SRC Family Kinase Inhibition in Ewing Sarcoma Cells Induces p38 MAP Kinase-Mediated Cytotoxicity and Reduces Cell Migration.

Ewing sarcoma (ES) is a highly aggressive bone and soft tissue cancer, representing the second most common primary malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents. Although the development of a multimodal therapy, including both local control (surgery and/or radiation) and systemic multidrug chemotherapy, has determined a significant improvement in survival, patients with metastatic and recurrent disease still face a poor prognosis. Moreover, considering that ES primarily affects young patients, there are concerns about long-term adverse effects of the therapy. Therefore, more rational strategies, targeting specific molecular alterations underlying ES, are required. Recent studies suggest that SRC family kinases (SFKs), which are aberrantly activated in most cancer types, could represent key therapeutic targets also for ES. Here, we challenged ES cell lines with a recently developed selective SFK inhibitor (a pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivative, called SI221), which was previously shown to be a valuable proapoptotic agent in other tumor types while not affecting normal cells. We observed that SI221 significantly reduced ES cell viability and proved to be more effective than the well-known SFK inhibitor PP2. SI221 was able to induce apoptosis in ES cells and also reduced ES cell clonogenic potential. Furthermore, SI221 was also able to reduce ES cell migration. At the molecular level, our data suggest that SFK inhibition through SI221 could reduce ES cell viability at least in part by hindering an SFK-NOTCH1 receptor-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) axis. Overall, our study suggests a potential application of specific SFK inhibition in ES therapy. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 129-135, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Crosstalk between platelets and PBMC: New evidence in wound healing.

Platelet-derived products have proven useful in accelerating healing processes and tissue regeneration. However, despite their widespread use in clinical practice, the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved have not yet been completely clarified. Recent studies show that interaction between platelet gel (PG) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) can result in activation of PBMC and production of several cytokines involved in wound healing and tissue repair. The aim of our study was to analyze whether crosstalk between platelets and PBMC can influence wound healing by modulating release of VEGF, bFGF and IL-10 by PBMC. Cultures of PBMC alone and co-cultures with autologous PG of 24 healthy volunteers were incubated under normoxia for 24 h. VEGF, bFGF and IL-10 concentration and expression were then analyzed in supernatants by ELISA and by real-time RT-PCR. We observed a down-regulation of VEGF and bFGF release and an up-regulation of IL-10 release in co-cultures of PBMC and PG. Platelets are not only important in the early stages of the healing process (clot formation, direct release of growth factors), but also can influence the whole process of tissue regeneration by modulating synthesis and release of VEGF, bFGF and IL-10 by PBMC. These effects could give platelets a new key role in the control of healing processes and provide insights into the clinical success of platelet-derived products in many medical fields.