Oxygen insensitivity of the histochemical assay of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity for the discrimination between nonmalignant and malignant cells.

We review here the oxygen insensitivity of the histochemical assay of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activity to detect cancer cells. This inexpensive and rapid assay can be performed within half an hour. Discrimination between cancerous and noncancerous cells is based on a combination of elevated G6PDH activity, decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and decreased lipid peroxidation in cancer cells. The test discriminates between adenomas and carcinomas of the colon with a certainty of >80% and has a high prognostic value for survival of colon cancer patients. Pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer are discriminated with a certainty of 100%. Therefore, the test can be applied by pathologists to provide additional information in difficult cases of diagnosis of cancer and for prognosis.     

Loss of peroxisomes causes oxygen insensitivity of the histochemical assay of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity to detect cancer cells.

Oxygen insensitivity of carcinoma cells and oxygen sensitivity of non-cancer cells in the histochemical assay of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) enables detection of carcinoma cells in unfixed cell smears or cryostat sections of biopsies. The metabolic background of oxygen insensitivity is still not understood completely. In the present study, rat hepatocytes, rat hepatoma cells (FTO-2B), and human colon carcinoma cells (HT29) were used to elucidate these backgrounds. The residual activity in oxygen was 0%, 55%, and 80% in hepatocytes, hepatoma cells, and colon carcinoma cells, respectively. N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), a blocker of SH-groups, did not affect G6PD activity in both carcinoma cell types but reduced G6PD activity in hepatocytes by 40%. Ultrastructural localization of G6PD activity was exclusively in the cytoplasm of carcinoma cells, but in hepatocytes both in cytoplasm and peroxisomes. NEM abolished peroxisomal G6PD activity only. Histochemical assay of catalase activity demonstrated absence of peroxisomes in both carcinoma cell lines. It is concluded that absence of SH-sensitive G6PD activity in peroxisomes in cancer cells is responsible for the oxygen-insensitivity phenomenon.     

Rapid establishment of highly migratory cells from cancer cells for investigating cellular functions

Abstract

Cell migration is closely involved in cancer cell invasion into surrounding tissue and metastasis to the distant organs. It is crucial for understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate cell migration in cancer cells. The aim of this study is to establish a rapid induction method of highly migratory cells from cancer cells. Osteosarcoma MG-63 and colon cancer DLD1 cells were seeded at 1?×?10⁵ cells in 6-well plates. After 10?min, unattached cells were washed off three times with PBS. The cells which remained attached on the bottom of plates were cultured in DMEM containing 10% FBS. When the cells reached approximately 80% confluence, cells were harvested using trypsin/EDTA. The harvested cells were seeded in other 6-well plates and incubated for 10?min. The unattached cells were washed off and attached cells were further cultured. By repeating this procedure 11–12 times for 2?months, highly migratory MG63-A12 and DLD-A11 cells were obtained from MG-63 and DLD1 cells, respectively. In cell motility assay, the cell motile activities of MG63-A12 and DLD-A11 cells was 10.3 and 13.7 times higher than those of the parental cells, respectively. This procedure is useful to generate highly migratory cells for investigating cellular functions during tumor progression in cancer cells.     

ω-6脂肪酸脱氢酶基因在乳腺癌细胞内的表达和作用

为探讨ω- 6脂肪酸脱氢酶基因fat -1在人类乳腺癌细胞MCF- 7中表达和对其生长的作用,将fat -1基因插入到腺病毒载体中,构建腺病毒重组载体(Ad·GFP·fat1) .通过包装细胞系(2 93)产生重组腺病毒,感染MCF 7细胞.用核糖核酸酶保护性分析技术,检测fat -1基因在MCF- 7细胞内的表达,细胞增殖试剂盒(MTT)和凋亡染色试剂盒染色分析fat 1基因对MCF- 7细胞增殖和凋亡的影响,用酶联免疫分析花生酸类(eicosanoids)前列腺素E2 (prostaglandinE2 )的含量.结果显示,腺病毒介导的fat- 1基因能在MCF- 7细胞内有效异源表达,抑制MCF -7细胞的增殖且导致凋亡,前列腺素的含量也明显地减少.结果说明,fat- 1基因在乳腺癌的基因治疗中具有良好利用价值.     

