Transplantation with selected autologous peripheral blood CD34+Thy1+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in multiple myeloma: impact of HSC dose on engraftment, safety, and immune reconstitution.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of our study performed in myeloma were to evaluate the performance and the safety of Systemix's high-speed clinical cell sorter, to assess the safety and efficacy of deescalating cell dose cohorts of CD34+Thyl+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) as autologous grafts by determining engraftment, and to assess the residual tumor cell contamination using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification assays of patient-specific complementarity determining region III (CDR III) analysis for residual myeloma cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical trial was performed in 31 multiple myeloma patients, using purified human CD34+Thyl+ HSCs mobilized from peripheral blood with cyclosphosphamide and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor to support a single transplant after high-dose melphalan 140 mg/m2 alone (cohort 1) and with total body irradiation (TBI) (cohorts 2-5) after an HSC transplant cell dose de-escalation/escalation design. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients were transplanted. Engraftment data in the melphalan + TBI cohorts confirmed that HSC doses above the threshold dose of 0.8 x 10(6) CD34+Thy1+ HSCs/ kg provided prompt engraftment (absolute neutrophil count >0.5 x 10(9)/L day 10; platelet count >50 x 10(9)/L day 13). A higher rate of infections was observed in the early and late follow-up phases than usually reported after CD34+ selected or unselected autologous transplantation, which did not correlate with the CD34+Thy1+ HSC dose infused. Successful PCR for CDR III could only be performed in five patients on initial apheresis product and final CD34+Thy1+ HSC product and showed a median tumor log reduction >3.12. CONCLUSIONS: CD34+Thy1+ HSCs are markedly depleted or free of detectable tumor cells in multiple myeloma and are capable of producing fast and durable hematopoietic reconstitution at cell doses >0.8 x 10(6) CD34+Thy1+ HSCs/kg. The delayed immune reconstitution observed is not different from that described in unselected autologous bone marrow and peripheral blood mononucleated cells transplants in multiple myeloma and may be corrected by addition of T cells either to the graft or to the patient in the posttransplant phase.

Interaction of Escherichia coli producing cytotoxic necrotizing factor with HeLa epithelial cells.

Cytotoxic necrotizing factors (CNF) constitute a group a cell-associated proteic toxins of 110-115 kDa produced by some clinical isolates of Escherichia coli from man and animals. Purified CNFs are known to exacerbate actin polymerization in exposed cells, a property that has been ascribed to their ability to modify rho a small GTP-protein involved in the regulation of the cytoskeleton. We speculated that, in spite of their lack of excretion in broth culture supernatants, CNF might be expressed upon direct interaction of organisms with infected cells. To test this hypothesis, we set up a model of interaction using epithelial cell line HeLa and the CNF1-producing strain BM2-1, which is adherent to Hela cells. An interaction of four hour duration triggers the progressive development of a dose-dependent cytopathic effect (CPE) with following characteristics: (1) intense cell enlargement with formation of a dense network of stress fibers, (2) inhibition of cell mitosis due to an irreversible block in G2/M transition phase, (3) nucleus swelling and fragmentation, and (4) cell death starting five days after infection. The three last features clearly differentiate CPE from the effect produced by CNF1 alone. In addition CPE, was not produced by cell-free culture supernatants nor abolished by an antiserum neutralizing CNF1. Tn5::PhoA insertion in the 3' end of cnf1 structural gene abolished CPE, which was not restored by trans complementation with cloned cnf1. These results demonstrate that CNF1-producing E. coli exert a specific pathogenic effect in HeLa cells, which is determined by cnf1 and at least one additional gene, located downstream cnf1.

Mitotic block and delayed lethality in HeLa epithelial cells exposed to Escherichia coli BM2-1 producing cytotoxic necrotizing factor type 1.

