Lines of Murine Oligodendroglial Precursor Cells Immortalized by an Activated neu Tyrosine Kinase Show Distinct Degrees of Interaction with Axons In Vitro and In Vivo

Replication-defective retroviruses expressing the t- neu oncogene, or a hybrid protein with the neu tyrosine kinase linked to the external region of the human epidermal growth factor receptor ( egfr-neu ), were used to establish lines of murine oligodendroglial precursor cells. Differentiation of the t- neu lines into myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG)-positive oligodendrocytes was induced by dibutyryl cAMP, and the egfr-neu line showed limited differentiation in vitro upon withdrawal of epidermal growth factor. Cerebellar granule cell neurons expressed mitogens for the cell lines. Upon transplantation into demyelinated lesions, t- neu line cells engaged with the demyelinated axons whereas the egfr-neu line cells differentiated further and ensheathed the axons. These cell lines thus interact with neurons in vitro and in vivo and can be used as tools to define the molecules involved in different stages of neuron-glia interaction.     

反式二羟环氧苯并芘对人支气管上皮细胞中HER2/neu基因表达的影响

目的探讨环境致癌物苯并(a)芘代谢物反式二羟环氧苯并芘(BPDE)对人支气管上皮细胞HER2/neu基因表达的影响。方法利用半定量RT-PCR、SYBR GreenI实时定量RT-PCR(QRT-PCR)、Western blot及免疫细胞化学方法分别检测经2.0μmol/L反式BPDE诱发人支气管上皮细胞恶性转化细胞(16HBE-T)与对照DMSO溶剂组未恶性转化细胞(16HBE-N)之间HER2/neu基因mRNA和蛋白表达水平的差异,及两组细胞内HER2/neu蛋白表达定位分析。结果经几种不同方法检测反式BPDE恶性转化人支气管上皮细胞中HER2/neu基因mRNA和蛋白水平都比对照溶剂组细胞(16HBE-N)表达显著升高(P<0.05)。HER2/neu蛋白定位在胞膜。结论反式BPDE诱发人支气管上皮细胞恶性转化存在HER2/neu表达增高,其可能与原癌基因HER2/neu被激活作用有关。     

Novel pluripotential neural progenitor lines exhibiting rapid controlled differentiation to neurotransmitter receptor‐expressing neurons and glia

The immortalization of progenitor cells from embryonic murine hippocampus using oncogene‐carrying retroviral vectors is described. Use of a vector encoding the oncogene v‐myc results in lines of nestin‐positive progenitor cells. Limited differentiation ensues if the cells are cultured in the presence of dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate. In contrast, use of a vector in which the extracellular portion of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor is fused to the neu tyrosine kinase generates lines of pluripotential nestin‐positive progenitor cells, which differentiate upon withdrawal of EGF into neurons and glia. Differentiated neurons expressing action potentials and neurotransmitter receptors make up a high proportion of the cells. These cell lines are useful tools to investigate the characteristics of differentiating neurons and glia, as well as to screen neuroactive drugs. This work has been reported in preliminary form as an abstract (1996 Society for Neuroscience Abstract, #606.20, p. 1537).     

Antigenic and immunogenic mimicry of the HER2/neu oncoprotein by phage-displayed peptides

To recover peptides that antigenically and immunogenically mimic the p185^HER2 oncoprotein, we selected the phage-peptide libraries pVIII-9aa and pVIII-9aa. Cys using murine monoclonal antibodies (mAb) MGr2 and MGr6, directed against two distinct epitopes of the p185^HER2 extracellular domain. Phagedisplayed peptides containing consensus amino acid motifs were recovered and shown to compete specifically for mAb binding on tumor cells that overexpress p185^HER2. The deduced amino acid sequence of the peptides suggests that both epitopes defined by the mAb on p185^HER2 are discontinuous and that hydrophobic interactions are involved in binding with the mAb. A phage clone displaying the GPLDSLFAQ peptide elicited a specific immune response against the p185^HER2 in BALB/c mice, demonstrating that this phage-displayed peptide represents an immunological equivalent of the MGr2 epitope on p185^HER2 and might be used as a substitute for this oncoprotein in in vitro and in vivo immunological studies.     

