NIH3T3 cells overexpressing CD98 heavy chain resist early G1 arrest and apoptosis induced by serum starvation.

CD98 is a heterodimeric glycoprotein of 125-kDa, which consists of a 90-kDa heavy chain (hc) subunit and 35-kDa to 55-kDa light chain (lc) subunits. It is strongly expressed on the surface of proliferating normal cells and almost all tumor cells. To investigate the participation of CD98 in cellular proliferation and malignant transformation, we analyzed cell-cycle progression of NIH3T3 clones transfected with cDNA of human CD98hc. Although NIH3T3 and control transfectant cells grown to the subconfluent state were arrested in the G0/G1 phase by serum starvation, considerable portions of CD98hc-transfected cells resided at S and G2/M phases. Under serum-starved and confluent conditions, significant fractions (20-25%) of NIH3T3 and control transfectant cells contained less than 2n content DNA, indicating occurrence of apoptosis, whereas no apoptotic cells were detected in CD98hc-transfectant cells. Under serum-starved conditions, a marked increase in the levels of cyclin D1 and cyclin E and a decrease in p16 were observed in CD98hc-transfectant cells. The reverse was true for NIH3T3 and control transfectant cells. Our results suggest that resistance to G1 arrest and apoptosis by CD98 overexpression are associated with high G1-cyclins and low p16 levels.

Towards therapeutic antibodies to membrane oncoproteins by a robust strategy using rats immunized with transfectants expressing target molecules fused to green fluorescent protein.

Cell-surface molecules containing growth factor receptors, adhesion molecules and transporter proteins are often over-expressed in various cancer cells, and could be regarded as suitable targets for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Anti-cancer therapeutic mAb are claimed to bind these cell-surface molecules on viable cancer cells: therefore, it is necessary to produce mAb recognizing epitopes on the extracellular domains of native but not denatured proteins. We have experienced difficulty in obtaining mAb bound to viable cancer cells using synthetic peptides or recombinant proteins produced in bacteria as immunogens, although these immunogens are relatively easy to prepare. In this context, we have concluded that viable cancer cells or cells transfected with cDNA encoding target proteins are suitable immunogens for the production of anti-cancer therapeutic mAb. Furthermore, we selected rats as the immunized animals, because of their excellent capacity to generate diverse antibodies. Because many target candidates are multi-pass (type IV) membrane proteins, such as 7-pass G protein-coupled receptors and 12-pass transporter proteins belonging to the solute carrier family, and their possible immunogenic extracellular regions are very small, production of specific mAb was extremely difficult. In this review, we summarize the successful preparation and characterization of rat mAb immunized against the extracellular domain of type I, type II and type IV membrane oncoproteins fused to green fluorescent protein as an approach using reverse genetics, and also introduce the discovery of cell-death-inducing antibodies as an approach using forward genetics and a strategy to produce reshaped antibodies using mimotope peptides as the immunogen.

Oncogenicity of L-type amino-acid transporter 1 (LAT1) revealed by targeted gene disruption in chicken DT40 cells: LAT1 is a promising molecular target for human cancer therapy.

L-type amino-acid transporter 1 (LAT1) is the first identified light chain of CD98 molecule, disulfide-linked to a heavy chain of CD98. Following cDNA cloning of chicken full-length LAT1, we have constructed targeting vectors for the disruption of chicken LAT1 gene from genomic DNA of chicken LAT1 consisting of 5.4kb. We established five homozygous LAT1-disrupted (LAT1(-/-)) cell clones, derived from a heterozygous LAT1(+/-) clone of DT40 chicken B cell line. Reactivity of anti-chicken CD98hc monoclonal antibody (mAb) with LAT1(-/-) DT40 cells was markedly decreased compared with that of wild-type DT40 cells. All LAT1(-/-) cells were deficient in L-type amino-acid transporting activity, although alternative-splice variant but not full-length mRNA of LAT1 was detected in these cells. LAT1(-/-) DT40 clones showed outstandingly slow growth in liquid culture and decreased colony-formation capacity in soft agar compared with wild-type DT40 cells. Cell-cycle analyses indicated that LAT1(-/-) DT40 clones have prolonged cell-cycle phases compared with wild-type or LAT1(+/-) DT40 cells. Knockdown of human LAT1 by small interfering RNAs resulted in marked in vitro cell-growth inhibition of human cancer cells, and in vivo tumor growth of HeLa cells in athymic mice was significantly inhibited by anti-human LAT1 mAb. All these results indicate essential roles of LAT1 in the cell proliferation and occurrence of malignant phenotypes and that LAT1 is a promising candidate as a molecular target of human cancer therapy.

