Anti-inflammatory Effect of Somatostatin Analogue Octreotide on Rheumatoid Arthritis Synoviocytes.

Somatostatin and its analogues are known to have modulatory effects on immune response and their anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic, and analgesic properties make them attractive candidates for a therapeutic use in immune-mediated diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Here, we demonstrate the ability of the somatostatin analogue octreotide to inhibit interleukin-15 and to increase interleukin-10 production by rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synovial cells maintained in a chronic inflammatory state. We also prove that the inhibitory effect of octreotide on interleukin-15 and tumor necrosis factor-α production depended on the increase in interleukin-10, since neutralizing anti-interleukin-10 antibody was able to partially reverse this inhibition. In addition, our observations suggest an octreotide control on purinergic signaling, with an inhibitory effect on purinergic P2X and P2Y receptors activation. This would have great implications, considering the roles of P2 receptors in the onset of inflammation. Data here reported extend knowledge on the biological action of octreotide and underline its multiple effects on immune response, which could make octreotide an attractive and valid support for the therapy of diseases where several inflammatory mediators are involved, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and in which the simultaneous action on different aspects can be a successful strategy.

Specific Monoclonal Antibody Against Bcr/Abl Out-of-Frame Alternative Proteins as Diagnostic Tool in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Patients.

More recently, alternative splicing of specific genes are investigated for their therapeutic potential. In particular, we reported the existence of BCR-ABL alternative splicing isoforms, in about 80% of Philadelphia-positive patients, which lead to the expression of aberrant proteins. These fusion proteins are characterized by an orphan initial and correct Bcr portion attached to a 112 amino acid sequence, arising from the impairment in the reading frame (reading of ABL exon 4 and 5). We demonstrated that these Abl-out-of-frame (OOF) isoforms could have an immunological role with therapeutic implications. The aim of this study was to characterize a new monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific for Abl-OOF protein portion, for diagnostic use, to detect this biomarker in Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients and to generate novel approaches in the immunotherapy. 5F11G11 MAb recognizes the OOF protein portion of the native full-length Bcr/Abl-OOF protein expressed in cells transiently transfected, as demonstrated by immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence. In addition, we demonstrate the MAb's ability to recognize the alternative hybrid Bcr/Abl fusion protein expressed in leukemic cells from CML patients, to support the possible use of 5F11G11 MAb as a diagnostic tool to select patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive CML that could be eligible for an immunotherapeutic approach with this new antigen.

Characterization of a Monoclonal Antibody Specific for the Growth Hormone Secretagogue Receptor.

Ghrelin is an orexigenic peptide hormone that primarily regulates growth hormone secretion, food intake, and energy homeostasis. It has been shown to also play a role in numerous higher brain functions, such as the regulation of inflammation and cell proliferation. Ghrelin is the endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), a G-protein-coupled receptor highly expressed in brain and detectable in some peripheral tissues. The wide distribution of ghrelin receptor and the number of tissues and cell types known to respond to ghrelin suggest that a number of systems may be affected by treatment with this hormone or its analogues. In this study, we characterized a new GHSR specific monoclonal antibody recognizing specifically the ghrelin receptor. This could be a useful tool for immunoassays aimed at obtaining insights into the physiological and pathological significance of the GHSR/ghrelin system.

New alternative splicing BCR/ABL-OOF shows an oncogenic role by lack of inhibition of BCR GTPase activity and an increased of persistence of Rac activation in chronic myeloid leukemia.

In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia 80% of patients present alternative splice variants involving BCR exons 1, 13 or 14 and ABL exon 4, with a consequent impairment in the reading frame of the ABL gene. Therefore BCR/ABL fusion proteins (BCR/ABL-OOF) are characterized by an in-frame BCR portion followed by an amino acids sequence arising from the out of frame (OOF) reading of the ABL gene. The product of this new transcript contains the characteristic BCR domains while lacking the COOH-terminal Rho GTPase GAP domain. The present work aims to characterize the protein functionality in terms of cytoskeleton (re-)modelling, adhesion and activation of canonical oncogenic signalling pathways. Here, we show that BCR/ABL-OOF has a peculiar endosomal localization which affects EGF receptor activation and turnover. Moreover, we demonstrate that BCR/ABL-OOF expression leads to aberrant cellular adhesion due to the activation of Rac GTPase, increase in cellular proliferation, migration and survival. When overexpressed in a BCR/ABL positive cell line, BCR/ABL-OOF induces hyperactivation of Rac signaling axis offering a therapeutic window for Rac-targeted therapy. Our data support a critical role of BCR/ABL-OOF in leukemogenesis and identify a subset of patients that may benefit from Rac-targeted therapies.

Optimized "in vitro" culture conditions for human rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts.

