Molecular Mechanisms of Apoptosis Induction and Its Regulation by Fatty Acids in Pancreatic ß-Cells.

Pancreatic ß-cell failure and death contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. One of the main factors responsible for ß-cell dysfunction and subsequent cell death is chronic exposure to increased concentrations of FAs (fatty acids). The effect of FAs seems to depend particularly on the degree of their saturation. Saturated FAs induce apoptosis in pancreatic ß-cells, whereas unsaturated FAs are well tolerated and are even capable of inhibiting the pro-apoptotic effect of saturated FAs. Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis induction by saturated FAs in ß-cells are not completely elucidated. Saturated FAs induce ER stress, which in turn leads to activation of all ER stress pathways. When ER stress is severe or prolonged, apoptosis is induced. The main mediator seems to be the CHOP transcription factor. Via regulation of expression/activity of pro- and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members, and potentially also through the increase in ROS production, CHOP switches on the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis induction. ER stress signalling also possibly leads to autophagy signalling, which may activate caspase-8. Saturated FAs activate or inhibit various signalling pathways, i.e., p38 MAPK signalling, ERK signalling, ceramide signalling, Akt signalling and PKCδ signalling. This may lead to the activation of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis, as well. Particularly, the inhibition of the pro-survival Akt signalling seems to play an important role. This inhibition may be mediated by multiple pathways (e.g., ER stress signalling, PKCδ and ceramide) and could also consequence in autophagy signalling. Experimental evidence indicates the involvement of certain miRNAs in mechanisms of FA-induced ß-cell apoptosis, as well. In the rather rare situations when unsaturated FAs are also shown to be pro-apoptotic, the mechanisms mediating this effect in ß-cells seem to be the same as for saturated FAs. To conclude, FA-induced apoptosis rather appears to be preceded by complex cross talks of multiple signalling pathways. Some of these pathways may be regulated by decreased membrane fluidity due to saturated FA incorporation. Few data are available concerning molecular mechanisms mediating the protective effect of unsaturated FAs on the effect of saturated FAs. It seems that the main possible mechanism represents a rather inhibitory intervention into saturated FA-induced pro-apoptotic signalling than activation of some pro-survival signalling pathway(s) or metabolic interference in ß-cells. This inhibitory intervention may be due to an increase of membrane fluidity.

Hypoxia Modulates Effects of Fatty Acids on NES2Y Human Pancreatic ß-cells.

Saturated fatty acids (FAs) induce apoptosis in the human pancreatic NES2Y ß-cell line while unsaturated FAs have nearly no detrimental effect. Moreover, unsaturated FAs are capable of inhibiting the pro-apoptotic effect of saturated FAs. Hypoxia is also known to have deleterious effects on ß-cells function and viability. In the present study, we have tested the modulatory effect of hypoxia on the effect of FAs on the growth and viability of the human pancreatic NES2Y ß-cells. This study represents the first study testing hypoxia effect on effects of FAs in pancreatic ß-cells as well as in other cell types. We showed that hypoxia increased the pro-apoptotic effect of saturated stearic acid (SA). Endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling seemed to be involved while redistribution of FA transporters fatty acid translocase/cluster of differentiation 36 (FAT/CD36) and fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) do not seem to be involved in this effect. Hypoxia also strongly decreased the protective effect of unsaturated oleic acid (OA) against the pro-apoptotic effect of SA. Thus, in the presence of hypoxia, OA was unable to save SA-treated ß-cells from apoptosis induction. Hypoxia itself had only a weak detrimental effect on NES2Y cells. Our data suggest that hypoxia could represent an important factor in pancreatic ß-cell death induced and regulated by FAs and thus in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Substituents at the C3' and C3'N positions are critical for taxanes to overcome acquired resistance of cancer cells to paclitaxel.

