瘤荷瘤鼠进行内皮抑素分组对比治疗,在用药3、5、7天后处死荷瘤鼠,剥离瘤体,称瘤重,分析生长趋势,做病理切片并进行HE染色和免疫组化。在与对照组进行对照后,根据肿瘤的大小、恶性化的程度以及CD31和VEGF的表达情况,找出内皮抑素的用药最有效的治疗时间窗。然后通过进一步实验,在已经检测出的不同肿瘤大小的荷瘤鼠的恩度作用时间窗内,给荷瘤鼠使用用不同浓度梯度的药物,在不同肿瘤发展大小之后剥离瘤体,做与上述类似的操作并分析,确定在治疗时间窗时的恩度使用的最佳剂量。结论:5天为内皮抑素抗黑色素瘤血管新生时间窗,两个实验组中,中等剂量即15 mg/kg和20 mg/kg为恩度作用最佳剂量。     

内皮抑素研究进展

内皮抑素是一种能够强烈抑制血管形成的抑制因子 ,能够有效地抑制肿瘤细胞的生长和转移 ,因此成为肿瘤研究领域的研究热点。就内皮抑素的发现 ,性质和结构 ,生物学功能 ,抑制作用机理 ,内皮抑素基因治疗以及目前在临床上的应用进行了简要总结和概括。     

内皮抑素转基因治疗子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型的实验研究

目的：了解内皮抑素（ES）转基因治疗子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型的疗效。方法：构建子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型,选择建模成功的大鼠为实验研究对象,随机分为ES转染组（I组）24只、载体对照组（Ⅱ组）20只和阴性对照组（Ⅲ组）20只。I组病灶局部注射lipofectamine-endo-pBud复合物进行基因转染,Ⅱ组注射lipofectamine-pBud复合物,Ⅲ组注射PBS用于对照。通过实时荧光定量PCR法检测异位病灶中ES基因的相对表达量,用Western-blot测定ES-HA融合蛋白及ES蛋白的相对表达量,来判断转染成功与否。用ELISA法对大鼠血清中ES及血管内皮细胞生长因子（VEGF）水平进行测定,用免疫组化SP法对ES、基质金属蛋白酶-2（MMP-2）以及微血管密度（MVD）的表达进行测定,用游标卡尺对转染前后各组大鼠异位病灶的长、宽进行测量,计算体积,分析各指标实验前后的差异,观察内皮抑素转基因治疗子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型的疗效。结果：注射相应试剂后2周,I组异位病灶组织中ES基因的相对表达量高于两对照组（P〈0.05）,有ES-HA融合蛋白表达,且ES蛋白的相对表达量显著高于两对照组（P〈0.01）;I组血清中ES水平显著高于两对照组（P〈0.01）,VEGF水平显著低于两对照组（P〈0.01）,三组ES与VEGF在血清中的表达水平呈负相关（r=-0.805）;I组异位病灶组织中ES表达明显高于两对照组（P〈0.01）;MMP-2的表达明显少于两对照组（P〈0.01）;MVD明显少于两对照组（P〈0.01）;三组ES与MMP-2在异位内膜中的表达呈负相关（r=-0.700）;I组异位病灶体积明显小于两对照组（P〈0.01）。结论：阳离子脂质体LipofectamineTM2000介导的重组质粒endo-pBud病灶内直接注射法可以成功实现ES在子宫内膜异位症大鼠异位内膜中的表达,并对子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型有治疗作用。     

