Involvement of mitochondrial dynamics in the antineoplastic activity of cisplatin in murine leukemia L1210 cells.

Leukemia is a type of hematopoietic stem cell malignant cloned disease with high mortality. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is one of the most common treatments for leukemia. Similar to other chemotherapeutic agents, cisplatin resistance has become a serious issue in cancer therapy. In the present study, we investigated the role of mitochondrial dynamics in the antineoplastic activity of cisplatin in murine leukemia L1210 cells. Firstly, the L1210 cell line resistant to cisplatin (L1210/DDP) was established. Compared to its parental cell line, the IC50 value of cisplatin in the L1210/DDP cells was increased 10-fold. Mitofusins (Mfn1 and Mfn2), mitochondrial outer membrane fusion proteins, were markedly upregulated in the L1210/DDP cells, whereas the expression of fission protein Drp1 and inner membrane fusion protein OPA1 were not significantly altered. In addition, mitofusins were also upregulated in the parental L1210 cells subjected to cisplatin stress. To investigate the role of mitochondrial dynamics in the antineoplastic activity of cisplatin, the effect of mitochondrial division inhibitor (Mdivi)-1 on cisplatin­induced cell death, caspase-3 cleavage and ROS production was examined in L1210 cells. We found that 5 µM of Mdivi-1 efficiently attenuated cisplatin-induced cell death, caspase activation and intracellular ROS increase in L1210 cells. Our data indicated that mitochondrial dynamics play an important role in the antineoplastic activity of cisplatin, and mitofusin-mediated mitochondrial fusion may be involved in the process of cisplatin resistance in leukemia cells. Therefore, the present study revealed that mitochondrial dynamics may be a potential target used to improve the antineoplastic activity of cisplatin in leukemia in the future.

Mitochondrial dynamics regulates hypoxia-induced migration and antineoplastic activity of cisplatin in breast cancer cells.

Mitochondria are high dynamic organelles with frequent fission and fusion. Here, we found hypoxia stimulated Drp1 expression, mitochondrial fission and migration in metastatic MDA-MB­231 cells, but not in non-metastatic MCF-7 cells. Inhibition of Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fission by Mdivi-1 or silencing Drp1 attenuated hypoxia-induced mitochondrial fission and migration in MDA-MB­231 cells. On the other hand, cisplatin induced significant apoptosis and mitochondrial fission in MDA-MB­231 cells, but not in MCF-7 cells. Mdivi-1 and silencing Drp1 also efficiently prevented cisplatin-induced MMP decrease, ROS production and apoptosis in MDA-MB­231 cells. Our data suggest that Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fission not only regulates hypoxia-induced migration of breast cancer cells, but also facilitates its sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. Thus, targeting Drp1-dependent mitochondrial dynamics may provide a novel strategy to suppress breast cancer metastasis and improve the chemotherapeutic effect in the future.

Development of a novel liposomal nanodelivery system for bioluminescence imaging and targeted drug delivery in ErbB2-overexpressing metastatic ovarian carcinoma.

Liposomes as targeted drug delivery systems are an emerging strategy in the treatment of cancer to selectively target tumors or genes. In this study, we generated the recombinant protein, EC1-GLuc, by fusing the EC1 peptide, an artificial ligand of ErbB2, with Gaussia luciferase (GLuc). The purified EC1-GLuc was conjugated with a nickel-chelating liposome to construct the EC1-GLuc-liposome. In vitro experiments revealed that the EC1-GLuc-liposome selectively targeted and internalized into ErbB2-overexpressing SKOv3 cells for bioluminescence imaging. A cell-impermeable fluorescence dye (HPTS) encapsulated in the EC-GLuc-liposome was efficiently delivered into the SKOv3 cells. In addition, the EC1-GLuc-liposome also targeted metastatic SKOv3 tumors for bioluminescence imaging and effectively delivered HPTS into metastatic tumors in vivo. Therefore, the present study demonstrates the novel EC1-GLuc-liposome to be an effective theranostic system for monitoring and treating ErbB2-overexpressing metastatic ovarian carcinoma through a combination of targeted molecular imaging and DDS.

Involvement of Drp1 in hypoxia-induced migration of human glioblastoma U251 cells.

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive brain tumors with high morbidity and mortality. Hypoxia is often the common characteristic of tumor microenvironment, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is an essential factor regulating the migratory activity of cancer cells including glioblastoma. Recently, mitochondrial dynamics was found to be involved in the aggression of cancer cells. However, whether dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) contributes to the migration of human glioblastoma cells under hypoxia remains unknown. In the present study, hypoxia was found to upregulate the transcription and expression of Drp1, and stimulated mitochondrial fission in glioblastoma U251 cells. Inhibition of HIF-1α with echinomycin blocked hypoxia­induced expression of Drp1. Notably, Drp1 inhibitor Mdivi-1 efficiently attenuated hypoxia-induced mitochondrial fission and migration of U251 cells. In addition, three U251 stable cell lines expressing GFP, GFP-Drp1 and dominant negative GFP-Drp1­K38A were established to examine the direct role of Drp1 in hypoxia-induced migration. MTT assay showed that there was no significant difference in proliferation of three cell lines. Compared with the GFP cell line, exogenously expressed GFP-Drp1-K38A inhibited hypoxia-induced migration of U251 cells, while stable expression of GFP-Drp1 enhanced the migration of U251 cells under hypoxia. Therefore, this study indicates the involvement of Drp1 in hypoxia-induced migration of human glioblastoma U251 cells, and suggests Drp1 to be a potential therapeutic target to suppress the aggression of glioblastoma in the future.