Three-dimensional in vitro tumor models for cancer research and drug evaluation

Cancer occurs when cells acquire genomic instability and inflammation, produce abnormal levels of epigenetic factors/proteins and tumor suppressors, reprogram the energy metabolism and evade immune destruction, leading to the disruption of cell cycle/normal growth. An early event in carcinogenesis is loss of polarity and detachment from the natural basement membrane, allowing cells to form distinct three-dimensional (3D) structures that interact with each other and with the surrounding microenvironment. Although valuable information has been accumulated from traditional in vitro studies in which cells are grown on flat and hard plastic surfaces (2D culture), this culture condition does not reflect the essential features of tumor tissues. Further, fundamental understanding of cancer metastasis cannot be obtained readily from 2D studies because they lack the complex and dynamic cell–cell communications and cell–matrix interactions that occur during cancer metastasis. These shortcomings, along with lack of spatial depth and cell connectivity, limit the applicability of 2D cultures to accurate testing of pharmacologically active compounds, free or sequestered in nanoparticles. To recapitulate features of native tumor microenvironments, various biomimetic 3D tumor models have been developed to incorporate cancer and stromal cells, relevant matrix components, and biochemical and biophysical cues, into one spatially and temporally integrated system. In this article, we review recent advances in creating 3D tumor models employing tissue engineering principles. We then evaluate the utilities of these novel models for the testing of anticancer drugs and their delivery systems. We highlight the profound differences in responses from 3D in vitro tumors and conventional monolayer cultures. Overall, strategic integration of biological principles and engineering approaches will both improve understanding of tumor progression and invasion and support discovery of more personalized first line treatments for cancer patients.     

TSNAdb: A Database for Tumor-specific Neoantigens from Immunogenomics Data Analysis

Tumor-specific neoantigens have attracted much attention since they can be used as biomarkers to predict therapeutic effects of immune checkpoint blockade therapy and as potential targets for cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we developed a comprehensive tumor-specific neoantigen database (TSNAdb v1.0), based on pan-cancer immunogenomic analyses of somatic mutation data and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele information for 16 tumor types with 7748 tumor samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and The Cancer Immunome Atlas (TCIA). We predicted binding affinities between mutant/wild-type peptides and HLA class I molecules by NetMHCpan v2.8/v4.0, and presented detailed information of 3,707,562/1,146,961 potential neoantigens generated by somatic mutations of all tumor samples. Moreover, we employed recurrent mutations in combination with highly frequent HLA alleles to predict potential shared neoantigens across tumor patients, which would facilitate the discovery of putative targets for neoantigen-based cancer immunotherapy. TSNAdb is freely available at http://biopharm.zju.edu.cn/tsnadb.     

成纤维细胞生长因子受体-癌症治疗新靶点

成纤维细胞生长因子(FGFs)通过作用于其受体(成纤维细胞生长因子受体,FGFRs)在许多生理过程中发挥重要作用,如胚胎形成、创伤修复、血管生成等。近年来,越来越多的证据表明FGFRs是某些癌症的驱动基因,并且以"细胞自治"的方式维持肿瘤细胞的恶性特征,通过诱导促有丝分裂和生存信号、促进肿瘤细胞侵袭转移、促进上皮间质转化、促进血管生成及参与肿瘤复发耐药作用作为癌基因参与肿瘤发生发展进程的多重步骤,但也有研究证实FGFR信号在某些肿瘤类型中具有抑制肿瘤的功能。这些研究结果使得FGFRs成为越来越具有吸引力的癌症治疗新靶点。本文阐述了FGFRs信号通路在多种肿瘤中的作用,并且对处于研发或试验阶段的抗FGFRs药物(包括小分子酪氨酸激酶抑制剂和单克隆抗体)进行了概括。     

敲低PFKP联合肉碱棕榈酰基转移酶抑制剂etomoxir协同对肾透明细胞癌细胞Caki-1的抗肿瘤作用

目的:研究敲低P型磷酸果糖激酶(phosphofructokinase,PFKP)联合肉碱棕榈酰基转移酶抑制剂etomoxir对肾透明细胞癌Caki-1细胞的影响,并进一步探究其作用机制。方法:利用Western blot验证对照及PFKP shRNA敲低肾透明细胞癌细胞中PFKP的敲低效率,分别检测对照组(shCtrl)、PFKP敲低组、etomoxir组(shCtrl+etomoxir)、PFKP敲低联合etomoxir组的增殖曲线。使用Annexin-V/PI染色并用流式细胞检测对照组、PFKP敲低组、etomoxir组、PFKP敲低联合etomoxir组的细胞死亡,研究PFKP敲低联合etomoxir对细胞存活的影响。分别检测对照组、PFKP敲低组、etomoxir组、PFKP敲低联合etomoxir组的ATP水平与脂肪酸变化。结果:Western blot结果验证了PFKP的敲低效率。流式细胞检测显示,对照组、PFKP敲低组、etomoxir组、PFKP敲低联合etomoxir组的平均细胞死亡率分别为1.1、1.9、13.9、31.3%。PFKP敲低联合etomoxir组Caki-1细胞的死亡率显著高于单纯PFKP敲低与etomoxir组(P0.05)。PFKP敲低联合etomoxir组Caki-1细胞的ATP水平显著低于单纯PFKP敲低与etomoxir组(P0.05)。Etomoxir的加入抑制了PFKP敲低引起的游离脂肪酸下降(P0.05)。结论:PFKP敲低联合etomoxir对Caki-1细胞呈现协同的细胞毒抗肿瘤作用。     

