Proapoptotic death receptor agonists act as vascular disrupting agents

Activation of DR5 on endothelial cells disrupts tumor vasculature and reduces tumor growth.     

Orphan receptor tyrosine kinase ROR2 as a potential therapeutic target for osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is the most prevalent bone malignant tumor in children and adolescents, and displays heterogeneous histology and high propensity for distant metastasis. Although adjuvant chemotherapy remarkably improved treatment outcome over the past few decades, prognosis for osteosarcoma patients with pulmonary metastasis is still unsatisfactory. To identify novel therapeutic targets for osteosarcoma, we investigated the gene expression profile of osteosarcomas by cDNA microarray analysis and found transactivation of receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 ( ROR2 ) expression in the majority of osteosarcoma samples. Treatment of osteosarcoma cell lines with siRNA against ROR2 significantly inhibited cell proliferation and migration. We also identified wingless-type MMTV integration site family, member 5B ( WNT5B ) as a putative ROR2 ligand and that the physiological interaction of WNT5B and ROR2 could enhance cell migration, indicating the possible roles of ROR2 and WNT5B in the metastatic property of osteosarcoma cells. Taken together, our findings revealed that the WNT5B/ROR2 signaling pathway is a promising therapeutic target for osteosarcoma. ( Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 1227–1233)     

Boron-containing nucleosides as potential delivery agents for neutron capture therapy of brain tumors

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate both in vitro and in vivo a series of boron-containing nucleosides that potentially could be used as delivery agents for neutron capture therapy. The rationale for their synthesis was based on the fact that proliferating neoplastic cells have increased requirements for nucleic acid precursors, and, therefore, they should preferentially localize in the tumor. A series of 3-carboranlyalkyl thymidine analogs has been synthesized and a subset, designated N4, N5, and N7, and the corresponding 3-dihydroxypropyl derivatives, designated N4-2OH, N5-2OH, and N7-2OH, have been selected for evaluation. Using these compounds as substrates for recombinant human thymidine kinase-1 and the mitochondrial isoenzyme thymidine kinase-2, the highest phosphorylation levels relative to thymidine were seen with N5 and the corresponding dihydroxypropyl analog N5-2OH. In contrast, N4, N4-OH, N7, and N7-OH had substantially lower phosphorylation levels. To compare compounds with high and low thymidine kinase-1 substrate activity, N5 and N7 and the corresponding dihydroxypropyl derivatives were selected for evaluation of their cellular toxicity, uptake and retention by the F98 rat glioma, human MRA melanoma, and murine L929 cell lines, all of which are thymidine kinase-1(+), and a mutant L929 cell line that is thymidine kinase-1(-). N5-2OH was the least toxic (IC50, 43-70 microm), and N7 and N7-2OH were the most toxic (IC50, 18-49 microm). The highest boron uptake was seen with N7-2OH by the MRA 27 melanoma and L929 wild-type (wt) cell lines. The highest retention was seen with L929 (wt) cells, and this ranged from 29% for N5-2OH to 46% for N7. Based on the in vitro toxicity and uptake data, N5-2OH was selected for in vivo biodistribution studies either in rats bearing intracerebral implants of the F98 glioma or in mice bearing either s.c. or intracerebral implants of L929 (wt) tumors. At 2.5 hours after convection-enhanced delivery, the boron values for the F98 glioma and normal brain were 16.2 +/- 2.3 and 2.2 microg/g, respectively, and the tumor to brain ratio was 8.5. Boron values at 4 hours after convection-enhanced delivery of N5-2OH to mice bearing intracerebral implants of L929 (wt) or L929 thymidine kinase-1(-) tumors were 39.8 +/- 10.8 and 12.4 +/- 1.6 microg/g, respectively, and the corresponding normal brain values were 4.4 and 1.6 microg/g, thereby indicating that there was selective retention by the thymidine kinase-1(+) tumors. Based on these favorable in vitro and in vivo data, neutron capture therapy studies will be initiated using N5-2OH in combination with two non-cell cycle dependent boron delivery agents, boronophenylalanine and sodium borocaptate.     

