Influence of PPH dendrimers' surface functions on the activation of human monocytes: a study of their interactions with pure lipid model systems.

The influence of surface functions on the interactions between Poly(PhosphorHydrazone) PPH dendrimers and human monocytes is discussed on the basis of complementary biological and physicochemical studies on membrane models (monolayers and multi-lamellar vesicles). The studies were performed on both an active and non-toxic phosphonic acid capped dendrimer and a non-active but toxic carboxylic acid capped one. On the one hand, comparative studies of the behaviour of DPPC monolayers in the presence or absence of PPH dendrimers in the subphase showed differences in the phase transitions, highlighting interactions between both dendrimers and phospholipid monolayers, with a larger incidence for the carboxylic acid capped dendrimer (negative control), validating its cellular toxicity. On the other hand, comparative biological studies (activation of human monocytes and binding of fluorescent dendrimers on human monocytes) show the pre-eminence of phosphonic acid capped dendrimers towards specific binding and subsequent activation of human monocytes.

The serine-threonine kinase p90RSK is a new target of enzastaurin in follicular lymphoma cells.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Follicular lymphoma is the second most common non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and, despite the introduction of rituximab for its treatment, this disease is still considered incurable. Besides genetic alterations involving Bcl-2, Bcl-6 or c-Myc, follicular lymphoma cells often display altered B-cell receptor signalling pathways including overactive PKC and PI3K/Akt systems. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: The effect of enzastaurin, an inhibitor of PKC, was evaluated both in vitro on follicular lymphoma cell lines and in vivo on a xenograft murine model. Using pharmacological inhibitors and siRNA transfection, we determined the different signalling pathways after enzastaurin treatment. KEY RESULTS: Enzastaurin inhibited the serine-threonine kinase p90RSK which has downstream effects on GSK3ß. Bad and p70S6K. These signalling proteins control follicular lymphoma cell survival and apoptosis; which accounted for the inhibition by enzastaurin of cell survival and its induction of apoptosis of follicular lymphoma cell lines in vitro. Importantly, these results were replicated in vivo where enzastaurin inhibited the growth of follicular lymphoma xenografts in mice. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The targeting of p90RSK by enzastaurin represents a new therapeutic option for the treatment of follicular lymphoma.

Anti-tumor activity of obinutuzumab and rituximab in a follicular lymphoma 3D model.

Follicular lymphomas (FLs) account for 35-40% of all adult lymphomas. Treatment typically involves chemotherapy combined with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (MAb) rituximab (RTX). The development of the type II anti-CD20 MAb obinutuzumab (GA101) aims to further improve treatment. Here, using FL cells we show that RTX and GA101 display a similar activity on RL cells cultured in 2D. However, 2D culture cannot mimic tumor spatial organization and conventional 2D models may not reflect the effects of antibodies as they occur in vivo. Thus, we created a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) 3D culture system, termed multicellular aggregates of lymphoma cells (MALC), and used it to compare RTX and GA101 activity. Our results show that both antibodies display greater activity towards FL cells in 3D culture compared with 2D culture. Moreover, we observed that in the 3D model GA101 was more effective than RTX both in inhibiting MALC growth through induction of (lysosomal) cell death and senescence and in inhibiting intracellular signaling pathways, such as mammalian target of rapamycin, Akt, PLCgamma (Phospholipase C gamma) and Syk. Altogether, our study demonstrates that spatial organization strongly influences the response to antibody treatment, supporting the use of 3D models for the testing of therapeutic agents in NHL.

Involvement of the Syk-mTOR pathway in follicular lymphoma cell invasion and angiogenesis.

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second-most common non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The disease affects the lymph nodes, and 50% of patients present with bone marrow infiltration; however, the mechanisms involved in dissemination of the disease are not yet known. We previously reported that FL cells display an overexpression of Syk, a tyrosine kinase involved in many cellular processes including cell migration. Therefore, we sought to explore its role in the invasive process. Here, we show that FL patients display higher matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels than healthy donors. Moreover, using Syk small interfering RNA and the Syk inhibitor R406, we demonstrate that, in FL cells, Syk is involved in the regulation of MMP-9 and VEGF expression, and that invasion and angiogenesis is mediated through a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)-mammalian target of rapamycin module. Finally, using a FL xenograft mouse model we observe that fostamatinib (R788), inhibits MMP-9 expression and angiogenesis in vivo. Altogether, this study provides strong evidence that Syk represents an encouraging therapeutic target in FL and suggests the potential use of fostamatinib as an anti-invasive and anti-angiogenic drug.

Duodenal mRNA expression of iron related genes in response to iron loading and iron deficiency in four strains of mice.

BACKGROUND: Although much progress has been made recently in characterising the proteins involved in duodenal iron trafficking, regulation of intestinal iron transport remains poorly understood. It is not known whether the level of mRNA expression of these recently described molecules is genetically regulated. This is of particular interest however as genetic factors are likely to determine differences in iron status among mouse strains and probably also contribute to the phenotypic variability seen with disruption of the haemochromatosis gene. AIMS: To investigate this issue, we examined concomitant variations in duodenal cytochrome b (Dcytb), divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), ferroportin 1 (FPN1), hephaestin, stimulator of Fe transport (SFT), HFE, and transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) transcripts in response to different dietary iron contents in the four mouse strains C57BL/6, DBA/2, CBA, and 129/Sv. SUBJECTS: Six mice of each strain were fed normal levels of dietary iron, six were subjected to the same diet supplemented with 2% carbonyl iron, and six were fed an iron deficient diet. METHODS: Quantification of mRNAs isolated from the duodenum was performed using real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in mRNA expression of Dcytb, DMT1, FPN1, and TfR1 when mice were fed an iron deficient diet, and a significant decrease in mRNA expression of these molecules when mice were fed an iron supplemented diet. Strain to strain differences were observed not only in serum transferrin saturations, with C57BL/6 mice having the lowest values, but also in hepatic iron stores and in duodenal mRNA expression of Dcytb, DMT1, FPN1, hephaestin, HFE, and TfR1. CONCLUSIONS: The results favour some degree of genetic control of mRNA levels of these molecules.