BID-Deficient Breast Cancer MCF-7 Cells as a Model for the Study of Autophagy in Cancer Therapy

The BH3-only death factors share just the short BH3 domain with the other Bcl-2 family subclasses. With the exception of BID, which might also bind to BAX, they are thought to act by binding to and neutralizing Bcl-2 like survival factors.Camptothecin (CPT)-induced apoptosis in breast cancer MCF-7 cells is associated with activation of cathepsin B and aggregation of BAX and BID on mitochondria. BID knock down protects cancer cells against apoptosis and induces autophagy, manifested with increased expression of Beclin1 and MAP1LC3. The compensatory increase in the concentration of Hrk (another member of the BH3-only protein family) and its co-localization with BCL-2 on organelles in BID(-) breast cancer cells has also been observed. Nonetheless, Hrk is not able to substitute for BID in triggering apoptosis. Its role in autophagy induction is also doubtful, since MAP1LC3 expression was equally high in BID(-)Hrk(-) and BID(-)Hrk(+) breast cancer cells exposed to CPT. We conclude that BID can serve as a molecular switch between apoptosis and autophagy. BID(+) and BID(-) breast cancer MCF-7 cells could be considered to be a useful model for the study of the molecular interdependences between apoptosis and autophagy and the role of both processes in cancer therapy.

Addenda to:

Cathepsins and BID are Involved in the Molecular Switch between Apoptosis and Autophagy in Breast Cancer MCF-7 Cells Exposed to Camptothecin

M. Lamparska-Przybysz, B. Gajkowska and T. Motyl

J Physiol Pharmacol 2005; 56:159-79     

Autophagy Controls BCG-Induced Trained Immunity and the Response to Intravesical BCG Therapy for Bladder Cancer

The anti-tuberculosis-vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most widely used vaccine in the world. In addition to its effects against tuberculosis, BCG vaccination also induces non-specific beneficial effects against certain forms of malignancy and against infections with unrelated pathogens. It has been recently proposed that the non-specific effects of BCG are mediated through epigenetic reprogramming of monocytes, a process called trained immunity. In the present study we demonstrate that autophagy contributes to trained immunity induced by BCG. Pharmacologic inhibition of autophagy blocked trained immunity induced in vitro by stimuli such as β–glucans or BCG. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the autophagy genes ATG2B (rs3759601) and ATG5 (rs2245214) influenced both the in vitro and in vivo training effect of BCG upon restimulation with unrelated bacterial or fungal stimuli. Furthermore, pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of autophagy blocked epigenetic reprogramming of monocytes at the level of H3K4 trimethylation. Finally, we demonstrate that rs3759601 in ATG2B correlates with progression and recurrence of bladder cancer after BCG intravesical instillation therapy. These findings identify a key role of autophagy for the nonspecific protective effects of BCG.     

Autophagy Signaling and the Cogwheels of Cancer

The downregulation of macroautophagy observed in cancer cells is associated with tumor progression. The regulation of macroautophagy by signaling pathways overlaps with the control of cell growth, proliferation, cell survival, and death. Several tumor suppressor genes (PTEN, TSC2 and p53) involved in the mTOR signaling network have been shown to stimulate autophagy. In contrast, the oncoproteins involved in this network have the opposite effect. These findings, together with the discovery that haplo-insufficiency of the tumor suppressor beclin 1 promotes tumorigenesis in various tissues in transgenic mice, give credibility to the idea that autophagy is a tumor suppressor mechanism. The induction of macroautophagy by cancer treatments may also contribute to cell eradication. However, cancer cells sometimes mobilize autophagic capacities in response to various stimuli without a fatal outcome, suggesting that they can also exploit macroautophagy for their own benefit.     

Initiation of Apoptosis and Autophagy by Photodynamic Therapy

This study was designed to examine modes of cell death after photodynamic therapy (PDT). Murine leukemia L1210 cells and human prostate Bax-deficient DU-145 cells were examined after PDT-induced photodamage to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Previous studies indicated that this resulted in a substantial loss of Bcl-2 function. Both apoptosis and autophagy occurred in L1210 after ER photodamage with the latter predominating after 24 hr. These processes were characterized by altered cellular morphology, chromatin condensation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and formation vacuoles containing cytosolic components. Western blots demonstrated processing of LC3-I to LC3-II, a marker for autophagy. Inhibitors of apoptosis and/or autophagy were then used to delineate the contributions of the two pathways to the effects of PDT. In DU145 cells, PDT initiated only autophagy. PI3-kinase inhibitors suppressed autophagy in both cell lines as indicated by inhibition of vacuolization and LC3 processing. Autophagy may play a role in the ability of photodynamic therapy to stimulate immunologic recognition of target cells.

