Anti-Tumor Effects of Sodium Meta-Arsenite in Glioblastoma Cells with Higher Akt Activities.

Glioblastoma is a type of aggressive brain tumor that grows very fast and evades surrounding normal brain, lead to treatment failure. Glioblastomas are associated with Akt activation due to somatic alterations in PI3 kinase/Akt pathway and/or PTEN tumor suppressor. Sodium meta-arsenite, KML001 is an orally bioavailable, water-soluble, and trivalent arsenical and it shows antitumoral effects in several solid tumor cells via inhibiting oncogenic signaling, including Akt and MAPK. Here, we evaluated the effect of sodium meta-arsenite, KML001, on the growth of human glioblastoma cell lines with different PTEN expression status and Akt activation, including PTEN-deficient cells (U87-MG and U251) and PTEN-positive cells (LN229). The growth-inhibitory effect of KML001 was stronger in U87-MG and U251 cells, which exhibited higher Akt activity than LN229 cells. KML001 deactivated Akt and decreased its protein levels via proteasomal degradation in U87-MG cells. KML001 upregulated mutant PTEN levels via inhibition of its proteasomal degradation. KML001 inhibited cell growth more effectively in active Akt-overexpressing LN229 cells than in mock-expressing LN229 cells. Consistent with these results, KML001 sensitized PTEN-deficient cells more strongly to growth inhibition than it did PTEN-positive cells in prostate and breast cancer cell lines. Finally, we illustrated in vivo anti-tumor effects of KML001 using an intracranial xenograft mouse model. These results suggest that KML001 could be an effective chemotherapeutic drug for the treatment of glioblastoma cancer patients with higher Akt activity and PTEN loss.

Three-Dimensional Culture of Salivary Gland Stem Cell in Orthotropic Decellularized Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels.

Radiotherapy in patients with cancer can kill cancer cells but also damage normal cells or tissues. During the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer or thyroid cancer, hyposalivation is a representative chronic side effect of radio-damaged salivary glands (SGs). The major symptom of hyposalivation is mouth dryness, resulting in several subsequent long-term complications. No effective therapeutic approaches have been developed to manage this symptom. In this study, we developed the first rat SG tissue-derived decellularized extracellular matrix hydrogel (DSGM-hydrogel) as a functional orthotropic bioscaffold for future efficient SG stem cell therapy. DSGM-hydrogels were characterized by rheological or biochemical analyses, and rat SG stem/progenitor cells (rSGSCs) were then subjected to three-dimensional culture in the DSGM-hydrogels. Interestingly, DSGM-hydrogel-embedded rSGSCs survived and expressed SG functional differentiation marker of amylase IA and increased enzyme activity of α-amylase in protein level, whereas they showed reduced levels of adult ductal stem/progenitor markers, including c-Kit, c-Met, and CD44. Furthermore, the expression levels of basic epithelial tight junction markers were recovered to levels similar to those naked SG tissues after culture in DSGM-hydrogels in transcription level. Therefore, our findings suggested that the DSGM-hydrogels could provide an appropriate microenvironment for stem/progenitor cell survival and a source of SG cytodifferentiation. This approach could be an applicable method to SG stem cell research as a potential source for an organoid and for clinical regenerative reagents to manage radio-damaged SGs in vivo. Impact Statement In this study, we established the first rat salivary gland (SG) tissue-derived decellularized extracellular matrix hydrogel (DSGM-hydrogel) and assessed the role of this hydrogel as a functional orthotropic bioscaffold. Our findings provide important insights into the applications of the DSGM-hydrogel as a biocompatible matrix for regenerative therapy of radio-damaged SGs.

MicroRNA miR-4779 suppresses tumor growth by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest through direct targeting of PAK2 and CCND3.