Chemokine receptor CXCR4 expression in breast cancer as a potential predictive marker of isolated tumor cells in bone marrow

Interactions between the CXCR4 chemokine receptor in breast cancer cells and the ligand CXCL12/SDF-1α are thought to play an important role in breast cancer metastases. In this pilot study, CXCR4 expression along with other biomarkers including HER2-neu and EGFR, were measured in primary tumor samples of patients with operable breast cancer to test whether any of these biomarkers alone and in combination could indicate breast cancer with high likelihood of metastasizing to bone marrow. Cytokeratin (CK) positive cells in bone marrow were identified by flow-cytometry following enrichment with CK 7/8 antibody-coupled magnetic beads. Primary tumors (n = 18) were stained with specific antibodies for CXCR4, HER2-neu, EGFR, and PCNA using an indirect avidin–biotin horseradish peroxidase method. The majority of the patients had T2/T3 tumors (72%), or lymph node involvement (67%) as pathologic characteristics that were more indicative of high-risk breast cancer. High CXCR4 cytoplasmic expression was found in 7 of 18 patients (39%), whereas 6 of 18 patients (33%) were found to have CK positivity in bone marrow. The median number of CK⁺ cells was 236 (range, 20–847) per 5 × 10⁴ enriched BM cells. The presence of CK⁺ cells in bone marrow was found to be associated with increased expression of CXCR4 alone or in addition to EGFR and/or HER2-neu expression (P = 0.013, P = 0.005, and P = 0.025, respectively) in primary tumors. Furthermore, three patients with high CK positivity (>236 CK⁺ per 5 × 10⁴ enriched bone marrow cells) in bone marrow exclusively expressed high levels of CXCR4 with EGFR/HER2-neu (P = 0.001). Our data suggest that high CXCR4 expression in breast cancer may be a potential marker in predicting isolated tumor cells in bone marrow. CXCR4 coexpression with EGFR/HER2-neu might further predict a particular subset of patients with high CK positivity in bone marrow.     

The N-terminal flanking region of the invariant chain peptide augments the immunogenicity of a cryptic "self" epitope from a tumor-associated antigen

The N-terminal flanking region of the invariant chain peptide termed CLIP appears to have superagonistic properties interacting with the T cell receptor and the MHC class II molecule at or near the binding site for the bacterial superantigen Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). The present studies explored the hypothesis that the N-terminal segment of CLIP can augment the immunogenicity of cryptic "self" tumor-associated antigens. A chimeric construct of an MHC class II binding peptide from the c-erb oncogene (Her-2/neu) containing the N-terminal flanking region of CLIP elicited potent antitumor activity against a Her-2/neu-positive tumor in a rat model system. Comparatively, the unmodified parent peptide was ineffective. The induction of effective antitumor immunity, however, required presentation of the chimeric peptide construct on irradiated tumor cells or the peptide construct in concert with a Her-2/neu MHC class I-restricted peptide from Her-2/neu. As revealed by adoptive transfer studies, effective protective antitumor immunity in this setting required the CD4 T helper subset. Additionally, in vitro analysis revealed that immunization with the parent peptide resulted in a weak immune response to the unmodified peptide consisting of both type 1 (IL-2, IFN-gamma) and type 2 (IL-4, IL-10) cytokine-producing cells analyzed by RT-PCR (qualitative and quantitative) and by limiting dilution assay. Comparatively, immunization with the chimeric construct elicited a potent immune response to the parent peptide with predominantly type 1 cytokine-producing cells. Taken together, the results suggest that immunization with the chimeric Her-2/neu peptide induced protective antitumor immunity. Associated with this immunization strategy was the enhancement of a type 1 cytokine response.     