Increased efficiency for performing colony formation assays in 96-well plates: novel applications to combination therapies and high-throughput screening

The colony formation assay (CFA) is the gold standard for measuring the effects of cytotoxic agents on cancer cells in vitro; however, in its traditional 6-well format, it is a time-consuming assay, particularly when evaluating combination therapies. In the interest of increased efficiency, the 6-well CFA was converted to a 96-well format using an automated colony counting algorithm. The 96-well CFA was validated using ionizing radiation therapy on the FaDu (human hypopharyngeal squamous cell) and A549 (human lung) cancer cell lines. Its ability to evaluate combination therapies was investigated by the generation of dose-response curves for the combination of cisplatin and radiation therapy on FaDu and A549 cells. The 96-well CFA was then transferred to a robotic platform for evaluating its potential as a high-throughput screening (HTS) readout. The LOPAC1280 library was screened against FaDu cells, and eight putative hits were identified. Using the 96-well CFA to validate the eight putative chemicals, six of the eight were confirmed, resulting in a positive hit rate of 75%. These data indicate that the 96-well CFA can be adopted as an efficient alternative assay to the 6-well CFA in evaluating single and combination therapies in vitro, providing a possible readout that could be used on a HTS platform.     

Syntheses and biological activities of daunorubicin analogs with uncommon sugars

To study the effects of the sugar structure on the activity of anthracycline against cancer cells, six daunorubicin analogs containing different uncommon sugars were synthesized. Their cytotoxicities were tested against colon cancer cells by MTS assay. The results showed that the aglycon without sugar moiety has 70-100-fold lower activity against cancer cells than daunorubicin derivatives with various uncommon sugars. It suggests that the sugar structure in daunorubicin plays a critical role in determining its anticancer activity. In the compounds with various sugars, the 4'-OH of the sugar is an important determinant for their activity, while the axial-3'-substituent in the sugar interferes with the binding of daunorubicins to DNA. Therefore, 2,6-dideoxy sugars are a better choice for generating biologically active daunorubicin analogs than 6-deoxysugars, 2,3,6-trideoxysugars, or 2,3,4,6-tetradeoxysugars.     

肿瘤特异性蛋白B7-H4纳米抗体的筛选和鉴定

羊驼体内存在天然缺少轻链的重链抗体,克隆重链抗体可变区(VHH),即可构建单域抗体(single-domain antibodies,sdAbs),又称纳米抗体(nanobody,Nb)。利用非免疫羊驼噬菌体文库筛选肿瘤特异性蛋白B7-H4的纳米抗体,经过4轮淘选,ELASE鉴定阳性克隆噬菌体,测序获得其DNA序列后体外转录为mRNA,将修饰纯化后的mRNA转染到肿瘤细胞,利用细胞免疫荧光检测mRNA在肿瘤细胞内是否表达,Western印迹进一步验证其表达情况;通过CCK-8法鉴定其对肿瘤细胞的增殖抑制能力;划痕实验鉴定其对肿瘤细胞迁移能力的影响;Transwell法鉴定其对肿瘤细胞的侵袭能力的影响;裸鼠荷瘤模型瘤旁注射mRNA,鉴定其在体内实验对肿瘤组织的作用。结果显示,通过淘选获得1个高亲和性的噬菌体株菌H6;DNA测序并导出的氨基酸序列符合羊驼纳米抗体结构;将其mRNA导入肿瘤细胞,能有效表达出纳米抗体H6;转染H6-mRNA的肿瘤细胞(0.84±0.08)与未转染H6-mRNA的对照组(1.83±0.04)相比,其增殖能力明显受到抑制,P<0.01,其迁移和侵袭能力(78.60±5.36)明显低于空白对照组(197.80±21.04),效果优于B7-H4 mRNA的siRNA(95.40±16.56);在裸鼠乳腺癌模型中能有效抑制肿瘤生长,效果优于紫杉醇和B7-H4 mRNA的siRNA。这说明筛选所得抗B7-H4纳米抗体H6能特异结合B7-H4蛋白并封闭其功能,导致肿瘤细胞的增殖、迁移和侵袭受到抑制。该结果为利用B7-H4作为治疗癌症的靶点提供了实验基础。     

