Citation Details

Journal Article

Animals, B16-F10-luc2, B16F10-luc2; Coloring Agents/administration & dosage/*diagnostic use; Indocyanine Green/administration & dosage/*diagnostic use; Injections, Intradermal; Liposomes/administration & dosage; Lymphatic Metastasis; Lymphatic Vessels/metabolism/*pathology; Melanoma, Experimental/blood supply/metabolism/*pathology; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C/biosynthesis

Lymphatic vessels play a major role in cancer progression and in postsurgical lymphedema, and several new therapeutic approaches targeting lymphatics are currently being developed. Thus, there is a critical need for quantitative imaging methods to measure lymphatic flow. Indocyanine green (ICG) has been used for optical imaging of the lymphatic system, but it is unstable in solution and may rapidly enter venous capillaries after local injection. We developed a novel liposomal formulation of ICG (LP-ICG), resulting in vastly improved stability in solution and an increased fluorescence signal with a shift toward longer wavelength absorption and emission. When injected intradermally to mice, LP-ICG was specifically taken up by lymphatic vessels and allowed improved visualization of deep lymph nodes. In a genetic mouse model of lymphatic dysfunction, injection of LP-ICG showed no enhancement of draining lymph nodes and slower clearance from the injection site. In mice bearing B16 luciferase-expressing melanomas expressing vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C), sequential near-IR imaging of intradermally injected LP-ICG enabled quantification of lymphatic flow. Increased flow through draining lymph nodes was observed in mice bearing VEGF-C-expressing tumors without metastases, whereas a decreased flow pattern was seen in mice with a higher lymph node tumor burden. This new method will likely facilitate quantitative studies of lymphatic function in preclinical investigations and may also have potential for imaging of lymphedema or improved sentinel lymph detection in cancer.

Journal Article

Bioware; MDA-MB-231-D3H2LN cells

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Journal Article

Amine Oxidase (Copper-Containing); Animals; Antigens, CD11b; B16-F10-luc-G5 cells; Bioware; Cell Adhesion Molecules; Cell Growth Processes; Female; Lymphoma; Male; Melanoma, Experimental; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Transgenic; Myeloid Cells; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Oxidoreductases; Receptors, Chemokine

Cancer growth is regulated by several nonmalignant cell types, such as leukocytes and endothelial cells, which reside in the stroma of the tumor. Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is an amine oxidase enzyme that is expressed on the surface of endothelial cells. It supports leukocyte traffic into inflamed tissues, but nothing is known about its possible role in cancer biology in vivo. Here, we report that B16 melanoma and EL-4 lymphoma remain smaller in VAP-1-deficient mice than in wild-type controls. We found an unexpected defect in tumor angiogenesis in the absence of VAP-1. VAP-1 also selectively enhanced the recruitment of Gr-1+CD11b+ myeloid cells into the tumors. Generation of mice expressing enzymatically inactive VAP-1 showed that the oxidase activity of VAP-1 was necessary to support neoangiogenesis, myeloid cell recruitment, and tumor growth in vivo. These data describe VAP-1 as the first adhesion molecule known to be involved in the recruitment of Gr-1+CD11b+ myeloid cells into tumors. They also suggest that VAP-1 is a potential new tool for immunotherapy of tumors that could be exploited to reduce tumor burden by controlling the traffic of Gr-1+CD11b+ myeloid cells.

Journal Article

Near infrared; NIF; near-infrared; intestinal inflammation

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Journal Article

Animals; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Apoptosis; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; Bioware; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Growth Processes; Cell Line, Tumor; Ergosterol; Female; Forkhead Transcription Factors; Humans; MDA-MB-231-D3H1 cells; Membrane Proteins; Mice; Mice, Nude; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; RNA, Small Interfering; Transfection; Withanolides; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Withaferin A (WA) is derived from the medicinal plant Withania somnifera, which has been safely used for centuries in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for treatment of different ailments. We now show, for the first time, that WA exhibits significant activity against human breast cancer cells in culture and in vivo. The WA treatment decreased viability of MCF-7 (estrogen-responsive) and MDA-MB-231 (estrogen-independent) human breast cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The WA-mediated suppression of breast cancer cell viability correlated with apoptosis induction characterized by DNA condensation, cytoplasmic histone-associated DNA fragmentation, and cleavage of poly-(ADP-ribose)-polymerase. On the other hand, a spontaneously immortalized normal mammary epithelial cell line (MCF-10A) was relatively more resistant to WA-induced apoptosis compared with breast cancer cells. The WA-mediated apoptosis was accompanied by induction of Bim-s and Bim-L in MCF-7 cells and induction of Bim-s and Bim-EL isoforms in MDA-MB-231 cells. The cytoplasmic histone-associated DNA fragmentation resulting from WA exposure was significantly attenuated by knockdown of protein levels of Bim and its transcriptional regulator FOXO3a in both cell lines. Moreover, FOXO3a knockdown conferred marked protection against WA-mediated induction of Bim-s expression. The growth of MDA-MB-231 cells implanted in female nude mice was significantly retarded by 5 weekly i.p. injections of 4 mg WA/kg body weight. The tumors from WA-treated mice exhibited reduced cell proliferation and increased apoptosis compared with tumors from control mice. These results point toward an important role of FOXO3a and Bim in regulation of WA-mediated apoptosis in human breast cancer cells.