We tested the role of substituents at the C3' and C3'N positions of the taxane molecule to identify taxane derivatives capable of overcoming acquired resistance to paclitaxel. Paclitaxel-resistant sublines SK-BR-3/PacR and MCF-7/PacR as well as the original paclitaxel-sensitive breast cancer cell lines SK-BR-3 and MCF-7 were used for testing. Increased expression of the ABCB1 transporter was found to be involved in the acquired resistance. We tested three groups of taxane derivatives: (1) phenyl group at both C3' and C3'N positions, (2) one phenyl at one of the C3' and C3'N positions and a non-aromatic group at the second position, (3) a non-aromatic group at both C3' and C3'N positions. We found that the presence of phenyl groups at both C3' and C3'N positions is associated with low capability of overcoming acquired paclitaxel resistance compared to taxanes containing at least one non-aromatic substituent at the C3' and C3'N positions. The increase in the ATPase activity of ABCB1 transporter after the application of taxanes from the first group was found to be somewhat higher than after the application of taxanes from the third group. Molecular docking studies demonstrated that the docking score was the lowest, i.e. the highest binding affinity, for taxanes from the first group. It was intermediate for taxanes from the second group, and the highest for taxanes from the third group. We conclude that at least one non-aromatic group at the C3' and C3'N positions of the taxane structure, resulting in reduced affinity to the ABCB1 transporter, brings about high capability of taxane to overcome acquired resistance of breast cancer cells to paclitaxel, due to less efficient transport of the taxane compound out of the cancer cells.

Transcript expression and genetic variability analysis of caspases in breast carcinomas suggests CASP9 as the most interesting target.

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis plays a critical role in cancer cell survival and tumor development. We provide a hypothesis-generating screen for further research by exploring the expression profile and genetic variability of caspases (2, 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10) in breast carcinoma patients. This study addressed isoform-specific caspase transcript expression and genetic variability in regulatory sequences of caspases 2 and 9. METHODS: Gene expression profiling was performed by quantitative real-time PCR in tumor and paired non-malignant tissues of two independent groups of patients. Genetic variability was determined by high resolution melting, allelic discrimination, and sequencing analysis in tumor and peripheral blood lymphocyte DNA of the patients. RESULTS: CASP3 A+B and S isoforms were over-expressed in tumors of both patient groups. The CASP9 transcript was down-regulated in tumors of both groups of patients and significantly associated with expression of hormonal receptors and with the presence of rs4645978-rs2020903-rs4646034 haplotype in the CASP9 gene. Patients with a low intratumoral CASP9A/B isoform expression ratio (predicted to shift equilibrium towards anti-apoptotic isoform) subsequently treated with adjuvant chemotherapy had a significantly shorter disease-free survival than those with the high ratio (p=0.04). Inheritance of CC genotype of rs2020903 in CASP9 was associated with progesterone receptor expression in tumors (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variability in CASP9 and expression of its splicing variants present targets for further study.

Effect of Saturated Stearic Acid on MAP Kinase and ER Stress Signaling Pathways during Apoptosis Induction in Human Pancreatic ß-Cells Is Inhibited by Unsaturated Oleic Acid.

It has been shown that saturated fatty acids (FAs) have a detrimental effect on pancreatic ß-cells function and survival, leading to apoptosis, whereas unsaturated FAs are well tolerated and are even capable of inhibiting the pro-apoptotic effect of saturated FAs. Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis induction and regulation by FAs in ß-cells remain unclear; however, mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signaling pathways may be involved. In this study, we tested how unsaturated oleic acid (OA) affects the effect of saturated stearic acid (SA) on the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways as well as the ER stress signaling pathways during apoptosis induction in the human pancreatic ß-cells NES2Y. We demonstrated that OA is able to inhibit all effects of SA. OA alone has only minimal or no effects on tested signaling in NES2Y cells. The point of OA inhibitory intervention in SA-induced apoptotic signaling thus seems to be located upstream of the discussed signaling pathways.

Characterization of acquired paclitaxel resistance of breast cancer cells and involvement of ABC transporters.

