X-ray Microtomography to Assess Determinants of In Vivo N-Butyl Cyanoacrylate Glubran®2 Polymerization: A Rabbit-Model Study.

Although introduced decades ago, few cyanoacrylate glues have been approved for endovascular use, despite evidence of their usefulness, notably for complex procedures suchas hemostatic embolization. Indications include massive bleeding requiring emergent hemostasis and prevention of severe bleeding during scheduled surgery to remove a hypervascular tumor. Adding radiopaque Lipiodol Ultra Fluid® (LUF) modulates glue polymerization and allows fluoroscopic guidance, but few comparative in vivo studies have assessed the impact of the resulting change in glue concentration or of other factors such as target-vessel blood flow. In a rabbit model, we used ex vivo X-ray microtomography to assess the results of in vivo renal-artery embolization by various mixtures of N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA), metacryloxysulfolane, and LUF. Overall, penetration to the superficial interlobular arteries was achieved in about two-thirds of cases and into the capillaries in nearly half the cases, while cast fragmentation was seen in slightly more than half the cases. Greater NBCA dilution and the blocked-blood-flow technique were independently associated with greater distality of penetration. Blocked-blood-flow injection was independently associated with absence of fragmentation, capillary penetration, a shorter cast-to-capsule distance, and higher cast attenuation. A larger mixture volume was independently associated with higher indexed cast ratio and deeper penetration. Finally, microtomography is an adapted tool to assess ex vivo distribution of glue cast.

The HSP GRP94 interacts with macrophage intracellular complement C3 and impacts M2 profile during ER stress.

The role of GRP94, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress protein with both pro- and anti-inflammatory functions, has not been investigated in macrophages during ER stress, whereas ER stress has been reported in many diseases involving macrophages. In this work, we studied GRP94 in M1/LPS + IFNγ and M2/IL-4 primary macrophages derived from human monocytes (isolated from buffy coats), in basal and ER stress conditions induced by thapsigargin (Tg), an inducer of ER calcium depletion and tunicamycin (Tm), an inhibitor of N-glycosylation. We found that GRP94 was expressed on the membrane of M2 but not M1 macrophages. In M2, Tg, but not Tm, while decreased GRP94 content in the membrane, it induced its secretion. This correlated with the induction of a pro-inflammatory profile, which was dependent on the UPR IRE1α arm activation and on a functional GRP94. As we previously reported that GRP94 associated with complement C3 at the extracellular level, we analyzed C3 and confirmed GRP94-C3 interaction in our experimental model. Further, Tg increased this interaction and, in these conditions, C3b and cathepsin L were detected in the extracellular medium where GRP94 co-immunoprecipitated with C3 and C3b. Finally, we showed that the C3b inactivated fragment, iC3b, only present on non-stressed M2, depended on functional GRP94, making both GRP94 and iC3b potential markers of M2 cells. In conclusion, our results show that GRP94 is co-secreted with C3 under ER stress conditions which may facilitate its cleavage by cathepsin L, thus contributing to the pro-inflammatory profile observed in stressed M2 macrophages.

The GRP94 Inhibitor PU-WS13 Decreases M2-like Macrophages in Murine TNBC Tumors: A Pharmaco-Imaging Study with 99mTc-Tilmanocept SPECT.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancers and is not eligible for hormone and anti-HER2 therapies. Identifying therapeutic targets and associated biomarkers in TNBC is a clinical challenge to improve patients' outcome and management. High infiltration of CD206+ M2-like macrophages in the tumor microenvironment (TME) indicates poor prognosis and survival in TNBC patients. As we previously showed that membrane expression of GRP94, an endoplasmic reticulum chaperone, was associated with the anti-inflammatory profile of human PBMC-derived M2 macrophages, we hypothesized that intra-tumoral CD206+ M2 macrophages expressing GRP94 may represent innovative targets in TNBC for theranostic purposes. We demonstrate in a preclinical model of 4T1 breast tumor-bearing BALB/c mice that (i) CD206-expressing M2-like macrophages in the TME of TNBC can be specifically detected and quantified using in vivo SPECT imaging with 99mTc-Tilmanocept, and (ii) the inhibition of GRP94 with the chemical inhibitor PU-WS13 induces a decrease in CD206-expressing M2-like macrophages in TME. This result correlated with reduced tumor growth and collagen content, as well as an increase in CD8+ cells in the TME. 99mTc-Tilmanocept SPECT imaging might represent an innovative non-invasive strategy to quantify CD206+ tumor-associated macrophages as a biomarker of anti-GRP94 therapy efficacy and TNBC tumor aggressiveness.