The composition of synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is complex and strongly influences the microenvironment of joints and it is an inseparable element of the disease. Currently, "in vitro" studies are performed on RA cells cultured in the presence of either recombinant proinflammatory cytokines-conditioned medium or medium alone. In this study, we evaluated the use of synovial fluid, derived from RA patients, as optimal culture condition to perform "in vitro" studies on RA synovial fibroblasts. We observed that synovial fluid is more effective in inducing cell proliferation with respect to TNF-alpha or culture medium alone. Spontaneous apoptosis in fibroblasts was also decreased in response to synovial fluid. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines in the presence of synovial fluid was significantly elevated with respect to cells cultured with TNF-alpha or medium, and the overall morphology of cells was also modified. In addition, modulation of intracellular calcium dynamics elicited in response to synovial fluid or TNF-alpha exposure is different and suggests a role for the purinergic signalling in the modulation of the effects. These results emphasize the importance of using RA synovial fluid in "in vitro" studies involving RA cells, in order to reproduce faithfully the physiopathological environmental characteristic of RA joints.

The expression of GHS-R in primary neurons is dependent upon maturation stage and regional localization.

Ghrelin is a hormone with a crucial role in the regulation of appetite, regulation of inflammation, glucose metabolism and cell proliferation. In the brain ghrelin neurons are located in the cortex (sensorimotor area, cingular gyrus), and the fibres of ghrelin neurons in hypothalamus project directly to the dorsal vagal complex (DVC). Ghrelin binds the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R) a G-protein-coupled receptor with a widespread tissue distribution, indeed these receptors are localized both in nonnervous, organs/tissues (i.e. adipose tissue, myocardium, adrenals, gonads, lung, liver, arteries, stomach, pancreas, thyroid, and kidney) as well as in central nervous system (CNS) and higher levels of expression in the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus and lower levels of expression in other organs, including brain. A GHS-R specific monoclonal antibody has been developed and characterized and through it we demonstrate that GHS-R is expressed in primary neurons and that its expression is dependent upon their developmental stage and shows differences according to the brain region involved, with a more pronounced expression in hippocampal rather than cortical neurons. A characterization of GHS-R within the central nervous system is of extreme importance in order to gain insights on its role in the modulation of neurodegenerative events such as Alzheimer's disease.

Immunologic evaluation of peptides derived from BCR/ABL-out-of-frame fusion protein in HLA A2.1 transgenic mice.

Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia express, besides the main BCR/ABL transcripts, novel BCR/ABL transcripts derived from alternative splicing between BCR exons 1, 13, or 14 with ABL exons 4 and 5. Their translational products present at C-terminus an amino acid portion derived from out-of-frame (OOF) reading of the ABL gene. The presence of OOF-peptide-specific T cells in chronic myelogenous leukemia patients was demonstrated and a first study in in vivo model demonstrated that OOF ABL portion was immunogenic in human leukcocyte antigen (HLA)-A2.1 transgenic mice. Here we immunized HLA A2.1 mice with novel peptides designed on the ABL OOF sequence, containing epitopes with high affinity for HLA A2.1 molecule. The specific immune response, cellular and humoral, obtained ex vivo against HLA A2.1-positive human chronic myelogenous leukemia cells using peptide 22-53 and the cytotoxic activity induced by peptide 32mer confirm the possibility to use the ABL OOF portion as target to evoke a specific and multiple immune response in Philadelphia positive leukemic patients in cytogenetic remission.

Characterization of a monoclonal antibody specific for novel Bcr/Abl out-of-frame fusion proteins.

The new tumor-specific antigens Bcr/Abl-OOF, identified in Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive leukemia cells, are derived from an alternative splicing event involving BCR exons 1, 13, or 14 and ABL exons 4 and 5. The COOH-terminus of these transcription products contain an amino acid portion derived from an out-of-frame (OOF) reading of the ABL gene; these variants are expressed in Ph-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and acute lymphocytic leukemia patients. Previously, we confirmed the presence of out-of-frame peptide-specific T cells in the peripheral blood of CML patients with the ability to lyse primary autologous CML cells. We also demonstrated that the out-of-frame Abl portion was immunogenic in HLA-A2.1 transgenic mice. Here we describe the production and characterization of monoclonal antibody 1D8G8, a new tool for localization and functional studies of the tumor antigen Bcr/Abl-OOF. This antibody recognizes the out-of-frame protein portion of the native full-length Bcr/Abl-OOF protein expressed in cells transiently transfected, as demonstrated by immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence, and binds to a specific epitope of this antigen presented in association with HLA-A2.1 molecules at the surface of these cells, as demonstrated by flow cytometry. Thus this MAb could be useful to better understand how this new protein presents in Ph-positive cells beside the canonical Bcr/Abl fusion proteins.