MicroRNAs as potential agents to alter resistance to cytotoxic anticancer therapy

Tumor cells use preexisting prosurvival signaling pathways to evade the damaging and cytotoxic effects of anticancer agents. Radiation therapy is a primary form of cytotoxic anticancer treatment, but agents that successfully modify the radiation response in vivo are lacking. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are global gene regulators that play critical roles in oncogenesis and have been found to regulate prosurvival pathways. However, there is little understanding of how cellular miRNA expression affects the response of a cancer to cytotoxic therapy and ultimately outcome. The let-7 family of miRNAs regulates expression of oncogenes, such as RAS, and is specifically down-regulated in many cancer subtypes. In fact, low levels of let-7 predict a poor outcome in lung cancer. Here, we report that the let-7 family of miRNAs is overrepresented in a class of miRNAs exhibiting altered expression in response to radiation. More strikingly, we also can create a radiosensitive state when the select let-7 family of miRNAs is overexpressed in vitro in lung cancer cells and in vivo in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of radiation-induced cell death, whereas decreasing their levels causes radioresistance. In C. elegans, we show that this is partly through control of the proto-oncogene homologue let-60/RAS and genes in the DNA damage response pathway. These findings are the first direct evidence that miRNAs can suppress resistance to anticancer cytotoxic therapy, a common feature of cancer cells, and suggest that miRNAs may be a viable tool to augment current cancer therapies.     

Lentiviral shRNA screen of human kinases identifies PLK1 as a potential therapeutic target for osteosarcoma

We describe an optimized systematic screen of known kinases using osteosarcoma cell lines (KHOS and U-2OS) and a lentiviral-based short hairpin RNA (shRNA) human kinase library. CellTiter 96®AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay was used to measure cell growth and survival. We identified several kinases, including human polo-like kinase (PLK1), which inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells when knocked down. cDNA rescue and synthetic siRNA assays confirm that the observed phenotypic changes result from the loss of PLK1 gene expression.     

Palliative therapy for osteosarcoma

Despite advances in diagnostic imaging, the evolution of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the refinements in limb-salvage surgery, the progression-free survival rate remains poor for patients with metastatic, recurrent or unresectable osteosarcoma. Different therapeutic strategies for these subgroups of patients have been employed to control disease and prolong survival. Treatment options are limited and controversial, including systemic and localized therapies. Surgical resection, whenever feasible, is still the standard treatment in advanced osteosarcoma. The role of chemotherapy is unclear while the use of radiotherapy, embolization and thermal ablation is increasing. New therapeutic experimental approaches and novel target therapies are needed to improve the outcome of these subgroups of patients.     

Anti-angiogenic therapy for osteosarcoma

Even in tumor centers using established protocols, the survival rate of patients with osteosarcoma has not improved significantly in recent years. Novel therapies are urgently needed as an adjunct to conventional treatment modalities, to reduce the dose and subsequent toxicity associated with current chemotherapy, improve local disease control, prevent development of metastases, and offer an alternative treatment for those tumors that are poorly responsive to chemotherapy. Anti-angiogenic therapy currently holds great potential in conjunction with conventional treatment modalities for osteosarcoma. Specifically, anti-angiogenic factors derived from cartilage, a natural barrier to osteosarcoma invasion, may have important therapeutic applications in osteosarcoma.     

Rhodamine dyes as potential agents for photochemotherapy of cancer in human bladder carcinoma cells

The phototoxicity in vitro of rhodamine 123 and tetrabromo rhodamine 123 (TBR) was compared, in order to assess their photochemotherapeutic potential. Exposure to 514.5-nm radiation from an argon ion laser caused phototoxicity in MGH-U1 bladder carcinoma cells previously treated with either dye at 10 microM for 30 min. As assessed by colony formation and cellular morphology, TBR was markedly more phototoxic than rhodamine 123, reflecting increased intersystem crossing of TBR to the triplet manifold via spin-orbital coupling induced by the heavy bromine atoms. Photoreactions of TBR very efficiently generated singlet oxygen (1O2) in solution; furthermore, irradiation of TBR-treated cells was significantly more toxic when performed in the presence of deuterium oxide, an enhancer of damage caused by 1O2. Retention of fluorescence in TBR-treated cells was enhanced by irradiation, indicating that a stable photoproduct may be formed in reaction with cellular components.     

Increased Fas expression reduces the metastatic potential of human osteosarcoma cells.