Signaling pathways implicated in alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone-induced lipolysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

Melanocortins, besides their central roles, have also recently been reported to regulate adipocyte metabolism. In this study, we attempted to characterize the mechanism underlying alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH)-induced lipolysis, and compared it with that of the adrenocorticotrophin hormone (ACTH) in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Similar to ACTH, MSH treatment resulted in the release of glycerol into the cell supernatant. The activity of hormone-sensitive lipase, a rate-limiting enzyme, which is involved in lipolysis, was significantly increased by MSH treatment. In addition, a variety of kinases, including protein kinase A (PKA) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) were also phosphorylated as the result of MSH treatment, and their specific inhibitors caused a reduction in MSH-induced glycerol release and HSL activity, indicating that MSH-induced lipolysis was mediated by these kinases. These results suggest that PKA and ERK constitute the principal signaling pathways implicated in the MSH-induced lipolytic process via the regulation of HSL in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.     

Gekko-sulfated glycopeptide inhibits tumor angiogenesis by targeting basic fibroblast growth factor

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a therapeutic target of anti-angiogenesis. Here, we report that a novel sulfated glycopeptide derived from Gekko swinhonis Guenther (GSPP), an anticancer drug in traditional Chinese medicine, inhibits tumor angiogenesis by targeting bFGF. GSPP significantly decreased the production of bFGF in hepatoma cells by suppressing early growth response-1. GSPP inhibited the release of bFGF from extracellular matrix by blocking heparanase enzymatic activity. Moreover, GSPP competitively inhibited bFGF binding to heparin/heparan sulfate via direct binding to bFGF. Importantly, GSPP abrogated the bFGF-stimulated proliferation and migration of endothelial cells, whereas it had no inhibitory effect on endothelial cells in the absence of bFGF. Further study revealed that GSPP prevented bFGF-induced neovascularization and inhibited tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model. These results demonstrate that GSPP inhibits tumor angiogenesis by blocking bFGF production, release from the extracellular matrix, and binding to its low affinity receptor, heparin/heparan sulfate.     

SARS病毒与其他冠状病毒的基因组比较

本文利用生物信息学方法比较SARS病毒和其他冠状病毒基因组.通过数据库搜索,找出与SARS病毒基因组相似的核酸或蛋白质序列,并对相似序列进行比对,分析它们的共性和差异.结果表明,SARS病毒在基因组的组织上及结构蛋白质方面与现有冠状病毒有比较大的相似性,SARS病毒基因组与冠状病毒基因组相关.但是,SARS病毒基因组还存在一些特异性序列,ORF1a和S蛋白(特别是S1)的变化以及SARS-CoV特异性的非结构蛋白可能是SARS发病机理与传染特性区别于其他冠状病毒的分子基础.在全基因组水平上进行核酸单词出现频率分析,结果表明,SARS病毒远离已知的其他冠状病毒,单独成为一类.     

Establishment and characterization of a unique 1 μm diameter liver-derived progenitor cell line

Liver-derived progenitor cells (LDPCs) are recently identified novel stem/progenitor cells from healthy, unmanipulated adult rat livers. They are distinct from other known liver stem/progenitor cells such as the oval cells. In this study, we have generated a LDPC cell line RA1 by overexpressing the simian virus 40 (SV40) large T antigen (TAg) in primary LDPCs. This cell line was propagated continuously for 55 passages in culture, after which it became senescent. Interestingly, following transformation with SV40 TAg, LDPCs decreased in size significantly and the propagating cells measured 1 μm in diameter. RA1 cells proliferated in vitro with a doubling time of 5-7 days, and expressed cell surface markers of LDPCs. In this report, we describe the characterization of this novel progenitor cell line that might serve as a valuable model to study liver cell functions and stem cell origin of liver cancers.     

A critical role of Gbetagamma in tumorigenesis and metastasis of breast cancer

A growing body of evidence indicates that G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are involved in breast tumor progression and that targeting GPCRs may be a novel adjuvant strategy in cancer treatment. However, due to the redundant role of multiple GPCRs in tumor development, it may be necessary to target a common signaling component downstream of these receptors to achieve maximum efficacy. GPCRs transmit signals through heterotrimeric G proteins composed of Gα and Gβγ subunits. Here we evaluated the role of Gβγ in breast tumor growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Our data show that blocking Gβγ signaling with Gα(t) or small molecule inhibitors blocked serum-induced breast tumor cell proliferation as well as tumor cell migration induced by various GPCRs in vitro. Moreover, induced expression of Gα(t) in MDA-MB-231 cells inhibited primary tumor formation and retarded growth of existing breast tumors in nude mice. Blocking Gβγ signaling also dramatically reduced the incidence of spontaneous lung metastasis from primary tumors and decreased tumor formation in the experimental lung metastasis model. Additional studies indicate that Gβγ signaling may also play a role in the generation of a tumor microenvironment permissive for tumor progression, because the inhibition of Gβγ signaling attenuated leukocyte infiltration and angiogenesis in primary breast tumors. Taken together, our data demonstrate a critical role of Gβγ signaling in promoting breast tumor growth and metastasis and suggest that targeting Gβγ may represent a novel therapeutic approach for breast cancer.