Pilot study of an HLA-A2 peptide vaccine using flt3 ligand as a systemic vaccine adjuvant

A pilot vaccine study was conducted to test the safety and immunological efficacy of four monthly immunizations of an MHC class I peptide vaccine, the E75 HLA-A2 epitope from HER-2/neu, using flt3 ligand as a systemic vaccine adjuvant. Twenty HLA-A2-expressing subjects with advanced stage prostate cancer were randomly assigned to one of four immunization or treatment schedules: (a) Flt3 ligand (20 g/kg per day) administered subcutaneously daily for 14 days on a 28-day cycle, monthly for four months; (b) flt3 ligand course as above with the E75 peptide vaccine administered on day 7 of each flt3 ligand cycle; (c) flt3 ligand course as above with the E75 peptide vaccine administered on day 14 of each flt3 ligand cycle; or (d) E75 peptide admixed with granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor and administered intradermally once every 28 days, as has previously been reported. The primary endpoints of the study were the determination of safety and immunological efficacy in generating E75-specific T cells as determined by peptide-specific interferon-gamma ELIspot. Adverse events included one grade 3 skin reaction and the development of grade 2 autoimmune hypothyroidism in two subjects with preexisting subclinical autoimmune hypothyroidism. Dendritic cells were markedly increased in the peripheral blood of subjects receiving flt3 ligand with each repetitive cycle, but augmentation of antigen-presenting cells within the dermis was not observed. Apart from a single subject, no significant peptide-specific T-cell responses were detected by ELIspot, whereas delayed-type hypersensitivity responses were detectable in control subjects and in subjects receiving peptide vaccine early in the course of flt3 ligand administration. The absence of robust peripheral immune responses in the current study may be attributable to the small numbers of subjects or differences in the subject population. In addition, the inability of flt3 ligand to augment the number of peripheral skin antigen-presenting cells may have contributed to the absence of robust peptide-specific immunity detectable in the peripheral blood of immunized subjects treated with flt3 ligand.     

重组人纽表位肽12生物学活性测定方法的研究

目的：建立适用于重组人纽表位肽12体外质量控制的生物学活性测定方法，用于该制品的生物学活性评价。方法：采用小鼠，比较不同品系、给药浓度、给药周期等条件下应用ELISA方法检测出的小鼠相应抗体水平，确定最佳实验条件，以建立相应的体外活性测定方法。结果：FVB／N转neu基因小鼠(TgN MMTVneu202 Mul，Jackson Lab．，USA)对重组人纽表位肽12的反应存在量——效关系，并确定了最佳测定条件和给药剂量，用抗体阳转百分率作为评价指标，样品测定重复性较好，CV％值为6．7％(H=4)，结果可靠。结论：已建立的FVB／N转neu基因小鼠测定重组人纽表位肽12生物学活性的方法可用于重组人纽表位肽12生物学活性的常规评价。     

正常子宫内膜、子宫内膜增殖症及子宫内膜癌ras、HER-2/neu癌基因表达的研究

为研究ｒａｓ、ＨＥＲ－２／ｎｅｕ癌基因的表达与子宫内膜癌发生、发展的关系，本文用免疫组化ＡＢＣ法检测了２３例正常子宫内膜、４４例子宫内膜增殖症及１０３例子宫内膜癌组织中ｒａｓ、ＨＥＲ－２／ｎｅｕ癌基因的表达情况。结果表明：在子宫内膜非典型增生中即存在ｒａｓ基因的过度表达，过度表达率为２０％，子宫内膜癌ｒａｓ的过度表达率为１８．４％，且ｒａｓ的过度表达与子宫内膜癌的病理分级、分期及患者的生存率无关，说明ｒａｓ癌基因的异常表达可能与癌形成的早期有关。子宫内膜癌中ＨＥＲ－２／ｎｅｕ的过度表达率为２７．２％，ＨＥＲ－２／ｎｅｕ的过度表达与子宫内膜癌的分期无关，与分级及患者的预后有关，存在ＨＥＲ－２／ｎｅｕ过度表达者的生存率低于无过度表达者，前者的５年生存率为５４．８％，后者为７９．６％，结果提示ＨＥＲ－２／ｎｅｕ的过度表达是判断子宫内膜癌预后的生物学指标。