PURPOSE: The process of metastasis requires the single tumor cell that seeds the metastatic clone to complete a complex series of steps. Identifying factors responsible for these steps is essential in developing and improving targeted therapy for metastasis. Resistance to receptor-mediated cell death, such as the Fas/Fas ligand pathway, is one mechanism commonly exploited by metastatic cell populations. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND RESULTS: LM7, a subline of the SAOS human osteosarcoma cell line with low Fas expression, was selected for its high metastatic potential in an experimental nude mouse model. When transfected with the full-length Fas gene (LM7-Fas), these cells expressed higher levels of Fas than the parental LM7 cells or LM7-neo control-transfected cells. These cells were also more sensitive to Fas-induced cell death than controls. When injected intravenously into nude mice, the LM7-Fas cell line produced a significantly lower incidence of tumor nodules than control cell lines. Lung weight and tumor nodule size were also decreased in those mice injected with LM7-Fas. Levels of Fas were quantified in osteosarcoma lung nodules from 17 patients. Eight samples were Fas negative, whereas the remaining 9 were only weakly positive compared with normal human liver (positive control). CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that altering Fas expression can impact the metastatic potential of osteosarcoma cells. We conclude that the increase of Fas on the surface of the LM7 osteosarcoma cells increased their sensitivity to Fas-induced cell death in the microenvironment of the lung, where Fas ligand is constitutively expressed. Thus, loss of Fas expression is one mechanism by which osteosarcoma cells may evade host resistance mechanisms in the lung, increasing metastatic potential. Fas may therefore be a new therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.     

Smoothened as a new therapeutic target for human osteosarcoma

Background  

The Hedgehog signaling pathway functions as an organizer in embryonic development. Recent studies have demonstrated constitutive activation of Hedgehog pathway in various types of malignancies. However, it remains unclear how Hedgehog pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma. To explore the involvement of aberrant Hedgehog pathway in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma, we investigated the expression and activation of Hedgehog pathway in osteosarcoma and examined the effect of SMOOTHENED (SMO) inhibition.     

Platelet-derived growth factor receptor as a prognostic marker and a therapeutic target for imatinib mesylate therapy in osteosarcoma

The purpose of this review was to determine whether imatinib mesylate (STI571, Gleevec) has a role in the treatment of osteosarcoma. The expression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor and its ligand was examined in a panel of surgical specimens obtained from 54 osteosarcoma patients, and then the expression was compared with prognosis. The effects of imatinib mesylate on growth and molecular events in 10 patient-derived osteosarcoma cell cultures were investigated. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrated frequent expression of PDGF-AA (80.4%) and PDGF-alpha receptor (79.6%) and their correlation with inferior event-free survival (P < .05). PDGF-B-B and PDGF-beta-receptor expressions were also frequent (75.4% and 86%, respectively); however, statistically significant inferior event-free survival was not demonstrated (P = .15). In vitro studies demonstrated that imatinib mesylate had a variable cytotoxic effect on various osteosarcoma primary cultures, with an IC(50) of 5.6 microM to 9.5 microM, and blocked the PDGF-induced intracellular signal transduction as well as inhibition of downstream Akt phosphorylation. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was constitutively activated despite PDGF stimulation and imatinib mesylate treatment in 7 of 10 osteosarcoma cultures, perhaps explaining uncontrolled proliferation and relative unresponsiveness to imatinib. Imatinib mesylate could not be viewed as having a role as a single agent at current conventional doses for the treatment of osteosarcoma. These findings predicted activity in osteosarcoma clinical trials and suggested that in vitro model systems predict clinical behavior and that PDGF and its receptor expression could potentially be used for determining prognosis of osteosarcoma.     

CCK2 gastrin receptor as a potential target for therapy in leukaemia cell lines

The gastrin CCK2 pathway has been implicated in the development of various cancers including leukaemia. An autocrine or intracrine pathway may exist in the leukaemia cell that is involved in stimulating proliferation. We tested four leukaemia cell lines, KU812, ML-1, MOLT-4 and U937 for the existence of the CCK2 receptor and gastrin precursor protein using immunoblotting. We also assessed the effect of CCK2 antagonist PD 135 and both gastrin 17 and glycine-extended gastrin on the proliferation of the cell lines. We found immunoreactive CCK2 and gastrin precursors present in all 4 cell lines. We also observed a stimulatory effect on proliferation by gastrin and glycine-extended gastrin on 2 and 3 of the cell lines respectively and an inhibitory effect of PD 135 on all 4 cell lines. These results demonstrate that the gastrin-gastrin receptor axis is a potential target for new therapeutic strategies.     

