Development of Gene Therapy Using Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen Promoter/Enhancer with Cre Recombinase/LoxP System for Prostate Cancer Cells under Androgen Ablation Condition

To enhance the efficacy of suicide gene therapy for prostate cancer under androgen deprivation, we designed a promoter system that consists of the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) promoter/enhancer (PEPM) and Cre-loxP DNA recombination system. We constructed two kinds of plasmids. One plasmid contains a Cre recombinase (Cre) under the control of PEPM and the other expresses CMV-lox-luciferase/herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (TK). In PSMA-positive LNCaP cells, the promoter activity of the PEPM-Cre plus CMV-lox-luciferase demonstrated 800-fold greater activity compared with that of the PSMA promoter alone. However, no enhancement of the promoter activity was observed in the PSMA-negative cells. Furthermore, in contrast to prostate specific antigen promoter/enhancer (PP), the promoter activity of PEPM did not decrease when the LNCaP cells were cultured in charcoal-stripped fetal bovine serum (CFBS). In an in vitro gene therapy model with LNCaP cells, the cell growth inhibition in the presence of ganciclovir (GCV) was more evident in the cells transfected with the PEPM-Cre plus CMV-lox-TK than in the cells with the PP-TK, and the difference in efficacy between the two plasmids was more remarkable when the cells were maintained in CFBS medium. The therapeutic effect of PEPM-Cre plus CMV-lox-TK was also observed in xenografted LNCaP cells on nude mice when the plasmids were directly injected into tumors and GCV was administered intraperitoneally. These findings indicate that the combination of the PSMA promoter/enhancer and the Cre-loxP system can enhance the PSMA promoter activity even under androgen ablation conditions and can exert its anti-tumor effect both in vitro and in vivo.     

Bucindolol, a nonselective beta 1- and beta 2-adrenergic receptor antagonist, decreases beta-adrenergic receptor density in cultured embryonic chick cardiac myocyte membranes

Bucindolol and carvedilol, nonselective beta1- and beta2-adrenergic receptor antagonists, have been widely used in clinical therapeutic trials of congestive heart failure. The aim of the current study was to investigate long-term effects of bucindolol or carvedilol on beta-adrenergic receptor protein and gene expression in cardiac myocytes. Embryonic chick cardiac myocytes were cultured and incubated with bucindolol (1 microM), carvedilol (1 microM), or norepinephrine (1 microM) for 24 h. 125I-iodocyanopindolol binding assays demonstrated that incubation with norepinephrine or bucindolol, but not carvedilol, significantly decreased beta-adrenergic receptor density in crude membranes prepared from the myocytes. Neither bucindolol nor carvedilol significantly stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity in membranes from drug-untreated cells. Unlike by norepinephrine, the receptor density reduction by bucindolol incubation was not accompanied by a change in beta1-adrenergic receptor messenger RNA abundance. A decrease in membrane beta-adrenergic receptor density without a change in cognate messenger RNA abundance was also observed in hamster DDT1 MF2 cell line incubated with bucindolol (1 microM, 24 h). We conclude that incubation with bucindolol, but not carvedilol, results in true reduction of beta-adrenergic receptor density in chick cardiac myocyte membranes by mechanisms that are distinct from those responsible for receptor density reduction by the agonist norepinephrine.     

Successful unrelated cord blood transplantation for relapse after autologous transplantation in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

We report a 34-year-old male with relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation successfully treated with unrelated cord blood transplantation (CBT). The conditioning regimen included 12 Gy total body irradiation and cyclophosphamide. After the conditioning, a total of 3.14 x 10(7)/kg cord blood nucleated cells was infused on 14 February 2000. An absolute neutrophil count greater than 5 x 10(8)/l and a self-sustained platelet count greater than 50 x 10(9)/l were achieved on days 21 and 43, respectively. During the follow up period, grade I acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and limited chronic GVHD occurred, but both were successfully treated with a dose modification of cyclosporine. After a follow-up period of 16 months, the patient is alive and free of disease. To our knowledge this is the first report of a successful unrelated CBT for an adult NHL patient who relapsed after autologous transplantation.     