Depending on the function of their target genes, microRNAs (miRNAs) act as either tumor suppressors or oncogenes. Therefore, miRNAs represent a novel therapeutic strategy for prevention and management of cancer by targeting of onco-miRNAs or mimicking of tumor suppressor miRNAs. Herein, we identified novel tumor suppressor miRNAs and investigated their molecular mechanisms. To identify novel tumor suppressor miRNAs, we used 532 human miRNA mimic libraries and measured cell viability using MTS assays. The function of miR-4779 was then analyzed using cell cycle analyses and apoptosis, colony forming, and soft agar assays. Target genes of miR-4779 were predicted using TargetScan and miRDB databases and were confirmed using luciferase assays. Levels of miR-4779 and target genes in colon cancer tissue samples from patients were evaluated using qRT-PCR and western blotting analyses. Finally, in vivo tumor suppressive effects of miR-4779 were evaluated in HCT116 xenografts. In this study, miR-4779 inhibited cancer cell growth by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, and the putative survival factors PAK2 and CCND3 were identified as direct targets of miR-4779. In subsequent experiments, PAK2 knockdown induced cell cycle arrest and CCND3 knockdown induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. In addition, miR-4779 suppressed tumor growth and tumorigenesis in an in vivo HCT116 xenograft model. Finally, miR-4779 expression was low in 9 of 10 colon cancer tissues, whereas PAK2 and CCND3 expressions were significantly high in colon cancer tissues. The novel tumor suppressor miR-4779 inhibits cancer cell growth via cell cycle arrest and apoptosis by directly targeting PAK2 and CCND3. The present data indicate the potential of miR-4779 as a therapeutic target for miRNA-based cancer therapy.

Regulation of anoikis resistance by NADPH oxidase 4 and epidermal growth factor receptor.

BACKGROUND: Normal cells are sensitive to anoikis, which is a cell detachment-induced apoptosis. However, cancer cells acquire anoikis resistance that is essential for successful metastasis. This study aimed to demonstrate the function and potential mechanism of NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) and EGFR activation in regulating anoikis resistance in lung cancer. METHODS: Cells were cultured either in the attached or suspended condition. Cell viability was measured by cell counting and live and dead cell staining. Expression levels of NOX4 and EGFR were measured by PCR and immunoblotting. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured by flow cytometry. Effects of NOX4 overexpression or NOX4 knockdown by si-NOX4 on anoikis sensitivity were explored. Levels of NOX4 and EGFR in lung cancer tissues were evaluated by IHC staining. RESULTS: NOX4 was upregulated but EGFR decreased in suspended cells compared with attached cells. Accordingly, ROS levels were increased in suspended cells, resulting in the activation of Src and EGFR. NOX4 knockdown decreased activation of Src and EGFR, and thus sensitised cells to anoikis. NOX4 overexpression increased EGFR levels and attenuated anoikis. NOX4 expression is upregulated and is positively correlated with EGFR levels in the lung cancer patient tissues. CONCLUSIONS: NOX4 upregulation confers anoikis resistance by ROS-mediated activation of EGFR and Src, and by maintaining EGFR levels, which is critical for cell survival.

Vertical nanocolumn-assisted pluripotent stem cell colony formation with minimal cell-penetration.

The biological applications of vertical nanostructures mostly rely on their intracellular accessibility through the cellular membrane by promoting cell-to-nanostructure interactions. Herein, we report a seemingly counter-intuitive approach for the spontaneous formation of mouse induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived three-dimensional spherical colonies with unlimited self-renewal and differentiation potential. The comprehensive analyses of iPSCs cultured on vertical silicon nanocolumn arrays (vSNAs) with various nanocolumn geometries show reduced cell-to-substrate adhesion and enhanced cell-to-cell interactions under optimized vSNA conditions, successfully accommodating the spontaneous production of iPSC-derived spherical colonies. Remarkably, these colonies which were only minimally penetrated by and thereby easily harvested from wafer-sized vSNAs display a substantial increase in pluripotency marker expression and successfully differentiate into three germ layers. Our vSNAs capable of large-scale fabrication, efficient for spherical colony formation, and reusable for multiple iPSC culture could serve as a broad-impact culture platform for stem cell research.

Down-regulation of lipid raft-associated onco-proteins via cholesterol-dependent lipid raft internalization in docosahexaenoic acid-induced apoptosis.

