Ability of sera from mice treated with Ge-132, an organic germanium compound, to inhibit experimental murine ascites tumours

Sera from C57Bl/6 mice treated orally with Ge-132 exhibited antitumour activity against Ehrlich (allogeneic) and RL male 1 (syngeneic) ascites tumours in BALB/c mice. Sera obtained from mice 24 h after Ge-132 administration displayed the greatest antitumour effect and this was dose dependent. Sera prepared from mice 12, 36, or 48 h after Ge-132 treatment had no protective effect. Circulating interferon (IFN) was induced at 24 h after administration of Ge-132 but was not detected in the sera at 12, 36, or 48 h after administration. The antiviral activity of sera from Ge-132-treated mice was inactivated by treatments with trypsin, low pH, and anti-IFN gamma antiserum. The inactivated preparations of serum IFN induced by Ge-132 did not exhibit antitumour activity when administered to tumour-bearing mice. These results suggest that antitumour activity in the sera of Ge-132-treated mice may be expressed through activities of Ge-132-induced lymphokine(s), such as IFN gamma.     

Ability of sera from mice treated with Ge-132, an organo-germanium compound, to inhibit experimental murine ascites tumors

Serum specimens from mice treated orally with Ge-132 (100 mg/kg) exhibited antitumor activity against Ehrlich (allogeneic) and RL 1 (syngeneic) ascites tumors in BALB/c mice. Sera obtained from mice 24 hours after Ge-132 administration displayed the highest antitumor effect and the antitumor activity was dose-dependent. Sera prepared from mice 12, 36 or 48 hours after Ge-132 treatment had no protective effect. Circulating interferon (IFN) was induced at 24 hours after administration. The antiviral activity of serum from Ge-132-treated mice was inactivated by treatment with trypsin, low pH, and anti-IFN-gamma antiserum. The inactivated preparations of serum IFN induced by Ge-132 did not show antitumor activity when administered to mice bearing Ehrlich ascites tumors. These results suggest that the antitumor activity in the sera of Ge-132-treated mice may have been expressed through IFN-gamma which was induced by Ge-132.     

Antitumor effect in mice of an organic germanium compound (Ge-132) when different administration methods are used

The antitumor effect of an organic germanium compound, carboxyethylgermanium sesquioxide (Ge-132), was examined in mice using two systems: one, the ascitic form of Ehrlich carcinoma in DDI mice, and the other, the solid form of Meth-A fibrosarcoma in BALB/c mice. In the mice with Ehrlich ascitic tumors, a remarkable prolongation in life span was observed after intraperitoneal (i.p.) or per oral (p.o.) administration of Ge-132 (300 mg/kg), but not after intravenous (i.v.) injection of the same compound. Following i.p. or p.o. administration, cytotoxic macrophages (M?) were induced in the peritoneal cavity after 48 h. although this was not the case after i.v. injections. When the in vivo effect of these in vitro active M? was examined after adoptive transfer to mice bearing Ehrlich ascitic tumor cells, a significant antitumor effect was noted. In the mice bearing solid Meth-A tumors, i.v. injections of Ge-132 (100 mg/kg) were found to inhibit tumor growth remarkably, although i.p. and p.o. administrations did not have the same result. This inhibitory effect of Ge-132 by i.v. administration was explained by the continued augmentation of NK activity in peripheral blood, which was followed by the induction of specific killer cells appearing in the spleen. When the mice which had recovered from Meth-A tumor growth, following i.v. injections of Ge-132, were challenged with the same tumor on day 30, all mice were able to tolerate the challenge, but not a challenge of RL male 1 tumor cells. These observations may indicate that the differing antitumor effects of Ge-132 produced when different administration methods are used can be explained by the variation in effector cells induced by such different administration routes.     

