Selective transendothelial migration of hematopoietic progenitor cells: a role in homing of progenitor cells.

To elucidate the mechanisms by which hematopoietic progenitor cells transmigrate via the bone marrow (BM) endothelial cells, we first established endothelial cell lines from BM and lung, and BM fibroblast cell lines; then we established an in vitro model of transendothelial migration of hematopoietic progenitor cells in the presence of chemoattractants secreted by BM fibroblast cells. The BM endothelial cells expressed vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), but the lung endothelial cells did not. The BM fibroblast cells secreted chemoattractants including stroma cell-derived factor (SDF)-1, which could attract hematopoietic progenitor cells to BM and activate the adhesion molecules expressed on hematopoietic progenitor cells after rolling along the endothelial cells. Anti-SDF-1 antibody inhibited the transendothelial migration of a hematopoietic progenitor cell line, FDCP-2. FDCP-2 that expressed very late activation antigen-4 (VLA-4) and normal progenitor cells transmigrated through BM endothelial cells but not lung endothelial cells, even if in the presence of chemoattractants produced by BM fibroblasts. Both anti-VLA-4 and anti-VCAM-1 antibodies inhibited the transendothelial migration of FDCP-2 cells and normal hematopoietic progenitor cells. These findings suggest that the transendothelial migration of hematopoietic progenitor cells is characteristic of BM endothelial cells, and that VLA-4/VCAM-1 and SDF-1 play important roles in the transendothelial migration and, consequently, homing of hematopoietic progenitor cells to BM.

Combination therapy of active hexose correlated compound plus UFT significantly reduces the metastasis of rat mammary adenocarcinoma.

Synergistic effects of active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) extracted from mushroom on the treatment with UFT against mammary adenocarcinoma, SST-2 cells, in congenitally T cell-depressed spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were observed. AHCC plus UFT had slight but significant effects on the growth of primary tumors. Pulmonary metastases were not inhibited by the treatment with AHCC plus UFT, whereas metastases to axillary lymph nodes (LN) were obviously inhibited. Combination of AHCC plus UFT showed similar synergistic anti-metastatic effects in SHR rats with accelerated pulmonary metastases following the surgical removal of the primary tumors. In vitro studies demonstrated that AHCC plus UFT enhanced the NK cell activity in tumor-bearing rats, whereas UFT alone depressed the NK cell activity. AHCC plus UFT also enhanced the NO production and cytotoxicity of peritoneal macrophages. In addition, AHCC restored the suppressed mRNA expression of interleukin-1alpha and tumor necrosis factor-alpha induced by the chemotherapy. Taken together, the combination of AHCC plus UFT brought about good therapeutic effects not only on primary tumor growth but also on reducing metastasis and these effects were mediated by host immunity which was restored or activated by AHCC. AHCC may be a good candidate for a biological response modifier.

The mechanism of locally enhanced production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in tumor tissues by the administration of a new synthetic lipid A analog, ONO-4007, in hepatoma-bearing rats.

ONO-4007 is a new synthetic lipid A analog with low endotoxic activities. We previously found that ONO-4007 induced the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in rat hepatoma KDH-8 tumor tissues and brought about the regression of transplanted KDH-8 cells. By contrast, ONO-4007 did not induce TNF-alpha production in spleens and sera 90 min after treatment. In the present study we attempted to elucidate how ONO-4007 induces TNF-alpha production in tumor tissues locally. We found that extracellular matrix including gelatin, fibronectin and Matrigel did not induce TNF-alpha production in splenocytes treated with ONO-4007 in vitro. However, splenocytes co-cultured with cKDH-8/11 tumor cells in the presence of ONO-4007 produced more TNF-alpha than splenocytes cultured by themselves in the presence of ONO-4007. The stimulation of cKDH-8/11 cells in the presence of ONO-4007 for splenocytes to produce TNF-alpha depended on the type of contact between the cells. The cKDH-8/11 cells fixed in formalin were not able to induce TNF-alpha production of splenocytes even in the presence of ONO-4007. However, syngeneic fibrosarcoma cell line KMT-17/A3, allogeneic hepatocellular carcinoma cell line LDH and rat lung endotherial cell line RLE induced TNF-alpha production in splenocytes, but their stimulation was weaker than that of cKDH-8/11. The soluble form of the cKDH-8/11 cell membrane did not stimulate splenocytes to produce TNF-alpha in the presence of ONO-4007. cKDH-8/11 cells did not stimulate the splenocytes devoid of macrophages to produce TNF-alpha in the presence of ONO-4007.

