Increasing Natural Killer Cell Activity of Mineral Nanomaterial ALP1018 in Healthy Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Comparative Clinical Trial.

This randomized, double-blind, placebo comparative clinical trial aimed to determine the immune-enhancing effects and safety of a nanomaterial with iron and zinc (ALP1018) in healthy adults. Participants who met the inclusion criteria were recruited for this study (n = 80) and randomly assigned to either the test group (n = 40), which was given Alp1018 in capsule form, or the placebo group (n = 40), which was given crystal cellulose capsules of identical appearance, weight, and flavor for 8 weeks. Compared to baseline, natural killer (NK) cell activity (%) increased in the test group after 8 weeks, although there were no changes in the placebo group. Furthermore, in the subgroup analysis of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected participants, significantly increased NK cell activity was observed in the test group at 4 (p < 0.05) and 8 weeks (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in cytokine levels between the two groups. ALP1018 supplementation appeared to enhance immune function by improving NK cell activity without adverse effects in healthy adults.

In vitro and in vivo genotoxicity evaluation of ALP1018, a nanomineral food supplement.

The use of nano-based dietary supplements is increasing around the world, as nanotechnology can help enhance nutrient bioavailability. ALP1018 is a newly developed iron-zinc complex supplement designed as a nanoformulation to improve the efficacy of iron and zinc supplementation. However, safety concerns have been raised, as there is no clear evaluation of ALP1018 toxicity. The goal of this study was to determine the potential mutagenicity and genotoxicity of ALP1018 through three standard screenings: the Ames test, which evaluates bacterial reverse mutations; the in vitro test of chromosomal aberration in Chinese hamster lung cells; and the in vivo micronucleus assay using ICR mice. ALP1018 showed no mutagenic effect, as no increase was observed in the presence or absence of metabolic activation (S9 mix) in revertant colonies on all the bacterial strains used in the Ames test. No structural chromosomal abnormalities were observed in the presence or absence of the S9 mix in mammalian cells used in the chromosomal aberration assay. In the micronucleus test, the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes was not significantly increased in mouse bone marrow cells. Based on these findings, we can conclude that ALP1018 is safe to use and has no mutagenic or genotoxic potential.

Quantification and visualization of metastatic lung tumors in mice.

Histopathological examination is important for the diagnosis of various diseases. Conventional histopathology provides a two-dimensional view of the tissues, and requires the tissue to be extracted, fixed, and processed using histotechnology techniques. However, there is an increasing need for three-dimensional (3D) images of structures in biomedical research. The objective of this study was to develop reliable, objective tools for visualizing and quantifying metastatic tumors in mouse lung using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Melanoma cells were intravenously injected into the tail vein of 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice. The mice were euthanized at 2 or 4 weeks after injection. Lungs were fixed and examined by micro-CT, OCT, FE-SEM, and histopathological observation. Micro-CT clearly distinguished between tumor and normal cells in surface and deep lesions, thereby allowing 3D quantification of the tumor volume. OCT showed a clear difference between the tumor and surrounding normal tissues. FE-SEM clearly showed round tumor cells, mainly located in the alveolar wall and growing inside the alveoli. Therefore, whole-tumor 3D imaging successfully visualized the metastatic tumor and quantified its volume. This promising approach will allow for fast and label-free 3D phenotyping of diverse tissue structures.

Portable vibration-assisted filtration device for on-site isolation of blood cells or pathogenic bacteria from whole human blood.

Isolation of specific cells from whole blood is important to monitor disease prognosis and diagnosis. In this study, a vibration-assisted filtration (VF) device has been developed for isolation and recovery of specific cells such as leukocytes and pathogenic bacteria from human whole blood. The VF device is composed of three layers which was fabricated using injection molding with cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) pellets consisting of: a top layer with coin-type vibration motor (Ф = 10mm), a middle plate with a 1µm or 3µm-pore filter membrane to separate of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) cells or leukocytes (i.e. white blood cells) respectively, and a bottom chamber with conical-shaped microstructure. One milliliter of human whole blood was injected into a sample loading chamber using a 3µm-pore filter equipped in the VF device and the coin-type vibration motor applied external vibration force by generating a rotational fluid which enhances the filtration velocity due to the prevention of the cell clogging on the filter membrane. The effluent blood such as erythrocytes, platelet, and plasma was collected at the bottom chamber while the leukocytes were sieved by the filter membrane. The vibration-assisted leukocyte separation was able to finish within 200s while leukocyte separation took 1200s without vibration. Moreover, we successfully separated S. aureus from human whole blood using a 1µm-pore filter equipped VF device and it was further confirmed by genetic analysis. The proposed VF device provides an advanced cell separation platform in terms of simplicity, fast separation, and portability in the fields of point-of-care diagnostics.

VDUP1 mediates nuclear export of HIF1alpha via CRM1-dependent pathway.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF1alpha) is a critical transcriptional factor for inducing tumor metastasis, and stabilized under hypoxia but degraded by von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL) under normoxia. For the maximal degradation of HIF1alpha, it must be exported to the cytoplasm via an unidentified transporter. Here, we demonstrate that vitamin D3 up-regulated protein 1 (VDUP1) associates with the beta-domain of pVHL and enhances the interaction between pVHL and HIF1alpha to promote the nuclear export and degradation of HIF1alpha hypoxia-independently. Blocking of VDUP1 translocation either by leptomycin B or by nuclear export signal mutation inhibited the nuclear export of pVHL/HIF1alpha and relieved the destabilization of HIF1alpha. VDUP1 suppressed cell invasiveness and tumor metastasis, which were also recovered by blocking of nuclear export. Taken together, these findings indicate that VDUP1 is a novel tumor suppressor which mediates the nuclear export of pVHL/HIF1alpha complex to destabilize HIF1alpha.