Suppression of tumor growth by peritoneal macrophages isolated from mice treated with carboxyethylgermanium sesquioxide (Ge-132)

In a murine model it has been shown that the antitumor activity of carboxyethylgermanium sesquioxide (Ge-132) can be depleted by administration of macrophage (M phi) blockers. In the present study, the role that M phi play in the antitumor activity of the compound was investigated. Oral administration of Ge-132 in mice was demonstrated to be effective in activating M phi (Ge-132-cytotoxic M phi), and the cytotoxic activity of these M phi appeared in the peritoneal cavity of mice 48 hours after the oral administration of the compound. Co-cultivation of RL male-1 leukemia or Ehrlich carcinoma cells with Ge-132-cytotoxic M phi in vitro resulted in marked suppression of the growth of tumor cells. The transfer of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC), or purified M phi fractions of PEC from Ge-132-treated mice to mice bearing Ehrlich or RL male-1 ascites tumors resulted in significant protection. However, when the cytotoxic M phi were depleted by carbonyl-iron treatment in vitro, no antitumor effect was demonstrated in mice bearing Ehrlich or RL male-1 ascites tumors. Macrophage fractions obtained from PEC of Ge-132-treated mice exhibited an inhibitory effect against certain tumors both in vivo and in vitro suggesting that the antitumor effect of Ge-132 observed in vivo resulted from the activation of M phi.     

Cooperation of lymphokine(s) and macrophages in expression of antitumor activity of carboxyethylgermanium sesquioxide (Ge-132)

The administration of IFN containing sera (Ge-sera) obtained from Ge-132-treated mice (Ge-mice) or the passive transfer of macrophages (M phi) to mice bearing ascites tumors resulted in the inhibition of tumor growth. The cooperative role of Ge-sera and Ge-M phi in the display of Ge-132-antitumor activity was studied. When mice were pretreated with antimouse IFN gamma antiserum, no IFN-inducing and antitumor activities of the compound were detected. Cytotoxic activities were detected on peritoneal M phi of mice treated with Ge-sera, and passive transfer of these M phi to tumor-bearing mice resulted in the inhibition of tumor growth. When tumor-bearing mice were pretreated with substances toxic to M phi, there was no antitumor activity of Ge-sera observed. However, there was antitumor activity of Ge-sera in mice depleted of T-cells, even though the antitumor effects of the compound itself were not demonstrable in T-cell depleted mice. Therefore, a part of the antitumor activity of Ge-132 may appear to be expressed as follows: (1) Ge-132 stimulated T-cells to produce circulating lymphokine(s) which were inactivated by anti-IFN gamma treatment; (2) activated M phi were generated from resting M phi by such lymphokine(s); (3) the transplanted tumors were inhibited by these M phi.     

Antitumor mechanisms of carboxyethyl-germanium sesquioxide (Ge-132) in mice bearing Ehrlich ascites tumors

The administration of IFN-containing sera (Ge-sera) obtained from Ge-132-treated mice (Ge-mice) or the passive transfer of macrophages (M phi) to mice bearing ascites tumors resulted in the inhibition of tumor growth. The cooperative role of Ge-sera and Ge-M phi in the display of Ge-132-antitumor activity was studied. When mice were pretreated with antimouse IFN gamma antiserum, no IFN-inducing or antitumor activities of the compound were detected. Cytotoxic activities were detected in peritoneal M phi of mice treated with Ge-sera, and passive transfer of these M phi to tumor-bearing mice resulted in the inhibition of tumor growth. When tumor-bearing mice were pretreated with substances toxic to M phi, no antitumor activity of Ge-sera was observed. However, Ge-132 antitumor activity was observed in mice depleted of T-cells, even though the antitumor effects of the compound itself were not demonstrable in T-cell-depleted mice. Therefore, a part of the antitumor activity of Ge-132 appears to be expressed as follows: Ge-132 stimulates T-cells to produce circulating lymphokine(s) which are inactivated by anti-IFN gamma treatment; activated M phi are generated from resting M phi by these lymphokine(s); the transplanted tumors are inhibited by these M phi.     