Bax gene therapy for human osteosarcoma using cationic liposomes in vivo

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anti-tumor effect of human osteosarcoma (HOSM-1) tumor xenografts in nude mice via transfer of the Bax gene using cationic liposomes. The HOSM-1 tumors transplanted into nude mice grew to 5-6 mm in diameter. Following growth of the tumor to this size, liposomes with the Bax plasmid were applied locally to the peripheral tumor (day 0) and were applied 3 times per week for 2 weeks (6 times in total). The tumor growth inhibitory effect was evaluated by measuring the tumor volume up to day 40. The expression of Bax was observed by immunohistochemical analysis and apoptosis was detected using the TUNEL assay. Tumor growth increased only slightly during the administration period, and tumor volume on day 50 was 43% of that in the saline control group. In the tumor margin 48 h after the completion of administration, Bax immunoreactivity was detected and apoptotic cells were clearly increased. Since these results suggested that Bax gene therapy using cationic liposome induced apoptosis in HOSM-1 tumor in vivo, we anticipate that this therapy will be useful for the treatment of osteosarcoma.     

The EGF receptor family as targets for cancer therapy.

Human carcinomas frequently express high levels of receptors in the EGF receptor family, and overexpression of at least two of these receptors, the EGF receptor (EGFr) and closely related ErbB2, has been associated with a more aggressive clinical behavior. Further, transfection or activation of high levels of these two receptors in nonmalignant cell lines can lead to a transformed phenotype. For these reasons therapies directed at preventing the function of these receptors have the potential to be useful anti-cancer treatments. In the last two decades monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) which block activation of the EGFr and ErbB2 have been developed. These MAbs have shown promising preclinical activity and 'chimeric' and 'humanized' MAbs have been produced in order to obviate the problem of host immune reactions. Clinical activity with these antibodies has been documented: trastuzumab, a humanized anti-ErbB2 MAb, is active and was recently approved in combination with paclitaxel for the therapy of patients with metastatic ErbB2-overexpressing breast cancer; IMC-C225, a chimeric anti-EGFr MAb, has shown impressive activity when combined with radiation therapy and reverses resistance to chemotherapy. In addition to antibodies, compounds that directly inhibit receptor tyrosine kinases have shown preclinical activity and early clinical activity has been reported. A series of phase III studies with these antibodies and direct tyrosine kinase inhibitors are ongoing or planned, and will further address the role of these active anti-receptor agents in the treatment of patients with cancer.     

Novel coumarins as potential anticarcinogenic agents

The potential anticarcinogenic properties of several novel coumarin derivatives whose structures are based on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were examined in the multistage model of mouse skin tumorigenesis. The test compounds were evaluated for their affinity to bind competitively with rat cytosolic Ah-receptor in rat hepatic cytosol, their effects on mouse epidermal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) after topical application, and for their effects on the levels of hydrocarbon-DNA adducts formed in vivo. All compounds showed good correlations between cytosolic Ah-receptor binding and their ability to induce epidermal AHH activity. Among the derivatives evaluated the coumarin (8-methyl-9H-10-oxabenzo[a]pyren-9-one) exhibited the highest affinity for the Ah-receptor and was also the most potent inducer of epidermal AHH activity. This compound also effectively inhibited the covalent binding of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) to epidermal DNA when given either 5 min or 24 h prior to application of [3H]DMBA. This novel coumarin derivative significantly inhibited skin tumor initiation by DMBA in SENCAR mice when given at a dose of 200 nmol, 5 min (69% inhibition) or 24 h (76% inhibition) prior to initiation. The results of these studies suggest that this class of compounds shows considerable promise for future development as potential inhibitors of PAH-mediated tumor initiation on mouse skin. Potential mechanism(s) for the anti-initiating action of these compounds are discussed.     

Picket-fence porphyrins as potential phototherapeutic agents

The synthetic "picket fence" porphyrin, tetra(o-acetamidophenyl)porphine (TAc), as a biological photosensitizer has been evaluated both in vitro and in vivo in mitochondria from the R3230AC mammary tumor. Studies in vitro, consisting of incubation of mitochondria with TAc at a concentration of 4.0 micrograms/ml followed by photolysis, result in the inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase, proton translocating ATPase, succinate dehydrogenase, and malate dehydrogenase. The diminution in activity of the first three enzymes is approximately 2-fold greater than that seen with Photofrin II under the same conditions. Although TAc exists as four isolable atropisomers, no differences among these different forms were observed in their photosensitized inhibition of mitochondrial enzymes. Administration to tumor-bearing rats of TAc i.p. at a dose of 25 mg/kg did result in accumulation of porphyrin within the mitochondria of the R3230AC tumor as determined by subsequent irradiation of isolated mitochondria. The potential utility of TAc and related porphyrins in cancer phototherapy is discussed.