Protective cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses against paramyxoviruses induced by epitope-based DNA vaccines: involvement of IFN-gamma

Plasmid DNA vectors have been constructed with minigenes encoding a single cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitope from either the M2 protein of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or from the nucleoprotein of measles virus (MV) with or without a signal sequence (also called secretory or leader sequence). Following intradermal immunization, plasmids in which the CTL epitopes were expressed in-frame with the signal sequence were more effective at inducing peptide- and virus- specific CTL responses than plasmids expressing CTL epitopes without the signal sequence. This immunization resulted in protection against MV-induced encephalitis and a significant reduction in viral load following RSV challenge. The reduction of viral load following RSV challenge was abrogated by prior injection with anti-IFN-gamma antibodies. These results highlight the ability of epitope-based DNA immunization to induce protective immune responses to well-defined epitopes and indicate the potential of this approach for the development of vaccines against infectious diseases.      

Paradoxical stimulation and inhibition by protein kinase C modulating agents of lipopolysaccharide evoked production of tumour necrosis factor in human monocytes.

Human blood monocytes were activated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (LPS) (10 ng/ml) for cytotoxicity of WEHI-164 mouse fibrosarcoma cells, determined by release of 51Cr from WEHI-164 tumour cells incubated with monocyte supernatants. The chemotactic peptide N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) augmented LPS-induced cytotoxicity but had no effect alone. FMLP but not LPS stimulated phospholipase C (PLC), determined by the release of [3H]inositol phosphates. Addition of tumour promoter and protein kinase C stimulant, phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) at concentrations of 3 x 10(-10) M to 3 x 10(-9) M, resulted in an augmentation of 30-200% in LPS-evoked cytotoxicity. The effects of FMLP and PMA, like the effect of LPS alone, were completely blocked by antibody to recombinant human tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), indicating that cytotoxicity induced by LPS, FMLP, and PMA were due solely to TNF release. Concentrations of PMA greater than 3 x 10(-9) M caused inhibition of TNF release. Okadaic acid (20 ng/ml), an inhibitor of phosphatases I and IIa, augmented the effects of LPS and the stimulatory effects of low levels of PMA, suggesting that phosphorylation was important in the actions of both LPS and PMA. The effects of LPS and of low levels of PMA were augmented by the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors H-7 (10-30 microM), staurosporine (2-10 nM) and calphostin C (0.1 microM). Higher concentrations of the inhibitors prevented LPS-evoked TNF release and its augmentation by low levels of PMA. However, they did not prevent the inhibition by high levels of PMA. One possible explanation for the results is that different isozymes of PKC may mediate the stimulatory as compared to the inhibitory effects of PKC on TNF production.     

Identification of MEN1 gene mutations in sporadic carcinoid tumors of the lung

Lung carcinoids occur sporadically and rarely in association with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). There are no well defined genetic abnormalities known to occur in these tumors. We studied 11 sporadic lung carcinoids for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the locus of the MEN1 gene on chromosome 11q13, and for mutations of the MEN1 gene using dideoxy fingerprinting. Additionally, a lung carcinoid from a MEN1 patient was studied. In four of 11 (36%) sporadic tumors, both copies of the MEN1 gene were inactivated. All four tumors showed the presence of a MEN1 gene mutation and loss of the other allele. Observed mutations included a 1 bp insertion, a 1 bp deletion, a 13 bp deletion and a single nucleotide substitution affecting a donor splice site. Each mutation predicts truncation or potentially complete loss of menin. The remaining seven tumors showed neither the presence of a MEN1 gene mutation nor 11q13 LOH. The tumor from the MEN1 patient showed LOH at chromosome 11q13 and a complex germline MEN1 gene mutation. The data implicate the MEN1 gene in the pathogenesis of sporadic lung carcinoids, representing the first defined genetic alteration in these tumors.      

Paramagnetic macrocyclic complexes as contrast agents for MR imaging: proton nuclear relaxation rate enhancement in aqueous solution and in rat tissues

Paramagnetic macrocyclic chelates show promise as magnetic resonance (MR) imaging contrast agents due to stability and relaxivity comparable to those of DTPA-type chelates. For the three copper and manganese macrocyclic complexes studied in aqueous solution, T1 and T2 relaxivities ranged from 0.14 to 5.88 mM-1sec-1 at 6.25 MHz. In rats, the intravenous administration of 16 mumol/kg of Mn(cyclam) caused the liver T1 relaxation rate to double at 15 minutes after injection. T1 measurements by pulsed MR imaging and manganese analyses on excised tissue showed that both relaxation rate (1/T1) and manganese content of liver and kidney increase linearly with the dosage of Mn(cyclam). The linear relationship between 1/T1 and manganese content can be considered an "in tissue" relaxivity plot for the agent. The resulting relaxivity is 54 mM-1sec-1 in liver, compared with 3.1 mM-1sec-1 in aqueous solution. Although this work is preliminary, the implication for medical MR imaging applications is that macrocyclic contrast agents can be effective at approximately one-tenth the current typical dose used for gadolinium DTPA.     

