Routine use of standard breast MRI compared to axillary ultrasound for differentiating between no, limited and advanced axillary nodal disease in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

OBJECTIVES: To compare standard breast MRI to dedicated axillary ultrasound (with or without tissue sampling) for differentiating between no, limited and advanced axillary nodal disease in breast cancer patients. METHODS: All patients who underwent breast MRI and dedicated axillary ultrasound between 2009 and 2014 were eligible. Exclusion criteria were recurrent disease, neoadjuvant systemic therapy and not receiving completion axillary lymph node dissection after positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). Two radiologists independently reassessed all MRI exams. Axillary ultrasound findings were retrospectively collected. Probability of advanced axillary nodal disease (pN2-3) given clinically node negative (cN0) or limited (cN1) findings was calculated, with corresponding negative predictive value (NPV) to exclude pN2-3 and positive predictive value (PPV) to identify axillary nodal disease. Histopathology served as gold standard. RESULTS: A total of 377 cases resulted in 81.4% no, 14.4% limited and 4.2% advanced axillary nodal disease at final histopathology. Probability of pN2-3 given cN0 for breast MRI and axillary ultrasound was 0.7-0.9% versus 1.5% and probability of pN2-3 given cN1 was 11.6-15.4% versus 29.0%. When cN1 on breast MRI was observed, PPV to identify positive axillary nodal disease was 50.7% and 59.0%. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of axillary nodal status on standard breast MRI is comparable to dedicated axillary ultrasound in breast cancer patients. In patients who underwent preoperative standard breast MRI, axillary ultrasound is only required in case of suspicious nodal findings on MRI.

Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography in recalls from the Dutch breast cancer screening program: validation of results in a large multireader, multicase study.

OBJECTIVES: Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) is a promising problem-solving tool in women referred from a breast cancer screening program. We aimed to study the validity of preliminary results of CESM using a larger panel of radiologists with different levels of CESM experience. METHODS: All women referred from the Dutch breast cancer screening program were eligible for CESM. 199 consecutive cases were viewed by ten radiologists. Four had extensive CESM experience, three had no CESM experience but were experienced breast radiologists, and three were residents. All readers provided a BI-RADS score for the low-energy CESM images first, after which the score could be adjusted when viewing the entire CESM exam. BI-RADS 1-3 were considered benign and BI-RADS 4-5 malignant. With this cutoff, we calculated sensitivity, specificity and area under the ROC curve. RESULTS: CESM increased diagnostic accuracy in all readers. The performance for all readers using CESM was: sensitivity 96.9 % (+3.9 %), specificity 69.7 % (+33.8 %) and area under the ROC curve 0.833 (+0.188). CONCLUSION: CESM is superior to conventional mammography, with excellent problem-solving capabilities in women referred from the breast cancer screening program. Previous results were confirmed even in a larger panel of readers with varying CESM experience. KEY POINTS: • CESM is consistently superior to conventional mammography • CESM increases diagnostic accuracy regardless of a reader's experience • CESM is an excellent problem-solving tool in recalls from screening programs.

Pharmacokinetic and thrombolytic properties of cysteine-linked polyethylene glycol derivatives of staphylokinase.

Recombinant staphylokinase (SakSTAR) variants obtained by site-directed substitution with cysteine, in the core (lysine 96 [Lys96], Lys102, Lys109, and/or Lys135) or the NH(2)-terminal region that is released during activation of SakSTAR (serine 2 [Ser2] and/or Ser3), were derivatized with thiol-specific (ortho-pyridyl-disulfide or maleimide) polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules with molecular weights of 5,000 (P5), 10,000 (P10), or 20,000 (P20). The specific activities and thrombolytic potencies in human plasma were unaltered for most variants derivatized with PEG (PEGylates), but maleimide PEG derivatives had a better temperature stability profile. In hamsters, SakSTAR was cleared at 2.2 mL/min; variants with 1 P5 molecule were cleared 2-to 5-fold; variants with 2 P5 or 1 P10 molecules were cleared 10-to 30-fold; and variants with 1 P20 molecule were cleared 35-fold slower. A bolus injection induced dose-related lysis of a plasma clot, fibrin labeled with 125 iodine ((125)I-fibrin plasma clot), and injected into the jugular vein. A 50% clot lysis at 90 minutes required 110 microg/kg SakSTAR; 50 to 110 microg/kg of core-substitution derivatives with 1 P5; 25 microg/kg for NH(2)-terminal derivatives with 1 P5; 5 to 25 microg/kg with derivatives with 2 P5 or 1 P10; and 7 microg/kg with P20 derivatives. Core substitution with 1 or 2 P5 molecules did not significantly reduce the immunogenicity of SakSTAR in rabbits. Derivatization of staphylokinase with a single PEG molecule allows controllable reduction of the clearance while maintaining thrombolytic potency at a reduced dose. This indicates that mono-PEGylated staphylokinase variants may be used for single intravenous bolus injection.

Selection of beta-lactamases and penicillin binding mutants from a library of phage displayed TEM-1 beta-lactamase randomly mutated in the active site omega-loop.

A combinatorial library of mutants of the phage displayed TEM-1 lactamase was generated in the region encompassing residues 163 to 171 of the active site Omega-loop. Two in vitro selection protocols were designed to extract from the library phage-enzymes characterised by a fast acylation by benzyl-penicillin (PenG) to yield either stable or very unstable acyl-enzymes. The critical step of the selections was the kinetically controlled labelling of the phages by reaction with either a biotinylated penicillin derivative or a biotinylated penicillin sulfone, i.e. a beta-lactamase suicide substrate; the biotinylated phages were recovered by panning on immobilised streptavidin. As labelling with biotinylated suicide substrates tends to select enzymes that do not turnover, a counter-selection against penicillin binding mutants was introduced to extract the beta-lactamases. The selected phage-enzymes were characterised by sequencing to identify conserved residues and by kinetic analysis of the reaction with benzyl-penicillin. Several penicillin binding mutants, in which the essential Glu166 is replaced by Asn, were shown to be acylated very fast by PenG, the acylation being characterised by biphasic kinetics. These data are interpreted by a kinetic scheme in which the enzymes exist in two interconvertible conformations. The rate constant of the conformational change suggests that it involves an isomerisation of the peptide bond between residues 166 and 167 and controls a conformation of the Omega-loop compatible with fast acylation of the active site serine residue.