Lipid rafts, plasma membrane microdomains, are important for cell survival signaling and cholesterol is a critical lipid component for lipid raft integrity and function. DHA is known to have poor affinity for cholesterol and it influences lipid rafts. Here, we investigated a mechanism underlying the anti-cancer effects of DHA using a human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. We found that DHA decreased cell surface levels of lipid rafts via their internalization, which was partially reversed by cholesterol addition. With DHA treatment, caveolin-1, a marker for rafts, and EGFR were colocalized with LAMP-1, a lysosomal marker, in a cholesterol-dependent manner, indicating that DHA induces raft fusion with lysosomes. DHA not only displaced several raft-associated onco-proteins, including EGFR, Hsp90, Akt, and Src, from the rafts but also decreased total levels of those proteins via multiple pathways, including the proteasomal and lysosomal pathways, thereby decreasing their activities. Hsp90 overexpression maintained its client proteins, EGFR and Akt, and attenuated DHA-induced cell death. In addition, overexpression of Akt or constitutively active Akt attenuated DHA-induced apoptosis. All these data indicate that the anti-proliferative effect of DHA is mediated by targeting of lipid rafts via decreasing cell surface lipid rafts by their internalization, thereby decreasing raft-associated onco-proteins via proteasomal and lysosomal pathways and decreasing Hsp90 chaperone function.

Lipid raft modulation by Rp1 reverses multidrug resistance via inactivating MDR-1 and Src inhibition.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major obstacle to effective cancer therapy. The membrane transporter MDR-1 (P-gp, ABCB1), a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family, effluxes anti-cancer drugs from cancer cells. Increased activity of MDR-1 is known to be the main mechanism for multidrug resistance. MDR-1 is known to be localized in the cholesterol- and sphingolipid-enriched plasma membrane microdomains, known as lipid rafts. Disruption of lipid rafts by cholesterol depletion alters lipid raft functions, indicating that cholesterol is critical for raft function. Because ginsenosides are structurally similar to cholesterol, in this study, we investigated the effect of Rp1, a novel ginsenoside derivative, on drug resistance using drug-sensitive OVCAR-8 and drug-resistant NCI/ADR-RES and DXR cells. Rp1 treatment resulted in an accumulation of doxorubicin or rhodamine 123 by decreasing MDR-1 activity in doxorubicin-resistant cells. Rp1 synergistically induced cell death with actinomycin D in DXR cells. Rp1 appeared to redistribute lipid rafts and MDR-1 protein. Moreover, Rp1 reversed resistance to actinomycin D by decreasing MDR-1 protein levels and Src phosphorylation with modulation of lipid rafts. Addition of cholesterol attenuated Rp1-induced raft aggregation and MDR-1 redistribution. Rp1 and actinomycin D reduced Src activity, and overexpression of active Src decreased the synergistic effect of Rp1 with actinomycin D. Rp1-induced drug sensitization was also observed with several anti-cancer drugs, including doxorubicin. These data suggest that lipid raft-modulating agents can be used to inhibit MDR-1 activity and thus overcome drug resistance.

Anoikis resistance: an essential prerequisite for tumor metastasis.

Metastasis is a multistep process including dissociation of cancer cells from primary sites, survival in the vascular system, and proliferation in distant target organs. As a barrier to metastasis, cells normally undergo an apoptotic process known as "anoikis," a form of cell death due to loss of contact with the extracellular matrix or neighboring cells. Cancer cells acquire anoikis resistance to survive after detachment from the primary sites and travel through the circulatory and lymphatic systems to disseminate throughout the body. Because recent technological advances enable us to detect rare circulating tumor cells, which are anoikis resistant, currently, anoikis resistance becomes a hot topic in cancer research. Detailed molecular and functional analyses of anoikis resistant cells may provide insight into the biology of cancer metastasis and identify novel therapeutic targets for prevention of cancer dissemination. This paper comprehensively describes recent investigations of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying anoikis and anoikis resistance in relation to intrinsic and extrinsic death signaling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, growth factor receptors, energy metabolism, reactive oxygen species, membrane microdomains, and lipid rafts.

HIF-1 is induced via EGFR activation and mediates resistance to anoikis-like cell death under lipid rafts/caveolae-disrupting stress.

