BRCA1 carries tumor suppressor activity distinct from that of p53 and p21.

The loss of BRCA1 function appears as an essential step in breast and ovarian epithelial cells oncogenesis and is consistent with the concept that BRCA1 acts as a tumor suppressor gene. However, the mechanism underlying this activity is not understood. In 1996, a retroviral vector was used for BRCA1 delivery to demonstrate that the transfer of BRCA1 inhibits breast and ovarian cancer cell growth. Since this early observation, the tumor growth inhibitory activity of BRCA1 in vivo has not been further documented. Here we re-address this issue and report experiments designed to evaluate the potential of adenovirus-mediated BRCA1 delivery to suppress the growth of cells with various status of endogenous BRCA1 in comparison with p53 and p21. Delivery of wild-type BRCA1 by an adenovirus vector in breast and ovarian tumor cells, decreases in vitro proliferation and tumorigenicity. Similarly, in vivo administration of BRCA1 provokes tumor growth retardation or regression comparable to that obtained with p53 or p21. The antitumor effect of BRCA1 is not observed upon transfer of a mutant lacking the 542 C-terminal residues. The p53- or p21-mediated antiproliferative activities are likely to bear on their capacity to induce apoptosis and/or interfere with cell cycle checkpoint. By contrast, the data presented here show that neither of these mechanisms can account for the BRCA1-mediated antitumor activity and suggest the activation of an alternative route.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are necessary for the transcription-coupled repair of the oxidative 8-oxoguanine lesion in human cells.

The breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, are likely to participate in DNA lesion processing. Oxidative lesions, such as 8-oxoguanine, occur in DNA after endogenous or exogenous oxidative stress. We show that deficiency for either BRCA1 or BRCA2 in human cancer cells leads to a block of the RNA polymerase II transcription machinery at the 8-oxoguanine site and impairs the transcription-coupled repair of the lesion, leading to a high mutation rate. Expression of wild-type BRCA1 from a recombinant adenovirus fully complements the repair defect in BRCA1-deficient cells. These results represent the first demonstration of the essential contribution of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene products in the repair of the 8-oxoguanine oxidative damage specifically located on the transcribed strand in human cells. This suggests that cells from individuals predisposed to breast and/or ovarian cancer may undergo a high rate of mutations because of the deficiency of this damage repair pathway after oxidative stress.

Integration of viral sequences into the c-myc gene in two mammary adenocarcinomas induced by polyomavirus in athymic nude mice.

We report the analysis of polyomavirus (Py) DNA integration into chromosomal DNA of two Py-induced mammary adenocarcinomas of athymic nude mice. Prior observations had established that these tumors had high levels of episomal Py DNA, making analysis of integration sites difficult. Propagation of tumor cells in culture allows the isolation of lines which have lost episomal Py DNA but are still tumorigenic and thus can be used for in situ and Southern analysis of Py sequences. The data reported here support the conclusion that Py DNA integrated into and next to the c-myc gene, adding further importance to this tumor system which, in its modifications of c-myc expression, appears to be similar to some human mammary cancers. In situ hybridization experiments on metaphase chromosomes of tumor cells showed that (i) in both cases, there was a single integration site at the same position on the same chromosome in all cells of a given tumor, and (ii) integration sites were different in the two tumors; in one, it was located on chromosome 15, near the c-myc proto-oncogene, and in the other, it was situated in the distal part of chromosome 1. We have demonstrated a probable rearrangement between chromosome 1 and chromosome 15, in the region of Py insertion, thus suggesting that a specific site on chromosome 15 is involved in tumorigenesis. The discovery that Py DNA was integrated at specific sites in host chromosomes raised the questions of whether such integrations were correlated with the activation of specific oncogenes. The rearrangements of the c-myc proto-oncogene observed on Southern blot analysis for both tumors, along with similar integration patterns of Py sequences, the overexpression of the c-myc gene, and the synthesis of abnormal oversized hybrid transcripts between c-myc and Py genes, favor this hypothesis. Finally, the analysis of episomal Py DNA in various tumors shows viral populations presenting a specific deletion in a part of the Py late region. This deleted region in the episomal virus genome was systematically found integrated in chromosomal DNA, thus arguing for the importance of Py integration in the induction of mammary tumor.

Complete recovery of mice from a pre-established tumor by direct intratumoral delivery of an adenovirus vector harboring the murine IL-2 gene.

Direct introduction of exogenous genes into pre-existent tumors could provide an effective therapeutic approach for treatment of localized tumors. In this report we show that direct intratumoral delivery in animals of a replication-deficient adenovirus vector harboring the murine interleukin (IL)-2 gene (AD-mIL2) causes complete disappearance of P815 murine mastocytoma tumors in up to 75% of cases. Histological analysis of treated tumors revealed the presence of several zones of necrosis and the infiltration of macrophages and T cells. Moreover, the successfully treated animals develop a long lasting state of immunity during which further challenges with the tumor cells are rejected. To our knowledge this is the first successful in vivo treatment of an established tumor using adenoviral gene therapy methods.

Increased phagocytic activity of peripheral blood monocytes after intravenous injection of phospholipase A2 to monkeys.

One of the expressions of the activity of phagocytic cells such as monocytes or macrophages is a burst of increased oxidative activity on stimulation. The free oxygen radicals liberated, mainly O2- and H2O2, lead to chemoluminescence, which is thus a measure of activation. Chemoluminescence also depends on arachidonic acid metabolism, and this depends on phospholipase A2 (PLA2). We modified monocyte activity in monkeys by injecting them i.v. with this enzyme and observed that 30 min after injection, the phagocytic activity of peripheral blood monocytes and the chemoluminescence they emitted was greater than that of controls. We suggest that PLA2 may act as an in vivo immunomodulator in mammals.

