Suppression of Lefty expression in induced pluripotent cancer cells.

Cancer and stem cells share the ability to silence tumor suppressors. We focused on Lefty, which encodes one of the most abundant tumor suppressors in embryonic stem (ES) cells and is not expressed in somatic cancer cells. We found that transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) induced demethylation of the Lefty B cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) island and increased Lefty expression (10-200 times) in human pancreatic cancer cells and human liver cancer cells (PLC/PRF/5 and HLF). Expression of Cripto, another important factor in Nodal-Lefty signaling, was not increased after adding TGF-ß. We generated reprogrammed cancer cells that revealed high expression of immature marker proteins, high proliferation, and the potential to express morphological patterns of ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm, suggesting that these cells may have cancer stem cell-like phenotypes. We investigated Lefty and found that reprogrammed human liver cancer cells (induced pluripotent cancer cells) displayed a much lower ability to express Lefty, although less Lefty B CpG methylation was also observed. We also found that a MEK inhibitor dramatically enhanced Lefty expression in human pancreatic cancers with mutated ras, whereas Lefty B CpG methylation was not decreased. These observations indicate that despite the demethylation of DNA strands in promoter regions of pluripotency-associated genes, including Lefty gene, Lefty expression was not induced well in reprogrammed cells. Of note was the fact that Lefty is abundantly expressed in human ES cells but not in induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. We thus think that reprogrammed cancer cells share the mechanism for expression of Lefty with iPS cells. This shared mechanism may contribute to the cancerous transformation of iPS cells.

The receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor vandetanib activates Akt and increases side population in a salivary gland tumor cell line (A253).

We and others have reported that cancer side population (SP) cells have self-renewal and multidrug resistance capabilities. These phenotypes are similar to those of cancer stem cells (CSCs), cancer stem-like cells and tumor-initiating cells (TICs). It has also been reported that upregulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) significantly increases the number of cancer SP cells, conversely, molecular targeting of EGFR tyrosine kinases using specific kinase inhibitors downregulates CSCs. Thus, we used flow cytometric analysis and cell sorting to examine cancer SP cells in the SCA9.cl-15, WR21 and A253 cell lines that originate from a salivary gland tumor (SGT). We successfully isolated cancer SP cells from all of these cell lines. SP cells were detected following treatment of these cell lines with the receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (RTKIs) lapatinib, erlotinib and vandetanib. Several studies reported that RTKIs mostly reduced the SP population in cancer cells. We did not observe any detectable morphological differences between SP cells and non-SP cells. We found that the EGF RTKI lapatinib decreased the number of cancer SP cells in all cell lines investigated; however, the EGF RTKI erlotinib did not cause significant differences in the frequency of cancer SP cells in these cell lines. Addition of vandetanib significantly increased the number of cancer SP cells and upregulated the phosphorylated Akt. As far as we know, this is the first report to show that one of the RTKIs, vandetanib, can activate Akt and increase the number of cancer SP cells. It has been reported that RTKIs could competitively inhibit ABC transporters and subsequently reduced the number of SP cells. However, our observation indicated that signaling changes induced by RTKIs could even activate Akt and induce the SP population. Investigation of the SP phenotype of SGTs is important for the establishment of optimal cancer therapy.

Inhibition of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) expression by prolonged transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) administration suppresses osteoblast differentiation.

