CLU blocks HDACI-mediated killing of neuroblastoma

Clusterin is a ubiquitously expressed glycoprotein with multiple binding partners including IL-6, Ku70, and Bax. Clusterin blocks apoptosis by binding to activated Bax and sequestering it in the cytoplasm, thereby preventing Bax from entering mitochondria, releasing cytochrome c, and triggering apoptosis. Because increased clusterin expression correlates with aggressive behavior in tumors, clusterin inhibition might be beneficial in cancer treatment. Our recent findings indicated that, in neuroblastoma cells, cytoplasmic Bax also binds to Ku70; when Ku70 is acetylated, Bax is released and can initiate cell death. Therefore, increasing Ku70 acetylation, such as by using histone deacetylase inhibitors, may be therapeutically useful in promoting cell death in neuroblastoma tumors. Since clusterin, Bax, and Ku70 form a complex, it seemed likely that clusterin would mediate its anti-apoptotic effects by inhibiting Ku70 acetylation and blocking Bax release. Our results, however, demonstrate that while clusterin level does indeed determine the sensitivity of neuroblastoma cells to histone deacetylase inhibitor-induced cell death, it does so without affecting histone deacetylase-inhibitor-induced Ku70 acetylation. Our results suggest that in neuroblastoma, clusterin exerts its anti-apoptotic effects downstream of Ku70 acetylation, likely by directly blocking Bax activation.     

TGF-β-induced IRAK-M expression in tumor-associated macrophages regulates lung tumor growth

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) constitute a major component of the immune cell infiltrate observed in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Factors present in the TME, including tumor growth factor-β (TGF-β), allow tumors to circumvent host-mediated immune responses to promote tumor progression. However, the molecular mechanism(s) involved are not clear. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important mediators of innate immune responses by immune cells, whose activation triggers the production of molecules required for anti-tumoral responses. Interleukin (IL) receptor-associated kinase (IRAK)-M is an inactive serine/threonine kinase, predominantly expressed in macrophages and is a potent negative regulator of TLR signaling. In this study, we show that TAMs express significantly higher levels of IRAK-M compared with peritoneal macrophages in a syngeneic mouse model of lung cancer. Subcutaneous implantation of Lewis lung carcinoma cells in IRAK-M(-/-) mice resulted in a five-fold reduction in tumor growth as compared with tumors in wild-type (WT) animals. Furthermore, compared with WT TAMs, TAMs isolated from IRAK-M(-/-) mice displayed features of a classically activated (M1) rather than alternatively activated (M2) phenotype, as manifest by greater expression of IL-12, interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and inducible nitric oxide synthase. Human lung cancer cells induced IRAK-M expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) when co-cultured together. Tumor cell-induced expression of IRAK-M was dependent on the activation of TGF-β pathway. Similarly, treatment of human PBMCs or mouse macrophage cell line, RAW 264.4, with TGF-β, induced IRAK-M expression. Interestingly, IRAK-M gene expression in 439 human lung adenocarcinoma tumors correlated with poor survival in patients with lung cancer. Together, our data demonstrates that TGF-β-dependent induction of IRAK-M expression is an important, clinically relevant mechanism by which tumors may circumvent anti-tumor responses of macrophages.     

Systemic delivery of timolol after dermal application: Transdermal flux and skin irritation potential in the rat and dog

Timolol, a beta-adrenergic antagonist, was evaluated for transdermal flux with rat skin in vitro and with the dog in vivo. Skin irritation after dermal application of timolol was assessed in the rat in vivo. Drug flux across rat skin in vitro ranged between 2 and 110 µg cm^–2 hr^–1, dependent on the formulation. The transdermal flux of timolol in the dog was greater than 10 µg cm^–2 hr^–1. This estimate was based on the degree of antagonism of isoproterenol challenge following transdermal administration of timolol relative to that obtained following intravenous administration of timolol. Irritation was observed in the rat after occluded dermal application of timolol free base but was not observed when the concentration of the drug in the formulation was decreased.     

Nonrandom distribution of structural mutants in ethylnitrosourea-treated cultured human lymphoblastoid cells.

Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis has been used to detect somatic cell gene mutations altering protein structure, following ethylnitrosourea treatment of cultured human lymphoblastoid cells. A total of 267 polypeptides encoded by 263 loci were scored in a series of 1143 lymphoblastoid clones. Sixty-five electrophoretic mutants were detected at a total of 49 loci. Sixteen of the 65 mutations were phenotypically repeat mutations, occurring at 11 loci. Furthermore, structural mutations occurred more frequently at loci known to be polymorphic. These results provide evidence that the mutations that are detectable at the protein level by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis do not occur at random and that their frequency is greater among polymorphic loci.     

The controlled porosity osmotic pump

The zero-order release of water soluble, osmotically active agents from tablets coated with controlled porosity walls has been investigated. The walls were sponge-like in appearance and substantially permeable to both water and dissolved solutes. The rate of release was a function of the wall thickness, level of leachable additives incorporated and permeability of the polymer component of the walls, the total solubility of the core tablet, the drug load, and the osmotic pressure difference across the wall. Release was insensitive to the pH and degree of agitation in the receptor media. Release was primarily due to an osmotic pump mechanism. Steady-state release rates were calculated from basic water and solute permeabilities of the walls and correlated with actual device performance. The concept of osmotically actuated drug delivery on an equivalent mass per unit surface area basis was demonstrated and extended, as well, to multiparticulate dosage forms.