ABSTRACT
Despite the progress in assisted reproductive techniques, there is still a lack of rapid and minimally invasive in situ approaches for further enhancements of female fertility. Therefore, we synthesized clinically relevant liposome nanoparticles for ovarian intrafollicular injection to allow in vivo cellular imaging for future drug delivery, using the mare as an animal model. Ovarian follicles of living mares were injected in vivo with fluorescently labeled liposomes. Samples of the follicular wall (mural granulosa, theca interna, and theca externa), granulosa cells, and follicular fluid were harvested 24 h post-injection through the follicle wall biopsy (FWB), flushing, and aspiration techniques, respectively, using a transvaginal ultrasound-guided approach. In parallel, post-mortem dissected, and cultured porcine antral follicles were microinjected with doxorubicin-encapsulated liposomes to assess intracellular delivery potential. All injected mare and pig follicles were macroscopically healthy, and fluorescence imaging revealed successful intrafollicular binding to mural granulosa cells and progressive migration of liposomes to other follicle cell layers (theca interna, and theca externa), regardless of the follicle size. Intracellular delivery of doxorubicin was confirmed in all porcine follicle wall cell types. We conclude that the intrafollicular injection of nanomolecules is a promising approach for real-time monitoring of intrafollicular processes and potential utilization of in vivo cellular drug delivery to assist in follicle disease treatments and fertility improvement.
Subject(s)
Liposomes , Livestock , Animals , Doxorubicin/pharmacology , Female , Granulosa Cells/metabolism , Horses , Ovarian Follicle , Swine , Theca Cells/metabolismABSTRACT
Recent studies suggest that glypican-1 (GPC-1) is a biomarker for prostate cancer, but there are few studies elucidating the role of GPC-1 in prostate cancer progression. We observed high expression of GPC-1 in more aggressive prostate cancer cell lines such as PC-3 and DU-145. While inhibition of GPC-1 expression in PC-3 cells decreased cell growth and migration in vitro, it surprisingly increased cell proliferation and migration in DU-145 cells, suggesting that the role of GPC-1 is cell type-dependent. Further, GPC-1 inhibition increased PC-3 tumor size in NCr nude mice xenografts. We hypothesized that the discrepancy between the in vitro and in vivo data is mediated by stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment. Thus, we tested the effect of tumor conditioned media (TCM) on gene expression in human mesenchymal stem cells and fibroblasts. Treatment of stromal cells with TCM from PC-3 cells transfected with GPC-1 shRNA increased the expression of migration markers, endocrine/paracrine biomolecules, and extracellular matrix components. Additionally, the decreased cell growth in GPC-1 knockdown PC-3 cells was rescued by coculturing with stromal cells. These data demonstrate the paradoxical role that GPC-1 plays in prostate cancer cell growth by interacting with stromal cells and through ECM remodeling and endocrine/paracrine signaling.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology , Extracellular Matrix/pathology , Glypicans/metabolism , Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology , Stromal Cells/pathology , Animals , Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Cell Culture Techniques , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Movement/drug effects , Cell Proliferation/drug effects , Coculture Techniques , Culture Media, Conditioned , Extracellular Matrix/drug effects , Fibroblasts , Gene Knockdown Techniques , Glypicans/antagonists & inhibitors , Glypicans/genetics , Humans , Male , Mesenchymal Stem Cells , Mice , Paracrine Communication/drug effects , Prostate/cytology , Prostate/pathology , Prostatic Neoplasms/drug therapy , Stromal Cells/drug effects , Tumor Burden/drug effects , Tumor Microenvironment/drug effects , Xenograft Model Antitumor AssaysABSTRACT
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a catalyst for the conversion of acetaldehyde into its physiologically and biologically less toxic acetate, the kinetics over broad concentrations were studied to develop a suitable kinetic rate expression. Even with literature accounts of the binding complexations, the yeast ALDH currently lacks a quantitative kinetic rate expression accounting for simultaneous inhibition parameters under higher acetaldehyde concentrations. Both substrate acetaldehyde and product NADH were observed as individual sources of inhibition with the combined effect of a ternary complex of acetaldehyde and the coenzyme leading to experimental rates as little as an eighth of the expected activity. Furthermore, the onset and strength of inhibition from each component were directly affected by the concentration of the co-substrate NAD. While acetaldehyde inhibition of ALDH is initiated below concentrations of 0.05 mM in the presence of 0.5 mM NAD or less, the acetaldehyde inhibition onset shifts to 0.2 mM with as much as 1.6 mM NAD. The convenience of the statistical software package JMP allowed for effective determination of experimental kinetic constants and simplification to a suitable rate expression: v = Vmax(AB)/(K(ia)K(b) + K(b)A + K(a)B + AB + B(2)/K(I-Ald) + B(2)Q/K(I-Ald-NADH) + BQ/K(I-NADH)) where the last three terms represent the inhibition complex terms for acetaldehyde, acetaldehyde-NADH, and NADH, respectively. The corresponding values of K(I-Ald), K(I-Ald-NADH), and K(I-NADH) for yeast ALDH are 2.55, 0.0269, and 0.162 mM at 22 °C and pH 7.8.