Development of taxane resistance has become clinically very important issue. The molecular mechanisms underlying the resistance are still unclear. To address this issue, we established paclitaxel-resistant sublines of the SK-BR-3 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines that are capable of long-term proliferation in 100nM and 300nM paclitaxel, respectively. Application of these concentrations leads to cell death in the original counterpart cells. Both sublines are cross-resistant to doxorubicin, indicating the presence of the MDR phenotype. Interestingly, resistance in both paclitaxel-resistant sublines is circumvented by the second-generation taxane SB-T-1216. Moreover, we demonstrated that it was not possible to establish sublines of SK-BR-3 and MCF-7 cells resistant to this taxane. It means that at least the tested breast cancer cells are unable to develop resistance to some taxanes. Employing mRNA expression profiling of all known human ABC transporters and subsequent Western blot analysis of the expression of selected transporters, we demonstrated that only the ABCB1/PgP and ABCC3/MRP3 proteins were up-regulated in both paclitaxel-resistant sublines. We found up-regulation of ABCG2/BCRP and ABCC4 proteins only in paclitaxel-resistant SK-BR-3 cells. In paclitaxel-resistant MCF-7 cells, ABCB4/MDR3 and ABCC2/MRP2 proteins were up-regulated. Silencing of ABCB1 expression using specific siRNA increased significantly, but did not completely restore full sensitivity to both paclitaxel and doxorubicin. Thus we showed a key, but not exclusive, role for ABCB1 in mechanisms of paclitaxel resistance. It suggests the involvement of multiple mechanisms in paclitaxel resistance in tested breast cancer cells.

Kinase Signaling in Apoptosis Induced by Saturated Fatty Acids in Pancreatic ß-Cells.

Pancreatic ß-cell failure and death is considered to be one of the main factors responsible for type 2 diabetes. It is caused by, in addition to hyperglycemia, chronic exposure to increased concentrations of fatty acids, mainly saturated fatty acids. Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis induction by saturated fatty acids in ß-cells are not completely clear. It has been proposed that kinase signaling could be involved, particularly, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), protein kinase C (PKC), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and Akt kinases and their pathways. In this review, we discuss these kinases and their signaling pathways with respect to their possible role in apoptosis induction by saturated fatty acids in pancreatic ß-cells.

p38 MAPK Is Activated but Does Not Play a Key Role during Apoptosis Induction by Saturated Fatty Acid in Human Pancreatic ß-Cells.

Saturated stearic acid (SA) induces apoptosis in the human pancreatic ß-cells NES2Y. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are unclear. We showed that apoptosis-inducing concentrations of SA activate the p38 MAPK signaling pathway in these cells. Therefore, we tested the role of p38 MAPK signaling pathway activation in apoptosis induction by SA in NES2Y cells. Crosstalk between p38 MAPK pathway activation and accompanying ERK pathway inhibition after SA application was also tested. The inhibition of p38 MAPK expression by siRNA silencing resulted in a decrease in MAPKAPK-2 activation after SA application, but it had no significant effect on cell viability or the level of phosphorylated ERK pathway members. The inhibition of p38 MAPK activity by the specific inhibitor SB202190 resulted in inhibition of MAPKAPK-2 activation and noticeable activation of ERK pathway members after SA treatment but in no significant effect on cell viability. p38 MAPK overexpression by plasmid transfection produced an increase in MAPKAPK-2 activation after SA exposure but no significant influence on cell viability or ERK pathway activation. The activation of p38 MAPK by the specific activator anisomycin resulted in significant activation of MAPKAPK-2. Concerning the effect on cell viability, application of the activator led to apoptosis induction similar to application of SA (PARP cleavage and caspase-7, -8, and -9 activation) and in inhibition of ERK pathway members. We demonstrated that apoptosis-inducing concentrations of SA activate the p38 MAPK signaling pathway and that this activation could be involved in apoptosis induction by SA in the human pancreatic ß-cells NES2Y. However, this involvement does not seem to play a key role. Crosstalk between p38 MAPK pathway activation and ERK pathway inhibition in NES2Y cells seems likely. Thus, the ERK pathway inhibition by p38 MAPK activation does not also seem to be essential for SA-induced apoptosis.