The cytopathic effect (CPE) of Escherichia coli producing cytotoxic necrotizing factor type 1 (CNF1) was investigated by using a human epithelial cell (HeLa) model of infection with CNF1-producing E. coli BM2-1. This strain was shown to bind loosely, but massively, to HeLa cells. A 4-h interaction between bacteria and eukaryotic cells triggered the delayed appearance of a progressive dose-dependent CPE characterized by (i) intense swelling of cells accompanied by the formation of a dense network of actin stress fibers, (ii) inhibition of cell division due to a complete block in the G2 phase of the cell cycle, and (iii) nucleus swelling and chromatin fragmentation. These alterations resulted in cell death starting about 5 days after interaction. The absence of multinucleation clearly distinguished the CPE from the effect produced by cell-free culture supernatants of infected cells nor prevented by a CNF1-neutralizing antiserum. Pathogenicity was completely abolished after Tn5::phoA insertion mutagenesis in the cnf-1 structural gene but not restored by trans complementation with a recombinant plasmid containing intact cnf-1 and its promoter. These results suggest that a gene downstream of cnf-1, essential to the induction of the CPE, was affected by the mutation. On the other hand, transformation of the wild-type strain BM2-1 with the same recombinant plasmid leads to a significant increase in both CNF1 activity and CPE, demonstrating the direct contribution of CNF1 to the CPE. In conclusion, the pathogenicity of E. coli BM2-1 for HeLa cells results from a complex interaction involving cnf-1 and associated genes and possibly requiring a preliminary step of binding of bacterial organisms to target cells.

Expression of p21WAF1/CIP1 is heterogeneous and unrelated to proliferation index in human ovarian carcinoma.

The growth-inhibitory protein p21WAF1/CIP1 is a potent inhibitor of various cyclin-dependent kinases, the expression of which is regulated at the transcriptional level by p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms. We examined p21WAF1/CIP1 mRNA and protein expression in 5 human ovarian-adenocarcinoma cell lines, 1 primary culture of normal surface epithelium and 17 human ovarian-tumor specimens. In culture cells, the p21WAF1/CIP1 protein was expressed in normal ovarian epithelial cells and at a high level in the adenocarcinoma 2008 and IGROV-1 cell lines. p21 WAF1/CIP1 expression was undetectable at the mRNA and protein levels in the NIH-OVCAR-3 and SKOV-3 ovarian-adenocarcinoma cell lines which are respectively mutated and deleted in the p53 gene. Heterogeneous expression of p21WAF1/CIP1 observed in ovarian-cancer cell lines in culture was also found in vivo on tumor specimens. p21WAF1/CIP1 expression is undetectable in 25% of the ovarian biopsies examined. Since it has been found that the p53 gene is mutated in 79% of ovarian cancer, the absence of p21WAF1/CIP1 expression in 25% of these ovarian cancer could not be correlated with p53 mutation. The proliferation index of the 17 tumors showed great variation from one tumor to another. However, no significant correlation was found between p21WAF1/CIP1 expression and the proliferation rate of the tumors.

Early gene responses associated with transforming growth factor-beta 1 growth inhibition and autoinduction in MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cells.

In the human breast carcinoma cell line (MCF-7), exogenous TGF-beta 1 induces a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. In a MCF-7 cell subline [MCF-7(-)], which has an undetectable level of type II TGF-beta receptor, exogenous TGF-beta 1 does not inhibit cell proliferation but is still able to induce its own message. In both cell lines, TGF-beta 1 stimulates expression of c-jun, whereas a rapid, transient and marked increase in c-fos mRNA is only observed in the MCF-7 cells sensitive to the growth inhibitory effect of TGF-beta 1. Depletion of protein kinase C abolishes the c-fos but not the c-jun response to TGF-beta 1. Our results suggest that growth inhibition and autoinduction by TGF-beta 1 are mediated by different signalling pathways. In addition, a PKC-dependent increase in c-fos expression seems to be associated with the growth inhibitory effect of TGF-beta 1.

Effects of TGF-beta 1 (transforming growth factor-beta 1) on the cell cycle regulation of human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells.

The antiproliferative effects of TGF-beta 1 were investigated in a human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7). We report that TGF-beta 1 inhibits proliferation through cell cycle arrest in G1. A MCF-7 cell subline (MCF-7(-)), in which the type II TGF-beta receptor is not detected, was shown to be resistant to TGF-beta 1 growth inhibitory effect. Cdk2 kinase activity was inhibited in the MCF-7 sensitive cell subline in parallel with the inhibition of cell cycle progression. In both sensitive and resistant cell lines, TGF-beta 1 treatment did not affect cdk2, cdk4, cyclin E and cyclin D1 mRNA and protein levels. However, in the MCF-7 sensitive cell subline, a time-dependent increase in cells positive for p21WAF1/CIP1 nuclear localization was observed after TGF-beta 1 treatment. These findings suggest that TGF-beta 1 inhibition of MCF-7 cell proliferation is achieved through a type II receptor-dependent down-regulation of Cdk2 kinase activity without modification of Cdk and cyclin expression, but correlated with an increase in p21WAF1/CIP1 nuclear accumulation.

Density-dependent induction of apoptosis by transforming growth factor-beta 1 in a human ovarian carcinoma cell line.

