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Journal Article

U87-MG-luc2, U-87-MG-luc2, U87MG-luc2, Bioluminescence, Glioma, IVIS

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is generated by ionizing neutral gas molecules/atoms leading to a highly reactive gas at ambient temperature containing excited molecules, reactive species and generating transient electric fields. Given its potential to interact with tissue or cells without a significant temperature increase, NTP appears as a promising approach for the treatment of various diseases including cancer. The aim of our study was to evaluate the interest of NTP both in vitro and in vivo. To this end, we evaluated the antitumor activity of NTP in vitro on two human cancer cell lines (glioblastoma U87MG and colorectal carcinoma HCT-116). Our data showed that NTP generated a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to the formation of DNA damages. This resulted in a multiphase cell cycle arrest and a subsequent apoptosis induction. In addition, in vivo experiments on U87MG bearing mice showed that NTP induced a reduction of bioluminescence and tumor volume as compared to nontreated mice. An induction of apoptosis was also observed together with an accumulation of cells in S phase of the cell cycle suggesting an arrest of tumor proliferation. In conclusion, we demonstrated here that the potential of NTP to generate ROS renders this strategy particularly promising in the context of tumor treatment.

Journal Article

IntegriSense, Animals; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid/chemistry; Ceramides/metabolism; Female; Gene Deletion; Gene Expression Regulation/physiology; Lung/*radiation effects; Lysophospholipids/*chemistry/*pharmacology; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; *Radiation Injuries, Experimental; Receptors, Lysosphingolipid/genetics/metabolism; Sphingolipids/*metabolism; Sphingosine/*analogs & derivatives/chemistry/pharmacology

Clinically significant radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a common toxicity in patients administered thoracic radiotherapy. Although the molecular etiology is poorly understood, we previously characterized a murine model of RILI in which alterations in lung barrier integrity surfaced as a potentially important pathobiological event and genome-wide lung gene mRNA levels identified dysregulation of sphingolipid metabolic pathway genes. We hypothesized that sphingolipid signaling components serve as modulators and novel therapeutic targets of RILI. Sphingolipid involvement in murine RILI was confirmed by radiation-induced increases in lung expression of sphingosine kinase (SphK) isoforms 1 and 2 and increases in the ratio of ceramide to sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and dihydro-S1P (DHS1P) levels in plasma, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and lung tissue. Mice with a targeted deletion of SphK1 (SphK1(-/-)) or with reduced expression of S1P receptors (S1PR1(+/-), S1PR2(-/-), and S1PR3(-/-)) exhibited marked RILI susceptibility. Finally, studies of 3 potent vascular barrier-protective S1P analogs, FTY720, (S)-FTY720-phosphonate (fTyS), and SEW-2871, identified significant RILI attenuation and radiation-induced gene dysregulation by the phosphonate analog, fTyS (0.1 and 1 mg/kg i.p., 2x/wk) and to a lesser degree by SEW-2871 (1 mg/kg i.p., 2x/wk), compared with those in controls. These results support the targeting of S1P signaling as a novel therapeutic strategy in RILI.

Journal Article

IntegriSense, Animals; Breast Neoplasms/metabolism/*pathology; Cattle; Chemokine CXCL12/metabolism; Female; Fluorescent Dyes/diagnostic use; Glioma/metabolism/*pathology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Mice; Mice, Nude; Receptors, CXCR/*metabolism; Receptors, CXCR4/*metabolism; Serum Albumin, Bovine/metabolism; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; Tumor Cells, Cultured

The chemokine CXCL12/SDF-1 and its receptors CXCR4 and CXCR7 play a major role in tumor invasion, proliferation and metastasis. Since both receptors are overexpressed on distinct tumor cells and on the tumor vasculature, we evaluated their potential as targets for detection of cancers by molecular imaging. We synthesized conjugates of CXCL12 and the near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye IRDye((R))800CW, tested their selectivity, sensitivity and biological activity in vitro and their feasibility to visualize tumors in vivo. Purified CXCL12-conjugates detected in vitro as low as 500 A764 human glioma cells or MCF-7 breast cancer cells that express CXCR7 alone or together with CXCR4. Binding was time- and concentration-dependent, and the label could be competitively displaced by the native peptide. Control conjugates with bovine serum albumin or lactalbumin failed to label the cells. In mice, the conjugate distributed rapidly. After 1-92 h, subcutaneous tumors of human MCF-7 and A764 cells in immunodeficient mice were detected with high sensitivity. Background was observed in particular in liver within the first 24 h, but also skull and hind limbs yielded some background. Overall, fluorescent CXCL12-conjugates are sensitive and selective probes to detect solid and metastatic tumors by targeting tumor cells and tumor vasculature.