Addendum to

Initiation of Apoptosis and Autophagy by Photodynamic Therapy

D. Kessel, M.G.H. Vicente and J.J. Reiners Jr.

Lasers Surg Med 2006; In press     

Role of Autophagy in Breast Cancer

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process of cytoplasm and cellular organelle degradation in lysosomes. Autophagy is a survival pathway required for cellular viability during starvation; however, if it proceeds to completion, autophagy can lead to cell death. In neurons, constitutive autophagy limits accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins and prevents neuronal degeneration. Therefore, autophagy has emerged as a homeostatic mechanism regulating the turnover of long-lived or damaged proteins and organelles, and buffering metabolic stress under conditions of nutrient deprivation by recycling intracellular constituents. Autophagy also plays a role in tumorigenesis, as the essential autophagy regulator beclin1 is monoallelically deleted in many human ovarian, breast, and prostate cancers, and beclin1^+/- mice are tumor-prone. We found that allelic loss of beclin1 renders immortalized mouse mammary epithelial cells susceptible to metabolic stress and accelerates lumen formation in mammary acini. Autophagy defects also activate the DNA damage response in vitro and in mammary tumors in vivo, promote gene amplification, and synergize with defective apoptosis to accelerate mammary tumorigenesis. Thus, loss of the prosurvival role of autophagy likely contributes to breast cancer progression by promoting genome damage and instability. Exploring the yet unknown relationship between defective autophagy and other breast cancer-promoting functions may provide valuable insight into the pathogenesis of breast cancer and may have significant prognostic and therapeutic implications for breast cancer patients.

Addendum to:

Autophagy Mitigates Metabolic Stress and Genome Damage in Mammary Tumorigenesis

V. Karantza-Wadsworth, S. Patel, O. Kravchuk, G. Chen, R. Mathew, S. Jin and E. White

Genes Dev 2007; 21:1621-35     

肿瘤治疗过程中凋亡与自噬的关系

凋亡和自噬是参与维持机体正常的生理平衡和内环境稳定重要机制,与正常生长发育以及肿瘤等多种疾病发展过程都有着密切的联系。对于肿瘤的治疗,传统的方法是诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡,然而,肿瘤细胞中凋亡抗性的出现成为肿瘤治疗的主要障碍。近来,通过诱导其它细胞死亡方式致肿瘤细胞死亡已经成为有潜力的新的抗肿瘤机制。自噬作为另外一种细胞程序性死亡方式与凋亡一样有着复杂的分子机制和调控机制,它们之间存在密切的联系,并且存在许多相同的调节蛋白。本文就凋亡和自噬在形态特征、分子机制、检测方法以及在肿瘤治疗过程两者之间的关系做一综述。     

自噬及其在癌细胞中作用机制的研究

自噬是广泛存在于真核细胞中的生命现象,是以细胞质空泡化为特征的溶酶体依赖性的降解途径。自噬从酵母至哺乳动物细胞均很保守,它在耐受饥饿和缺血、清除衰老细胞器、清除细菌和异物、维持细胞活性和延长寿命等方面起着非常重要的作用。该文主要对自噬体的发生过程、分子机制及在癌细胞中的调控作用等方面进行简要概述。     

端粒生物学与肿瘤治疗

端粒的生物学功能主要是保护染色体末端,避免核酸酶对染色体末端的降解,防止染色体之间发生融合和重排。大多数人类肿瘤细胞通常通过端粒酶活性的重新激活来延长端粒,从而稳定染色体端粒DNA的长度。端粒酶是由端粒酶逆转录酶和端粒酶RNA模板组成的具有特殊逆转录活性的核糖核蛋白复合物。抑制端粒酶阳性细胞中的端粒酶活性会导致细胞凋亡或衰老。目前有多种以端粒和端粒酶为靶点来进行肿瘤治疗的策略。     