内皮抑素转基因治疗子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型的实验研究

目的:了解内皮抑素(ES)转基因治疗子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型的疗效。方法:构建子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型,选择建模成功的大鼠为实验研究对象,随机分为ES转染组(I组)24只、载体对照组(Ⅱ组)20只和阴性对照组(Ⅲ组)20只。I组病灶局部注射lipofectamine-endo-pBud复合物进行基因转染,Ⅱ组注射lipofectamine-pBud复合物,Ⅲ组注射PBS用于对照。通过实时荧光定量PCR法检测异位病灶中ES基因的相对表达量,用Western-blot测定ES-HA融合蛋白及ES蛋白的相对表达量,来判断转染成功与否。用ELISA法对大鼠血清中ES及血管内皮细胞生长因子(VEGF)水平进行测定,用免疫组化SP法对ES、基质金属蛋白酶-2(MMP-2)以及微血管密度(MVD)的表达进行测定,用游标卡尺对转染前后各组大鼠异位病灶的长、宽进行测量,计算体积,分析各指标实验前后的差异,观察内皮抑素转基因治疗子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型的疗效。结果:注射相应试剂后2周,I组异位病灶组织中ES基因的相对表达量高于两对照组(P<0.05),有ES-HA融合蛋白表达,且ES蛋白的相对表达量显著高于两对照组(P<0.01);I组血清中ES水平显著高于两对照组(P<0.01),VEGF水平显著低于两对照组(P<0.01),三组ES与VEGF在血清中的表达水平呈负相关(r=-0.805);I组异位病灶组织中ES表达明显高于两对照组(P<0.01);MMP-2的表达明显少于两对照组(P<0.01);MVD明显少于两对照组(P<0.01);三组ES与MMP-2在异位内膜中的表达呈负相关(r=-0.700);I组异位病灶体积明显小于两对照组(P<0.01)。结论:阳离子脂质体LipofectamineTM2000介导的重组质粒endo-pBud病灶内直接注射法可以成功实现ES在子宫内膜异位症大鼠异位内膜中的表达,并对子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型有治疗作用。     

肿瘤生长抑制因子—血管抑素和内皮抑素

血管生成是肿瘤生长转移过程中的一个关键环节,因此控制血管生成成为抑制肿瘤生长的重要途径之一。目前已发现了许多血管生成抑制因子,尤以血管抑素和内皮抑素最为引人瞩目。综述了两种肿瘤生长抑制因子的发现、分子结构、生物学活性等,尤其侧重于它们抗肿瘤作用的实验研究。血管抑素与内皮抑素的发现与研究为恶性肿瘤的治疗开辟了新的道路。     

内皮抑素研究进展

新生血管的生成 (Angiogenesis)与多种生理过程相关 ,受多种促进和抑制因子的调节 ,细胞外基质蛋白经酶解产生的小片段中很多都参与了这一过程的调节。内皮抑素 (Endostatin)是 1997年首先从小鼠血管内皮瘤EOMA细胞培养上清中发现的 ,是细胞外基质蛋白胶原XVⅢα1链NC1结构域C末端 184个Aa的片段。可抑制bFGF和VEGF刺激的血管内皮细胞的增殖和迁移 ,抑制新生血管的形成 ,抑制肿瘤的形成和转移。由于其作用对象是血管内皮细胞 ,而不是转化的肿瘤细胞本身 ,长期反复治疗中不会引起耐药性。它在肿瘤治疗中的应用前景引起多方关注 ,相关研究广泛开展起来。本文综述了近几年在其生物功能、作用机理及应用等方面的研究进展     

125I-UdR提高内皮抑素基因的抑瘤作用

目的:探讨125I-UdR提高内皮抑素基因对大鼠种植癌模型的抑制效应。方法:制作肿瘤株Walker-256细胞大鼠皮下种植癌的动物模型并分为1-4组(对照组、125I-UdR组、Endostatin组和Endostatin+125I-UdR组),每组20只,通过实体瘤内注射,分别给与相同体积生理盐水125I-UdR、内皮抑素基因及125I-UdR和内皮抑素基因混合物,测量肿瘤治疗前体积(V0)和治疗后不同时间体积(Vt),计算10d、20d的肿瘤生长率(f=Vt/V0),观察各组肿瘤在光镜下的变化。结果:各组大鼠10d、20d肿瘤生长率为:(11.03±1.08、27.35±1.08),(4.02±0.79、7.58±2.98),(3.88±0.26、7.02±2.75),(2.72±1.01、2.94±1.26),2、3、4组的肿瘤生长率明显小于1组(P<0.001);2、3组之间肿瘤生长率差别不明显(P>0.05),4组肿瘤生长率小于2、3组(P<0.01)。结论:通过实体瘤内注射的方法给与125I-UdR、内皮抑素基因及两者混合物后,能够明显抑制肿瘤的生长,内皮抑素基因和125I-UdR联合治疗在抑制肿瘤生长方面作用更加显著。     