Therapeutic effects of a new synthetic lipid A analog, ONO-4007, on rat hepatoma KDH-8 depend on tumor necrosis factor-sensitivity of the tumor cells.

ONO-4007 is a new synthetic lipid A derivative with low endotoxic activities. ONO-4007 was effective against KDH-8, a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-sensitive rat hepatoma cell line, but neither effective against KMT-17, a TNF-resistant rat fibrosarcoma cell line, nor SST-2, a TNF-resistant rat mammary adenocarcinoma cell line. We have established two sublines from KDH-8 to further examine the therapeutic mechanisms of ONO-4007 in vivo: TNF-sensitive KDH-8/YK and TNF-resistant cKDH-8/11. The two sublines equally proliferated in vitro. Multiple systemic i.v. administration of ONO-4007 was performed on days 7, 14 and 21 after tumor implantation. Although treatment with ONO-4007 had no effect on the growth of cKDH-8/11 in WKAH rats in vivo, 60% of KDH-8/YK-bearing rats treated with ONO-4007 survived. The administration of ONO-4007 brought about significant therapeutic effects on KDH-8/YK-bearing rats but not on cKDH-8/11-bearing rats. These results suggest that ONO-4007 is therapeutically useful for the treatment of TNF-alpha-sensitive tumors.

A new synthetic lipid A analog, ONO-4007, stimulates the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in tumor tissues, resulting in the rejection of transplanted rat hepatoma cells.

ONO-4007 is a new synthetic lipid A derivative with low endotoxic activities. We have examined the therapeutic effects of ONO-4007 on rat hepatocellular carcinoma KDH-8 cells, rat fibrosarcoma KMT-17 cells and rat mammary adenocarcinoma SST-2 cells in vivo. Multiple systemic i.v. administration of ONO-4007 was performed on days 7, 14 and 21 after tumor implantation of KDH-8 and SST-2 cells, and on days 5, 10 and 15 after tumor implantation of KMT-17 cells. ONO-4007 showed significant therapeutic effects on KDH-8 cells; by the administration of ONO-4007 (2.5 mg/kg) 70% of rats were cured and by the administration of ONO-4007 (5 mg/kg) 50% of rats were cured. Furthermore, the ONO-4007 treatment prolonged the mean survival time of KDH-8-bearing rats. However, ONO-4007 had no effect on KMT-17 and SST-2 cells, and it had no direct effect on the growth of KDH-8 cells in vivo. Albeit the stimulation with ONO-4007 induced mRNA expressions of interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, those of IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and interferon (IFN)-gamma were not induced. Using a bioassay, we found that the production of TNF-alpha in the tumor tissues was induced by ONO-4007 in a dose-dependent manner. KDH-8 cells were sensitive to human natural TNF-alpha in vitro. However, KMT-17 and SST-2 cells were resistant against TNF-alpha in vitro. These results suggest that ONO-4007 is therapeutically useful for the treatment of TNF-alpha-sensitive tumors.

[Augmentation of vaccination effects of PGE2-producing tumor cells by transfection with cytokine genes].

Potentially antigenic tumors often escape from the immune surveillance system by producing immunosuppressive factors. It has previously been reported that a progressor-type murine fibrosarcoma culture line, QRpP cells, produced high levels of PGE2 compared with a regressor-type tumor line, QR-32 cells, and that QRpP cells progressively grew in syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. In order to improve suppressed immunogenicity of QRpP cells with the high levels of PGE2, the author transfected QRpP cells with an effective expression vector containing cDNA for IL-2, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. These transfected clones expressed mRNA for IL-2, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, respectively, and produced high levels of cytokines in their culture supernatants. Consequentry, QRpP cells transfected with IL-2 (QRpP-IL-2), IFN-gamma (QRpP-IFN-gamma), IL-2 and IFN-gamma (QRpP-IL-2/IFN-gamma), TNF-alpha (QRpP-TNF-alpha) lowered in tumorigenicity. In particular, the mice that had rejected the implantation of QRpP-IL-2 clone also rejected implantation of the parental QRpP cells. The activity of pre-cytotoxic T cells (pre-CTLs) obtained from the mice implanted with QRpP-IL-2 clone was higher than that of the mice implanted with other transfectants. These results suggested that transfection with the gene for IL-2 is an effective strategy against the producing immunosuppressive factors such as PGE2.