TGF-ß1 can regulate osteoblast differentiation not only positively but also negatively. However, the mechanisms of negative regulation are not well understood. We previously established the reproducible model for studying the suppression of osteoblast differentiation by repeated or high dose treatment with TGF-ß1, although single low dose TGF-ß1 strongly induced osteoblast differentiation. The mRNA expression and protein level of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were remarkably decreased by repeated TGF-ß1 administration in human periodontal ligament cells, human mesenchymal stem cells, and murine preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells. Repeated TGF-ß1 administration subsequently decreased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mRNA expression of osteoblast differentiation marker genes, such as RUNX2, ALP, and bone sialoprotein (BSP). Additionally, repeated administration significantly reduced the downstream signaling pathway of IGF-1, such as Akt phosphorylation in these cells. Surprisingly, exogenous and overexpressed IGF-1 recovered ALP activity and mRNA expression of osteoblast differentiation marker genes even with repeated TGF-ß1 administration. These facts indicate that the key mechanism of inhibition of osteoblast differentiation induced by repeated TGF-ß1 treatment is simply due to the down-regulation of IGF-1 expression. Inhibition of IGF-1 signaling using small interfering RNA (siRNA) against insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) suppressed mRNA expression of RUNX2, ALP, BSP, and IGF-1 even with single TGF-ß1 administration. This study showed that persistence of TGF-ß1 inhibited osteoblast differentiation via suppression of IGF-1 expression and subsequent down-regulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. We think this fact could open the way to use IGF-1 as a treatment tool for bone regeneration in prolonged inflammatory disease.

Resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in side population cells of human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line Ho-1-N-1.

Side population (SP) cells are isolated from various tissues and cell lines based on the exclusion of DNA-binding dye Hoechst 33,342 and exhibit potent stem cell characteristics. There have been few previous reports of SP cells in head and neck cancer cell lines. Thus, we isolated SP cells from oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line, Ho-1-N-1. Ho-1-N-1 contained 3.0% SP cells. Ho-1-N-1 SP cells showed self-renewal capacity, generating both SP and non-SP cells. Next, we analyzed differentially expressed genes between Ho-1-N-1 SP and non-SP cells using GeneChip microarray and quantitative real-time RT-PCR. SP cells expressed high levels of ATP-binding cassette transporters with related multidrug resistance (MDR) genes. The expression of ABCB1 and ABCG2 were significantly up-regulated in Ho-1-N-1 SP cells. In addition, the expression of CFLAR, BCL2 and BCL2A1 which are associated with anti-apoptosis, were also significantly increased in the SP cells. Chemoresistance to anticancer agents, including 5-fluorouracil and carboplatin, were compared between Ho1-N-1 SP and non-SP cells using flow cytometry and tetrazolium salt microtiter plate assay. Ho-1-N-1 SP cells survived significantly longer and SP ratio remarkably increased after anticancer agent treatment compared to non-SP cells. Immunocytochemical staining and apoptosis assay validated these results, and suggested an anti-apoptotic potential for Ho-1-N-1 SP cells. Ho-1-N-1 SP cells survived with various agents which were not only probably due to high level expression of ABC transporters, but also anti-apoptotic proteins. These observations indicated that Ho-1-N-1 SP cells were MDR phenotype and should be the main target for effective cancer therapy.

New mechanism of transforming growth factor-beta signaling in hepatoma: Dramatic up-regulation of tumor initiating cells and epidermal growth factor receptor expression.

AIM: Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) has dual activity in tumor cells. We studied the effect of TGF-beta on tumor-initiating cells (TICs), which are similar in self-renewal and differentiation features to normal adult stem cells. METHODS: We used side population (SP) cells that exclude DNA binding dye Hoechst 33342 to obtain TICs, studied the differences in the kinetics of the SP cell response to TGF-beta treatment between hepatic tumor cell lines, and performed gene analysis. RESULTS: SP cells from all cell lines have higher proliferative ability compared to non-SP cells and they are drug resistant. TGF-beta treatment increased the percentage of SP cells (%SP) and the survival rate; chemotherapeutic drug resistance developed only in K-251 SP cells. Gene analysis showed that TGF-beta up-regulated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) only in K-251 cells. There were no EGFR mutations in K-251, which had been reported in lung cancer. Knockdown of Smad4 using the small-interfering RNA technique in K-251 cells inhibited EGFR overexpression and significantly decreased the %SP. In contrast, the JNK inhibitor had little effect on EGFR expression or the %SP. CONCLUSION: TGF-beta treatment of K-251 cells causes tumor progression and the anti-cancer drug resistant phenotype by increasing SP.