125I-UdR提高内皮抑素基因的抑瘤作用

目的：探讨125I-UdR提高内皮抑素基因对大鼠种植癌模型的抑制效应。方法：制作肿瘤株Walker-256细胞大鼠皮下种植癌的动物模型并分为1-4组（对照组、125I-UdR组、Endostatin组和Endostatin＋125I-UdR组）,每组20只,通过实体瘤内注射,分别给与相同体积生理盐水125I-UdR、内皮抑素基因及125I-UdR和内皮抑素基因混合物,测量肿瘤治疗前体积（V0）和治疗后不同时间体积（Vt）,计算10d、20d的肿瘤生长率（f=Vt／V0）,观察各组肿瘤在光镜下的变化。结果：各组大鼠10d、20d肿瘤生长率为：（11．03±1．08、27．35±1．08）,（4．02±0．79、7．58±2．98）,（3．88±0．26、7．02±2．75）,（2．72±1．01、2．94±1．26）,2、3、4组的肿瘤生长率明显小于l组（P〈0．001）;2、3组之间肿瘤生长率差别不明显（P〉0．05）,4组肿瘤生长率小于2、3组（P〈0．01）.结论：通过实体瘤内注射的方法给与125I-UdR、内皮抑素基因及两者混合物后,能够明显抑制肿瘤的生长,内皮抑素基因和125I-UdR联合治疗在抑制肿瘤生长方面作用更加显著。     

内皮抑素及其在抗肿瘤中的应用

内皮抑素是一种抗血管生成的抑制因子,它特异性地作用于新生微血管的内皮细胞,其水平与肿瘤血管生成有着明显的相关性。体内外的研究均表明,内皮抑素具有无毒副作用、不容易产生耐药性和易达到有效药物浓度等优点。我们简要综述了内皮抑素的特性、作用机制,及其在抗肿瘤应用等方面的研究进展。     

内皮抑素与肿瘤治疗

内皮抑素（endostatin）是近年来发现的,天然产生的新血管生成抑制因子。它在体内由胶原ⅩⅧ经酶解产生,可以抑制新血管生成,在肿瘤动物模型中显 同显著的抑瘤活动。通过抑制肿瘤相关的新血管的形成来治疗肿瘤,是目前出现的新疗法,内皮抑素是这种疗法中很有前景的侯选药物之一。在美国已经开始了用内皮抑素治疗肿瘤的Ⅰ期临床试验,关于它的临床前基础实验也在广泛开展。本文综述了内皮抑素在肿瘤治疗中的应用基础研究。     

FRIZZLED7 Is Required for Tumor Inititation and Metastatic Growth of Melanoma Cells

Metastases are thought to arise from cancer stem cells and their tumor initiating abilities are required for the establishment of metastases. Nevertheless, in metastatic melanoma, the nature of cancer stem cells is under debate and their contribution to metastasis formation remains unknown. Using an experimental metastasis model, we discovered that high levels of the WNT receptor, FZD7, correlated with enhanced metastatic potentials of melanoma cell lines. Knocking down of FZD7 in a panel of four melanoma cell lines led to a significant reduction in lung metastases in animal models, arguing that FZD7 plays a causal role during metastasis formation. Notably, limiting dilution analyses revealed that FZD7 is essential for the tumor initiation of melanoma cells and FZD7 knockdown impeded the early expansion of metastatic melanoma cells shortly after seeding, in accordance with the view that tumor initiating ability of cancer cells is required for metastasis formation. FZD7 activated JNK in melanoma cell lines in vitro and the expression of a dominant negative JNK suppressed metastasis formation in vivo, suggesting that FZD7 may promote metastatic growth of melanoma cells via activation of JNK. Taken together, our findings uncovered a signaling pathway that regulates the tumor initiation of melanoma cells and contributes to metastasis formation in melanoma.     

