Melanoma Patients with Unknown Primary Site or Nodal Recurrence after Initial Diagnosis Have a Favourable Survival Compared to Those with Synchronous Lymph Node Metastasis and Primary Tumour

Background

A direct comparison of prognosis between patients with regional lymph node metastases (LNM) detected synchronously with the primary melanoma (primary LNM), patients who developed their first LNM subsequently (secondary LNM) and those with initial LNM in melanoma with unknown primary site (MUP) is missing thus far.

Patients and Methods

Survival of 498 patients was calculated from the time point of the first macroscopic LNM using Kaplan Meier and multivariate Cox hazard regression analysis.

Results

Patients with secondary LNM (HR = 0.67; p = 0.009) and those with initial LNM in MUP (HR = 0.45; p = 0.008) had a better prognosis compared to patients with primary LNM (median survival time 52 and 65 vs. 24 months, respectively). A high number of involved nodes, the presence of in-transit/satellite metastases and male gender had an additional independent unfavourable effect.

Conclusions

Survival of patients with LNM in MUP and with secondary LNM is similar and considerably more favourable compared to those with primary LNM. This difference needs to be considered during patient counselling and for stratification purposes in clinical trials. The assumption of an immune privilege of patients with MUP which is responsible for rejection of the primary melanoma, and results in a favourable prognosis is not supported by our data.     

Zinc(II) modulates specifically amyloid formation and structure in model peptides

Metal ions such as zinc and copper can have dramatic effects on the aggregation kinetics of and the structures formed by several amyloidogenic peptides/proteins. Depending on the identity of the amyloidogenic peptide/protein and the conditions, Zn(II) and Cu(II) can promote or inhibit fibril formation, and in some cases these metal ions have opposite effects. To better understand this modulation of peptide aggregation by metal ions, the impact of Zn(II) binding to three amyloidogenic peptides (Aβ14-23, Aβ11-23, and Aβ11-28) on the formation and structure of amyloid-type fibrils was investigated. Zn(II) was able to accelerate fibril formation for all three peptides as measured by thioflavin T fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. The effects of Zn(II) on Aβ11-23 and Aβ11-28 aggregation were very different compared with the effects of Cu(II), showing that these promoting effects were metal-specific. X-ray absorption spectroscopy suggested that the Zn(II) binding to Aβ11-23 and Aβ11-28 is very different from Cu(II) binding, but that the binding is similar in the case of Aβ14-23. A model is proposed in which the different coordination chemistry of Zn(II) compared with Cu(II) explains the metal-specific effect on aggregation and the difference between peptides Aβ14-23 and Aβ11-23/Aβ11-28.     

Local interleukin-10 production during respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis is associated with post-bronchiolitis wheeze

Background

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of bronchiolitis in infants. Following RSV bronchiolitis, 50% of children develop post-bronchiolitis wheeze (PBW). Animal studies have suggested that interleukin (IL)-10 plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of RSV bronchiolitis and subsequent airway hyperresponsiveness. Previously, we showed that ex vivo monocyte IL-10 production is a predictor of PBW. Additionally, heterozygosity of the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1800872 in the IL10 promoter region was associated with protection against RSV bronchiolitis.

Methods

This study aimed to determine the in vivo role of IL-10 in RSV pathogenesis and recurrent wheeze in a new cohort of 235 infants hospitalized for RSV bronchiolitis. IL-10 levels in nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) were measured at the time of hospitalization and the IL10 SNP rs1800872 genotype was determined. Follow-up data were available for 185 children (79%).

Results

Local IL-10 levels during RSV infection turned out to be higher in infants that later developed physician diagnosed PBW as compared to infants without PBW in the first year after RSV infection (958 vs 692 pg/ml, p = 0.02). The IL10 promoter SNP rs1800872 was not associated with IL-10 concentration in NPAs.

Conclusion

The relationship between high local IL-10 levels during the initial RSV infection and physician diagnosed PBW provides further evidence of the importance of the IL-10 response during RSV bronchiolitis.     

T-oligos inhibit growth and induce apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cells

Ovarian cancer remains a leading cause of death among women worldwide, and current treatment regimens for advanced disease are inadequate. Oligonucleotides with sequence homology to telomeres (called T-oligos) have been shown to mimic DNA damage responses in cells and induce cytotoxic effects in certain tumor cell lines. We studied the effects of 2 distinct 16 mer T-oligos in 4 human ovarian epithelial carcinoma cell lines. A T-oligo with perfect homology to the telomere overhang region demonstrated some cytotoxic activity in half of the cell lines. A G-rich T-oligo derivative showed more potency and broader cytotoxic activity in these lines than the parental T-oligo. Activation of apoptotic pathways in ovarian cancer cells by exposure to the T-oligo was demonstrated by multiple independent assays. T-oligo was shown to have additive, or more than additive, activity in combination with 2 different histone deacetylase drugs currently in clinical testing. T-oligos may therefore provide a new and tumor-targeted approach to ovarian cancers.     