Decreased arterial responsiveness to multiple cyclic AMP-generating receptor agonists in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

1. Arterial relaxant responses via beta-adrenoceptors are decreased in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) when compared with normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). Recent studies from this laboratory proposed that a reduced function of stimulatory guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP)-binding protein (Gs) is responsible for the decreased beta-adrenoceptor responsiveness in the SHR femoral artery. Since the Gs is common to all tissues, as opposed to receptors, which are tissue specific, the reduced function of Gs should lead to resistance to multiple receptors that act by activating adenylate cyclase (AC). To test this hypothesis, relaxant responses via beta-adrenoceptors, A2-adenosine, H2-histamine and D1-dopamine receptors were compared between arterial strips from 13 week-old WKY and age-matched SHR. 2. The relaxant responses to noradrenaline (NA) via beta-adrenoceptors in femoral, mesenteric, renal and carotid arteries were significantly decreased in the SHR, when compared with the respective arteries from WKY. 3. However, under the same conditions arterial relaxant responses to forskolin, an activator of AC, were not significantly different between the WKY and SHR. 4. The relaxant responses due to activation of A2-adenosine. H2-histamine and D1-dopamine receptors were significantly decreased in the SHR arteries. 5. Nitroprusside and nifedipine, agents which are independent of the Gs.AC system, produced similar arterial relaxations in the WKY and SHR. 6. These results support the hypothesis that a reduced function of Gs in the SHR is responsible for the decreased arterial responsiveness to a variety of receptor agonists whose mechanism of action involves AC activation.     

Endothelium-derived relaxing factor released by 5-HT: distinct from nitric oxide in basilar arteries of normotensive and hypertensive rats.

1. The role of the endothelium in cerebrovascular responses to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) was investigated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) in vitro. 2. Cumulative addition of 5-HT caused concentration-dependent contractions in ring preparations of SHR basilar arteries; the contractile response was smaller in WKY basilar arteries. 3. Removal of the endothelium enhanced markedly the contractile responses to 5-HT in WKY arteries but had only a slight effect in SHR arteries. The responsiveness to 5-HT in WKY arteries after removal of endothelium was comparable to that in SHR arteries. 4. The endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by acetylcholine in WKY basilar arteries was almost abolished by treatment with 10 microM methylene blue or 10 microM NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NOARG). However, the response to 5-HT was not affected by treatment with methylene blue, L-NOARG or indomethacin. 5. Application of 10-20 mM K+ or 3.2 mM tetraethylammonium (TEA) did not change significantly, or only increased slightly, the resting tension, but markedly enhanced the contractile response to 5-HT in WKY arteries with endothelium. In contrast, the submaximal response to 5-HT in SHR arteries with endothelium was significantly enhanced by 0.3 mM TEA. 6. In the presence of 1 mM TEA, the application of 10 microM L-NOARG further enhanced the responses of 5-HT in WKY arteries with endothelium. In SHR arteries with endothelium, 10 microM L-NOARG per se enhanced slightly but significantly the responses to 5-HT.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effects of calcitonin gene-related peptide on canine cerebral artery strips and the in-vivo vertebral blood flow in dogs

Summary The effects of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) on canine cerebral arteries and on vertebral blood flow were investigated in-vivo and in-vitro and the findings compared with the effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and substance P. Administration of CGRP into the vertebral artery caused a dose-dependent and long-lasting increase in blood flow. The in-vivo vasodilatory effects of substance P and VIP were short-lasting. CGRP (0.1 to 100 nmol/l) elicited a concentration-dependent relaxation of the isolated middle cerebral and basilar arteries when the tissues were precontracted by exposure to prostaglandin F₂ (PGF₂). This effect was not antagonized by propranolol, atropine, tetrodotoxin, (N-Ac-Tyr¹, D-Phe²)-growth hormone-releasing factor(1–29)-NH₂ or (D-Pro², D-Trp^7,9) substance P. CGRP also reduced concentration-dependently the contraction of cerebral arteries induced by KCl or 9,11-epithio-11,12-metano-thromboxane A₂ (STXA₂). Mechanical removal of the endothelium did not abolish the vasodilatory response to CGRP. In PGF₂-contracted canine cerebral arteries, VIP (0.1 to 100 nmol/l) was less potent a vasodilator than CGRP. At low concentrations (0.01 to 1 nmol/l) substance P elicited a rapid and short-lasting relaxation, and in the absence of endothelium this relaxation disappeared. These findings are clear evidence that CGRP modulates vascular tone.     