The role of individual caspases in cell death induction by taxanes in breast cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: In previous study we showed that caspase-2 plays the role of an apical caspase in cell death induction by taxanes in breast cancer cells. This study deals with the role of other caspases. We tested breast cancer cell lines SK-BR-3 (functional caspase-3) and MCF-7 (nonfunctional caspase-3). METHODS AND RESULTS: Using western blot analysis we demonstrated the activation of initiator caspase-8 and -9 as well as executioner caspase-6 and -7 in both tested cell lines after application of taxanes (paclitaxel, SB-T-1216) at death-inducing concentrations. Caspase-3 activation was also found in SK-BR-3 cells. Employing specific siRNAs after taxane application, suppression of caspase-3 expression significantly increased the number of surviving SK-BR-3 cells. Inhibition of caspase-7 expression also increased the number of surviving SK-BR-3 and MCF-7 cells. On the other hand, suppression of caspase-8 and caspase-9 expression had no significant effect on cell survival. However, caspase-9 seemed to be involved in the activation of caspase-3 and caspase-7. Caspase-3 and caspase-7 appeared to activate mutually. Furthermore, we observed a significant decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential (flow cytometric analysis) and cytochrome c release (confocal microscopy, western blot after cell fractionation) from mitochondria in SK-BR-3 cells. No such changes were observed in MCF-7 cells after taxane treatment. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the activation of apical caspase-2 results in the activation of caspase-3 and -7 without the involvement of mitochondria. Caspase-9 can be activated directly via caspase-2 or alternatively after cytochrome c release from mitochondria. Subsequently, caspase-9 activation can also lead to caspase-3 and -7 activations. Caspase-3 and caspase-7 activate mutually. It seems that there is also a parallel pathway involving mitochondria that can cooperate in taxane-induced cell death in breast cancer cells.

Mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle of patients with protracted critical illness and ICU-acquired weakness.

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial damage occurs in the acute phase of critical illness, followed by activation of mitochondrial biogenesis in survivors. It has been hypothesized that bioenergetics failure of skeletal muscle may contribute to the development of ICU-acquired weakness. The aim of the present study was to determine whether mitochondrial dysfunction persists until protracted phase of critical illness. METHODS: In this single-centre controlled-cohort ex vivo proof-of-concept pilot study, we obtained vastus lateralis biopsies from ventilated patients with ICU-acquired weakness (n = 8) and from age and sex-matched metabolically healthy controls (n = 8). Mitochondrial functional indices were measured in cytosolic context by high-resolution respirometry in tissue homogenates, activities of respiratory complexes by spectrophotometry and individual functional capacities were correlated with concentrations of electron transport chain key subunits from respiratory complexes II, III, IV and V measured by western blot. RESULTS: The ability of aerobic ATP synthesis (OXPHOS) was reduced to ~54% in ICU patients (p<0.01), in correlation with the depletion of complexes III (~38% of control, p = 0.02) and IV (~26% of controls, p<0.01) and without signs of mitochondrial uncoupling. When mitochondrial functional indices were adjusted to citrate synthase activity, OXPHOS and the activity of complexes I and IV were not different, whilst the activities of complexes II and III were increased in ICU patients 3-fold (p<0.01) respectively 2-fold (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to healthy controls, in ICU patients we have demonstrated a ~50% reduction of the ability of skeletal muscle to synthetize ATP in mitochondria. We found a depletion of complex III and IV concentrations and relative increases in functional capacities of complex II and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase/complex III.

Caspase-2 and JNK activated by saturated fatty acids are not involved in apoptosis induction but modulate ER stress in human pancreatic ß-cells.

BACKGROUND: Fatty acid-induced apoptosis and ER stress of pancreatic ß-cells contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes, however, the molecular mechanisms involved are unclear. AIMS: In this study we have tested the role of caspase-2 and suggested ER stress mediator JNK in saturated fatty acid-induced apoptosis of the human pancreatic ß-cells NES2Y. RESULTS: We found that stearic acid at apoptosis-inducing concentration activated ER stress signaling pathways, i.e. IRE1α, PERK and ATF6 pathways, in NES2Y cells. During stearic acid-induced apoptosis, JNK inhibition did not decrease the rate of apoptosis nor the activation of caspase-8, -9, -7 and -2 and PARP cleavage. In addition, inhibition of JNK activity did not affect CHOP expression although it did decrease the induction of BiP expression after stearic acid treatment. Caspase-2 silencing had no effect on PARP as well as caspase-8, -9 and -7 cleavage and the induction of CHOP expression, however, it also decreased the induction of BiP expression. Surprisingly, caspase-2 silencing was accompanied by increased phosphorylation of c-Jun. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that caspase-2 as well as JNK are not key players in apoptosis induction by saturated fatty acids in human pancreatic ß-cells NES2Y. However, they appear to be involved in the modulation of saturated fatty acid-induced ER stress signaling, probably by a mechanism independent of c-Jun phosphorylation.