Characterization and bioactivity of interferon induced by Streptococcus faecalis preparation, TH69

It was demonstrated that TH69, an lyophylized preparation of streptococcus faecalis TH001 (ATCC No. 31663) induced interferon gamma (IFN gamma) in spleen cell cultures. The IFN activity was found in 8 hrs and reached to the peak of 120-240 U/ml 24-48 hrs after incubation in every concentration of 4, 20, and 100 micrograms/ml of TH69. TH69-induced IFN (TH69-IFN) was produced by T cells assisted by macrophages which were stimulated with TH69, and the activity was neutralized by 80-90% with anti-IFN gamma serum but hardly neutralized with anti-IFN alpha, beta serum. Therefore, TH69-IFN was found to be mostly gamma type. The elution profile of TH69-IFN activity on a column with Toyopearl HW-55S showed that molecular weight of IFN was estimated at 18,000-28,000. Sequential purification on this column of TH69-IFN increased the specific activity to approximately 2.5 X 10(4) U/mg protein (partially purified TH69-IFN: TH69-IFNp). A small amount of TH69-IFNp (5-50 U/ml) augmented NK activity and induced cytotoxic macrophages in vitro. Growth of Meth-A tumor cells exposed to TH69-IFNp of 100 U/ml in vitro declined to 50% and three times injection of TH69-IFN (200 U/50 microliters) into the tumor sites of mice given implants of Meth-A suppressed the tumor growth.     

Antitumor activity of Ge-132, a new organogermanium compound, in mice is expressed through the functions of macrophages and T lymphocytes

The antitumor activity of Ge-132 against a variety of allogeneic and syngeneic murine ascites tumors was first evaluated. The antitumor effects of Ge-132 were observed when mice inoculated with Ehrlich carcinoma (allogeneic) or RL male 1 leukemia (syngeneic) cells were treated orally. However, Ge-132 had no activity on a T-cell lymphoma (EL 4, syngeneic) or a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma (Meth-A, syngeneic). The antitumor effect of Ge-132 in mice was related to the dose administered as well as the administration schedule. The antitumor activity of Ge-132 was next studied in mice pretreated with some blockers against immunocompetent cells. The antitumor efficacy of Ge-132 was not observed when tumor-bearing mice were treated with trypan blue and carrageenan or monoclonal anti-Thy 1.2 antibody. However, when natural killer cells were eliminated from mice bearing RL male 1 or Ehrlich ascites tumors by treatment with anti-asialo GM 1 antiserum, the antitumor efficacy of the compound was unchanged. These results suggest that Ge-132 is effective against certain ascites tumors regardless of whether the tumor is syngeneic or allogeneic. Further, its effect might be expressed through host defense mechanisms, including macrophages and/or T lymphocytes.     

Generation of mouse natural killer (NK) cell activity: effect of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon (IFN) on the in vivo development of natural killer cells from bone marrow (BM) progenitor cells

The possible effect of IL-2, alpha,beta-IFN and poly I:C (an IFN inducer) administration on the generation of NK cells of LI and BM-reconstituted animals was investigated. B6D2F1 mice were LI (9.5 Gy) by total-body irradiation and reconstituted by i.v. injection of different doses (ranging from 10(6) to 2 X 10(7)) of syngeneic BM, after which the levels of splenic NK activity were evaluated on days 4, 7, 9, 12 and 14 after LI and BM graft. After a marked decline on day 4 (no detectable NK activity at any effector to target ratio tested), NK activity gradually returned, reaching the levels of untreated controls on day 9. Groups of LI and BM-reconstituted mice were also treated i.p. with mouse or human recombinant IL-2 from day 0 through day 3 (15-50 U/day/mouse) after BM transplantation. It appears that an earlier reconstitution of NK activity occurs in IL-2-treated animals as compared to medium-injected controls. LI and BM-reconstituted animals were also treated i.p. with alpha,beta-IFN (10(4) U/mouse) or Poly I:C (1 mg/kg/mouse) from day 0 through day 3, and the splenic NK activity was evaluated at 4, 7, 9, 12 and 14 days after LI and BM graft. Our data indicate that in vivo administration of IFN or Poly I:C was able to cause an earlier maturation of NK activity as measured on days 7 and 9 after LI. In contrast, when the NK activity of IFN-treated animals was compared with that of controls 14 days after LI and BM graft, a significant inhibition was found due to the induction of suppressor cells. Pre-treatment of donor BM with Poly I:C or IFN was also able to induce a more rapid reconstitution of NK activity of recipient mice. The NK activity reconstitution paralleled the increase in the number of splenic LGL. A synergistic effect was obtained when LI mice were transplanted with Poly I:C-pre-treated BM and then treated with IL-2. The effector cell in the IFN and IL-2 treated chimeras is a typical NK cell: asialo GM-1+, Thy 1 +/-, Lyt 1-, Lyt 2- and reactive only against NK-susceptible targets. These data suggest that IL-2 as well as IFN may represent maturational signals in the in vivo physiological regulation of growth and differentiation of BM NK stem-cells.     

