Extracellular vesicles derived from the choroid plexus trigger the differentiation of neural stem cells.

The choroid plexus secrets cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) composed of electrolytes, cytokines, growth factors, metabolites and extracellular vesicles (EVs) that flow through the interconnected brain ventricles. On their course, CSF components can act as signals that affect, for example, neural stem cells (NSCs) residing in niches of the ventricular wall. We studied EV-born CSF signals in an in vitro culture system. We purified EVs from the secretome of a choroid plexus cell line (Z310 cells), and from primary choroid plexus cultures and co-cultured those EVs with NSCs isolated from the niche of the lateral and the third ventricle. EVsZ310 and EVsCHP were purified by differential centrifugation. This yielded fractions of EVs of 50-150-nm diameter that induced a complex multicellular network formation and NSC differentiation. Both types of EV converted the round NSCs to cells that extended long processes that contacted nearby, alike-shaped cells. Mass spectrometry showed that the differentiation-inducing EVZ310 were enriched for membrane and membrane-associated proteins involved in cell differentiation, membrane trafficking, and membrane organization. We hypothesize that this type of EV Z310 cargo causes changes of stem cell morphology that leads to multicellular networks in the niches. This cell-shape transition may represent an initial step in NSC differentiation.

Molecular Profiling Reveals Involvement of ESCO2 in Intermediate Progenitor Cell Maintenance in the Developing Mouse Cortex.

Intermediate progenitor cells (IPCs) are neocortical neuronal precursors. Although IPCs play crucial roles in corticogenesis, their molecular features remain largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to characterize the molecular profile of IPCs. We isolated TBR2-positive (+) IPCs and TBR2-negative (-) cell populations in the developing mouse cortex. Comparative genome-wide gene expression analysis of TBR2+ IPCs versus TBR2- cells revealed differences in key factors involved in chromatid segregation, cell-cycle regulation, transcriptional regulation, and cell signaling. Notably, mutation of many IPC genes in human has led to intellectual disability and caused a wide range of cortical malformations, including microcephaly and agenesis of corpus callosum. Loss-of-function experiments in cortex-specific mutants of Esco2, one of the novel IPC genes, demonstrate its critical role in IPC maintenance, and substantiate the identification of a central genetic determinant of IPC biogenesis. Our data provide novel molecular characteristics of IPCs in the developing mouse cortex.

Monoclonal antibody G250 targeting CA â ¨: Binding specificity, internalization and therapeutic effects in a non-renal cancer model.

G250 (Girentuximab) is a chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody (MAb) currently being evaluated as an immunotherapy for kidney cancer. It targets carbonic anhydrase protein (CA Ⅸ), a transmembrane carbonic anhydrase (CA) isoform, which is regulated by VHL/HIF pathway and hence expressed in the majority of renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) as well as in hypoxic non­RCC tumours. CA Ⅸ functions in pH regulation and cell migration/invasion, and supports tumour cell survival in hypoxia and/or acidosis. It contains a highly active extracellular catalytic domain (CA) extended N-terminally with a proteoglycan-like region and C-terminally with short transmembrane and intracellular regions. Here we characterize the binding and internalization properties of G250, as well as its therapeutic effects in animal model, and discuss the impact of G250­mediated immunotherapy in non­RCC tumours. We demonstrated that G250 MAb recognizes a conformational epitope in the CA domain, detects the soluble CA Ⅸ ectodomain (ECD), but not the splicing variant, and does not cross-react with CA Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and Ⅻ isoforms. We showed that G250 internalizes via clathrin-coated vesicles, escapes degradation in lysosomes and enters the recycling pathway via the perinuclear compartment. This results in long intracellular persistence and enables consecutive internalization cycles. Moreover, the recycled antibody maintains an intact Fc portion potentially capable of continuous induction of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) response, thus explaining its therapeutic efficacy. Finally, we showed that G250 treatment is effective against HT-29 colorectal carcinoma xenografts that differ from RCC by more heterogeneous, hypoxia-related expression of CA Ⅸ. These results suggest potential therapeutic usefulness of the G250 MAb in non-RCC tumours.

Carnosine inhibits carbonic anhydrase IX-mediated extracellular acidosis and suppresses growth of HeLa tumor xenografts.