Caspase-2 is involved in cell death induction by taxanes in breast cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: We studied the role of caspase-2 in apoptosis induction by taxanes (paclitaxel, novel taxane SB-T-1216) in breast cancer cells using SK-BR-3 (nonfunctional p53, functional caspase-3) and MCF-7 (functional p53, nonfunctional caspase-3) cell lines. RESULTS: Both taxanes induced apoptosis in SK-BR-3 as well as MCF-7 cells. Caspase-2 activity in SK-BR-3 cells increased approximately 15-fold within 48 h after the application of both taxanes at the death-inducing concentration (100 nM). In MCF-7 cells, caspase-2 activity increased approximately 11-fold within 60 h after the application of taxanes (300 nM). Caspase-2 activation was confirmed by decreasing levels of procaspase-2, increasing levels of cleaved caspase-2 and the cleavage of caspase-2 substrate golgin-160. The inhibition of caspase-2 expression using siRNA increased the number of surviving cells more than 2-fold in MCF-7 cells, and at least 4-fold in SK-BR-3 cells, 96 h after the application of death-inducing concentration of taxanes. The inhibition of caspase-2 expression also resulted in decreased cleavage of initiator caspases (caspase-8, caspase-9) as well as executioner caspases (caspase-3, caspase-7) in both cell lines after the application of taxanes. In control cells, caspase-2 seemed to be mainly localized in the nucleus. After the application of taxanes, it was released from the nucleus to the cytosol, due to the long-term disintegration of the nuclear envelope, in both cell lines. Taxane application led to some formation of PIDDosome complex in both cell lines within 24 h after the application. After taxane application, p21WAF1/CIP1 expression was only induced in MCF-7 cells with functional p53. However, taxane application did not result in a significant increase of PIDD expression in either SK-BR-3 or MCF-7 cells. The inhibition of RAIDD expression using siRNA did not affect the number of surviving SK-BR-3 and MCF-7 cells after taxane application at all. CONCLUSION: Caspase-2 is required, at least partially, for apoptosis induction by taxanes in tested breast cancer cells. We suggest that caspase-2 plays the role of an apical caspase in these cells. Caspase-2 seems to be activated via other mechanism than PIDDosome formation. It follows the release of caspase-2 from the nucleus to the cytosol.

Inhibitory effect of unsaturated fatty acids on saturated fatty acid-induced apoptosis in human pancreatic ß-cells: activation of caspases and ER stress induction.

AIMS: In this study we have tested the effect of unsaturated fatty acids on the proapoptotic effects of saturated fatty acids in the human pancreatic ß-cells NES2Y. RESULTS: We found that unsaturated palmitoleic and oleic acid at a concentration of 0.2 mM and higher are able to completely inhibit the proapoptotic effect of their counterpart saturated palmitic and stearic acid at a concentration of 1 mM. Apoptosis induced by stearic acid was associated with significant activation of caspase-6, -7, -9, -2 and -8, but not with significant activation of caspase-3. The activation of caspases was blocked by coincubation with oleic acid. Stearic acid treatment was not associated with a significant change in mitochondrial membrane potential, reactive oxygen species level and with cytochrome c release from mitochondria. Furthermore, stearic acid treatment was not associated with changes in p21(WAF1/CIP1), PIDD, Fas receptor and Fas ligand expression. However, we detected endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers, i. e. a significant upregulation of BiP and CHOP expression as well as XBP1 mRNA splicing. These changes were inhibited by coincubation with oleic acid. CONCLUSION: Presented data indicate that oleic acid inhibits apoptosis induction by stearic acid in NES2Y cells upstream of caspase activation and ER stress induction. It does not involve an interference with the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis induction, with p53 activation and PIDD expression as well as with Fas receptor and Fas ligand expression.

