The association between the T309G polymorphism of the MDM2 gene and sensitivity to anticancer drug is dependent on the p53 mutational status in cellular models.

BACKGROUND: We investigated, in the panel of 60 human tumour cell lines of the National Cancer Institute (NCI-60), whether the R72P polymorphism of TP53 and the T309G polymorphism of MDM2 were associated to the in vitro cytotoxicity of anticancer agents, extracted from the NCI database. For validation, the same study was performed independently on a second panel of tumour cell lines, JFCR-45. METHODS: Both SNPs were identified in cell DNA using PCR-RFLP techniques confirmed by direct sequencing and by pyrosequencing. For the analysis of the results, the mutational status of p53 was taken into account. RESULTS: In the NCI-60 panel, the TP53 rare-allele frequency was 32% and the MDM2 rare-allele frequency 39%. The MDM2 alleles were distributed according to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium whereas this was only found, for the TP53 alleles, in p53 non-mutated cell lines. Comparable results were obtained in the JFCR-45 validation set. The TP53 SNP had low impact on anticancer drug cytotoxicity in either panel. In contrast, the MDM2 gene polymorphism had a major impact on anticancer drug cytotoxicity, essentially in p53 non-mutated cell lines. Presence of the rare allele was associated to significantly higher MDM2 protein expression and to increased sensitivity to DNA-interfering drugs. In the JFCR-45 panel, a similar effect of the MDM2 gene polymorphism was observed, but was less dependent on the p53 mutational status. CONCLUSIONS: We hypothesised that cell lines harbouring the MDM2 G allele presented a lower availability of p53 for DNA repair, translating into higher sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents.

Low metastatic potential of clone from murine colon adenocarcinoma 26 increased by transfection of activated c-erbB-2 gene.

We investigated the effect of an activated c-erbB-2 gene (also known as ERBB2) on metastatic potential. The c-erbB-2 gene was activated by mutation of the valine at position 659 within the transmembrane domain to glutamic acid. The activated c-erbB-2 expression vector was transfected into low-metastatic-potential NL-4 cells, which were established from a metastatic variant of murine colon adenocarcinoma 26. All 10 clones produced lung metastases in BALB/c mice injected via the tail vein. Eight of the 10 clones expressed messenger RNA (mRNA) of activated c-erbB-2 and showed morphological alteration; seven of the eight produced significantly enhanced experimental metastatic activity compared with that of untransfected NL-4 or NL-4neo cells, and one had metastatic ability similar to that of NL-4 cells. Two clones did not express c-erbB-2 mRNA and did not show morphological alteration or highly metastatic phenotype. Five of the 10 clones subcutaneously implanted in the flank failed to produce metastasis in the lungs or other organs of the mice. The metastatic ability of the other five clones was not determined. These results indicate that the activated c-erbB-2 gene can enhance experimental but not spontaneous metastatic potential in NL-4 cells, suggesting participation of the gene in the metastatic process after initial arrest and lodgement in the capillary bed.

FJ5002: a potent telomerase inhibitor identified by exploiting the disease-oriented screening program with COMPARE analysis.

To facilitate the search for candidate telomerase inhibitors, we exploited the database of the disease-oriented screening program (DOS) available in our facility by using COMPARE analysis. In primary and arbitrary screening, we were able to identify the alkaloid berberine as a moderate inhibitor with 50% inhibition at approximately 35 microM. Using this alkaloid as a seed compound in COMPARE resulted in the identification of other berberine-like compounds and mitochondria-accumulating agents as highly related to berberine. Among these compounds, MKT077, a rhodacyanine derivative currently under Phase I clinical trials, showed a potent inhibitory effect with 50% inhibition at approximately 5 microM. With MKT077 as an upgraded seed for a new round of COMPARE analysis, we identified rhodacyanine FJ5002, a close derivative of MKT077, as the most potent telomerase inhibitor with 50% inhibition at approximately 2 microM. Long-term cultivation of U937, a human leukemia cell line, with subacute concentrations of FJ5002 resulted in population-doubling dependent changes characterized by progressive telomere erosion (from approximately 10 to approximately 4.0 kb), increased chromosome abnormalities, and senescence/crisis-like features. These results indicated that FJ5002 is a genuine and effective antitelomerase agent.

Purification and characterization of the platelet-aggregating sialoglycoprotein gp44 expressed by highly metastatic variant cells of mouse colon adenocarcinoma 26.

