The effects of taurolidine alone and in combination with doxorubicin or carboplatin in canine osteosarcoma in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma (OS) affects over 8000 dogs/year in the United States. The disease usually arises in the appendicular skeleton and metastasizes to the lung. Dogs with localized appendicular disease benefit from limb amputation and chemotherapy but most die within 6-12 months despite these treatments. Taurolidine, a derivative of taurine, has anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic effects against a variety of cancers. The following in vitro studies tested taurolidine as a candidate for adjuvant therapy for canine OS. Tests for p53 protein status and caspase activity were used to elucidate mechanisms of taurolidine-induced cell death. RESULTS: Taurolidine was cytotoxic to osteosarcoma cells and increased the toxicity of doxorubicin and carboplatin in vitro. Apoptosis was greatly induced in cells exposed to 125 µM taurolidine and less so in cells exposed to 250 µM taurolidine. Taurolidine cytotoxicity appeared caspase-dependent in one cell line; with apparent mutant p53 protein. This cell line was the most sensitive to single agent taurolidine treatment and had a taurolidine-dependent reduction in accumulated p53 protein suggesting taurolidine's effects may depend on the functional status of p53 in canine OS. CONCLUSION: Taurolidine's cytotoxic effect appears dependent on cell specific factors which may be explained, in part, by the functional status of p53. Taurolidine initiates apoptosis in canine OS cells and this occurs to a greater extent at lower concentrations. Mechanisms of cell death induced by higher concentrations were not elucidated here. Taurolidine combined with doxorubicin or carboplatin can increase the toxicity of these chemotherapy drugs and warrants further investigation in dogs with osteosarcoma.

A set of ligation-independent expression vectors for co-expression of proteins in Escherichia coli.

A set of ligation-independent expression vectors system has been developed for co-expression of proteins in Escherichia coli. These vectors contain a strong T7 promoter, different drug resistant genes, and an origin of DNA replication from a different incompatibility group, allowing combinations of these plasmids to be stably maintained together. In addition, these plasmids also contain the lacI gene, a transcriptional terminator, and a 3' polyhistidine (6x His) affinity tag (H6) for easy purification of target proteins. All of these vectors contain an identical transportable cassette flanked by suitable restriction enzyme cleavage sites for easy cloning and shuttling among different vectors. This cassette incorporates a ligation-independent cloning (LIC) site for LIC manipulations, an optimal ribosome binding site for efficient protein translation, and a 6x His affinity tag for protein purification Therefore, any E. coli expression vector of choice can be easily converted to LIC type expression vectors by shuttling the cassette using the restriction enzyme cleavage sites at the ends. We have demonstrated the expression capabilities of these vectors by co-expressing three bacterial (dsbA, dsbG, and Trx) and also two other mammalian proteins (KChIP1 and Kv4.3). We further show that co-expressed KChIP1/Kv4.3 forms soluble protein complexes that can be purified for further studies.

A unified model for apical caspase activation.

Apoptosis is orchestrated by the concerted action of caspases, activated in a minimal two-step proteolytic cascade. Existing data suggests that apical caspases are activated by adaptor-mediated clustering of inactive zymogens. However, the mechanism by which apical caspases achieve catalytic competence in their recruitment/activation complexes remains unresolved. We explain that proximity-induced activation of apical caspases is attributable to dimerization. Internal proteolysis does not activate these apical caspases but is a secondary event resulting in partial stabilization of activated dimers. Activation of caspases-8 and -9 occurs by dimerization that is fully recapitulated in vitro by kosmotropes, salts with the ability to stabilize the structure of proteins. Further, single amino acid substitutions at the dimer interface abrogate the activity of caspases-8 and -9 introduced into recipient mammalian cells. We propose a unified caspase activation hypothesis whereby apical caspases are activated by dimerization of monomeric zymogens.