Hypoxia-induced IL-18 increases hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha expression through a Rac1-dependent NF-kappaB pathway.

Interleukin-18 (IL-18) plays pivotal roles in linking inflammatory immune responses and tumor progression and metastasis, yet the manner in which this occurs remains to be sufficiently clarified. Here we report that hypoxia induces the transcription and secretion of IL-18, which subsequently induces the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha). Mechanistically, IL-18 induces HIF-1alpha through the activity of the GTPase Rac1, which inducibly associates with the IL-18 receptor beta (IL-18Rbeta) subunit, via a PI3K-AKT-NF-kappaB-dependent pathway. Importantly, the knockdown of the IL-18Rbeta subunit inhibited IL-18-driven tumor cell metastasis. Collectively, these findings demonstrate a feed-forward pathway in HIF-1alpha-mediated tumor progression, in which the induction of IL-18 by hypoxia or inflammatory cells augments the expression of both HIF-1alpha and tumor cell metastasis.

Suppression of chemically-induced liver tumors by castration or estradiol-3-benzoate treatment in F344 rats.

Epidemiological data reveal that the incidence of liver cancer is markedly higher in men than women. To clarify the mechanism responsible for the induction of higher incidence of liver tumors in male animals, we investigated the modifying effect of sex hormones in diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced rat hepatocarcinogenesis. F344 male rats (n=120) were divided into two experiments, experiment I (Exp I) and experiment II (Exp II). In each experiment, 60 rats were randomly allocated into four groups. The mini-osmotic pumps containing doses of 47.5 mg (Exp I) or 23.75 mg (Exp II) of DEN were inserted into the abdominal cavity of each animal to initiate liver carcinogenesis. Animals in group 2 were castrated one week prior to DEN treatment, and animals in groups 3 and 4 were treated with 1 or 10 microg of estradiol-3-benzoate (EB), respectively, one week prior to DEN treatment. Animals in group 1 were treated with DEN alone and sham-operated at the same time. All animals were sacrificed 26 weeks after DEN treatment. In Exp I, liver tumor incidence of group 3 decreased significantly compared with that of group 1 (p<0.05), and tumor multiplicities of groups 2, 3 and 4 were decreased significantly compared to that of group 1 (p<0.01). In Exp II, tumor incidence of group 3 was significantly different (p<0.05) when compared to that of group 1. Immunohistochemical expression of ERalpha was shown in normal appearing cells, but not in tumor cells. Western blot analysis confirmed that ERalpha expression was higher in normal liver tissue compared to tumor tissues. Taken together, we conclude that castration or EB treatment has an inhibitory effect in DEN-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in F344 rats. The reason for ERalpha loss in tumor cells should be further elucidated.

Inhibition of mammary gland tumors by short-term treatment of estradiol-3-benzoate associated with down-regulation of estrogen receptor ERalpha and ERbeta.

Epidemiological evidence indicates that estrogens are one of the risk factors of breast cancer. However, there have been reports that pre-pubertal estrogen exposure is related to reduced breast cancer risk. These discrepancies made us investigate the time-point and duration of estrogen exposure. Our studies focus on the effect of estradiol-3-benzoate (EB) on the mammary gland that was exposed to carcinogens. Ninety-six female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 6 groups. Animals at 7 weeks of age were injected with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) in groups 1, 2 and 3 or N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) in groups 4, 5 and 6. One week later, the animals were subjected to sustained treatment with 0 micro g (groups 1 and 4), 30 micro g (groups 2 and 5) or 300 micro g (groups 3 and 6) of EB containing pellets for 4 weeks. All animals were sacrificed at 5 weeks or 21 weeks after carcinogen treatment, for the examination of mammary gland differentiation or mammary gland tumors, respectively. At 21 weeks after carcinogen treatment, the incidence of mammary tumors in group 2 was significantly decreased (P<0.05). EB treatment decreased the multiplicity of DMBA- or MNU-induced mammary gland tumors. At 5 weeks after carcinogen treatment, there were increased branchings of the mammary gland, and there was also a decrease of ERalpha and ERbeta in EB treatment groups. Taken together with these results, we conclude that EB has an inhibitory effect on mammary carcinogenesis, and it suggests that this inhibition may be associated with the differentiation of mammary gland and modulation of ERalpha and ERbeta.

Downregulation of estrogen receptor alpha and beta expression in carcinogen-induced mammary gland tumors of rats.

AIM AND METHODS: The recent discovery of a new isoform of estrogen receptor (ER), ER beta, has promoted the investigation of its expression on mammary gland. This study was carried out to examine the expression of ER alpha, ER beta and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in the carcinogen-induced mammary tumors induced by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) or 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), and to compare these expression with those of age-matched normal mammary glands. RESULTS: There was significant decrease of expression of ER alpha and ER beta in the mammary gland tumors compared with age-matched normal mammary glands (p < 0.05). In mammary gland tumors, ER alpha expression was mainly located in epithelial cells, showing intranuclear staining pattern. The decrease of ER beta expression was so distant that some tumor cells did not show any expression. There was a complete loss of ER beta expression in 50% (7/14) of MNU-induced mammary gland tumors, and 68.2% (15/22) of DMBA-induced mammary gland tumors. However, there was no difference in PCNA expression between mammary gland tumors and normal mammary glands. CONCLUSION: This study represents that the decrease of expression of ER alpha and ER beta is associated with mammary carcinogenesis, and suggests that modulation of ER alpha and ER beta may be the target for the treatment of mammary gland tumors.