Overexpression of survivin in primary ATL cells and sodium arsenite induces apoptosis by down-regulating survivin expression in ATL cell lines.

Patients with acute- or lymphoma-type adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) have a poor outcome because of the intrinsic drug resistance to chemotherapy. Protection from apoptosis is a common feature involved in multidrug-resistance of ATL. IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis) family proteins inhibit apoptosis induced by a variety of stimuli. In this study, we investigated the expression of IAP family members (survivin, cIAP1, cIAP2, and XIAP) in the primary leukemic cells from patients with ATL. We found that survivin was overexpressed in ATL, especially in acute-type ATL. Sodium arsenite was shown to down-regulate the expression of survivin at both the protein and RNA levels in a time- and dose-dependent manner, thus inhibiting cell growth, inducing apoptosis, and enhancing the caspase-3 activity in ATL cells. Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) enhances the transcriptional activity of survivin. Sodium arsenite suppressed the constitutive NF-kappaB activation by preventing the IkappaB-alpha degradation and the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB. These findings suggest that survivin is an important antiapoptotic molecule that confers drug resistance on ATL cells. Sodium arsenite was shown to down-regulate the expression of survivin through the NF-kappaB pathway, thus inhibiting cell growth and promoting apoptosis of ATL cells.

Prognostic value of the Cu-transporting ATPase in ovarian carcinoma patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: A major obstacle in the treatment of ovarian carcinoma is the intrinsic/acquired resistance to cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Cu-transporting ATPase (ATP7B) has been reported to be associated with cisplatin resistance in vitro. However, the clinical significance of this transporter has not previously been addressed. Our goal was to investigate ATP7B expression in ovarian carcinoma and whether its expression correlates with prognosis and reduced responsiveness to cisplatin treatment. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We retrospectively examined the expression of ATP7B and p53 in primary ovarian carcinoma and its association with chemotherapeutic effect. Tissues were surgically removed from 104 ovarian carcinomas patients who received cisplatin-based chemotherapy. We performed immunohistochemical analysis of ATP7B and p53 using a monoclonal antibody against ATP7B and DO7 antibody against p53 protein in 104 ovarian carcinomas and adjacent nonneoplastic tissues. The significance of ATP7B and p53 in the prognosis of patients with ovarian carcinomas was also examined in the survival analysis of mortality follow-up data covering the period between 1988 and 2001. Furthermore, mutation analysis at the six Cu-binding domain and ATP-binding domain, which may be important for cisplatin transport, were performed using single-strand conformational polymorphism after reverse transcriptase-PCR. RESULTS: A variable degree of cytoplasmic staining of ATP7B in tumor cells was observed in 34.6% (36 of 104 cases) of the analyzed carcinomas. ATP7B expression was not observed in adjacent nonneoplastic tissues. ATP7B positivity in poorly/moderately differentiated carcinoma was significantly higher than that in low malignant potential tumor/well-differentiated carcinoma (P = 0.0276). Patients with ATP7B-positive tumors had a significantly inferior response to chemotherapy compared with the patients with ATP7B-negative tumors (P = 0.025). The multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that ATP7B expression (hazard ratio, 1.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-3.2, P = 0.048), as well as International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians stage (hazard ratio, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-3.6, P = 0.018), was prognostic for poor disease outcome after adjustment for p53 expression, grade, and residual tumor. p53 expression was detected in 31.5% (26/104 cases). No mutation was observed on the six Cu-binding domain or ATP-binding domain in human ovarian carcinomas expressing ATP7B gene. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that overexpression of ATP7B in ovarian carcinoma is correlated with unfavorable clinical outcome in patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Therefore, ATP7B expression may be considered as a predictive marker of chemoresistance for cisplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with ovarian carcinoma. We further predict that drugs targeting ATP7B might be useful in combination with cisplatin-based regimen for the improvement of patients with ovarian carcinoma.

Purification, molecular cloning, and expression of a novel growth-promoting factor for retinal pigment epithelial cells, REF-1/TFPI-2.