Methyl Sulfone Blocked Multiple Hypoxia- and Non-Hypoxia-Induced Metastatic Targets in Breast Cancer Cells and Melanoma Cells

Metastatic cancer causes 90% of cancer deaths. Unlike many primary tumors, metastatic tumors cannot be cured by surgery alone. Metastatic cancer requires chemotherapy. However, metastatic cells are not easily killed by chemotherapy. These problems with chemotherapy are caused in part by the metastatic cell niche: hypoxia. Here we show that the molecule, methyl sulfone, normalized metastatic metabolism of hypoxic breast cancer and melanoma cells by altering several metabolic functions of the cells. Under hypoxia, methyl sulfone decreased expression of the master regulator of hypoxia, HIF-1α, and reduced levels of the glycolytic enzymes, PKM2, LDHA, GLUT1, the pro-angiogenic protein, VEGF, and the iron-sulfur metabolism molecules, miR-210 and transferrin, all of which promote metastasis. Conversely, methyl sulfone increased levels of ISCU1/2 and ferroportin, proteins associated with iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis and iron homeostasis in normal cells. These data identify methyl sulfone as a multi-targeting molecule that blocks the survival/proliferative effect of hypoxia on metastatic cells and brings normality back to cellular metabolism.     

siRNA联合沉默MMP-9和FAK基因对小鼠黑色素瘤高转移细胞B16F10体外侵袭和迁移的影响

目的： 观察双基因联合干扰MMP-9和FAK对小鼠黑色素瘤高转移细胞B16F10体外侵袭、迁移能力的影响。方法：分别构建pGV102-MMP9-siRNA,pGV102-FAK-siRNA重组质粒载体,脂质体^TM2000介导转染小鼠黑色素瘤B16F10细胞,实验分为空白对照组、Anti-MMP-9组,Anti-FAK组、Anti-MMP-9 &FAK组、阴性对照组。经G418筛选GFP+克隆,流式细胞仪分析阳性率,激光共聚焦观察转染后细胞形态,半定量RT-PCR检测各组B16F10细胞MMP-9和FAK基因的mRNA转录水平,Transwell侵袭、迁移实验测定各组B16F10细胞体外侵袭、迁移能力。结果： 经G418筛选,3个转染组阳性率分别为92.41±1.64%,95.72±0.21%,91.52±0.11%,且转染后细胞形态良好;与空白对照组相比,3个转染组的MMP-9,FAK mRNA转录水平下降明显（P<0.01）,迁移、侵袭能力明显降低（P<0.01）,但Anti-MMP-9 &FAK组细胞侵袭迁移能力显著低于Anti-MMP-9 组和Anti-FAK组（P<0.01）。结论： 相比单独沉默MMP-9 或FAK,联合沉默MMP-9 和FAK可明显降低小鼠黑色素瘤B16F10细胞体外迁移、侵袭能力。     

Disseminated Breast Cancer Cells Acquire a Highly Malignant and Aggressive Metastatic Phenotype during Metastatic Latency in the Bone

Background

Disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow may exist in a dormant state for extended periods of time, maintaining the ability to proliferate upon activation, engraft at new sites, and form detectable metastases. However, understanding of the behavior and biology of dormant breast cancer cells in the bone marrow niche remains limited, as well as their potential involvement in tumor recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the tumorigenicity and metastatic potential of dormant disseminated breast cancer cells (prior to activation) in the bone marrow.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Total bone marrow, isolated from mice previously injected with tumorspheres into the mammary fat pad, was injected into the mammary fat pad of NUDE mice. As a negative control, bone marrow isolated from non-injected mice was injected into the mammary fat pad of NUDE mice. The resultant tumors were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for expression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers. Mouse lungs, livers, and kidneys were analyzed by H+E staining to detect metastases. The injection of bone marrow isolated from mice previously injected with tumorspheres into the mammary fat pad, resulted in large tumor formation in the mammary fat pad 2 months post-injection. However, the injection of bone marrow isolated from non-injected mice did not result in tumor formation in the mammary fat pad. The DTC-derived tumors exhibited accelerated development of metastatic lesions within the lung, liver and kidney. The resultant tumors and the majority of metastatic lesions within the lung and liver exhibited a mesenchymal-like phenotype.