Production and characterization of highly tumor-specific rat monoclonal antibodies recognizing the extracellular domain of human L-type amino-acid transporter 1.

L-type large amino acid transporter (LAT) 1, the first light chain (lc) of cluster of differentiation 98 (CD98) to be identified, is associated with the heavy chain (hc) of CD98 and expressed on the surface of various tumor cells irrespective of their origin. Because LAT1 is a 12-pass membrane protein and its possible immunogenic extracellular region is very small, specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) had not been developed. We report the successful preparation and characterization of mAb recognizing the extracellular domain of human LAT1 protein. Two mAb were selected from hybridoma clones established by fusing mouse myeloma cells and spleen cells from rats immunized against RH7777 rat hepatoma cells expressing recombinant green fluorescent protein fused to human LAT1 protein. Designated SOL22 and SOL69, these mAb specifically reacted with the extracellular domain of LAT1 on cells transfected with cDNA of LAT1, but not with cells transfected with cDNA of other CD98 lc, namely, LAT2, y(+)LAT1, y(+)LAT2, and xCT amino acid transporters. These mAb immunoprecipitated 35- and 90-kDa proteins under reducing conditions in extracts prepared from human HeLa tumor cells, indicating the existence of intermolecular disulfide bonds between cysteine residues in the 90-kDa hc and 35-kDa lc (LAT1). SOL22 and SOL69 mAb reacted with a wide variety of living unfixed human tumor cell lines, but were only weakly reactive with HEK293F human embryonic kidney cells and human peripheral blood cells. Comparative immunohistochemical analyses of normal human tissues with anti-CD98 hc and anti-LAT1 revealed LAT1 to be an excellent molecular target for antibody therapy, possibly even superior to CD98 hc.

Cell-death-inducing monoclonal antibodies raised against DT40 tumor cells: identification of chicken transferrin receptor as a novel cell-death receptor.

We obtained unique cell-death-inducing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) named D18 and D19 against chicken DT40 cells. D18 and D19 caused several signs of apoptosis, such as exposed phosphatidyl serine on the cell surface, a sub G(0)/G(1) peak, and DNA fragmentation, and inhibited the proliferation of DT40 cells. Flow cytometric and immunohistological analyses of various normal chicken tissues revealed the expression of the antigen recognized by these mAbs to be restricted to cells in lymphoid organs including bone marrow and bursa of fabricius, and to cells in some epithelial tissues. The cell death induced by the mAbs progressed through a mitochondrial pathway with loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Apoptosis is generally characterized by cell shrinking; however, D18 and D19 elicited swelling, which preceded the cell death. We analyzed the antigen immunoprecipitated by the mAbs, and identified a 90- to 100-kDa cell-surface glycoprotein as the chicken transferrin receptor (TfR). Epitopes recognized by the two mAbs were confirmed to be different by the binding inhibition assay. The reactivity of the mAbs against DT40 cells was not inhibited by excess chicken serum, suggesting that the cell death induced by D18 and D19 was not caused by inhibition of the binding of transferrin (Tf) to chicken TfR. Since D18 and D19 have induced cell death in human embryonic kidney cells transfected with cDNA of the full-length chicken TfR, we expect human TfR to be a promising target in antibody therapy for various human malignancies.