PURPOSE: Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are known to play important roles in maintaining the homeostasis of the retina and in controlling choroidal neovascularization. The purpose of this study was to identify a factor or factors that would stimulate RPE cells to proliferate. METHODS: To isolate such a factor, 100 L of human-fibroblast-conditioned medium underwent ion-exchange, hydrophobic, and reverse-phase chromatographies followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The growth-promoting activity of the factor was examined in a human K-1034 RPE cell line and human primary RPE cells. RESULTS: The different chromatographic processes isolated a 31-kDa factor that had RPE cell growth-promoting properties. This factor, which we have named RPE cell factor (REF)-1, promotes growth of RPE cells but not of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The amino-terminal sequence and molecular cloned cDNA of REF-1 were identical with those of tissue-factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI)-2, a family of TFPIs, and placental protein (PP)-5, a serine protease inhibitor. The cDNA expression of REF-1/TFPI-2 with pcDL-pSRalpha vector in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells confirmed the growth-promoting activity for RPE cells. The major component of the recombinant REF-1/TFPI-2 expressed in CHO cells had a molecular mass of 31 kDa and exerted growth-promoting activity in RPE cells but not in human endothelial cells and fibroblasts in vitro. REF-1/TFPI-2 also had protease inhibitory activity. The other family factor, TFPI-1, did not promote RPE cell growth. CONCLUSIONS: REF-1/TFPI-2 is a novel growth-promoting factor for RPE cells but not for endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Its properties make it potentially beneficial for intraocular therapy for the repair and maintenance of RPE cells.

Mutation analysis of copper-transporting P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATP7B) in human solid carcinomas.

A major obstacle in the treatment of human solid carcinomas is the intrinsic/acquired resistance to cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Copper-transporting P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATP7B) has been reported to be associated with cisplatin resistance in vitro. ATP7B is overexpressed in human solid carcinomas such as breast, gastric and oral squamous cell carcinomas. ATP7B expression has an influential effect on some subsets of patients with cisplatin-treated carcinomas. ATP7B mutation is well-known as a cause of Wilson's disease. In addition, the six copper-binding domain and ATP-binding domain of ATP7B are important for the transportation of metals. Therefore, we performed the mutation analysis at the six copper-binding domain and ATP-binding domain of ATP7B. No mutation at the six copper-binding domain and ATP-binding domain was observed in breast, gastric and oral squameous cell carcinomas. These results indicate that the analysis of the ATP7B gene and/or protein will be helpful for the choice of chemotherapy in patients with human solid carcinomas.

Expression of the anti-apoptotic gene survivin in myelodysplastic syndrome.

Survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAPs) family and considered to play a pivotal role in oncogenesis. We present the first report of survivin expression profile in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Expression of survivin messenger RNA was evaluated by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in patients with MDS and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Eleven out of 12 patients with refractory anemia (RA) (91.6%), and all 3 patients with refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation (RAEBt) (100%), were positive for survivin expression with the majority of cases showing abundant levels of the survivin transcript. On the other hand, expression of survivin was undetectable in the 4 patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMMoL). The level and frequency of survivin expression in patients with refractory anemia were compared to those in patients with AML. Out of 12 patients with de novo AML, 5 patients (41.7%) showed detectable levels of survivin expression. Abundant survivin expression in RA was also confirmed by immunohistochemistry. In contrast, survivin was almost absent in two cases with aplastic anemia. We propose that high levels of survivin expression can serve as a reliable diagnostic marker of RA in MDS.

Copper-transporting P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATP7B) is expressed in human breast carcinoma.

This is the first report to show that a copper-transporting P-type adenosine triphosphatase, ATP7B, is expressed in certain breast carcinomas, and a priori knowledge of its expression is important for the choice of therapy. We investigated the hypothesis that ATP7B, which was shown to be associated with cisplatin resistance in vitro, is expressed in certain breast carcinomas. To test this hypothesis, ATP7B expression and protein level were examined in 41 breast carcinomas using RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. ATP7B gene / protein could be detected in 22.0% (9 / 41) of breast carcinomas and ATP7B gene expression was correlated well with the protein expression. In nine ATP7B-positive tumors, adjacent normal breast tissue was similarly analyzed, revealing that ATP7B is upregulated in breast carcinoma. ATP7B gene expression in poorly differentiated carcinoma was significantly higher than that in well- / moderately differentiated carcinoma (P = 0.012). Furthermore, we found no association between the ATP7B gene / protein expression and that of MDR1, MRP1, LRP and BCRP. These findings suggested that ATP7B gene expression might be a chemoresistance marker for cisplatin in patients with poorly differentiated breast carcinoma.