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 inhibited proliferation of a human ovarian carcinoma cell line (NIH-OVCAR-3). The inhibition of NIH-OVCAR-3 cell proliferation was accompanied by a decrease in clonogenic potential, evidenced by the reduced ability of TGF-beta 1-treated NIH-OVCAR-3 cells to form colonies on a plastic substratum. This rapid decrease of clonogenic potential, which was detected 6 h after addition of TGF-beta 1 was dose-dependent (IC50 = 4 pM). Fluorescence microscopy of DAPI-stained cells supported by electron-microscopic examination showed that TGF-beta 1 induced chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation. In addition, oligonucleosomal-sized fragments were detected in the TGF-beta 1-treated cells. These features indicated that TGF-beta 1 induced NIH-OVCAR-3 cell death by an apoptosis-like mechanism. This TGF-beta 1 apoptotic effect was subject to modulation by cell density. It was observed that an increase in cell density (up to 20 x 10(3) cells/cm2) protected NIH-OVCAR-3 cells against apoptosis induced by TGF-beta 1. Conditioned medium from high-density cultures of NIH-OVCAR-3 cells did not inhibit apoptosis induced by TGF-beta 1 on NIH-OVCAR-3 cells cultured at low density, suggesting that the protective effect of cell density was not related to the cell secretion of a soluble survival factor.

Response of four human ovarian carcinoma cell lines to all-trans retinoic acid: relationship with induction of differentiation and retinoic acid receptor expression.

The response of 4 human ovarian carcinoma cell lines to retinoic acid was found to be related to the histological type and degree of differentiation of these tumor cells. The 2 serous cell lines NIHOVCAR3 and OVCCR1 were the most sensitive to the antiproliferative effect of RA. This inhibition was associated with morphological and biological changes that were indicative of differentiation. The undifferentiated IGROV1 cell line was not affected by RA. Since the effects of RA are thought to be mediated by nuclear retinoic acid receptors (RARs), the expression of RARs in human ovarian cancer cells was studied. RAR alpha was detected as mRNA species of 3.1 and 2.6 kb in all 4 cell lines. RAR beta was not detected in any of the cell lines, while RAR gamma (3 kb) was expressed in all of the ovarian cancer cells but at a very low level in the RA-resistant IGROV1 cells.

Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) inhibits growth of a human ovarian carcinoma cell line (OVCCR1) and is expressed in human ovarian tumors.

The effects of EGF and TGF-beta 1 on the proliferation of 2 ovarian carcinoma cell lines (IGROV1 and OVCCR1) were evaluated. The cell lines were adapted to grow in a restricted serum (0.5%) medium. EGF was required for proliferation of both ovarian cell lines. Low doses of TGF-beta 1 inhibited clonogenic capacity and attenuated the EGF-mediated stimulation of DNA synthesis in OVCCR1 cells. TGF-beta 1 inhibited OVCCR1 cell proliferation by blocking the cell cycle at the G1/S transition. TGF-beta 1 did not affect either clonal or monolayer growth of IGROV1 cells. Both cell lines express type-I and type-III TGF-beta receptors, suggesting that the unresponsiveness of IGROV1 cells to TGF-beta 1 occurs at a post-receptor level. TGF-beta 1 mRNA was detected in OVCCR1 cells and in 8 out of 11 of the ovarian tumor specimens examined.

Antiproliferative effect of phorbol esters on MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cells: relationship with enhanced expression of transforming growth-factor-beta 1.

In human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells, phorbol diesters inhibit proliferation and induce cell maturation. We have recently reported that exogenous TGF-beta 1 reverses the resistance of a breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 subline (MCF-7:RPh-4) to these phorbol ester effects. Here, we investigated the involvement of TGF-beta 1 in the PKC-mediated inhibition of breast-cancer cell proliferation. Parental MCF-7-conditioned medium contained a 20-fold higher transforming activity on NRK-49F fibroblasts than the TPA-resistant subline. TPA increased TGF-beta activity in MCF-7 conditioned medium. MCF-7 cells also expressed more TGF-beta 1 mRNA than the resistant subline. TPA induced a dose-dependent increase in TGF-beta 1 mRNA levels that paralleled the inhibitory effect on MCF-7 proliferation. The lower level of TGF-beta mRNA expression in TPA resistant subline was not modified after addition of TPA, but was significantly increased in the presence of exogenous TGF-beta 1. These data argue in favor of a role of endogenous TGF-beta 1 in the maturation process induced by protein kinase C activation.