Plinabulin, an inhibitor of tubulin polymerization, targets KRAS signaling through disruption of endosomal recycling.

Constitutive activation of Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) is the most common oncogenic event in certain types of human cancer and is associated with poor patient survival. Small molecule signaling inhibitors have improved the clinical outcomes of patients with various cancer types but attempts to target KRAS have been unsuccessful. Plinabulin represents a novel class of agents that inhibit tubulin polymerization with a favorable safety profile in clinical trials. In the present study, the potency of plinabulin to inhibit tubulin polymerization and growth of KRAS-driven cancer cells was characterized. In vivo efficacy of plinabulin was tested in two different mouse models; one being the RCAS/t-va gene transfer system and the other being a xenograft model. In vitro cell culture tubulin polymerization assays were used to complement the mouse models. There was improved survival in a KRAS-driven mouse gene transfer glioma model, but lack of benefit in a similar model, without constitutively active KRAS, which supports the notion of a KRAS-specific effect. This survival benefit was mediated, at least in part, by the ability of plinabulin to inhibit tubulin polymerization and disrupt endosomal recycling. It was proposed a mechanism of compromised endosomal recycling of displaced KRAS through targeting microtubules that yields inhibition of protein kinase B, but not extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) signaling, therefore lending rationale to combination treatments of tubulin- and ERK-targeting agents in KRAS-driven cancer.

Regulated intratumoral expression of IL-12 using a RheoSwitch Therapeutic System® (RTS®) gene switch as gene therapy for the treatment of glioma.

The purpose of this study was to determine if localized delivery of IL-12 encoded by a replication-incompetent adenoviral vector engineered to express IL-12 via a RheoSwitch Therapeutic System® (RTS®) gene switch (Ad-RTS-IL-12) administered intratumorally which is inducibly controlled by the oral activator veledimex is an effective approach for glioma therapy. Mice bearing 5-10-day-old intracranial GL-261 gliomas were intratumorally administered Ad-RTS-mIL-12 in which IL-12 protein expression is tightly controlled by the activator ligand, veledimex. Local tumor viral vector levels concomitant with veledimex levels, IL-12-mRNA expression, local and systemic cytokine expression, tumor and systemic flow cytometry and overall survival were studied. Ad-RTS-mIL-12+veledimex elicited a dose-related increase in tumor IL-12 mRNA and IL-12 protein and discontinuation of veledimex resulted in a return to baseline levels. These changes correlated with local immune and antitumor responses. Veledimex crossed the blood-brain barrier in both orthotopic GL-261 mice and cynomolgus monkeys. We have demonstrated that this therapy induced localized controlled production of IL-12 which correlates with an increase in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) leading to the desired biologic response of tumor growth inhibition and regression. At day 85 (study termination), 65% of the animals that received veledimex at 10 or 30 mg/m2/day were alive and tumor free. In contrast, the median survival for the other groups were: vehicle 23 days, bevacizumab 20 days, temozolomide 33 days and anti-PD-1 37 days. These findings suggest that the controlled intratumoral production of IL-12 induces local immune cell infiltration and improved survival in glioma, thereby demonstrating that this novel regulated immunotherapeutic approach may be an effective form of therapy for glioma.

Decreased expression of CD200 and CD200 receptor in Alzheimer's disease: a potential mechanism leading to chronic inflammation.

Inflammatory activation of microglia in response to neurodegenerative changes in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease has been extensively described. These observations have suggested that inflammation could be contributing to disease progression. In this paper, the potential role of CD200 and CD200 receptor (CD200R), whose known functions are to activate anti-inflammatory pathways and induce immune tolerance through binding of CD200 to CD200 receptor (CD200R), was studied in AD. Quantitative studies showed a significant decrease in CD200 protein and mRNA in AD hippocampus and inferior temporal gyrus, but not cerebellum. Immunohistochemistry of brain tissue sections of hippocampus, superior frontal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus and cerebellum from AD and non-demented cases demonstrated a predominant, though heterogeneous, neuronal localization for CD200. Decreased neuronal expression was apparent in brain regions affected by AD pathology. There was also a significant decrease in CD200R mRNA expression in AD hippocampus and inferior temporal gyrus, but not cerebellum. Low expression of CD200R by microglia was confirmed at the mRNA and protein level using cultured human microglia compared to blood-derived macrophages. Treatment of microglia and macrophages with interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 significantly increased expression of CD200R. Expression of these cytokines was not generally detectable in brain. These data indicate that the anti-inflammatory CD200/CD200R system may be deficient in AD brains. Mechanisms aimed at increasing levels of CD200 and CD200R could have therapeutic potential for controlling inflammation in human neurodegenerative diseases.