Prostate Cancer Associated Lipid Signatures in Serum Studied by ESI-Tandem Mass Spectrometryas Potential New Biomarkers

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one amongst the most common cancersin western men. Incidence rate ofPCa is on the rise worldwide. The present study deals with theserum lipidome profiling of patients diagnosed with PCa to identify potential new biomarkers. We employed ESI-MS/MS and GC-MS for identification of significantly altered lipids in cancer patient’s serum compared to controls. Lipidomic data revealed 24 lipids are significantly altered in cancer patinet’s serum (n = 18) compared to normal (n = 18) with no history of PCa. By using hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) we could clearly separate cancer patients from control group. Correlation and partition analysis along with Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) have identified that PC (39:6) and FA (22:3) could classify samples with higher certainty. Both the lipids, PC (39:6) and FA (22:3) could influence the cataloging of patients with 100% sensitivity (all 18 control samples are classified correctly) and 77.7% specificity (of 18 tumor samples 4 samples are misclassified) with p-value of 1.612×10⁻⁶ in Fischer’s exact test. Further, we performed GC-MS to denote fatty acids altered in PCa patients and found that alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) levels are altered in PCa. We also performed an in vitro proliferation assay to determine the effect of ALA in survival of classical human PCa cell lines LNCaP and PC3. We hereby report that the altered lipids PC (39:6) and FA (22:3) offer a new set of biomarkers in addition to the existing diagnostic tests that could significantly improve sensitivity and specificity in PCa diagnosis.     

In vitro Mesothelial Clearance Assay that Models the Early Steps of Ovarian Cancer Metastasis

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States¹. Despite a positive initial response to therapies, 70 to 90 percent of women with ovarian cancer develop new metastases, and the recurrence is often fatal². It is, therefore, necessary to understand how secondary metastases arise in order to develop better treatments for intermediate and late stage ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer metastasis occurs when malignant cells detach from the primary tumor site and disseminate throughout the peritoneal cavity. The disseminated cells can form multicellular clusters, or spheroids, that will either remain unattached, or implant onto organs within the peritoneal cavity³ (Figure 1, Movie 1). All of the organs within the peritoneal cavity are lined with a single, continuous, layer of mesothelial cells^4-6 (Figure 2). However, mesothelial cells are absent from underneath peritoneal tumor masses, as revealed by electron micrograph studies of excised human tumor tissue sections^3,5-7 (Figure 2). This suggests that mesothelial cells are excluded from underneath the tumor mass by an unknown process. Previous in vitro experiments demonstrated that primary ovarian cancer cells attach more efficiently to extracellular matrix than to mesothelial cells⁸, and more recent studies showed that primary peritoneal mesothelial cells actually provide a barrier to ovarian cancer cell adhesion and invasion (as compared to adhesion and invasion on substrates that were not covered with mesothelial cells)^9,10. This would suggest that mesothelial cells act as a barrier against ovarian cancer metastasis. The cellular and molecular mechanisms by which ovarian cancer cells breach this barrier, and exclude the mesothelium have, until recently, remained unknown. Here we describe the methodology for an in vitro assay that models the interaction between ovarian cancer cell spheroids and mesothelial cells in vivo (Figure 3, Movie 2). Our protocol was adapted from previously described methods for analyzing ovarian tumor cell interactions with mesothelial monolayers^8-16, and was first described in a report showing that ovarian tumor cells utilize an integrin –dependent activation of myosin and traction force to promote the exclusion of the mesothelial cells from under a tumor spheroid¹⁷. This model takes advantage of time-lapse fluorescence microscopy to monitor the two cell populations in real time, providing spatial and temporal information on the interaction. The ovarian cancer cells express red fluorescent protein (RFP) while the mesothelial cells express green fluorescent protein (GFP). RFP-expressing ovarian cancer cell spheroids attach to the GFP-expressing mesothelial monolayer. The spheroids spread, invade, and force the mesothelial cells aside creating a hole in the monolayer. This hole is visualized as the negative space (black) in the GFP image. The area of the hole can then be measured to quantitatively analyze differences in clearance activity between control and experimental populations of ovarian cancer and/ or mesothelial cells. This assay requires only a small number of ovarian cancer cells (100 cells per spheroid X 20-30 spheroids per condition), so it is feasible to perform this assay using precious primary tumor cell samples. Furthermore, this assay can be easily adapted for high throughput screening.     