BACKGROUND: Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is a transmembrane enzyme that is present in many types of solid tumors. Expression of CA IX is driven predominantly by the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway and helps to maintain intracellular pH homeostasis under hypoxic conditions, resulting in acidification of the tumor microenvironment. Carnosine (ß-alanyl-L-histidine) is an anti-tumorigenic agent that inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells. In this study, we investigated the role of CA IX in carnosine-mediated antitumor activity and whether the underlying mechanism involves transcriptional and translational modulation of HIF-1α and CA IX and/or altered CA IX function. METHODS: The effect of carnosine was studied using two-dimensional cell monolayers of several cell lines with endogenous CA IX expression as well as Madin Darby canine kidney transfectants, three-dimensional HeLa spheroids, and an in vivo model of HeLa xenografts in nude mice. mRNA and protein expression and protein localization were analyzed by real-time PCR, western blot analysis, and immunofluorescence staining, respectively. Cell viability was measured by a flow cytometric assay. Expression of HIF-1α and CA IX in tumors was assessed by immunohistochemical staining. Real-time measurement of pH was performed using a sensor dish reader. Binding of CA IX to specific antibodies and metabolon partners was investigated by competitive ELISA and proximity ligation assays, respectively. RESULTS: Carnosine increased the expression levels of HIF-1α and HIF targets and increased the extracellular pH, suggesting an inhibitory effect on CA IX-mediated acidosis. Moreover, carnosine significantly inhibited the growth of three-dimensional spheroids and tumor xenografts compared with untreated controls. Competitive ELISA showed that carnosine disrupted binding between CA IX and antibodies specific for its catalytic domain. This finding was supported by reduced formation of the functional metabolon of CA IX and anion exchanger 2 in the presence of carnosine. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that interaction of carnosine with CA IX leads to conformational changes of CA IX and impaired formation of its metabolon, which in turn disrupts CA IX function. These findings suggest that carnosine could be a promising anticancer drug through its ability to attenuate the activity of CA IX.

P-glycoprotein depresses cisplatin sensitivity in L1210 cells by inhibiting cisplatin-induced caspase-3 activation.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a phenomenon in which cells become resistant to cytostatic drugs and other substances with diverse chemical structures and cytotoxicity mechanisms. The most often observed molecular mechanism for MDR includes high levels of P-glycoprotein (P-gp)--an ABCB1 member of the ABC drug transporter family. Overexpression of P-gp in neoplastic tissue is an obstacle to chemotherapeutic treatment. Herein, we were focused on differences in apoptosis induced by cisplatin (no substrate for P-gp) between P-gp-positive and P-gp-negative L1210 cells. P-gp-positive cells were obtained by either L1210 cell adaptation to vincristine (R) or L1210 cell transfection with the human gene for P-gp (T) and compared with parental L1210 cells (S). R and T cells were more resistant to CisPt than S cells. R and T cell resistance to CisPt-induced apoptosis could not be reversed by verapamil (a well-known P-gp inhibitor), which excludes P-gp transport activity as a cause of CisPt resistance. CisPt induced a more pronounced entry into apoptosis in S than R and T cells, which was measured using the annexin-V/propidium iodide apoptosis kit. CisPt induced more pronounced caspase-3 activation in S than R and T cells. CisPt did not induce changes in the P-gp protein level for R and T cells. While similar levels of Bax and Bcl-2 proteins were observed in P-gp-negative and P-gp-positive cells, CisPt induced a more significant decrease in Bcl-2 levels for S cells than P-gp-positive cells. Expression of p53 and its molecular chaperone Hsp90 were more pronounced in R and T than S cells. Moreover, CisPt enhanced the upregulation of p53 and Hsp90 in R and T cells to a higher degree than S cells. Apoptosis was shown to be the prevalent mode of cell death in S, R and T cells by the typical DNA fragmentation and cell ultrastructure changes. All of the above findings indicate that P-gp, independent of its drug efflux activity, induced changes in cell regulatory pathways that confer a partial loss of cisplatin sensitivity.

Phosphorylation of carbonic anhydrase IX controls its ability to mediate extracellular acidification in hypoxic tumors.