Cervical tissue uptake of all-trans-retinoic acid delivered via a collagen sponge-cervical cap delivery device in patients with cervical dysplasia

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the systemic absorption and cervical tissue uptake of all-transretinoic acid (TRA), delivered via a collagen spongecervical cap delivery device in patients with intraepithelial cervical dysplasia. Ten patients with histologically proven mild or moderate cervical dysplasia were included in this pharmacologic study. The two TRA concentrations (0.05% and 0.372%) selected for study represent the starting and maximally tolerated doses used in phase I clinical trial. All-trans-retinoic-11-³H acid (³H-TRA, 500 Ci) was used to facilitate cervical tissue uptake studies. Cervical biopsies and post-treatment blood samples were obtained from each patient after TRA exposure. The uptake of TRA into cervical tissues four hours after drug administration was significantly increased at the maximally tolerated TRA dose. There was a rapid decrease in cervical tissue concentration of TRA at the 0.372% dose between 4 and 24 h after drug exposure, suggesting a relatively short elimination half-life of TRA in cervical tissues. HPLC analysis of post-treatment blood samples indicate that there was no systemic absorption of TRA after local cervical administration.     

Evaluation of anticancer drug schedule dependency using an in vitro human tumor clonogenic assay

Summary A human tumor clonogenic assay (HTCA) has been used to evaluate standard and experimental anticancer drugs with respect to thrir inhibition of clonogenicity of both fresh human cancers and human tumor cell lines. By comparing the inhibitory effect on tumor colony-forming unit (TCFU) growth of 1-h and continuous drug exposures in the HTCA we were able to identify and separate schedule-dependent (e.g., bleomycin, vinblastine, and etoposide) and schedule-independent drugs (e.g., actinomycin D, adriamycin, basantrene, and cis-platinum). Vinblastine, bleomycin, and etoposide, which are known to have cell cycle-specific characteristics, caused exponential reduction in tumor colony formation when given by continuous exposure, whereas when given with a short exposure each of these drugs caused plateau-type dose-response curves. For comparison of the relative efficacy of the two dosing schedules, a ratio (1-h versus continuous exposures) was calculated of the drug concentrations which reduced growth of TCFU to 50% of the control values (ID₅₀) for fresh human tumors and human tumor cell lines. For fresh tumors, ID₅₀ ratios for adriamycin, actinomycin D, and bisantrene ranged between 2 and 60 (median 14), whereas the ID₅₀ ratios for bleomycin, vinblastine, and etoposide ranged between 100 and 3,000 (median 600). The fact that actinomycin D, adriamycin, and bisantrene (a new anthracene-type drug) had similarly shaped dose-response curves and very low ID₅₀ ratios suggests that the cytotoxicity of these compounds may not be schedule-dependent. On the other hand, the steep dose-survival curves we observed after continuous drug exposure and the high ID₅₀ ratios of bleomycin, vinblastine, and etoposide suggest that these drugs may possess schedule-dependent cytotoxicity characteristics. Before final conclusions are drawn concerning a drug's schedule dependency it is essential to evaluate its in vitro stability and protein-binding characteristics. Finally, it must be emphasized that unlike the results obtained with 1-h exposure studies, the in vitro continuous exposure schedules have yet to be shown to be predictive of clinical response for any agent or tumor type.     

Differential pharmacology between the guinea-pig and the gorilla 5-HT1D receptor as probed with isochromans (5-HT1D-selective ligands).

1. Both the 5-HT1D and 5-HT1B receptors are implicated in migraine pathophysiology. Recently isochromans have been discovered to bind primate 5-HT1D receptors with much higher affinity than 5-HT1B receptors. In the guinea-pig, a primary animal model for anti-migraine drug testing, however, isochromans bound the 5-HT1D receptor with lower affinity than the gorilla receptor. 2. This species-specific pharmacology was investigated, using site-directed mutagenesis on cloned guinea-pig receptors heterologously expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 cells. Mutations of threonine 100 and arginine 102 at the extracellular side of transmembrane II of the guinea-pig 5-HT1D receptor to the corresponding primate residues, isoleucine and histidine, respectively, enhanced its affinity for isochromans to that of the gorilla receptor, with little effects on its affinities for serotonin, sumatriptan and metergoline. Free energy change from the R102H mutation was about twice as much as that from the T100I mutation. 3. For G protein-coupling, serotonin marginally enhanced GTPgamma35S binding in membranes expressing the guinea-pig 5-HT1D receptor and its mutants, but robustly in membranes expressing the gorilla receptor. Sumatriptan enhanced GTPgamma35S binding in the latter nearly as much as serotonin, and several isochromans by 30-60% of serotonin. 4. We discovered key differences in the function and binding properties of guinea-pig and gorilla 5-HT1D receptors, and identified contributions of I100 and H102 of primate 5-HT1D receptors to isochroman binding. Among common experimental animals, only the rabbit shares I100 and H102 with primates, and could be useful for studying isochroman actions in vivo.