A platelet-aggregating sialoglycoprotein with a molecular weight of 44,000 (gp44) was immunochemically purified from highly metastatic mouse adenocarcinoma cells. The rat monoclonal antibody (mAb) 8F11 used in the purification procedure has been generated previously against NL-17 cells derived from the mouse colon 26 cell line, mAb 8F11 inhibits NL-17 cells from inducing platelet aggregation and suppresses their experimental metastasis to the lung. The purified gp44 induced mouse platelet aggregation in a dose-dependent manner without any plasma component. This aggregation was completely inhibited by mAb 8F11. The gp44 was partially characterized by sequential enzymatic hydrolysis of carbohydrates and was found to be O-glycans enriched. When gp44 was sequentially treated with N-glycanase and neuraminidase, it lost platelet aggregation activity. Further treatment with O-glycanase resulted in a loss of the reactivity to mAb 8F11. These results suggest that sialylated carbohydrate chains of gp44 are involved in the induction of platelet aggregation and may play an important role in the colonization of NL-17 cells in the lung.

Characterization of metastatic clones derived from a metastatic variant of mouse colon adenocarcinoma 26.

A spontaneously metastatic variant (P-26-select) was selected from the murine colon adenocarcinoma 26 after repeated (26 times) cyclic in vivo passage of tumor cells from the lungs of mice bearing s.c. tumors. Clones were established from the cultured P-26-select cell line. These clones, the parent [P-no-select (culture cell line of colon 26 without in vivo selection)] and the metastatic variant (P-26-select) were then studied using three different assays to determine their metastatic potential. These assays included experimental metastasis, spontaneous metastasis from a nonresected s.c. growing tumor, and spontaneous metastasis following the resection of a primary footpad tumor. In general, there was an agreement among the results of these three assays of metastases, i.e., if a variant was spontaneously metastatic, it was also metastatic in the other assays of metastases. However, some experimentally metastatic clones did not necessarily show a high spontaneous metastatic potential to the lung. These results might indicate that the metastatic variant (P-26-select) is populated by spontaneously metastatic clones and also by clones which possess a propensity to metastasize experimentally. The morphology and growth properties of the clones were compared also.

Differential expression of a sialoglycoprotein with an approximate molecular weight of 900,000 on metastatic human colon carcinoma cells growing in culture and in tumor tissues.

Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)-binding cellular glycoproteins produced by HT-29 human colon carcinoma and its variant cells established from liver metastases in nude mice after intrasplenic injection were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. On 5.5% polyacrylamide gels five major sialoglycoproteins (approximate Mr 115,000, 145,000, 190,000, 450,000, and 740,000) reactive with WGA were common to the parental and metastatic sublines. There was an additional component of Mr approximately 900,000 that was prominent in cells established from liver metastases. Specific removal of sialic acid from the glycoproteins eliminated WGA binding, indicating that all the WGA-binding glycoproteins including the Mr 900,000 component were sialoglycoproteins. Smith degradation following mild acid hydrolysis resulted in formation of WGA-binding carbohydrate chains on Mr 115,000, 145,000, 190,000, and 900,000 components, but not on Mr 450,000 and 740,000 components, which indicated that these two sialoglycoproteins bore different oligosaccharides from the other sialoglycoproteins. The Mr 900,000 component was more prominent with HT-29 cells growing in nude mice than those growing in vitro. WGA binding to the Mr 900,000 component of metastasis-derived HT-29 cells growing in a nude mouse was higher than that of parental cells growing in nude mice. The expression in liver metastases derived from parental as well as metastatic cells was higher than the primary tumor growing in the spleen of the same mouse, indicating that the levels of Mr 900,000 sialoglycoprotein (SGP = 900) were regulated by intrinsic and environmental factors. The influence of organ microenvironmental factors was confirmed by analyzing sialoglycoproteins of HT-29 cells growing in the liver of a nude mouse following intrahepatic injection. Analyses of human colorectal carcinoma tissues and liver metastases revealed a polydisperse WGA-reactive high-molecular-weight component similar to that seen in tumors growing in nude mice. The mean value of WGA binding to high-molecular-weight glycoproteins in the primary tumors of stage B1 patients was smaller than that of all other primary tumors. Comparison of primary tumors with liver metastases from the same patients indicated that the level of SGP-900-like high-molecular-weight glycoproteins in metastases was not always higher than those in primary tumors.

Monoclonal antibody against human colonic sulfomucin: immunochemical detection of its binding sites in colonic mucosa, colorectal primary carcinoma, and metastases.