Binding of transition metal ions to albumin: Sites,affinities and rates

Background

Serum albumin is the most abundant protein in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid and plays a fundamental role in the distribution of essential transition metal ions in the human body. Human serum albumin (HSA) is an important physiological transporter of the essential metal ions Cu^2 +, and Zn^2 + in the bloodstream. Its binding of metals like Ni^2 +, Co^2 +, or Cd^2 + can occur in vivo, but is only of toxicological relevance. Moreover, HSA is one of the main targets and hence most studied binding protein for metallodrugs based on complexes with Au, Pt and V.

Scope of Review

We discuss i) the four metal-binding sites so far described on HSA, their localization and metal preference, ii) the binding of the metal ions mentioned above, i.e. their stability constants and association/dissociation rates, their coordination chemistry and their selectivity versus the four binding sites iii) the methodology applied to study issues of items i and ii and iv) oligopeptide models of the N-terminal binding site.

Major Conclusions

Albumin has four partially selective metal binding sites with well-defined metal preferences. It is an important regulator of the blood transport of physiological Cu(II) and Zn(II) and toxic Ni(II) and Cd(II). It is also an important target for metal-based drugs containing Pt(II), V(IV)O, and Au(I).

General Significance

The thorough understanding of metal binding properties of serum albumin, including the competition of various metal ions for specific binding sites is important for biomedical issues, such as new disease markers and design of metal-based drugs. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Serum Albumin.     

Propylene oxide: mutagenesis, carcinogenesis and molecular dose

The results from mutagenic and carcinogenic studies of propylene oxide (PO) and the current efforts to develop molecular dosimetry methods for PO–DNA adducts are reviewed. PO has been shown to be active in several bacterial and mammalian mutagenicity tests and induces site of contact tumors in rodents after long-term administration. Quantitation of N7-(2-hydroxypropyl)guanine (7-HPG) in nasal and hepatic tissues of male F344 rats exposed to 500 ppm PO (6 h/day; 5 days/week for 4 weeks) by inhalation was performed to evaluate the potential of high concentrations of PO to produce adducts in the DNA of rodent tissues and to obtain information necessary for the design of molecular dosimetry studies. The persistence of 7-HPG in nasal and hepatic tissues was studied in rats killed three days after cessation of a 4-week exposure period. DNA samples from exposed and untreated animals were analyzed for 7-HPG by two different methods. The first method consisted of separation of the adduct from DNA by neutral thermal hydrolysis, followed by electrophoretic derivatization of the adduct and gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GC–HRMS) analysis. The second method utilized ³²P-postlabeling to quantitate the amount of this adduct in rat tissues. Adducts present in tissues from rats killed immediately after cessation of exposure were 835.4±80.1 (respiratory), 396.8±53.1 (olfactory) and 34.6±3.0 (liver) pmol adduct/μmol guanine using GC–HRMS. Lower values, 592.7±53.3, 296.5±32.6 and 23.2±0.6 pmol adduct/μmol guanine were found in respiratory, olfactory and hepatic tissues of rats killed after three days of recovery. Analysis of the tissues by ³²P-postlabeling yielded the following values: 445.7±8.0 (respiratory), 301.6±49.2 (olfactory) and 20.6±1.8 (liver) pmol adduct/μmol guanine in DNA of rats killed immediately after exposure cessation and 327.1±21.7 (respiratory), 185.3±29.2 (olfactory) and 15.7±0.9 (liver) pmol adduct/μmol guanine after recovery. Current methods of quantitation did not provide evidence for the endogenous formation of this adduct in control animals. These studies demonstrated that the target tissue for carcinogenesis has much greater alkylation of DNA than liver, a tissue that did not exhibit a carcinogenic response.     

How alcohol chain-length and concentration modulate hydrogen bond formation in a lipid bilayer

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to measure the change in properties of a hydrated dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer when solvated with ethanol, propanol, and butanol solutions. There are eight oxygen atoms in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine that serve as hydrogen bond acceptors, and two of the oxygen atoms participate in hydrogen bonds that exist for significantly longer time spans than the hydrogen bonds at the other six oxygen atoms for the ethanol and propanol simulations. We conclude that this is caused by the lipid head group conformation, where the two favored hydrogen-bonding sites are partially protected between the head group choline and the sn-2 carbonyl oxygen. We find that the concentration of the alcohol in the ethanol and propanol simulations does not have a significant influence on the locations of the alcohol/lipid hydrogen bonds, whereas the concentration does impact the locations of the butanol/lipid hydrogen bonds. The concentration is important for all three alcohol types when the lipid chain order is examined, where, with the exception of the high-concentration butanol simulation, the alcohol molecules having the longest hydrogen-bonding relaxation times at the favored carbonyl oxygen acceptor sites also have the largest order in the upper chain region. The lipid behavior in the high-concentration butanol simulation differs significantly from that of the other alcohol concentrations in the order parameter, head group rotational relaxation time, and alcohol/lipid hydrogen-bonding location and relaxation time. This appears to be the result of the system being very near to a phase transition, and one occurrence of lipid flip-flop is seen at this concentration.