Inhibition of intravascular mouse melanoma dissemination by recombinant human interferon alpha A/D

The effects of pure recombinant human interferon alpha A/D (IFN alpha A/D) on natural killer (NK) activity and the experimental lung metastasis of B16-F10 melanoma were studied. Treatment of C57BL/6 mice with IFN alpha A/D augmented splenic NK activity and also inhibited the experimental lung metastasis of B16-F10 melanoma in a dose-dependent manner. The augmentation of NK activity and the inhibition of experimental lung metastasis by IFN alpha A/D were completely abolished in anti-asialo GM1-pretreated mice. These results suggested that the effector cells which inhibited melanoma metastasis in the present system were mainly NK cells, and that it was by activating NK cells that IFN alpha A/D had its effect. We next studied the timing of IFN alpha A/D administration for the most effective prevention of melanoma metastasis. The inhibitory effect of IFN alpha A/D was most pronounced when it was given 12 hr before or at the same time as melanoma inoculation. This suggested that melanoma cells were susceptible to NK cells only for a short period of time after intravascular invasion.     

Immunomodulation of natural killer cell activity by flavone acetic acid: occurrence via induction of interferon alpha/beta

The investigational drug flavone acetic acid (FAA) systemically augments natural killer (NK) cell activity in normal and tumor-bearing mice and in human cancer patients. The results from the present investigation demonstrate that in vivo administration of FAA induces in a dose-dependent manner high levels of serum interferon (IFN) within 4 hours in BALB/c, C57BL/6, and BALB/c nude mice. Antibody neutralization studies indicated that FAA induced IFN of the alpha/beta type, while molecular hybridization studies demonstrated that FAA rapidly stimulated the production of IFN alpha mRNA in splenic leukocytes. In vivo administration of anti-IFN alpha/beta antibodies to FAA-treated mice inhibited the FAA-induced augmentation of splenic NK cell activity at 4 hours. These results suggest that FAA mediates its anti-tumor effects indirectly by immunomodulation as well as directly by antiproliferative or cytotoxic activity.     

In vitro modulation of human natural killer cell activity by interferon: generation of adherent suppressor cells

The in vivo and in vitro effects of human alpha-interferon (IFN) on blood natural killer (NK) cell activity were studied in patients with malignant melanoma. The initial response to an i.m. injection of IFN was a depression of blood NK cell activity, being detectable at 4 h and reaching a nadir at 12 h. Blood NK cell activity returned to or exceeded pretreatment levels within 24 h. The frequency of large granular lymphocytes among peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), however, remained unchanged during the first 24 h of IFN treatment. In a single cell cytotoxicity assay in agarose the number of lymphocytes forming conjugates with K562 target cells was not affected at 12-h points of IFN treatment, while the frequency of lytic conjugates with dead target cells was decreased by 12 h. Thus, the number of active NK cells was reduced by IFN administration. While in vitro exposure to IFN resulted in an augmentation of NK cell activity of PBL from untreated patients, IFN failed to enhance the activity of PBL obtained 12 h post IFN injection. When PBL obtained 12 h after IFN injection were cultured overnight, they recovered their responsiveness to NK-boosting effects of IFN. Blood monocytes obtained at 12-h points from IFN-treated patients suppressed IFN-induced enhancement of NK cell activity, although these monocytes did not inhibit the base line level of NK cell activity. In contrast, the streptococcal preparation OK432 was able to augment NK cell activity of PBL obtained 12 h post IFN administration and of control PBL even in the presence of suppressor monocytes. PBL obtained 24 h post IFN injection expressing enhanced NK cell activity were also unresponsive to IFN in vitro. However, monocytes obtained 24 h after IFN injection were no longer able to inhibit IFN-induced augmentation of NK cell activity. These results indicate that in vivo administration of IFN-alpha to cancer patients results in rapid and transient generation of suppressor monocytes capable of inhibiting IFN-dependent development of functional NK cell activity, which could be responsible for the initial and transient decline in blood NK cell activity.     