In the hypoxic regions of a tumor, carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is an important transmembrane component of the pH regulatory machinery that participates in bicarbonate transport. Because tumor pH has implications for growth, invasion, and therapy, determining the basis for the contributions of CA IX to the hypoxic tumor microenvironment could lead to new fundamental and practical insights. Here, we report that Thr443 phosphorylation at the intracellular domain of CA IX by protein kinase A (PKA) is critical for its activation in hypoxic cells, with the fullest activity of CA IX also requiring dephosphorylation of Ser448. PKA is activated by cAMP, which is elevated by hypoxia, and we found that attenuating PKA in cells disrupted CA IX-mediated extracellular acidification. Moreover, following hypoxia induction, CA IX colocalized with the sodium-bicarbonate cotransporter and other PKA substrates in the leading edge membranes of migrating tumor cells, in support of the concept that bicarbonate metabolism is spatially regulated at cell surface sites with high local ion transport and pH control. Using chimeric CA IX proteins containing heterologous catalytic domains derived from related CA enzymes, we showed that CA IX activity was modulated chiefly by the intracellular domain where Thr443 is located. Our findings indicate that CA IX is a pivotal mediator of the hypoxia-cAMP-PKA axis, which regulates pH in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment.

Effect of thapsigargin on P-glycoprotein-negative and P-glycoprotein-positive L1210 mouse leukaemia cells.

Expression of drug-transporting P-glycoprotein (P-gp, an integral protein of the plasma membrane) in neoplastic cells confers multidrug resistance and also involves alteration of cell sensitivity to inhibitors of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium pump thapsigargin (Th). Mouse leukaemia L1210 cell sublines that overexpress P-gp due to selection with vincristine (R) or stable transfection with a gene encoding human P-gp (T) were less sensitive to Th than the parental cell line (S). Th at a concentration of 0.1 µmol/l did not induce alterations in the amount of P-gp mRNA in R or T cells (S cells did not contain any measurable amount of this transcript as assessed by RT-PCR) or in the amount of calnexin (CNX) or glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) in all three cell sublines. However, when using a concentration of 10 µmol/l, Th decreases the amounts of CNX, GAPDH (in S, R and T cells) and P-gp (in R and T cells) mRNAs. In contrast to R and T cells (which contain abundant P-gp), S cells did not contain any P-gp detectable by the c219 antibody on a Western blot. Th at a concentration of 0.1 µmol/l induced a reduction in the amount of P-gp present in R and T cells, particularly in isoforms with higher molecular weights (i.e., mature fully glycosylated isoforms). Similar results were observed when Th was used at a concentration of 10 µmol/l. R and T cells contained lower levels of CNX than S cells. While Th at a lower concentration did not alter the levels of CNX in S, R or T cells, a higher concentration of this substance induced a measurable decrease in the amount of CNX. S, R and T cells did not differ with respect to GAPDH content, but Th induced a reduction in the amount of this protein in all cell sublines. More pronounced results were observed when Th was applied at a concentration of 10 µmol/l comparing with a concentration of 0.1 mmol/l. These changes may be involved together with the Th efflux activity of P-gp in Th-resistance associated with the P-gp-mediated multidrug resistance of R and T cells.

The presence of P-glycoprotein in L1210 cells directly induces down-regulation of cell surface saccharide targets of concanavalin A.

Overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), a plasma membrane drug transporter (ABCB1, a member of the ABC transporter family), is the most prevalent cause of multidrug resistance in cancer tissues. Lectin concanavalin A (ConA) induces massive cell death of L1210 leukemia cells (S). Cell sublines of L1210 in which P-gp overexpression was induced by selection with vincristine (R) or by stable transfection with a plasmid encoding full-length human P-gp (T) were less sensitive to ConA. Both P-gp-positive cell lines exhibited typical P-gp-mediated multidrug resistance. Resistance of R and T cells to ConA was associated with lower binding of ConA as compared to S cells when analysed by the following methods: (i) SDS PAGE and electroblotting of proteins in the crude membrane fraction followed by detection with biotinylated ConA and avidin-peroxidase, and (ii) fluorescent cytometry or confocal microscopy of the intact cells with surfaces labeled by FITC-ConA. These data indicated that the presence of P-glycoprotein in L1210 cells independently of the mode of its expression induced down-regulation of cell surface saccharide targets of ConA. Therefore, this feature may be considered as a secondary cellular response to P-glycoprotein expression.