Simultaneous induction of apoptotic, autophagic, and necrosis-like cell death by monoclonal antibodies recognizing chicken transferrin receptor.

Programmed cell death (PCD) is categorized as apoptotic, autophagic, or necrosis-like. Although the possibility that plural (two or three) death signals could be induced by a given stimulus has been reported, the precise mechanisms regulating PCD are not well understood. Recently, we have obtained two anti-chicken transferrin receptor (TfR) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs; D18 and D19) inducing a unique cell death. Although the cell death had several features of apoptosis, autophagic and necrosis-like morphological alterations were simultaneously observed in electron microphotographs. In addition to cells with condensed chromatin and an intact plasma membrane (apoptotic cells), cells having many vacuoles in the cytoplasm (autophagic cells), and enlarged cells with ruptured plasma membranes (necrosis-like cells) were observed in DT40 cells treated with the mAbs, however, the latter two types of dead cells were not detected upon treatment with staurosporine, a typical apoptosis inducer. In autophagic cells, numerous membrane-bound vesicles occupying most of the cytoplasmic space, which frequently contained electron-dense materials from cytoplasmic fragments and organelles, were observed. The simultaneous induction of multiple death signals from a stimulus via the TfR is of great interest to those researching cell death. In addition, activation of caspases was observed in DT40 cells treated with D19, however, the cell death was not inhibited with z-VAD-fmk, a pan-caspase inhibitor, suggesting that at least in part, a caspase-independent pathway is involved in the TfR-mediated cell death.

Prevention of PU.1-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis but not differentiation block in murine erythroleukemia cells by overexpression of CBP.

PU.1 is a member of Ets family of transcription factors, some of which play critical roles in cell growth and development of hematopoietic cells in cooperation with other transcription factors and cofactors. We previously reported that overexpression of PU.1 in murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells results in growth inhibition, differentiation block and apoptotic cell death in conjunction with DMSO or HMBA treatment. We also showed that PU.1 interacts with the transcriptional co-activator CREB binding protein (CBP). In this study, we have investigated whether CBP is involved in PU.1-induced growth inhibition, differentiation block and apoptosis in MEL cells. Overexpression of CBP rescued MEL cells from PU.1-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis, while it did not release the cells from PU.1-induced block of erythroid differentiation. These results suggest that sequestration of CBP is involved in PU.1-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis but not differentiation block in MEL cells. These results also suggest that the molecular mechanisms on PU.1-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis are different from the mechanism on PU.1-induced differentiation block in MEL cells.

Molecular structural and functional characterization of tumor suppressive anti-ErbB-2 monoclonal antibody by phage display system.

To investigate the molecular structural and functional characteristics of tumor-suppressive anti-ErbB-2 monoclonal antibody (mAb) SER4, we performed mAb-gene cloning and epitope mapping by a phage display system. Structural analysis demonstrated that both the heavy chain (HC) and light chain variable regions are highly homologous with the derived germline sequences, while the HC complementarity determining region (HCDR) 3 has a relatively short length and biased amino acid usage. A cloned gene-derived recombinant Fab (rFab) fragment showed antigen binding activity and specificity comparable to the parent mAb. Cross-linking of the rFab fragment with the anti-Fab antibody elicited cell growth inhibition in vitro. These results imply that the cloned genes actually encode the Fab part of SER4. The epitope mimetic peptide (mimotope) isolated by panning a phage-displayed random peptide library against SER4 showed no cross-reactivity with mAbs other than SER4. The mimotope was found to be homologous with (87)AHNQVRQVPLQR(98) in the extracellular domain of ErbB-2 by means of a clustalw search. Since SER4 causes the growth inhibition of ErbB-2 positive cells, the predicted epitope sequence may constitute the putative functional domain of ErbB-2.