Importance of T-cells and macrophages in the antitumor activity of carboxyethylgermanium sesquioxide (Ge-132)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effective mechanisms of Ge-132, an organogermanium compound with immunomodulatory activity, on experimental murine ascites tumors. The antitumor effects of Ge-132 were observed when mice inoculated with Ehrlich carcinoma (allogeneic) or RL male 1 leukemia (syngeneic) cells were treated orally. However, Ge-132 had no activity on EL-4 lymphoma (syngeneic) or Meth A fibrosarcoma (syngeneic). The antitumor activity of Ge-132 was not observed when tumor-bearing mice were treated with trypan blue, carrageenan, or monoclonal anti-Thy 1.2 antibody. However, when natural killer (NK) cells were eliminated from mice bearing RL male 1 or Ehrlich ascites tumors by treatment with anti-asialo GM1 antiserum, the antitumor activity of the compound was unchanged. This suggests that Ge-132 was effective against certain ascites tumors regardless of whether the tumor was syngeneic or allogeneic. Furthermore, its effect might be expressed through host defense mechanisms, including macrophages and/or T-cells.     

Activation of mouse macrophages by pyran copolymer and role in augmentation of natural killer activity.

Inoculation of mice with pyran copolymer resulted in activation of natural killer (NK) cells as well as macrophages. Conditions optimal for the boosting of NK activity seemed to differ from those optimal for macrophage activation as assessed by cytostasis of tumor target cells. Peak levels of macrophage cytostatic reactivity were found at about 7 days after drug injection and were only achieved by the highest doses of pyran tested. Macrophage activation was consistently higher in the peritoneal cavity than in the spleen, regardless of route of administration, in contrast to the failure of i.v. pyran to induce high NK reactivity in peritoneal exudate cells. At 2-3 days after pyran treatment of older mice, NK augmentation reached peak levels, but only minimal macrophage activation was found. Despite these differences, macrophages played a role in regulating NK activity in pyran-treated mice. Functional macrophages appeared to be required for augmentation of NK activity by pyran, since boosting was impaired by prior in vivo inoculation of silica. Macrophages also appeared able to inhibit NK activity. In younger mice that exhibited high spontaneous levels of NK activity, pyran treatment produced a substantial reduction in NK activity to levels below those of untreated mice. This depression coincided with the time of peak levels of macrophage cytostasis. Furthermore, removal of adherent cells from the spleen cells of these pyran-treated mice resulted in levels of NK activity almost as high as those of untreated mice. The possibility that the depression of NK activity in young mice by pyran copolymer is due to suppressor cells is discussed.     

瘤内／瘤周注射巨噬细胞集落刺激因子或（和）干扰素—γ基因转染的 …

目的 观察巨噬细胞集落刺激因子（Ｍ－ＣＳＦ）和干扰素－γ（ＩＦＮ－γ）基因单独或联合转染的巨噬细胞对局部黑色素瘤的治疗效果及相关免疫机理。     

Role of macrophage in in vitro augmentation of rat, mouse, and human natural killer activities

Requirement for macrophages in in vitro augmentation, by interferon (IFN), polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C), or Corynebacterium parvum, of rat, mouse, and human natural killer (NK) activities was examined. Several differences were seen among the species. Mouse NK activity demonstrated some lability at 37 degrees C and a strict macrophage requirement for in vitro production of IFN, and augmentation of NK activity was demonstrated by either poly I:C or C. parvum. In contrast, human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) depleted of monocytes by adherence on nylon wool demonstrated NK activity, which was not labile but rather increased substantially upon overnight culture at 37 degrees C alone or with poly I:C or C. parvum. Monocyte-depleted human PBL also produced IFN in these cultures. The pattern of reactivity seen with rat spleen cell cultures was different from either that of mouse and human cells. This pattern of reactivity had no lability at 37 degrees C and had a macrophage requirement for IFN production and NK cell augmentation upon culture alone or with poly I:C but not with C. parvum. These results indicated some major differences among species in the regulation of NK activity in vitro and the requirement for macrophages for the in vitro production of IFN. A better understanding of these differences will be helpful in choosing appropriate models for in vitro and in vivo studies of NK cell activity.     