Conclusions/Significance

Dormant DTCs within the bone marrow are highly malignant upon injection into the mammary fat pad, with the accelerated development of metastatic lesions within the lung, liver and kidney. These results suggest the acquisition of a more aggressive phenotype of DTCs during metastatic latency within the bone marrow microenvironment.     

Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan Modulation of Wnt5A Signal Transduction in Metastatic Melanoma Cells

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) are important modulators for optimizing signal transduction of many pathways, including the Wnt pathways. We demonstrate that HSPG glycosaminoglycan levels increased with increasing metastatic potential of melanoma cells. Previous studies have demonstrated that Wnt5A increases the invasiveness of melanoma cells. We further demonstrate that HSPGs potentiate Wnt5A signaling, since enzymatic removal of the HSPG backbone resulted in a decrease in cellular Wnt5A levels, an increase in secreted Wnt5A in cell media, a decrease in downstream signaling, and ultimately, a decrease in invasiveness. Specifically, syndecan 1 and syndecan 4 expression correlated to Wnt5A expression and melanoma malignancy. Knockdown of syndecan 1 or 4 caused decreases in cell invasion, which could be restored by treating the cells with recombinant Wnt5A. These data indicate that syndecan 1 and 4 correlate to increased metastatic potential in melanoma patients and are an important component of the Wnt5A autocrine signaling loop, the activation of which leads to increased metastasis of melanoma.The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009 there will be 68,720 new cases of melanoma in this country with ∼8,650 deaths. Recent studies have demonstrated that the non-canonical Wnt pathway, also known as the Wnt/Ca²⁺ pathway, plays an important role in increasing the metastatic potential of melanoma cells (1–5). Studies from our laboratory demonstrated that increasing Wnt5A, which mediates the non-canonical Wnt/Ca²⁺ signaling pathway, increased melanoma metastasis (1–3), and silencing Wnt5A levels via siRNA³ decreased invasion (2, 3). In addition, we have shown that Wnt5A acts via protein kinase C (PKC) to mediate the motility of melanoma cells via the inhibition of metastasis suppressors and an initiation of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition, characterized by the loss of E-cadherin and the up-regulation of Snail (2).Wnt signaling can be mediated by heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) which are important signal transduction modulators. They mediate fibroblast growth factor, Hedgehog, epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor-β, and WNT signaling pathways (6–11). HSPGs consist of two types, cell surface and basement membrane-associated HSPGs (12). Cell surface HSPGs are glycoproteins with covalently attached unbranched and modified sugar chains known as glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). There are two types of cell surface HSPGs, known as glypicans and syndecans (11, 13). Glypicans are attached to the cell surface via a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor, whereas syndecans are type 1 transmembrane proteins. HSPG GAG side chains are unbranched chains of modified repeating disaccharide units of N-acetylglucosamine and glucuronic acid. They are joined to the core protein via a tetrasaccharide linker attached to a serine residue. Following synthesis, these chains undergo modification with the addition of sulfates by N- and O-sulfation (14). The sulfation status determines to which specific portion of the GAG chains ligands, such as Wnt, will attach. The heparan sulfate endosulfatases Sulf1 and Sulf2 are cell surface enzymes that control growth factor signaling. The regulation of the 6-O-sulfation states by these endosulfatases changes the affinity of the GAG chains for ligand binding (15–17). Following sulfation modification, HSPGs can regulate signaling by dimerization (with other HSPGs or canonical signaling receptors), stabilization, or transport of the ligand to or away from the high affinity receptors (18–20). In addition, studies have suggested that the core proteins themselves may also play an important role in cell phenotype and function (21).HSPGs have been implicated in a number of pathological conditions, such as Simpson-Golabi-Behmel overgrowth syndrome (22), fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (23), and Alzheimer disease (24). In addition, HSPGs are overexpressed in many forms of cancer, including prostate cancer and melanoma (25, 26). Importantly, in cancer, proteoglycans can have both tumor-promoting and tumor-suppressing activities. This depends on the type of protein core, the GAGs attached, and the localization of the proteoglycan and the molecules they associate with. In addition, the tumor subtype, stages, and degree of tumor differentiation also affect the function of HSPGs (27). HSPGs are cleaved by heparanases or heparin lyases (heparinases), which have been shown to have differing effects on tumor cell activity. For example, treating cancer cells with heparanase-1, which cleaves heparin-like regions (specifically HLGAG sites with O-sulfated l-iduronic acid residues), results in an increase in both tumor growth and metastatic dissemination (28). However, treating tumor cells with heparinase III, which more specifically cleaves HSPGs (i.e. unsulfated d-glucorinic acid, heparan-sulfate-like regions) results in an inhibition of their metastatic capacity (29). Importantly, heparanase I cleaves only certain side chains, where heparinase III treatment cleaves the entire backbone of the HSPG. It is likely that cleavage of specific side chains facilitates cell motility by releasing cells from adhesion to neighboring cells, whereas cleavage of the entire molecule decreases the availability of secreted ligands to their receptors, especially those involved in autocrine signaling, such as Wnt5A.Historically, Wnt5A has been quite difficult to purify from cell culture media, despite the fact that it is a secreted protein. Further, in melanoma cells, Wnt5A appears to be signaling in an autocrine fashion (1, 2). These two observations, together with the fact that Wnt5A undergoes glycosylation (30), led us to hypothesize that HSPGs might be involved in increasing the availability of Wnt5A to its receptor, resulting in an increase in autocrine signaling and ultimately an increase in cellular invasion. In this study, we explore this hypothesis and investigate the role of HSPGs in the Wnt5A signaling cascade in metastatic melanoma cells.     

