Distribution of trace levels of therapeutic gallium in bone as mapped by synchrotron x-ray microscopy.

Gallium nitrate, a drug that inhibits calcium release from bone, has been proven a safe and effective treatment for the accelerated bone resorption associated with cancer. Though bone is a target organ for gallium, the kinetics, sites, and effects of gallium accumulation in bone are not known. We have used synchrotron x-ray microscopy to map the distribution of trace levels of gallium in bone. After short-term in vivo administration of gallium nitrate to rats, trace (nanogram) amounts of gallium preferentially localized to the metabolically active regions in the metaphysis as well as the endosteal and periosteal surfaces of diaphyseal bone, regions where new bone formation and modeling were occurring. The amounts measured were well below the levels known to be cytotoxic. Iron and zinc, trace elements normally found in bone, were decreased in amount after in vivo administration of gallium. These studies represent a first step toward understanding the mechanism(s) of action of gallium in bone by suggesting the possible cellular, structural, and elemental "targets" of gallium.

Effect of gallium on bone mineral properties.

Gallium nitrate is biologically active in blocking bone resorption in vitro as well as in vivo. Administration of gallium nitrate to growing rats results in a dose-dependent accumulation of low levels of gallium in bone that is associated with specific changes in the mineral properties of bone. To elucidate in greater detail the changes induced by gallium, the properties of whole and density-fractionated bone samples from control and gallium-treated rats were examined. These studies showed that short-term treatment with gallium nitrate caused an increase in bone calcium and phosphate content. Devitalized bone powder from the gallium-treated rats was less soluble in acetate buffer and less readily resorbed by monocytes. Density fractionation analyses demonstrated that the largest proportion (76% by weight) of powdered metaphyseal bone particles from rats had a density of less than 2.15 g/cc. Following short-term treatment (14 days) with gallium nitrate (45 mg/kg body weight), a significant increase in the relative proportion of more dense bone (greater than or equal to 2.15 g/cc) was observed (24% for the control vs. 39% for the gallium-treated rats, P less than 0.01). In the diaphyseal samples, the largest proportion (88% by weight) of the bone powder had a density of greater than or equal to 2.15 g/cc. After short-term treatment with gallium, a slight decrease in mean diaphyseal particle density was observed. Measurement of calcium accretion with 45Ca in the gallium-treated rats demonstrated increased specific activity in the metaphyseal bone samples, densities = 2.0, 2.1, 2.15, and 2.25 g/cc; the difference was significant only for the 2.25 g/cc fraction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In vivo and in vitro biological activities of two human cell lines derived from anaplastic lung cancers.

Cell lines Lu-65 and SK-Luci-6 were established from two patients with anaplastic (non-oat cell) lung cancers. These cell lines showed in vivo and in vitro functional activities that could explain the paraneoplastic syndromes which were clinically manifested. In both patients, elevated white blood cell counts occurred in the absence of any evidence of sepsis. Tumor fragments taken directly from one patient and transplanted to nude mice produced a progressive leukocytosis in the mice. Tissue culture-derived cells from both cell lines enhanced white blood cell numbers following heterotransplantation to nude mice. Cell-free extracts from both cell lines were found to enhance granulocyte-macrophage colony formation in soft agar. Greater colony formation was consistently found with the cell line (SK-Luci-6) that was derived from the patient manifesting the more marked leukocytosis. These data suggest that the tumor cells release colony-stimulating activities. Coincidently, one cell line (Lu-65) synthesized and released large amounts of prostaglandin E2 with little or no other prostaglandin product; the other cell line produced no prostaglandins. When the tumor cell lines were cocultured with explanted fetal rat bones, enhanced bone resorption with excessive calcium release occurred. Bone-resorbing activity correlated with tumor prostaglandin synthesis for the cell line releasing prostaglandin E2. An osteolytic factor that was neither prostaglandin nor parathyroid hormone was released by the SK-Luci-6 cell line. Hypercalcemia was a persistent feature only in the patient from whom the latter tumor line was derived.

Ectodermal control of the avascular zone of the peripheral mesoderm in the chick embryo.

Prospective skin ectoderm is underlaid by a relatively thick (100 +/- 20 micrometer) avascular zone of mesoderm in most regions of the early embryo. To determine whether or not the ectoderm exercises a role in the establishment and maintenance of the avascular zone, trypsin-isolated pieces of backskin ectoderm from chick or quail embryos were implanted as a sheet into a slit cut deep into the capillary bed of the wing bud of host chick embryos of stages 19-23. In sham operations, slits were cut at various anteroposterior levels, and the wing was allowed to heal. At intervals of 3-48 hr after these operations, embryos were injected with India ink, fixed, and cleared. Implants formed flattened vesicles, usually in continuity with host ectoderm, but sometimes completely internalized. Periderm cells from each side of the vesicle faced each other, and the cells of the cuboidal layer faced an avascular mesodermal layer at least 100 micrometer thick at all points. The implantation of prospective skin ectoderm resulted in the formation of an avascular zone in normally vascularized mesoderm of the wing bud. In contrast, the vascular bed of the limb bud abutted directly on implants of Millipore filters or of Silastic silicone (Dow Corning). Likewise, the capillary bed came in direct contact with implants of retinal pigment epithelium, an ectodermal derivative normally in close contact with the vascular choroid coat of the eye. These results, taken in conjunction with earlier experiments that show the necessity of the apical ectodermal ridge for the formation of the marginal veins of the limb bud, suggest that epithelial-mesenchymal interactions are involved in important aspects of vasculogenesis in early embryos.

Lymphokine-mediated bone resorption requires endogenous prostaglandin synthesis.

Enhanced synthesis of prostaglandin (PG) E by explanted fetal rat bones was initiated by lymphocyte-conditioned media but not by physiological levels of parathyroid hormone. Rapid release of PGE from bone occurred only when the lymphokine was present. Synthesis of PGE preceded and was necessary for the bone resorption caused by the lymphokine preparation. Local production of prostaglandins in response to inflammatory cell or tumor-derived factors may in part be responsible for the localized bone loss that occurs in certain pathological states.