三种有机锗（G－132，Ge－162，Ge－164）对小鼠骨髓嗜多染红细胞微核率的影响

本文以三种有机锗（Ｇｅ－１３２，Ｇｅ－１６２．Ｇｅ－１６４）对小鼠进行灌胃处理，以测定对环磷酰胺（ＣＰ）诱发的骨髓嗜多染红细胞微核率的抑制作用，结果表明，三种有机锗均能降低微核率，与阳性对照组比较有显著性差异（Ｐ＜０．０５）．而三种有机锗之间抑制微核率的效能无差异（Ｐ＜０．０５）。提示，三种有机锗均可拮抗ＣＰ的致突变作用。     

Role of natural killer cells in the mechanism of the antitumor effect of interferon on Moloney sarcoma virus-transformed cells

The growth of tumors induced by inoculation of cells transformed by Moloney sarcoma virus can be inhibited by in situ administration of interferon (IFN) beginning one day after tumor challenge and continuing for 2 or 3 additional days. Inhibition of tumor growth by IFN was associated with a marked augmentation of natural killer (NK) cell activity, both in the spleen and at the site of tumor challenge, by day 5 after tumor challenge. However, using optimal conditions for IFN treatment, depletion of NK cells by in vivo treatment with anti-asialo GM1 prior to tumor challenge had no significant effect on inhibition of tumor growth by IFN. When the tumor load was greater or when IFN treatment was shorter, treatment with anti-asialo-GM1 partially abrogated the inhibition of tumor growth by IFN. In vitro assays gave no evidence of IFN enhancement of specific T-cell or activated macrophage antitumor effect. These results suggest that under optimal treatment conditions, the mechanism of the antitumor effect of IFN was independent of augmentation of NK activity, but under suboptimal conditions NK cells play a role in the mechanism of the antitumor effect of IFN.     

The mechanism of augmentation of natural killer cell activity by syngeneic tumor cells: role of macrophage-derived factor in NK boosting

The role of natural killer (NK) cells in controlling tumor growth was investigated using an NK-susceptible (c127v-IC2) and an NK-insusceptible (c127av) subline of the lymphoma L5178Y. Syngeneic DBA/2 mice inoculated intraperitoneally with c127v-IC2 tumor cells survived significantly longer than did c127av-bearing mice. Similarly, c127v-IC2, but not c127av tumor cells, were found to augment NK activity of spleen and peritoneal exudate cells in both DBA/2 and BALB/c nu/nu mice when inoculated into the peritoneal cavity. C127v-IC2 tumor cells incubated with either DBA/2 or BALB/c nu/nu spleen cells in vitro boosted NK activity and induced the production of gamma-type interferon (IFN), whereas incubation with c127av tumor cells induced neither NK activity nor IFN. Two kinds of cells cooperated in the production of IFN in response to c127v-IC2 tumor cells, namely, cells which were nonadherent, bore asialo-GM1, NK-1.2 and a low level of Thy-1.2 antigen and thus closely resembled NK cells, and those which were adherent and phagocytic and lacked both asialo-GM1 and NK-1.2 markers, presumably macrophages. Further analysis strongly suggested that c127-v-IC2 tumor cells stimulate macrophages to produce factor(s) which can induce the production of IFN by NK cells. The induced IFN was shown to be of the gamma type by its lability at pH 2.0 and insusceptibility to anti-IFN alpha, beta serum. This suggests a novel pathway for NK cell activation, and strongly supports the importance of macrophages and NK cells in natural resistance against certain tumors.