LncRNA RP1调控周期蛋白质促进结肠癌细胞增殖

长链非编码RNAs（long non-coding RNAs, lncRNAs）是一类无蛋白质编码功能,长度大于 200 nt的RNAs。qRT-PCR实验证实,lncRNA RP1-506.5（命名为RP1）在人结肠癌细胞株中的表达量明显高于人正常结肠上皮细胞（P<0.01）。RP1在结肠癌组织中的表达量为癌旁组织中表达量的8.5倍。在HCT116中,上调RP1的表达,同时在HCT8中沉默RP1的表达,探讨RP1对结肠癌细胞生物学特性的影响。MTS实验、活细胞工作站增殖实验,结合平板克隆实验发现,过表达RP1能明显促进结肠癌细胞HCT116的增殖能力。而在HCT8细胞中沉默RP1表达后,该细胞的增殖能力明显减弱。流式细胞周期实验结果表明,RP1能促进细胞周期快速通过G1/S检测点,并能加速S期进程。荧光定量PCR、Western印迹实验发现,在HCT116中细胞中,上调RP1的表达后,P21的表达水平下调,细胞周期蛋白D1（cyclinD1）、依赖细胞周期蛋白激酶6(CDK6)表达水平上调;当沉默LncRNA RP1的表达后,能上调P21的表达水平,下调cyclinD1、CDK6的表达水平。这些结果表明,LncRNA RP1可通过调控周期相关蛋白质的表达促进结肠癌细胞增殖。     

肿瘤坏死因子-α促进乳腺癌转移的分子机制研究

目的探究肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)促进乳腺癌转移的分子机制。方法采集病理学确诊为乳腺癌的患者血液标本53例,首先把MDA-MB-231乳腺癌细胞分为对照组、TNF-α诱导组,再把乳腺癌细胞分为空载对照组(转染空载体)、Arf6-T27N组(转染Arf6-T27N)、空载转染+TNF-α组(转染空载体后加500 ng/ml TNF-α)、Arf6-T27N+TNF-α组(转染Arf6-T27N后加500 ng/ml TNF-α)。采用酶联免疫检测法(ELISA)对乳腺癌患者血浆中TNF-α含量进行检测,采用划痕实验检测细胞的迁移能力,采用小G蛋白活化实验(GLISA)筛选并检测对照组和TNF-α诱导组的小G蛋白及其诱导效应。两组间比较采用t检验,多组间比较采用单因素方差分析,两两比较采用LSD检验;采用χ2检验或Fisher确切概率法分析TNF-α表达高低与临床病理参数的关系。结果与未发生淋巴结转移的乳腺癌患者比较,已发生淋巴结转移的患者血浆中TNF-α的含量(391.24±307.35比709.58±277.51)升高,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.001);与对照组比较,TNF-α诱导组乳腺癌细胞相对愈合面积(1.00±0.04比2.34±0.25)增大,细胞小G蛋白Arf6活性(1.00±0.02比3.11±0.14)升高,差异有统计学意义(P均<0.001);与空载转染+TNF-α组比较,Arf6-T27N+TNF-α组乳腺癌细胞的迁移能力(2.33±0.14比1.83±0.15)降低,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.001)。结论本研究阐明TNF-α通过激活Arf6促进乳腺癌细胞迁移,提示TNF-α/Arf6可作为控制乳腺癌转移的新靶点。     

