Optimization of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to screen ligand of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are transcription factor which directly modulate gene expression by binding to specific agonists. It has been reported that PPARalpha controls lipid metabolism, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. PPARalpha activation by PPARalpha agonist can ultimately reduce the progression of atherosclerosis and decrease the incidence of coronary heart disease. In this study, we optimized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) systems in order to screen putative PPARalpha agonists. These methods are based on the activation mechanism of PPARalpha where the ligand binding to PPARalpha induces the interaction of the receptor with transcriptional co-activators. Among co-activators such as SRC-1, TIF-2, and p300, although ligand-unbound PPARalpha had more strong binding with p300 at a lower concentrations of PPARalpha, ligand-bound PPARalpha had more specific and strong binding with SRC-1. We optimized and developed a novel and useful ELISA system to screen PPARalpha agonists. Wy14,643 and linoleic acid, the well-known PPARalpha ligands, increased the binding between PPARalpha and co-activators in a ligand dose-dependent manner. In this ELISA method to screen PPARalpha ligands, the use of specific anti-PPARalpha N-terminus antibody, full-length recombinant protein of human PPARalpha but not ligand-binding domain (LBD) of human PPARalpha, and his-tagged PPARalpha recombinant proteins but not GST-fused PPARalpha recombinant proteins is the critical factors. Development of this screening system may be useful in the discovery of PPARalpha ligands from various candidates such as chemical library and phytochemicals.

Epiregulin expression by Ets-1 and ERK signaling pathway in Ki-ras-transformed cells.

Epiregulin belongs to the epidermal growth factor family, binds to the epidermal growth factor receptor, and its expression is upregulated in various cancer cells, but the regulatory mechanism is unclear. We investigated the regulatory mechanism of epiregulin expression in Ki-ras-transformed cancer cells. In 267B1/Ki-ras cells, the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway was constitutively activated, epiregulin was up-regulated, and the expression and phosphorylation of Ets-1 were augmented. The inhibition of ERK by PD98059 decreased epiregulin and Ets-1 expression and suppressed the growth of 267B1/Ki-ras cells. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that Ets-1 was bound to human epiregulin promoter, and this binding was abolished by PD98059. Silencing of Ets-1 by RNA interference decreased cellular epiregulin transcript expression. We suggest that the Ki-ras mutation in 267B1 prostate cells constitutively activates the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway and induces the activation of the Ets-1 transcription factor, ultimately leading to the increased expression of epiregulin.

Sensitization of the apoptotic effect of gamma-irradiation in genistein-pretreated CaSki cervical cancer cells.

Radiotherapy is currently applied in the treatment of human cancers. We studied whether genistein would enhance the radiosensitivity and explored its precise molecular mechanism in cervical cancer cells. After co-treatment with genistein and irradiation, the viability, cell cycle analysis, and apoptosis signaling cascades were elucidated in CaSki cells. The viability was decreased by co-treatment with genistein and irradiation compared with irradiation treatment alone. Treatment with only gamma-irradiation led to cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. On the other hand, co-treatment with genistein and gamma-irradiation caused a decrease in the G1 phase and a concomitant increase up to 56% in the number of G2 phase. In addition, cotreatment increased the expression of p53 and p21, and Cdc2- tyr-15-p, supporting the occurrence of G2/M arrest. In general, apoptosis signaling cascades were activated by the following events: release of cytochrome c, upregulation of Bax, downregulation of Bcl-2, and activation of caspase-3 and -8 in the treatment of genistein and irradiation. Apparently, co-treatment downregulated the transcripts of E6*I, E6*II, and E7. Genistein also stimulated irradiation-induced intracellular reactive oxygene, species (ROS) production, and co-treatment-induced apoptosis was inhibited by the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine, suggesting that apoptosis has occurred through the increase in ROS by genistein and gamma-irradiation in cervical cancer cells. Gamma-irradiation increased cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-2) expression, whereas the combination with genistein and gamma-irradiation almost completely prevented irradiation-induced COX-2 expression and PGE2 production. Co-treatment with genistein and gamma-irradiation inhibited proliferation through G2/M arrest and induced apoptosis via ROS modulation in the CaSki cancer cells.

Multiplex detection of KRAS mutations by a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry assay.

OBJECTIVES: Mutations of the Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene (KRAS) gene are known to be important in the pathogenesis of a variety of cancers. Patients with mutant KRAS tumors do not respond to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors and fail to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. Testing for KRAS mutations is now being recommended as a tailored therapeutic strategy prior to anti-EGFR treatment; however, the low sensitivity of direct sequencing frequently leads to failure of detection of KRAS mutations in clinical samples. DESIGN AND METHODS: We developed restriction fragment mass polymorphism (RFMP) assays, to detect KRAS mutations in codons 12, 13, and 61. We performed RFMP analysis for KRAS on DNA isolated from eight different KRAS mutant cell lines and 34 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) lung cancer tissues. RESULTS: Overall, the RFMP assay was in good concordance with direct sequencing analysis in the detection of KRAS mutations. By using dilutions of KRAS mutant DNA in wild type DNA from mutation cell lines with a known KRAS status, we confirmed that the RFMP assay has a higher analytical sensitivity, requiring only 3% of cells in a sample to have mutant alleles, compared to direct sequencing, which had a detection threshold of ~25%. In the FFPE samples, RFMP successfully detected KRAS genotypes in codons 12, 13, and 61. CONCLUSION: The RFMP might be efficiently applicable for the detection of KRAS mutations in a clinical setting, particularly for tumor samples containing abundant non-neoplastic cells.