Constitutive expression of cytochrome p450 genes in newly established rat hepatic cell lines.

Two cultured cell lines, called Kan-R1 and Kan-R2, were established from rat hepatic cells by in vitro culture with a hepatocarcinogen, 3-methoxy-4-aminoazobenzene, and examined for the gene expression of cytochrome p450 (p450) isoforms, CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP2B1, CYP2B2, CYP3A1 and CYP3A2, by the RT-PCR method. It was revealed that all the p450 genes examined were expressed in both cell lines, although the two cell lines differed in cell size and colony-forming ability on a soft agar. The expression levels of the CYP1A2, CYP2B1, CYP2B2, CYP3A1, and CYP3A2 genes were lower than those in liver tissues, while that of CYP1A1 was higher in the cell lines. In both cell lines, cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, augmented the gene expression of the p450s except CYP2B1. These findings indicate that the newly established hepatic cell lines substantially express the p450 genes for CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP2B1, CYP2B2, CYP3A1, and CYP3A2, and that the constitutive gene expression of these p450s, with the exception of CYP2B1, may be inhibited by negative transcription factors.

Anti-tumor effect against human cancer xenografts by a fully human monoclonal antibody to a variant 8-epitope of CD44R1 expressed on cancer stem cells.

BACKGROUND: CD44 is a major cellular receptor for hyaluronic acids. The stem structure of CD44 encoded by ten normal exons can be enlarged by ten variant exons (v1-v10) by alternative splicing. We have succeeded in preparing MV5 fully human IgM and its class-switched GV5 IgG monoclonal antibody (mAb) recognizing the extracellular domain of a CD44R1 isoform that contains the inserted region coded by variant (v8, v9 and v10) exons and is expressed on the surface of various human epithelial cancer cells. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We demonstrated the growth inhibition of human cancer xenografts by a GV5 IgG mAb reshaped from an MV5 IgM. The epitope recognized by MV5 and GV5 was identified to a v8-coding region by the analysis of mAb binding to various recombinant CD44 proteins by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. GV5 showed preferential reactivity against various malignant human cells versus normal human cells assessed by flow cytometry and immunohistological analysis. When ME180 human uterine cervix carcinoma cells were subcutaneously inoculated to athymic mice with GV5, significant inhibition of tumor formation was observed. Furthermore, intraperitoneal injections of GV5markedly inhibited the growth of visible established tumors from HSC-3 human larynx carcinoma cells that had been subcutaneously transplanted one week before the first treatment with GV5. From in vitro experiments, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and internalization of CD44R1 seemed to be possible mechanisms for in vivo anti-tumor activity by GV5. CONCLUSIONS: CD44R1 is an excellent molecular target for mAb therapy of cancer, possibly superior to molecules targeted by existing therapeutic mAb, such as Trastuzumab and Cetuximab recognizing human epidermal growth factor receptor family.

Fate of orally administered 15N-labeled polyamines in rats bearing solid tumors.

We studied absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) in the gastrointestinal tract using (15)N-labeled polyamines as tracers and ionspray ionization mass spectrometry (IS-MS). The relatively simple protocol using rats bearing solid tumors provided useful information. Three (15)N-labeled polyamines that were simultaneously administered were absorbed equally from gastrointestinal tract, and distributed within tissues at various concentrations. The uptake of (15)N-spermidine seemed preferential to that of (15)N-spermine since the concentrations of (15)N-spermidine in the liver and tumors were higher, whereas those of (15)N-spermine were higher in the kidney, probably due to the excretion of excess extracellular spermine. Most of the absorbed (15)N-putrescine seemed to be lost, suggesting blood and tissue diamine oxidase degradation. Concentrations of (15)N-spermidine and (15)N-spermine in the tumor were low. We also describe the findings from two rats that were administered with (15)N-spermine. The tissue concentrations of (15)N-spermine were unusually high, and significant levels of (15)N-spermidine were derived from (15)N-spermine in these animals.