Cell death induced by novel fluorinated taxanes in drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cancer cells.

The aim of this study is to compare the effects of new fluorinated taxanes SB-T-12851, SB-T-12852, SB-T-12853, and SB-T-12854 with those of the classical taxane paclitaxel and novel non-fluorinated taxane SB-T-1216 on cancer cells. Paclitaxel-sensitive MDA-MB-435 and paclitaxel-resistant NCI/ADR-RES human cancer cell lines were used. Cell growth and survival evaluation, colorimetric assessment of caspases activities, flow cytometric analyses of the cell cycle and the assessment of mitochondrial membrane potential, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria were employed. Fluorinated taxanes have similar effects on cell growth and survival. For MDA-MB-435 cells, the C(50) of SB-T-12851, SB-T-12852, SB-T-12853 and SB-T-12854 was 3 nM, 4 nM, 3 nM and 5 nM, respectively. For NCI/ADR-RES cells, the C(50) of SB-T-12851, SB-T-12852, SB-T-12853, and SB-T-12854 was 20 nM, 20 nM, 10 nM and 10 nM, respectively. Selected fluorinated taxanes, SB-T-12853 and SB-T-12854, at the death-inducing concentrations (30 nM for MDA-MB-435 and 300 nM for NCI/ADR-RES) were shown to activate significantly caspase-3, caspase-9, caspase-2 and also slightly caspase-8. Cell death was associated with significant accumulation of cells in the G(2)/M phase. Cytochrome c was not released from mitochondria and other mitochondrial functions were not significantly impaired. The new fluorinated taxanes appear to use the same or similar mechanisms of cell death induction as compared with SB-T-1216 and paclitaxel. New fluorinated and non-fluorinated taxanes are more effective against drug-resistant cancer cells than paclitaxel. Therefore, new generation of taxanes, either non-fluorinated or fluorinated, are excellent candidates for further and detailed studies.

Stearate-Induced Apoptosis in Human Pancreatic ß-Cells is Associated with Changes in Membrane Protein Expression and These Changes are Inhibited by Oleate.

PURPOSE: Lipotoxicity is implicated in type 2 diabetes pathogenesis. Its molecular mechanisms are not completely understood. The aim of this study is to identify new suspect proteins involved in pancreatic ß-cell death induction by saturated fatty acids and its inhibition by unsaturated fatty acids. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Employing 2DE analysis and subsequent western blot confirmation, the differences in membrane/membrane-associated protein expression in human ß-cell line NES2Y are assessed during cell death induction by stearate and its inhibition by oleate. RESULTS: Induction of apoptosis by stearate is associated with significantly increased levels of Hsp90ß, peroxiredoxin-1, and 14-3-3γ in the membrane fraction of NES2Y cells and significantly decreased levels of annexin A2, annexin A4, and reticulocalbin-2. All these changes are significantly inhibited by oleate co-application. No expression changes are detected after application of stearate together with oleate. Furthermore, the expression of reticulocalbin-2 is significantly decreased after stearate application also in the whole cell lysate. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Several membrane-associated proteins that could be related to pro- and anti-apoptotic signaling initiated by fatty acids in human pancreatic ß-cells are identified. As far as we know, annexin A4, reticulocalbin-2, and 14-3-3γ represent novel molecules related to the effect of fatty acids on ß-cell viability.

Comparison of the effect of individual saturated and unsaturated fatty acids on cell growth and death induction in the human pancreatic beta-cell line NES2Y.