Acarbose treatment increases serum total adiponectin levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Adiponectin is an anti-diabetic and anti-atherogenic adipokine that serves as a major determinant of insulin sensitivity. Thiazolidine derivatives increase circulating adiponectin, particularly the high molecular weight isoform, which has been shown to well correlate with amelioration of insulin resistance by thiazolidines in diabetic patients. alpha-glucosidase inhibitors are another class of anti-diabetic agents that specifically reduce postprandial blood glucose elevations, but its effect on adiponectin is largely unknown. In the present study we investigated effect of an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, acarbose, together with pioglitazone, the only thiazolidine derivative available in Japan, on serum concentrations of adiponectin. Seventeen patients with type 2 diabetes were treated with acarbose and sixteen with pioglitazone for three months. Treatment with acarbose and pioglitazone decreased HbA1c values by 0.49% and 0.63%, respectively. Pioglitazone, as expected, increased serum levels of total adiponectin by 2.1 fold and its high molecular weight isoform by 3.6 fold. We found that acarbose also caused a small but significant increase in serum concentrations of total adiponectin. However, in contrast to pioglitazone, no appreciable changes were observed in the levels of high molecular weight adiponectin. In conclusion, acarbose increases serum concentrations of total adiponectin without preference of the high molecular weight isoform in type 2 diabetic patients. Clinical relevance of the increased adiponectin to the acarbose effects remains to be elucidated.

Long-term remission of cyclic Cushing's disease that was diagnosed and treated surgically in non-active phase.

Cyclic Cushing's disease is a rare clinical entity that is defined as a periodic excessive production of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol. Only 42 cases with cyclic Cushing's disease have been reported in the literature. The diagnosis is very difficult because of the fluctuating secretion of ACTH and cortisol. We report a 78-year-old woman with a pituitary adenoma presenting with cyclic Cushing's disease. In the present case, several interesting issues are pointed out: 1) MRI study detected the presence of an adenoma and selective venous sampling in the cavernous sinus disclosed the hypersecretion of ACTH from a pituitary adenoma. These neuroimaging and endocrinological studies were helpful for the diagnosis, even in the remission phase. 2) The disease was in the long-term remission phase after transsphenoidal surgery despite the high recurrence rate in this clinical entity, although it recurred four years later. Even in the remission phase of cyclic Cushing's disease, meticulous endocrinological and neuroimaging examinations can reveal the presence of a pituitary adenoma, which should be treated surgically.

High-fat diet in low-dose-streptozotocin-treated heminephrectomized rats induces all features of human type 2 diabetic nephropathy: a new rat model of diabetic nephropathy.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: We have developed a new rat model that mimics the natural course of diabetic nephropathy seen in type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Nine days after intravenous injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (40 mg/kg) or vehicle to 8-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats, the animals' right kidneys were surgically removed. Two weeks after surgery, the STZ-injected rats were fed on either a high-fat (ST+HF) or a normal (ST) diet, while the vehicle-injected rats were fed on the high-fat diet (HF). RESULTS: Baseline biochemical markers did not differ between the three groups. Only the ST+HF group showed a significant increase in plasma glucose levels after 15 weeks, and simultaneously plasma insulin levels started to decrease, followed by an increase in plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels at 25 weeks and slightly later by an increase in blood pressure. In the ST+HF group, significant microalbuminuria was detected at 15 weeks followed by overt proteinuria, both of which were absent in the other two groups. Also in ST+HF, the creatinine clearance rate increased until week 15, and then gradually decreased. Histologically, ST+HF rats showed mesangial expansion at week 25, and diffuse glomerular sclerosis at the end of the experiments. CONCLUSION: The chronological changes in biochemical, physiological and histological markers in ST+HF rats are reminiscent of human type 2 diabetes and nephropathy. Our new model of type 2 diabetic nephropathy should help us to understand the pathophysiology of the disease and serve to explore measures to prevent and treat diabetic nephropathy.