Microfluidic-based diagnostics for cervical cancer cells

The use of biomarkers has facilitated the detection of specific tumor cells. However, the technology to apply these markers in a clinical setting has not kept pace with their increasing availability. In this project, we use an antibody-based microfluidics platform to recognize and capture cervical cancer cells. Because HPV-16 infection of cervical cells and up-regulation of alpha6-integrin cell surface receptors are correlated, we utilized alpha6-integrin as a capture antibody bound to the channel surface. Normal human glandular epithelial cells (HGEC), human cervical stromal cells (HCSC) and cervical cancer cells (HCCC) were suspended in PBS and flowed through the system. Greater than 30% of the cancer cells were captured while the capture of the normal cell types was less than 5%. The technique is sensitive and accurate. It is potentially useful in the detection of cervical cancer at all stages, as well as other of cancers with similar characteristics of cell surface antigen expression.     

Interleukin-7 receptor expression and activation in nonhaematopoietic neoplastic cell lines

The high-affinity human interleukin-7 (IL-7)R is a heterodimeric complex consisting of the IL-7Ralpha and common interleukin-2 receptor gamma (IL-2Rgamma(c)) chains. Activation of the IL-7R complex is associated with tyrosine and serine residue phosphorylation of a number of intracellular substrates leading to proliferation and induction of various cellular differentiation processes. In this study, we demonstrate, by S1 nuclease protection assay, immunoprecipitation and in vitro kinase assay that functional human (h) IL-7R is expressed in haematopoietic and nonhaematopoietic cell lines. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) tumour panel of 60 cell lines (NCI60) was screened for the expression of IL-7R mRNA by S1 nuclease protection assay, and IL-7R mRNA was detected in 9 of 12 leukemia, 3 of 7 lung, 4 of 6 CNS, 2 of 7 melanoma, 2 of 7 renal, 1 of 6 colon and 1 of 6 breast cancer cell lines. Immunoblot analysis of haematopoietic, lung cancer and brain tumour cell lines demonstrated expression of IL-7R, IL-2Rgamma(c) and p59 fyn, suggesting that the components of an IL-7R signalling network are present in nonhaematopoietic neoplastic cells. Immunoprecipitation of IL-7Ralpha followed by an in vitro kinase assay demonstrated functional receptor phosphorylation events in the lung cancer cells but not in the brain tumour cell lines. The expression of functional IL-7R on epithelial tumour cells may represent a potential target for receptor-directed therapy.     

KLF6 inhibits estrogen receptor-mediated cell growth in breast cancer via a c-Src-mediated pathway

Estrogen receptors play a key role in breast cancer development and progression. Kruppel-like factor 6 (KLF6) is a tumour-suppressing protein. The aim of this study was to identify the role of KLF6 inhibition in estrogen receptor{alpha} (ERα)-elicited breast cancer development. Protein expression levels were examined by western blot analysis and immunoprecipitation was used to analyse interactions between proteins. An MTT assay was used to study cell proliferation. We found that KLF6 mediates cell growth in ERα-positive breast cancer cells through interaction with the c-Src protein. This interaction causes inactivation of the Erk and Akt proteins. These pathways are critical for the proliferation and survival of breast cancer cells. We also established that KLF6 could not mediate cell growth in ERα-negative cells. We conclude that KLF6 can modulate ERα-mediated cell growth in breast cancer cells. The unique role of KLF6 in mediating cell growth in breast cancer cells opens up the possibility of a new therapeutic strategy for treating breast cancer.     