We tested the effects of various types of fatty acids, differing in the degree of saturation and in the cis/trans configuration of the double bond, on the growth and viability of NES2Y cells (a human pancreatic beta-cell line). We found that during a 48-hour incubation period, saturated fatty acids, i.e. palmitic and stearic acids, at a physiologically relevant concentration of 1 mM and higher concentrations induced death of the beta-cells while their counterpart unsaturated fatty acids, i.e. palmitoleic and oleic acids, did not induce cell death at concentrations up to 3 mM. We also found that unsaturated elaidic acid with a trans double bond exerted significant inhibition of growth of the beta-cells at a concentration approximately ten times lower, i.e. 0.1 mM vs. 1 mM, than counterpart oleic acid with a cis double bond. This is the first direct evidence that a trans unsaturated fatty acid is significantly more effective in inhibiting beta-cell growth than a counterpart cis unsaturated fatty acid. Furthermore, we newly demonstrated that beta-cell death induced by saturated fatty acids is related to significant increase of caspase-2 activity (2 to 5-fold increase) but not to caspase-3 activation. The growth-inhibiting effect of saturated fatty acids at concentrations lower than death-inducing concentrations correlates with certain increase of caspase-2 activity.

Genetic and functional analyses do not explain the association of high PRC1 expression with poor survival of breast carcinoma patients.

Microtubules are vitally important for eukaryotic cell division. Therefore, we evaluated the relevance of mitotic kinesin KIF14, protein-regulating cytokinesis 1 (PRC1), and citron kinase (CIT) for the prognosis of breast carcinoma patients. Transcript levels were assessed by quantitative real-time PCR in tissues from two independent groups of breast carcinoma patients and compared with clinical data. Tissue PRC1 protein levels were estimated using immunoblotting, and the PRC1 tagged haplotype was analyzed in genomic DNA. A functional study was performed in MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro. KIF14, PRC1, and CIT transcripts were overexpressed in tumors compared with control tissues. Tumors without expression of hormonal receptors or high-grade tumors expressed significantly higher KIF14 and PRC1 levels than hormonally-positive or low-grade tumors. Patients with high intra-tumoral PRC1 levels had significantly worse disease-free survival than patients with low levels. PRC1 rs10520699 and rs11852999 polymorphisms were associated with PRC1 transcript levels, but not with patients survival. Paclitaxel-induced PRC1 expression, but PRC1 knockdown did not modify the paclitaxel cytotoxicity in vitro. PRC1 overexpression predicts poor disease-free survival of patients with breast carcinomas. Genetic variability of PRC1 and the protein interaction with paclitaxel cytotoxicity do not explain this association.

Transport, metabolism, cytotoxicity and effects of novel taxanes on the cell cycle in MDA-MB-435 and NCI/ADR-RES cells.

Resistance of tumours to taxanes causes chemotherapy failure in numerous patients. Resistance is partly due to the low tumour uptake of taxanes and their rapid metabolism. Structural modifications of taxanes can reduce their P-glycoprotein-related efflux or decrease metabolism and consequently increase taxane efficiency. This study compared cytotoxicity and effects of the cell cycle, transport and metabolism of novel taxanes SB-T-1102, SB-T-1103, SB-T-1214 and SB-T-1216, fluorinated SB-T-12851, SB-T-12852, SB-T-12853, SB-T-12854 and IDN5109 with paclitaxel in paclitaxel-sensitive (MDA-MB-435) and paclitaxel-resistant (NCI/ADR-RES) human cancer cells. We have shown before that NCI/ADR-RES cells were 1,000-fold less sensitive to paclitaxel than MDA-MB-435 cells in correspondence to P-glycoprotein overexpression and up to 20-fold lower uptake of the drug in the resistant cells. The uptake of novel taxanes was 1.2 to 3.8 times lower than that of paclitaxel in the MDA-MB-435 cells, but 1.5 to 6.5 times higher in NCI/ADR-RES cells. NCI/ADR-RES cells were correspondingly only 2- to 6.6-fold less sensitive than the MDA-MB-435 cells to novel taxanes. Both cell lines showed minimal metabolism of the novel taxanes which was therefore not responsible for their different sensitivity, the observed differences in their individual efficiency and higher effects than paclitaxel. All novel taxanes caused G(2)/M block of the cell cycle similar to paclitaxel, but lower at concentrations by order of magnitude. Thus, structural modifications of taxanes resulting in their decreased P-glycoprotein-related transport probably caused their higher efficiency than paclitaxel in multidrug-resistant NCI/ADR-RES tumour cells.