Intact intracellular tail is critical for proper functioning of the tumor-associated, hypoxia-regulated carbonic anhydrase IX.

Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is a tumor-associated, hypoxia-induced enzyme involved in pH regulation and cell adhesion. Its catalytically active ectodomain (ECD) is linked to a transmembrane region and a short intracellular (IC) tail. Removal of the IC tail causes intracellular localization of CA IX. Mutations of basic amino acids within IC do not perturb the membrane position, but reduce shedding of the CA IX ectodomain as well as CA IX-mediated cell dissociation. Moreover, they abolish the CA IX capacity to acidify extracellular pH (pHe) and bind CA IX-selective sulfonamide inhibitor in hypoxia. These findings provide the first evidence for the critical contribution of the IC tail to the proper functioning of CA IX.

Ca2+-dependent induction of conidiation in submerged cultures of Trichoderma viride.

The presence of Ca2+ (up to 0.1 mol/L) in the cultivation media was found to induce the formation of conidia in submerged mycelia of Trichoderma viride in a concentration-dependent manner. Ca2+ dramatically stimulated conidiation after 70 h of cultivation. The effect was present in the dark, and illumination stimulated it only marginally. Low (less than 100 micromol/L) Ca2+ concentrations induced the formation of chlamydospores. Sr2+ could substitute Ca2+ in conidiogenesis with lower efficiency (almost 2 orders of magnitude), while the efficiency of Mg2+, Mn2+, or Ba2+ was lower by almost 3 orders of magnitude. Our results demonstrate that mycelial Ca2+ homeostasis has powerful effects on the conidiation and mycelial morphogenesis in T. viride, and they suggest that there is an additional mechanism of conidiation in addition to those induced by light and starvation.

H+ -mediated coupling of transmembrane Ca2+ fluxes in vegetative Trichoderma viride mycelia suggested by the study of ageing and adaptation to extreme Ca2+ concentrations.

The adaptation to extreme concentrations of Ca(2+) and its consequence on the properties of the (45)Ca(2+) transport were studied in submerged mycelia of Trichoderma viride. The adaptation to low [Ca(2+)](o) did not cause changes in kinetic parameters of the (45)Ca(2+) influx but the adaptation to high [Ca(2+)](o) increased the K(M(Ca2+)). The V(max) of the (45)Ca(2+) influx decreased with the age of (non-adapted) mycelia with concomitant decrease of the K(M(Ca2+)) these changes were prevented in mycelia adapted to high Ca(2+). High [Ca(2+)](o) decreased the stimulation by the uncoupler, 3, 3', 4', 5-tetrachloro salicylanilide (TCS) (30 muM), as compared to the control, whereas the Ca(2+) chelator, EGTA, stimulated it. In the aged mycelia, the stimulation by TCS of the (45)Ca(2+) influx faded away, in parallel with the activity of the H(+)-ATPase. The (45)Ca(2+) efflux from mycelia was affected by TCS in a similar way as the (45)Ca(2+) influx. The results demonstrate the adaptive responses of transport processes participating in the mycelial Ca(2+) homeostasis and ageing are in agreement with a notion that both Ca(2+)-influx and-efflux are coupled by the H(+)-homeostasis at the plasma membrane.

Changes in growth competence of aged Trichoderma viride vegetative mycelia.

Identical masses of submerged Trichoderma viride mycelia of various ages were used as inoculum for a second submerged cultivation lasting for 24 h. It was found that the growth yield of secondary culture was dependent on the age of inoculum. The growth yields increased when the age of primary culture was less than 3 d, and decreased down to zero when older mycelia were inoculated. The mycelia were living even after 1 month of submerged cultivation, as they formed conidia after inoculating onto solid medium. In order to elucidate underlying biochemical processes, developmental changes of specific activities of organellar marker enzymes were measured in the mitochondrial/vacuolar and microsomal fractions of mycelia. These activities changed during the growth of mycelia in a biphasic manner and their time courses were remarkably similar. Only the H(+)-ATPase activity decreased monophasically with the age of mycelia. Membrane-bound proteases of both membrane fractions changed differently upon ageing. These results could not be explained as a consequence of nutrient starvation and indicate that the prolonged submerged cultivation triggers coordinated series of biochemical events which leads to the loss of growth competence.