Discovery of orally active nonpeptide bradykinin B2 receptor antagonists

Orally active nonpeptide bradykinin (BK) B2 receptor antagonists have been discovered by using directed random screening and chemical modification. These compounds displaced [3H]BK binding to B2 receptors in guinea-pig ileum membranes, rat uterus membranes and human lung fibroblasts with nanomolar IC50s. They did not inhibit different specific radio-ligand bindings to other receptor sites including B2 receptors. In isolated guinea-pig ileum preparations, these compounds had no agonistic effect on smooth muscle contraction at 10(-6) M, and caused parallel rightward shifts of the concentration-response curves to BK on contraction with higher p A2 values. They also blocked human B2 receptor-mediated phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis without agonistic effect. In vivo, the oral administrations of these antagonists potently inhibited BK-induced bronchoconstriction in guinea-pigs. They also reduced carrageenin-induced paw edema and caerulein-induced pancreatitis in rats. Moreover, these compounds alleviated kaolin-induced pain in mice by oral administration. These results show that our compounds are potent, selective, and orally active BK B2 receptor antagonists and that they may have therapeutic potential against inflammatory diseases and pain.     

Potentiation of the contractile response to acetylcholine in aortic strips by low concentrations of vascular contractile agonists.

1 The potentiating effect of a low concentration of various vascular contractile agonists on the response of rabbit aortic strips to acetylcholine was examined. 2 A marked parallel displacement to the left (potentiation; not additive effect) of the dose-response curve for acetylcholine was observed when 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), noradrenaline, histamine, angiotensin II or KCl were added at a concentration that caused only slight contraction (0.2 to 0.3 g) in the strips. This leftward displacement (potentiation) of the dose-response curve by these agonists was reversed to the control response curve by the respective blocking agents for each agonist, although the blocking agents themselves did not shift the acetylcholine dose-response curve to the right. Atropine produced a rightward displacement of the dose-response curve for acetylcholine. 3 The addition of an extremely low concentration of 5-HT or KCl which did not cause contraction, also produced a potentiation. 4 The order of potency of the agonists in potentiating the acetylcholine-induced contraction was KCl > 5-HT greater than or equal to histamine greater than or equal to angiotensin II > noradrenaline. 5 The contractile response of aortic strips to carbamylcholine was also potentiated by these agonists. 6 The results suggest that the potentiation by these agonists was not mediated through muscarinic receptors but through the respective receptors for each agonist.     

Antiulcer effects of 3-[[[2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl] carbamoyl]methyl]-amino-N-methylbenzamide in experimental gastric and duodenal ulcers

Effects of 3-[[[2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl]carbamoyl] methyl]-amino-N-methylbenzamide (DQ-2511), a newly synthesized compound, were evaluated using various types of experimental gastric and duodenal ulcers in rats. Pretreatment with DQ-2511, over the dose range 30-300 mg/kg p.o., resulted in a dose-related inhibition of water-immersion stress-, serotonin-, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)-, indometacin-, ethanol-, and 2-deoxy-D-glucose(2DG) plus indometacin-induced gastric ulcers as well as cysteamine-induced duodenal ulcers. The antiulcer potencies of DQ-2511 were equal to or greater than those of H2-receptor antagonist cimetidine in these ulcer models except for ASA- and 2DG plus indometacin-induced ulcers. The rate of healing of chronic gastric ulcers induced by acetic acid was significantly accelerated by DQ-2511 (100 and 300 mg/kg p.o.) but not by the same doses of cimetidine. DQ-2511, at doses of 30 mg/kg p.o. and above, produced a significant decrease in gastric acid and pepsin output in pylorus-ligated rats. In anesthetized rats with acute gastric fistulae, 30 mg/kg i.v. of DQ-2511 significantly inhibited gastric acid secretion stimulated by 2DG, whereas it did not affect gastric hyperacidity evoked by either carbachol, histamine or pentagastrin. At effective antiulcer doses, this compound produced a sustained increase in gastric mucosal blood flow in conscious, restrained rats. Based on these observations, DQ-2511 is characterized as a new antiulcer compound with beneficial effects on both gastric aggressive and defensive factors. Furthermore, these results indicate a possible superiority of DQ2511 over cimetidine in regard to its antiulcer potency and spectrum.