The liquid Panax ginseng inhibits epidermal growth factor-induced metalloproteinase 9 and cyclooxygenase 2 expressions via inhibition of inhibitor factor kappa-B-alpha and extracellular signal-regulated kinase in NCI-H292 human airway epithelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) has been used in Asian countries for the treatment of various diseases. However, the mechanisms of liquid Panax ginseng (LG) on allergic inflammatory response in epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated human airway epithelial cells remain largely unclear. METHODS: MUC5AC, cyclooxygenase (COX) 2, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 9 expressions were measured using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and gelatin zymogram analyses in NCI-H292 cells. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) protein levels were analyzed by Western blotting. RESULTS: To gain insight into the antiallergy effects of LG, we examined its influence on epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced MMP-9 and COX-2 productions in NCI-H292 cells. LG was treated for 1 hour and then followed by EGF treatment for 24 hours into NCI-H292 cells. The decrease of COX-2 production was correlated with the reduced levels of proteins and mRNAs of inducible MMP-9 and MUC5AC. LG blocked upstream signaling of NF-kappa-B activation via inhibition of phosphorylations of inhibitor factor-kappa- B-alpha (I-kappa-B-alpha) and ERK. These results suggest that LG protects NCI-H292 cells from EGF-induced damage by down-regulation of COX-2, MMP-9, and MUC5AC gene expressions by blocking NF-kappa-B and ERK. CONCLUSION: LG modulates allergic inflammatory response in EGF-stimulated NCI-H292 human airway epithelial cells via inhibition of I-kappa-B-alpha and ERK.

Indole-3-carbinol induces apoptosis through p53 and activation of caspase-8 pathway in lung cancer A549 cells.

Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) has anti-tumor effects in various cancer cell lines. However, the anti-tumor effect of I3C on human lung cancers has been rarely reported. We investigated the anti-tumor effects and its mechanism of I3C on human lung carcinoma A549 cell line. Treatment of the A549 cells with I3C significantly reduced cell proliferation, increased formations of fragmented DNA and apoptotic body, and induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase. I3C increased not only the protein levels of cyclin D1, phosphorylated p53, and p21 but also the expression of Fas mRNA. Cleavage of caspase-9, -8, -3 and PARP also was increased by I3C. Treatment with wortmannin significantly suppressed both I3C-induced Ser15 phosphorylation and accumulation of p53 protein. The inhibition of caspase-8 by z-IETD-FMK significantly decreased cleavage of procaspase-8,-3 and PARP in I3C-treated A549 cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that I3C induces cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 through the activation of p-p53 at Ser 15 and induces caspase-8 mediated apoptosis via the Fas death receptor. This molecular mechanism for apoptotic effect of I3C on A549 lung carcinoma cells may be a first report and suggest that I3C may be a preventive and therapeutic agent against lung cancer.

Melphalan modulates the expression of E7-specific biomarkers in E7-Tg mice.

HPV oncoproteins are selectively retained and expressed in HPV infected carcinoma cells. The E7 oncoprotein interacts with the tumour suppressor Rb, and leads to the progression of oncogenesis. In a previous study, E7 biomarkers were identified in E7 Tg mice. In this study, in order to investigate whether a genotoxic carcinogen would modulate carcinogenesis in the E7-Tg mice, an anticancer drug, melphalan, was intraperitoneally injected into E7-Tg mice for eight weeks at two-day intervals and then genes and proteins were analysed using Omics approaches and RT-qPCR. RT-qPCR was performed to confirm whether E7 biomarkers would be modulated by melphalan treatment in E7-Tg mice, revealing that up-regulated E7 markers such as cyclin B1, CD166, and actin alpha1 were down-regulated, whereas expression of down-regulated E7 markers such as vimentin was restored by melphalan treatment. These results suggest that melphalan inhibits carcinogenesis via modulating E7-specific genes and proteins expressed in the lung tissues of E7 Tg mice.

K+ channel currents in rat ventral prostate epithelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Electrophysiological function of the normal prostate has not been extensively studied. In particular, ion channel currents and their regulation have not been studied in freshly-isolated prostate cells. METHODS: Rat prostate secretory epithelial (RPSE) cells were isolated by collagenase treatment. Columnar epithelial cells were used for nystatin-perforated, whole-cell voltage clamp, and the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) was measured using fura-2. RESULTS: Step-like depolarizing pulses (900 msec) starting from - 90 mV induced outwardly rectifying K(+) currents without inactivation. ACh (10 microM) or ATP (100 microM) increased the outward current and hyperpolarized the cell membrane potential. Ionomycin (0.1 microM), a Ca(2+) ionophore, induced a similar increase in the outward current. TEA (5 mM), charybdotoxin (50 nM), and iberiotoxin (30 nM) inhibited the effect of ACh (or ATP) on the outward current, whereas apamin (100 nM) had no effect. The [Ca(2+)](i) of RPSE cells was increased by ACh, ATP, and UTP. CONCLUSIONS: RPSE cells have iberiotoxin-sensitive Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels that may play an important role in the exocrine secretions of the prostate.