Preclinical Safety Evaluation in Rats of a Polymeric Matrix Containing an siRNA Drug Used as a Local and Prolonged Delivery System for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy.

Conventional chemotherapy treatments for pancreatic cancer are mainly palliative. RNA interference (RNAi)-based drugs present the potential for a new targeted treatment. LOcal Drug EluteR (LODER(TM)) is a novel biodegradable polymeric matrix that shields drugs against enzymatic degradation and releases small interfering RNA (siRNA) against G12D-mutated KRAS (siG12D). siG12D-LODER has successfully passed a phase 1/2a clinical trial. Such a formulation necessitates biocompatibility and safety studies. We describe the safety and toxicity studies with siG12D-LODER in 192 Hsd:Sprague Dawley rats, after repeated subcutaneous administrations (days 1, 14, and 28). Animals were sacrificed on days 29 and 42 (recovery phase). In all groups, no adverse effects were noted, and all animals showed favorable local and systemic tolerability. Histopathologically, LODER implantation resulted in the expected capsule formation, composed of a thin fibrotic tissue. On the interface between the cavity and the capsule, a single layer composed of macrophages and multinucleated giant cells was observed. No difference was noted between the placebo and siG12D-LODER groups. These findings provide valuable information for future preclinical studies with siRNA-bearing biodegradable polymers and for the safety aspects of RNAi-based drugs as a targeted therapy.

The WASp-based actin polymerization machinery is required in somatic support cells for spermatid maturation and release.

WASp family proteins serve as conserved regulators of branched microfilament array formation via the Arp2/3 actin polymerization machinery. We have identified a specific role during spermatogenesis for the Drosophila WASp homolog (Wsp) and associated elements. Spermatogenesis within the fly testis is carried out in cysts, where a pair of somatic cyst cells encloses differentiating sperm. The final phase of the process involves the attachment of matured cysts to a specialized epithelium at the base of the testis, followed by release of individual motile spermatids into the adjoining seminal vesicle. Wsp mutant cysts contain fully mature sperm, but spermatid release does not occur, resulting in male sterility. Our data suggest that the Wsp-Arp2/3-based machinery acts in the cyst cells to influence proper microfilament organization and to enable cyst attachment to the base of the testis. Wsp activity in this context is mediated by the small GTPase Cdc42. Involvement of the cell surface protein Sticks and stones and the Wsp adapter protein D-WIP (Vrp1) is also crucial. In parallel, we demonstrate that N-WASp (Wasl), the major mammalian WASp family protein, is required in the somatic Sertoli cells of the mouse testis for sperm maturation. A requirement for WASp-based activity in somatic support cells therefore appears to be a universal feature of spermatogenesis.

Flybow: genetic multicolor cell labeling for neural circuit analysis in Drosophila melanogaster.

To facilitate studies of neural network architecture and formation, we generated three Drosophila melanogaster variants of the mouse Brainbow-2 system, called Flybow. Sequences encoding different membrane-tethered fluorescent proteins were arranged in pairs within cassettes flanked by recombination sites. Flybow combines the Gal4-upstream activating sequence binary system to regulate transgene expression and an inducible modified Flp-FRT system to drive inversions and excisions of cassettes. This provides spatial and temporal control over the stochastic expression of one of two or four reporters within one sample. Using the visual system, the embryonic nervous system and the wing imaginal disc, we show that Flybow in conjunction with specific Gal4 drivers can be used to visualize cell morphology with high resolution. Finally, we demonstrate that this labeling approach is compatible with available Flp-FRT-based techniques, such as mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker; this could further support the genetic analysis of neural circuit assembly and function.

Synchronization of interphase events depends neither on mitosis nor on cdk1.

Human HT2-19 cells with a conditional cdk1 mutation stop dividing upon cdk1 inactivation and undergo multiple rounds of endoreplication. We show herein that major cell cycle events remain synchronized in these endoreplicating cells. DNA replication alternates with gap phases and cell cycle-specific cyclin E expression is maintained. Centrosomes duplicate in synchrony with chromosome replication, giving rise to polyploid cells with multiple centrosomes. Centrosome migration, a typical prophase event, also takes place in endoreplicating cells. The timing of these events is unaffected by cdk1 inactivation compared with normally dividing cells. Nuclear lamina breakdown, in contrast, previously shown to be dependent on cdk1, does not take place in endoreplicating HT2-19 cells. Moreover, breakdown of all other major components of the nuclear lamina, like the inner nuclear membrane proteins and nuclear pore complexes, seems also to depend on cdk1. Interestingly, the APC/C ubiquitin ligase is activated in these endoreplicating cells by fzr but not by fzy. The oscillations of interphase events are thus independent of cdk1 and of mitosis but may depend on APC/Cfzr activity.

Neural circuitry that governs Drosophila male courtship behavior.

Male-specific fruitless (fru) products (Fru(M)) are both necessary and sufficient to "hardwire" the potential for male courtship behavior into the Drosophila nervous system. Fru(M) is expressed in approximately 2% of neurons in the male nervous system, but not in the female. We have targeted the insertion of GAL4 into the fru locus, allowing us to visualize and manipulate the Fru(M)-expressing neurons in the male as well as their counterparts in the female. We present evidence that these neurons are directly and specifically involved in male courtship behavior and that at least some of them are interconnected in a circuit. This circuit includes olfactory neurons required for the behavioral response to sex pheromones. Anatomical differences in this circuit that might account for the dramatic differences in male and female sexual behavior are not apparent.