Extracellular Alkaline pH Leads to Increased Metastatic Potential of Estrogen Receptor Silenced Endocrine Resistant Breast Cancer Cells

Introduction

Endocrine resistance in breast cancer is associated with enhanced metastatic potential and poor clinical outcome, presenting a significant therapeutic challenge. We have established several endocrine insensitive breast cancer lines by shRNA induced depletion of estrogen receptor (ER) by transfection of MCF-7 cells which all exhibit enhanced expression profile of mesenchymal markers with reduction of epithelial markers, indicating an epithelial to mesenchymal transition. In this study we describe their behaviour in response to change in extracellular pH, an important factor controlling cell motility and metastasis.

Methods

Morphological changes associated with cell exposure to extracellular alkaline pH were assessed by live cell microscopy and the effect of various ion pumps on this behavior was investigated by pretreatment with chemical inhibitors. The activity and expression profile of key signaling molecules was assessed by western blotting. Cell motility and invasion were examined by scratch and under-agarose assays respectively. Total matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity and specifically of MMP2/9 was assessed in conditioned medium in response to brief alkaline pH exposure.

Results

Exposure of ER –ve but not ER +ve breast cancer cells to extracellular alkaline pH resulted in cell shrinkage and spherical appearance (termed contractolation); this was reversed by returning the pH back to 7.4. Contractolation was blocked by targeting the Na⁺/K⁺ and Na⁺/H⁺ pumps with specific chemical inhibitors. The activity and expression profile of key signaling molecules critical for cell adhesion were modulated by the exposure to alkaline pH. Brief exposure to alkaline pH enhanced MMP2/9 activity and the invasive potential of ER –ve cells in response to serum components and epithelial growth factor stimulation without affecting unhindered motility.

Conclusions

Endocrine resistant breast cancer cells behave very differently to estrogen responsive cells in alkaline pH, with enhanced invasive potential; these studies emphasise the crucial influence of extracellular pH and caution against indiscriminate application of alkalinising drug therapy.     

