Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis Prevents Oxidative Stress on Human Endothelial Cells without Toxicity.

Astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant, is a good candidate for the prevention of intracellular oxidative stress. The aim of the study was to compare the antioxidant activity of astaxanthin present in two natural extracts from Haematococcus pluvialis, a microalgae strain, with that of synthetic astaxanthin. Natural extracts were obtained either by solvent or supercritical extraction methods. UV, HPLC-DAD and (HPLC-(atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)+)/ion trap-MS) characterizations of both natural extracts showed similar compositions of carotenoids, but different percentages in free astaxanthin and its ester derivatives. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay showed that natural extracts containing esters displayed stronger antioxidant activities than free astaxanthin. Their antioxidant capacities to inhibit intracellular oxidative stress were then evaluated on HUVEC cells. The intracellular antioxidant activity in natural extracts was approximately 90-times higher than synthetic astaxanthin (5 µM). No modification, neither in the morphology nor in the viability, of vascular human cells was observed by in vitro biocompatibility study up to 10 µM astaxanthin concentrations. Therefore, these results revealed the therapeutic potential of the natural extracts in vascular human cell protection against oxidative stress without toxicity, which could be exploited in prevention and/or treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

"Suicide" gene therapy of breast cancer cells is only cytostatic in vitro but anti-tumoral in vivo on breast MCF7-ras tumor.

Gene therapy with Herpes Simplex Virus thymidine kinase gene (HSV-tk) is effective in various tumor models in vitro and in vivo. We compared the efficacy of the HSV-tk gene therapy in vitro and in vivo in MCF-7 and MCF7-ras cells which form tumor in athymic mice. After viral infection, cells were treated with GCV (Ganciclovir) and live cells were counted. The in vitro treatment significantly inhibited cell growth but did not induce early and late apoptosis, measured, respectively, by annexin or by propidium iodide staining and a significant cell death. The HSV-tk/GCV treatment of MCF7-ras tumor in athymic mice showed a significant inhibition of tumor development until 60 days post-treatment. Some mice showed a complete tumor eradication without tumor regrowth after the end of treatment. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the HSV-tk/GCV system is not very efficient in vitro, but very efficient in vivo in our animal breast cancer model.

Anti-proliferative and antitumoral activities of a functionalized dextran (CMDBJ) on the 1205 L-U human tumor melanoma cells.

Carboxy methyl dextran benzylamide jorge (CMDBJ) is a derivatized dextran prepared from native dextran after random carboxymethylation of hydroxyl groups on D-glucose units (CM) and consecutive conversion of some carboxylate groups to benzylamide structures (B). This polymer exhibits an inhibitory action upon the proliferation of 1205 L-U human melanoma cells. At low concentrations, this compound exerts a cytostatic effect whereas, at higher concentrations, a cytotoxicity appears within 24 hours of treatment. The 1205 L-U cell line forms subcutaneous angiogenic tumors in athymic mice and, after several weeks, spontaneously forms micrometastasis in the lungs. We demonstrated that the CMDBJ treatment of animals not only reduces the rapid growth of primary tumors but also induces tumor regression and tumor necrosis. Moreover, CMDBJ treatment blocks the appearance of lung metastasis. Pleiotrophin (PTN), heparin-binding angiogenic growth factor, is secreted by 1205 L-U cells and breast tumor MDA-MB 231 cells. CMDBJ, as an inhibitor of heparin-binding growth factor activities, suppresses the mitogenic activity of conditioned media from 1205 L-U and MDA-MB 231 on endothelial HUVEC cells. We conclude that CMDBJ can inhibit the in vitro cell proliferation of 1205 L-U cells and 1205 L-U tumor development in athymic mice and that PTN secreted by these cells could be involved in this inhibition.