Guiding a docking mode by phage display: selection of correlated mutations at the staphylokinase-plasmin interface.

During co-evolution of interacting proteins, functionally disruptive mutations on one side of the interface may be compensated by local amino acid changes on the other to restore binding affinity. This information can be useful for geometry-based docking approaches by reducing the translational and rotational space available to the proteins. Here, we demonstrate that correlated mutations at a protein-protein interface can be rapidly identified by selecting a phage-displayed library of a randomly mutated component of the complex for complementation of mutations that decreased binding in the interacting partner. This approach was used to deduce the binding mode of staphylokinase (Sak), a 15.5 kDa "indirect" plasminogen activator on microplasmin (microPli), the 28 kDa serine protease domain of plasmin. Biopanning indicated that residues Arg94 and Gly174 in microPli are located in close proximity to Glu75 and the Glu88:Ile128 pair in Sak, respectively. The coupled mutations Glu94<-->Lys75 reversed and Gly174<-->Lys88:Val128 introduced a salt bridge, whereby the binding affinities (with coupling energies of 1.8 to 2.3 kcal mol-1, respectively) and the plasminogen activation ability of the mutated complexes were partially restored. These findings suggested a unique docking mode of Sak at the western rim of the active-site cleft of microPli, that is in agreement with the structure of the Sak-microPli complex as recently derived by other methods.

Structural and functional basis of plasminogen activation by staphylokinase.

Staphylokinase (Sak), a 15.5-kDa bacterial protein, forms a complex with human plasmin, which in turn activates other plasminogen molecules to plasmin. Three recombinant DNA-based approaches, (i) site directed substitution with alanine, (ii) search for proximity relationships at the complex interface, and (iii) active-site accessibility to protease inhibitors have been used to deduce a coherent docking model of the crystal structure of Sak on the homology-based model of microplasmin (microPli), the serine protease domain of plasmin. Sak binding on microPli is primarily mediated by two surface-exposed loops, loops 174 and 215, at the rim of the active-site cleft, while the binding epitope of Sak on microPli involves several residues located in the flexible NH2-terminal arm and in the five-stranded mixed beta-sheet. Several Sak residues located within the unique alpha-helix and the beta2 strand do not contribute to the binding epitope but are essential to induce plasminogen activating potential in the Sak:microPli complex. These residues form a topologically distinct activation epitope, which, upon binding of Sak to the catalytic domain of microPli, protrudes into a broad groove near the catalytic triad of microPli, thereby generating a competent binding pocket for micro-plasminogen (microPlg), which buries approximately 2500 A of the Sak:microPli complex upon binding. This structural and functional model may serve as a template for the design of improved Sak-derived thrombolytic agents. Following the completion and presentation of the present study, the deduced Sak:microPli:microPlg complex was fully confirmed by X-ray crystallography, which further illustrates the power and potential of the present approach.

Bifunctional activity labels for selection of filamentous bacteriophages displaying enzymes.

Two bifunctional activity labels of beta-lactamases or penicillin binding proteins have been prepared. They feature a penicillin sulfone derivative, i.e. a suicide substrate of serine beta-lactamases, or a penicillin derivative connected to a biotin moiety through a spacer containing a disulfide bridge. The biotinyl spacer 4 was prepared by coupling biotin to epsilon-amino-caproic acid, then to cystamine, and purified by transient protection with t-Boc. The penicillin sulfone inhibitor 13 was prepared by chemoselective sulfonylation of methoxymethyl 6-aminopenicillinate with pentafluorophenoxy- or benzyloxy-carbonylmethylsulfonyl chloride (9), followed by permanganate oxidation. Both direct coupling of the activated ester 13b and indirect coupling of the acid 13c obtained by benzyl ester deprotection, afforded the biotinylated sulfone inhibitor 16. The acid 6 resulting from reaction of the biotinyl spacer 4 with glutaric anhydride was activated as pentafluorophenyl-ester 7 and reacted with 6-aminopenicillanic acid to afford the penicillin binding protein label 18. Selection of the most active beta-lactamase displayed on phage from a mixture containing less active enzymes could be accomplished in three rounds of labeling and affinity chromatography using suicide inhibitor 16.

Synthesis of new sulfonylamido-penicillanic acid sulfones inhibitors of beta-lactamases.

Three new sulfonylamido-penicillanic acid sulfones have been prepared by reaction of 6-aminopenicillanic esters with the monoester or monoamide derivatives obtained in nucleophilic substitution reactions by alcohol or aniline on the carboxyl chloride function of sulfoacetic dichloride followed by oxidation. These penicillin sulfones are converted to beta-lactamases suicide inhibitors by removal of the C3 ester protecting group. This synthetic strategy can give access to sulfonamidopenam sulfones bearing a variety of 6-amino side chain. These inhibitors inactivate the RTEM beta-lactamase rapidly. The kinetics of inactivation are consistent with the partitioning of an acylenzyme intermediate between two main pathways: regeneration of free enzyme and irreversible inactivation, little transient inactivation is observed. A slow inhibition by the product of enzymatic hydrolysis of the sulfones is also observed.