Reduced striatal tyrosine hydroxylase in incidental Lewy body disease.

Incidental Lewy body disease (ILBD) is the term used when Lewy bodies are found in the nervous system of subjects without clinically documented parkinsonism or dementia. The prevalence of ILBD in the elderly population has been estimated at between 3.8 and 30%, depending on subject age and anatomical site of sampling. It has been speculated that ILBD represents the preclinical stage of Parkinson's disease (PD) and/or dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Studies of ILBD could potentially identify early diagnostic signs of these disorders. At present, however, it is impossible to know whether ILBD is a precursor to PD or DLB or is just a benign finding of normal aging. We hypothesized that, if ILBD represents an early stage of PD or DLB, it should be associated with depletion of striatal dopaminergic markers. Eleven subjects with ILBD and 27 control subjects were studied. The ILBD subjects ranged in age from 74 to 96 years (mean 86.5) while the control subjects' age ranged from 75 to 102 years (mean 86.7). Controls and subjects did not differ in terms of age, postmortem interval, gender distribution, medical history conditions, brain weight, neuritic plaque density or Braak neurofibrillary stage. Quantitative ELISA measurement of striatal tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the principal enzyme for dopamine synthesis, showed a 49.8% (P = 0.01) reduction in ILBD cases, as compared with control cases. The finding suggests that ILBD is not a benign condition but is likely a precursor to PD and/or DLB.

Human postmortem brain-derived cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells express all genes of the classical complement pathway: a potential mechanism for vascular damage in cerebral amyloid angiopathy and Alzheimer's disease.

Deposition of amyloid around blood vessels, known as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), is a major pathological feature found in the majority of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases, and activated complement fragments have been detected on CAA deposits in AD brains. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that human cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells (HCSMC) isolated from cortical vessels derived from postmortem brains can express mRNAs for complement genes C1qB, C1r, C1s, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8 and C9, the components of the classical complement pathway. Secretion of the corresponding complement proteins for these genes was also demonstrated, except for C1q and C5. Of particular significance was the observation that treatment of HCSMC with aggregated amyloid beta (Abeta) 1-42 increased expression of complement C3 mRNA and increased release of C3 protein. Abeta treatment of HCSMC also increased expression of C6 mRNA. Interferon-gamma induced expression and release of complement C1r, C1s, C2 and C4. As HCSMC are closely associated with Abeta deposits in vessels in the brain, their production of complement proteins could amplify the proinflammatory effects of amyloid in the perivascular environment, further compromising brain vascular integrity.

Gene expression changes by amyloid beta peptide-stimulated human postmortem brain microglia identify activation of multiple inflammatory processes.

A central feature of the inflammatory pathology in Alzheimer's disease is activated microglia clustered around aggregated amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide-containing plaques. In vitro-cultured microglia can be activated to an inflammatory state by aggregated Abeta with the induction of a range of different neurotoxic factors and provide a model system for studying microglia Abeta interactions. Gene expression responses of human postmortem brain-derived microglia to aggregated Abeta were measured using whole genome microarrays to address the hypothesis that Abeta interactions with human microglia primarily induce proinflammatory genes and not activation of genes involved in Abeta phagocytosis and removal. The results demonstrated that Abeta activation of microglia induced a large alteration in gene transcription including activation of many proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, most notably, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-8, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), including MMP1, MMP3, MMP9, MMP10, and MMP12. All of these genes could amplify ongoing inflammation, resulting in further neuronal loss. Changes in expression of receptors associated with Abeta phagocytosis did not match the changes in proinflammatory gene expression. Time-course gene expression profiling, along with real-time polymerase chain reaction validation of expression changes, demonstrated an acute phase of gene induction for many proinflammatory genes but also chronic activation for many other potentially toxic products. These chronically activated genes included indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and kynureninase, which are involved in formation of the neurotoxin quinolinic acid, and S100A8, a potential proinflammatory chemokine. These studies show that activation of microglia by Abeta induces multiple genes that could be involved in inflammatory responses contributing to neurodegenerative processes.