Synthesis,characterization and in vitro anti-invasive activity screening of polyphenolic and heterocyclic compounds

Invasion is the hallmark of malignant tumors, and is responsible for the bad prognosis of the untreated cancer patients. The search for anti-invasive treatments led us to screen compounds of different classes for their effect in an assay for invasion. Thirty-nine new compounds synthesized in the present study along with 56 already reported compounds belonging mainly to the classes of lactones, pyrazoles, isoxazoles, coumarins, desoxybenzoins, aromatic ketones, chalcones, chromans, isoflavanones have been tested against organotypic confronting cultures of invasive human MCF-7/6 mammary carcinoma cells with embryonic chick heart fragments in vitro. Three of them (a pyrazole derivative, an isoxazolylcoumarin and a prenylated desoxybenzoin) inhibited invasion at concentrations as low as 1 microM; instead of occupying and replacing the heart tissue within 8 days, the MCF-7/6 cells grew around the heart fragments and left it intact, when treated with these compounds. At the anti-invasive concentration of 1 microM, the three compounds did not affect the growth of the MCF-7/6 cells, as shown in the sulforhodamine B assay. Aggregate formation on agar was not stimulated by any of the three anti-invasive compounds, making an effect on the E-cadherin/catenin complex improbable. This is an invasion suppressor that can be activated in MCF-7/6 cells by a number of other molecules. Our data indicate that some polyphenolic and heterocyclic compounds are anti-invasive without being cytotoxic for the cancer cells.     

基于电化学发光检测技术的乳腺癌生物标记物EZH2表达定量分析

Zeste同源染色体2增强子基因(EZH2)在人类乳腺癌中过度表达,它可以被视为一个检测肿瘤的发展和转移的生物标记物。传统技术检测或定量特异性基因表达存在一些缺点,因此,本研究拟开发电致化学发光(ECL)技术来检测和量化EZH2 mRNA的表达量。在本研究中,用生物素和三(2,2-联吡啶)钌(II)(TBR)分别标记在PCR引物的5’末端上,用作扩增靶基因,扩增产物用ECL系统进行检测。我们用癌细胞作为模型分析了该方法的有效性和灵敏度,并且将其应用于25例乳腺癌的临床样本中EZH2基因表达量的检测。检测结果表明,EZH2基因在肿瘤细胞系中过量表达,而在正常血细胞中则低表达。最重要的是,在25例临床乳腺癌样品中发现10例样品(40%)的EZH2 mRNA过度表达。此方法提供了一种新的工具来评估EZH2基因在乳腺癌中的表达水平,且有可能成为一种快速、简便和灵敏的乳腺癌检测和诊断方法。     

Identification of Macrolepiota procera extract as a novel G6PD inhibitor for the treatment of lung cancer

Tumor metabolism, an emerging hallmark of cancer, is characterized by aberrant expression of enzymes from various metabolic pathways including glycolysis and PPP (pentose phosphate pathway). Glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD), oxidative carboxylases of PPP, have been reported to accomplish different biosynthetic and energy requirements of cancer cells. G6PD and 6PGD have been proposed as potential therapeutic targets for cancer therapy during recent years due to their overexpression in various cancers. Here, we have employed enzymatic assay based screening using in-house G6PD and 6PGD assay protocols for the identification of mushroom extracts which could inhibit G6PD or 6PGD enzymatic activity for implications in cancer therapy. For the fulfillment of the objectives of present study, nine edible mushrooms were subjected to green extraction for preparation of ethanolic extracts. 6xhis-G6PD and pET-28a-h6PGD plasmids were expressed in BL21-DE3 E. coli cells for the expression and purification of protein of interests. Using purified proteins, in house enzymatic assay protocols were established. The preliminary screening identified two extracts (Macrolepiota procera and Terfezia boudieri) as potent and selective G6PD inhibitors, while no extract was found highly active against 6PGD. Further, evaluation of anticancer potential of mushroom extracts against lung cancer cells revealed Macrolepiota procera as potential inhibitor of cancer cell proliferation with IC₅₀ value of 6.18 μg/ml. Finally, screening of M. procera-derived compounds against G6PD via molecular docking has identified paraben, quercetin and syringic acid as virtual hit compounds possessing good binding affinity with G6PD. The result of present study provides novel findings for possible mechanism of action of M. procera extract against A549 via G6PD inhibition suggesting that M. procera might be of therapeutic interest for lung cancer treatment.