Hepatoma SK Hep-1 Cells Exhibit Characteristics of Oncogenic Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Highly Metastatic Capacity

Background

SK Hep-1 cells (SK cells) derived from a patient with liver adenocarcinoma have been considered a human hepatoma cell line with mesenchymal origin characteristics, however, SK cells do not express liver genes and exhibit liver function, thus, we hypothesized whether mesenchymal cells might contribute to human liver primary cancers. Here, we characterized SK cells and its tumourigenicity.

Methods and Principal Findings

We found that classical mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) markers were presented on SK cells, but endothelial marker CD31, hematopoietic markers CD34 and CD45 were negative. SK cells are capable of differentiate into adipocytes and osteoblasts as adipose-derived MSC (Ad-MSC) and bone marrow-derived MSC (BM-MSC) do. Importantly, a single SK cell exhibited a substantial tumourigenicity and metastatic capacity in immunodefficient mice. Metastasis not only occurred in circulating organs such as lung, liver, and kidneys, but also in muscle, outer abdomen, and skin. SK cells presented greater in vitro invasive capacity than those of Ad-MSC and BM-MSC. The xenograft cells from subcutaneous and metastatic tumors exhibited a similar tumourigenicity and metastatic capacity, and showed the same relatively homogenous population with MSC characteristics when compared to parental SK cells. SK cells could unlimitedly expand in vitro without losing MSC characteristics, its tumuorigenicity and metastatic capacity, indicating that SK cells are oncogenic MSC with enhanced self-renewal capacity. We believe that this is the first report that human MSC appear to be transformed into cancer stem cells (CSC), and that their derivatives also function as CSCs.

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrate that SK cells represent a transformation mechanism of normal MSC into an enhanced self-renewal CSC with metastasis capacity, SK cells and their xenografts represent a same relative homogeneity of CSC with substantial metastatic capacity. Thus, it represents a novel mechanism of tumor initiation, development and metastasis by CSCs of non-epithelial and endothelia origin.     

Suppression of the Metastatic Potential of v-src-Transformed Cells by the Exogenous DAP Kinase Gene

Hamster tumor cell lines obtained with the Rous sarcoma virus and characterized by a high metastatic activity in vitro were transfected with the gene for Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent serine–threonine death-associated protein kinase (DAPk). Expression of DAPk in tumor cells dramatically reduced their survival in the blood of syngenic animals and their ability to produce metastases, but did not affect their tumorigenicity or the primary tumor growth. The DAPk-induced change in the metastatic phenotype was not accompanied by substantial changes in production and phosphorylation of v-Src or focal adhesion proteins (focal adhesion kinase and paxilline). The resulting system of transfected cells with a modulated metastatic potential provide a convenient model to study the molecular mechanisms of tumor progression at various steps.     

Chemical Communication of Antibiotic Resistance by a Highly Resistant Subpopulation of Bacterial Cells

The overall antibiotic resistance of a bacterial population results from the combination of a wide range of susceptibilities displayed by subsets of bacterial cells. Bacterial heteroresistance to antibiotics has been documented for several opportunistic Gram-negative bacteria, but the mechanism of heteroresistance is unclear. We use Burkholderia cenocepacia as a model opportunistic bacterium to investigate the implications of heterogeneity in the response to the antimicrobial peptide polymyxin B (PmB) and also other bactericidal antibiotics. Here, we report that B. cenocepacia is heteroresistant to PmB. Population analysis profiling also identified B. cenocepacia subpopulations arising from a seemingly homogenous culture that are resistant to higher levels of polymyxin B than the rest of the cells in the culture, and can protect the more sensitive cells from killing, as well as sensitive bacteria from other species, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Communication of resistance depended on upregulation of putrescine synthesis and YceI, a widely conserved low-molecular weight secreted protein. Deletion of genes for the synthesis of putrescine and YceI abrogate protection, while pharmacologic inhibition of putrescine synthesis reduced resistance to polymyxin B. Polyamines and YceI were also required for heteroresistance of B. cenocepacia to various bactericidal antibiotics. We propose that putrescine and YceI resemble "danger" infochemicals whose increased production by a bacterial subpopulation, becoming more resistant to bactericidal antibiotics, communicates higher level of resistance to more sensitive members of the population of the same or different species.