Enhanced activity of murine peritoneal cells after aclacinomycin injection: characteristics of the enhanced respiratory burst.

After the i.p. injection into normal mice, of 4 mg/kg of aclacinomycin (ACM), a dose which prolongs the survival of tumor-bearing mice, the zymosan-elicited chemoluminescence (CL) of the peritoneal cells (PC) is greater than that of control cells. The volume in which the drug is administered plays an important role in the intensity of the response. ACM also stimulated the CL of PC from tumor-bearing mice. It is known that CL can also be elicited by soluble stimuli such as 4 beta-phorbol-12-myristate-13 alpha-acetate or Ca2+ ionophore A 23187, which, however, act in different ways. The response of ACM cells to these stimuli is also greater than in control cells. The enhanced CL of ACM-treated cells can be inhibited by incubating in vitro the zymosan-triggered PC with superoxide dismutase (300 units/ml) and catalase (2750 units/ml), but not with ethanol (20 microM) or potassium cyanide (100 microM). This indicates the participation of O2- and H2O2 in the CL of ACM-treated cells, whereas mitochondrial respiration does not appear to be involved. Furthermore, the following facts suggest the participation of arachidonic acid metabolism in the control of CL: (a) the in vitro addition of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (7 x 10(-6) M) and indomethacin (10(-3) M) inhibits the CL, while indomethacin (10(-6) M) has the opposite effect; (b) the PC from normal or ACM-treated mice when stimulated with zymosan secrete high amounts of prostaglandin (PG); (c) treated cells secrete the same amounts of PGE2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha but the secretion of PGF2 alpha and particularly of thromboxane B2 is greater in treated cells than in control cells and indomethacin (10(-6) M) strongly inhibits PG secretion in all groups; (d) in vitro addition of PGE2 at a concentration of 10(-6) M has an inhibitory effect on the CL emission of control and of treated cells, but it does not have this effect at lower concentrations (10(-8) M). These data suggest that the lipoxygenase pathway of arachidonic acid metabolism may be involved in the triggering of CL of ACM-treated cells, as well as that of normal cells, whereas products of the cyclooxygenase pathway may act as feedback inhibitors.

Suppression of the in vitro parent antihybrid reaction by spleen cells from F1 hybrids pretreated with spleen cells from the opposite parent strain.

Spleen cells from B6C3F1 hybrid mice pretreated i.v. with 5 X 10(7) C3H spleen cells seven days earlier (C3H-pretreated B6C3F1) suppress the in vitro B6 anti-B6C3F1 proliferative and cytotoxic responses, when they are added to cultures of B6 responding and B6C3F1 stimulating spleen cells. This suppression is mediated by a Thy-1+Lyt-1+2+ cell of C3H origin that is radiosensitive at 2000 rads. This suppressor cell is not induced by the injection to B6C3F1 hybrids of spleen cells from the other parent strain (B6) or an allogeneic strain (D2). It does not suppress either the response of the other parent (C3H) or an allogeneic strain (D2) to B6C3F1 antigens, or the response of B6 cells to an allogeneic strain (D2). Its induction depends upon the number and the subpopulation of C3H spleen cells injected since suppression is observed after the injection of more than 2.5 X 10(7) C3H cells, and the suppression inducing cells have the phenotype Thy-1+Lyt-1+2+. This phenomenon is not limited to the C3H-B6C3F1 genetic combination, since it has been observed in all parent hybrid combinations tested to date.

Specific and nonspecific resistance to local graft-versus-host reaction in F1 hybrids pretreated intravenously with parent-strain spleen cells. I. Two distinct mechanisms.

B6D2F1 hybrid mice pretreated i.v. with 5 X 10(7) spleen cells from B6 donors seven days earlier (B6-pretreated B6D2F1 hybrids) develop resistance to local GVHR induced by the subcutaneous injection of spleen cells of either B6 (GVHR-B6) or D2 (GVHR-D2) origin. This resistance has specific and a nonspecific components that concern the GVHR-B6 and the GVHR-D2, respectively. The two types of resistance to GVHR are neither induced under the same conditions nor mediated by the same mechanism. Specific resistance to GVHR is observed in B6D2F1 hybrids pretreated with unseparated, anti-Lyt-1.2+C' treated or 1000 rads-irradiated B6 cells, but not in B6D2F1 hybrids pretreated with anti-Thy-1.2+C' or anti Lyt-2.2+C'-treated B6 cells. In contrast, nonspecific resistance to GVHR is induced only by pretreatment with unseparated B6 cells. Treatment of B6 cells with anti-Thy-1.2, anti-Lyt-1.2, or anti-Lyt-2.2 moAb plus C', or their irradiation at 1000 rads completely abolishes their capacity to induce the nonspecific resistance to GVHR. Moreover, specific resistance to GVHR can be transferred to normal B6D2F1 mice by injection of nylon-adherent, anti-Thy-1.2+C'-treated or 2000-rads-irradiated, but not unseparated or nylon-nonadherent, B6-pretreated B6D2F1 spleen cells. Treatment of nylon-adherent B6-pretreated B6D2F1 cells with anti H-2d antiserum plus C' does not affect their capacity to transfer specific resistance to GVHR. Nonspecific resistance to GVHR can be transferred by unseparated, anti-Lyt-1.1+C' or anti Lyt-2.1+C'-treated, but not by anti-Thy-1.2+C' anti-Lyt-1.2+C', anti-Lyt-2.2+C'-treated or 2000-rads-irradiated B6-pretreated B6D2F1 spleen cells. Both types of resistance are observed in B6D2F1 hybrids pretreated with more than 2.5 X 10(7) B6 spleen cells.