Journal Article

MDA-MB-231-luc2, IVIS, Breast Cancer, Bioware

Breast cancer is a major challenge for pharmacologists to develop new drugs to improve the survival of cancer patients. Frondoside A is a triterpenoid glycoside isolated from the sea cucumber, Cucumaria frondosa. It has been demonstrated that Frondoside A inhibited the growth of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. We investigated the impact of Frondoside A on human breast cancer cell survival, migration and invasion in vitro, and on tumor growth in nude mice, using the human estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The non-tumorigenic MCF10-A cell line derived from normal human mammary epithelium was used as control. Frondoside A (0.01-5muM) decreased the viability of breast cancer cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, with 50%-effective concentration (EC50) of 2.5muM at 24h. MCF10-A cells were more resistant to the cytotoxic effect of Frondoside A (EC50 superior to 5muM at 24h). In the MDA-MB-231 cells, Frondoside A effectively increased the sub-G1 (apoptotic) cell fraction through the activation of p53, and subsequently the caspases 9 and 3/7 cell death pathways. In addition, Frondoside A induced a concentration-dependent inhibition of MDA-MB-231 cell migration and invasion. In vivo, Frondoside A (100mug/kg/dayi.p. for 24days) strongly decreased the growth of MDA-MB-231 tumor xenografts in athymic mice, without manifest toxic side-effects. Moreover, we found that Frondoside A could enhance the killing of breast cancer cells induced by the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel. These findings identify Frondoside A as a promising novel therapeutic agent for breast cancer.

Journal Article

IVIS, Xen29, Xen 29, Staphylococcus aureus Xen29, Animals; Blood Glucose/metabolism; Cell Adhesion/drug effects; Cell Count; Cell Movement/drug effects; Chemokine CXCL2/pharmacology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/blood/complications/*immunology/microbiology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/blood/complications/*immunology/microbiology; Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects; Disease Models, Animal; Hyperglycemia/chemically induced/complications; Inflammation/blood/complications/immunology/microbiology; Leukocytes/cytology/drug effects/*immunology/microbiology; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Phagocytes/cytology/drug effects/microbiology; Staphylococcus aureus/physiology

BACKGROUND: Patients suffering from diabetes show defective bacterial clearance. This study investigates the effects of elevated plasma glucose levels during diabetes on leukocyte recruitment and function in established models of inflammation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Diabetes was induced in C57Bl/6 mice by intravenous alloxan (causing severe hyperglycemia), or by high fat diet (moderate hyperglycemia). Leukocyte recruitment was studied in anaesthetized mice using intravital microscopy of exposed cremaster muscles, where numbers of rolling, adherent and emigrated leukocytes were quantified before and during exposure to the inflammatory chemokine MIP-2 (0.5 nM). During basal conditions, prior to addition of chemokine, the adherent and emigrated leukocytes were increased in both alloxan- (62+/-18% and 85+/-21%, respectively) and high fat diet-induced (77+/-25% and 86+/-17%, respectively) diabetes compared to control mice. MIP-2 induced leukocyte emigration in all groups, albeit significantly more cells emigrated in alloxan-treated mice (15.3+/-1.0) compared to control (8.0+/-1.1) mice. Bacterial clearance was followed for 10 days after subcutaneous injection of bioluminescent S. aureus using non-invasive IVIS imaging, and the inflammatory response was assessed by Myeloperoxidase-ELISA and confocal imaging. The phagocytic ability of leukocytes was assessed using LPS-coated fluorescent beads and flow cytometry. Despite efficient leukocyte recruitment, alloxan-treated mice demonstrated an impaired ability to clear bacterial infection, which we found correlated to a 50% decreased phagocytic ability of leukocytes in diabetic mice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results indicate that reduced ability to clear bacterial infections observed during experimentally induced diabetes is not due to reduced leukocyte recruitment since sustained hyperglycemia results in increased levels of adherent and emigrated leukocytes in mouse models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Instead, decreased phagocytic ability observed for leukocytes isolated from diabetic mice might account for the impaired bacterial clearance.