细胞自噬及其与肿瘤关系的研究进展

细胞自噬是一种细胞自我降解的过程,在适应代谢应激、保护基因组完整性及维持内环境稳定方面起到重要作用。在许多人类肿瘤中存在自噬水平的改变。肿瘤发生发展的不同阶段,自噬起到了促进和抑制的双重作用。该文综述了细胞自噬的分子机制及其与肿瘤关系的主要研究进展。     

Apoptosis and Autophagy in Breast Cancer Cells following Exemestane Treatment

Aromatase inhibitors (AIs), which block the conversion of androgens to estrogens, are used for hormone-dependent breast cancer treatment. Exemestane, a steroidal that belongs to the third-generation of AIs, is a mechanism-based inhibitor that binds covalently and irreversibly, inactivating and destabilizing aromatase. Since the biological effects of exemestane in breast cancer cells are not totally understood, its effects on cell viability, cell proliferation and mechanisms of cell death were studied in an ER-positive aromatase-overexpressing breast cancer cell line (MCF-7aro). The effects of 3-methyladenine (3-MA), an inhibitor of autophagy and of ZVAD-FMK, an apoptotic inhibitor, in exemestane treated cells were also investigated. Our results indicate that exemestane induces a strong inhibition in MCF-7aro cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner, promoting a significant cell cycle arrest in G(0)/G1 or in G(2)/M phases after 3 and 6 days of treatment, respectively. This was accompanied by a decrease in cell viability due to activation of cell death by apoptosis, via mitochondrial pathway and the occurrence of autophagy. Inhibition of autophagy by the autophagic inhibitor, 3-MA, resulted in a reduction of cell viability and activation of caspases. All together the results obtained suggest that exemestane induced mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis and autophagy, which act as a pro-survival process regulating breast cancer cell apoptosis.     

Induction of Autophagy by Concanavalin A and its Application in Anti-Tumor Therapy

Concanavalin A (Con A), a lectin from Jack bean seeds that, once bound to the mannose moiety on the cell membrane glycoprotein, is internalized preferentially to the mitochondria. A BNIP3-mediated mitochondria autophagy is then induced, and causes the tumor cells to undergo autophagic cell death. Con A is also a T cell mitogen that can induce autoimmune hepatitis in mice. Because of the dual properties (autophagic cytotoxicity and immunomodulation) via the specific mannose binding, Con A can exert a potent anti-hepatoma therapeutic effect by inhibiting tumor nodule formation in the liver and prolonging the survival of the tumor-bearing mice. The anti-tumor effect is primarily mediated by activated CD8⁺ T cells, and will also establish a tumor antigen-specific immune memory during the hepatic inflammation. This finding provides a novel mechanism in which Con A can be used as an anti-hepatoma agent, and also gives support for the search for natural lectins as anti-cancer compounds.

Addendum to:

Concanavalin A Induces Autophagy in Hepatoma Cells and has a Therapeutic Effect in a Murine In Situ Hepatoma Model

C.P. Chang, M.C. Yang, H.S. Liu, Y.S. Lin, H.Y. Lei HY.Hepatology 2007; 45:286-296.     

免疫毒素的抗肿瘤研究

免疫毒素是由具有导向能力的载体（抗体或细胞因子）和具有细胞毒性的分子（毒素）偶联而成的具有特异性细胞杀伤能力的杂合分子,是一种靶向药物。免疫毒素首先利用肿瘤细胞上导向分子的受体与细胞结合,然后进入细胞,再由毒素发挥蛋白质合成抑制作用,最终导致靶细胞死亡。与其他抗肿瘤药物相比,免疫毒素具有毒性强和特异性高的优点,在肿瘤治疗中显示出巨大的应用前景。简要概述了免疫毒素的作用机理、制备及其抗肿瘤研究进展。     

Hyperthermia in Cancer Therapy

Many malignant cell lines exhibit a therapeutic response to supernormal temperatures. Selective destruction of tumor cells has been observed following moderate hyperthermia (42° to 43° C) in vivo, and tumor eradication by heat has been achieved without normal tissue morbidity. Thermal cell killing appears to be independent of oxygen tension, and the sensitivity of S-phase cells to thermal damage is complementary to that for cellular radiation response. Hyperthermia is therefore a promising adjunct to radiotherapy. At the Claire Zellerbach Saroni Tumor Institute, Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center, San Francisco, the differential thermal sensitivity of malignant cells is being studied to achieve improved tumor control in patients refractory to more conventional treatments. Preliminary results of a two-year clinical trial indicated increased local objective responses when hyperthermia and radiation were used in combination.