The plasma membrane microdomains, lipid rafts, are involved in regulation of cellular functions such as cell survival and adhesion. Cholesterol is a critical component of lipid rafts in terms of their integrity and functions and rafts disruption by cholesterol depletion can induce detachment-induced cell death. Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) alpha is stabilized in hypoxia and transactivates numerous genes required for cellular adaptation to hypoxia. It is also induced by non-hypoxic stimuli and contributes to cell survival. Because hypoxia inhibits cholesterol synthesis and HIF-1alpha plays a role in this process, we here explored a possible connection between lipid rafts and HIF-1alpha. We investigated whether HIF-1alpha is regulated during cholesterol depletion/rafts disruption in A431 cells in normoxic conditions. Methyl-beta cyclodextrin (MbetaCD), which induces cholesterol depletion, upregulated HIF-1alpha even under normoxic conditions and this upregulation required epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 activation, but not Akt activation. MbetaCD treatment induced HIF-1alpha upregulation at both the transcriptional and translational levels but not at the posttranslational levels. In addition, MbetaCD robustly induced vascular endothelial growth factor production and stimulated an hypoxia response element-driven luciferase reporter activity under normoxic conditions, indicating that MbetaCD-induced HIF-1alpha is functionally activated. Both EGFR activity and HIF-1alpha expression were higher in the attached cells than in the detached cells after MbetaCD treatment. Furthermore, inhibition of HIF-1alpha by RNA interference accelerated cell detachment, thus increasing cell death, indicating that HIF-1alpha expression attenuates MbetaCD-induced anoikis-like cell death. These data suggest that, depending on cholesterol levels, lipid rafts or membrane fluidity are probably to regulate HIF-1alpha expression in normoxia by modulating rafts protein activities such as EGFR, and this connection between lipid rafts and HIF-1alpha regulation may provide cell survival under membrane-disturbing stress.

Identification of potential lung cancer biomarkers using an in vitro carcinogenesis model.

Lung cancer is one of the deadliest and commonly diagnosed neoplasms. Early diagnosis of this disease is critical for improving clinical outcome and prognosis. Because the early stages of lung cancer often produce no symptoms, it is necessary to identify biomarkers for early detection, prognostic evaluation, and recurrence monitoring of the cancer. To identify potential lung cancer biomarkers, we analyzed the differential protein secretion from transformed bronchial epithelial cells (1198 and 1170-I) as compared to immortalized normal bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) and non-transformed cells (1799) all of which are derived from BEAS-2B and represent multistage bronchial epithelial carcinogenesis. The proteins recovered from the conditioned media of the cells were separated on two-dimensional gels. There was little difference between the secretome of the BEAS-2B and 1799 cells, whereas the patterns between the transformed 1198 and 1170-I cells and non-transformed 1799 cells were significantly different. Using mass spectrometry and database search, we identified 20 proteins including protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5), translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2), and triosephosphate isomerase (TPI), that were either increased or decreased simultaneously in conditioned media of both 1198 and 1170-I cells. Furthermore, levels of PGP9.5, TCTP, TIMP-2, and TPI were significantly increased not only in the conditioned media of both transformed cell lines when compared to those of BEAS-2B and 1799 cells, but also in plasmas and tissues from lung cancer patients when compared to those in normal controls. We suggest the PGP9.5, TCTP, TIMP-2, and TPI as promising candidates for lung cancer serum biomarkers.

Regulation of thioredoxin peroxidase activity by C-terminal truncation.

Thioredoxin peroxidase is a member of peroxiredoxin (Prx) family, which uses a thioredoxin (Trx) as an immediate electron donor for the reduction of peroxide. We have identified C-terminal truncated TPx from Schizosaccharomyces pombe and also have found the truncated form is significantly tenacious against the inactivation of H2O2 than the intact form. Peroxidase assay of a series of recombinant C-terminal truncation mutants (Delta192, Delta191, Delta188, Delta184, Delta176, and Delta165) revealed that TPx could be inactivated (Delta192), reactivated (Delta191-Delta176) and reinactivated (Delta165) by serial truncation from C-terminus. We did not find any significant kinetic difference among reactivated forms; however, distinctive loss of affinity to H2O2 (K(m) = 5 microM) than that of the intact form (<<5 microM, undeterminable) was monitored. Characterization of a series of Lys(191) point mutants manifested that the loss of affinity caused by a deprivation of positive charge born in Lys(191) and the loss of affinity resulted in the resistibility to H2O2. Disk inhibition assay with S. pombe cells overexpressing wild-type, Delta192 and Delta191 mutants evidenced that the truncated forms functioning in vitro as well as in vivo.