Previous studies using metabolic labeling of fresh colonic mucosa and colorectal carcinoma with [35S]sulfate followed by biochemical analysis demonstrated that the amount of a sulfated high-molecular-weight glycoprotein expressed in primary colorectal carcinoma was lower than that in normal mucosa, and that the amount further decreased in liver metastases. This suggested that this sulfated molecule represented a sulfomucin previously defined by histochemical reactivity with a cationic dye. We have extracted and partially purified this high-molecular-weight sulfated glycoprotein from normal human colonic mucosa. We immunized mice with the partially purified sulfomucin and generated hybridomas. One cloned hybridoma, designated as 91.9H, produced a monoclonal antibody strongly reactive with a component which migrated at an identical position as the metabolically [35S]sulfate-labeled high-molecular-weight glycoprotein after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The reactive molecules appeared to have a polydisperse nature with a molecular weight ranging between 400,000 and 900,000. The [35S]sulfate-labeled high-molecular-weight glycoprotein was bound to Staphylococcus Protein A-agarose coated with this monoclonal antibody but did not bind to unconjugated Protein A-agarose. The immunoprecipitated substance also migrated at an apparent molecular weight range of 400,000 to 900,000. The reactivity of monoclonal antibody 91.9H with the extracts of normal mucosa, colorectal primary carcinoma, and metastasis was compared by dot blot assay on a nitrocellulose membrane. This antibody was more reactive with the extracts of mucosa adjacent to carcinoma tissues than with the carcinoma extracts. Primary tumors showed higher reactivity than metastases in most of the cases. These results strongly suggest that this antibody is specific to colonic sulfomucins or at least to mucins closely related to colonic mucins previously identified by metabolic labeling with [35S]sulfate.

Increased expression of sialyl-dimeric LeX antigen in liver metastases of human colorectal carcinoma.

We collected a total of 78 tissue specimens, including primary colorectal carcinoma, normal colonic mucosa, and liver metastases of colon carcinoma, to examine whether the extracts of these tissues inhibited the binding of a monoclonal antibody FH6, specific for sialyl-dimeric LeX antigen. The results of inhibition assays demonstrated that: (a) contents of FH6-reactive molecules were greater in carcinoma tissues than in normal colonic mucosa; (b) metastatic foci in livers contained more FH6-reactive molecules than primary tumors; (c) primary tumors from Dukes' stage B1 patients contained less FH6-reactive molecules than primary tumors from Dukes' stage D patients. The inhibitory activity of these tumor tissue extracts against the binding of a monoclonal antibody FH6 to cultured colon carcinoma cells was eliminated by prior treatment of the extracts with sialidase, confirming that the FH6-reactive materials were sialyl-dimeric LeX antigen. Electrophoretic separation of tumor tissue extracts on 3% polyacrylamide gels followed by direct staining with monoclonal antibody FH6 revealed that very high molecular weight glycoproteins, presumably mucins, contained sialyl-dimeric LeX antigen.

Differential production of high molecular weight sulfated glycoproteins in normal colonic mucosa, primary colon carcinoma, and metastases.

Sulfated macromolecules synthesized in tumor and mucosa tissues derived from colorectal cancer patients were labeled with [35S]sulfate and separated into two fractions on DEAE-Sephacel: the slightly acidic peak (peak I) was eluted with 0.2 M NaCl and the highly acidic peak (peak II) was eluted with 0.5 M NaCl. A total of 40 specimens, which included primary colon cancer, liver metastases, and normal mucosa obtained at surgery (16 patients), were examined regarding the amount of peak I and peak II. The amount of peak I significantly decreased in the order of normal mucosa greater than primary tumors greater than metastases, while the amount of peak II did not significantly change among the tissues. Peak I was mostly resistant to chondroitinase ABC and nitrous acid treatment under acidic conditions, whereas combined chondroitinase-sensitive materials and nitrous acid-sensitive materials were greater than 80% of the radioactivity in peak II. The major radioactive component of peak I migrated at a position corresponding to Mr greater than 300,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and became Mr less than 40,000 after alkaline borohydride treatment. The major component of peak I was likely to be a sulfated glycoprotein containing sulfate groups on alkaline labile carbohydrate chains. Peak II consisted of a mixture of heparan sulfate proteoglycans and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. Differential incorporation of [35S]sulfate into peak I among normal mucosa, primary colon carcinoma, and colon carcinoma metastasis was observed. Therefore, decreased peak I production may be a biochemical change associated with colorectal cancer progression and metastasis.

Insulin-like growth factor I rapidly induces tyrosine phosphorylation of a Mr 150,000 and a Mr 160,000 protein in highly metastatic mouse colon carcinoma 26 NL-17 cells.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) stimulates the proliferation of highly metastatic NL-17 cells to a greater extent than poorly metastatic NL-44 cells, both of which are derived from mouse colon carcinoma 26. The NL-17 cells have been compared with NL-44 cells for the signal transduction pathway of IGF-I. IGF-I receptors of both cell types were identified by affinity labeling, and there was no significant difference between the two cell types in the amount or the autophosphorylation activity of the IGF-I receptors. However, when IGF-I-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular components was examined, remarkable tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins with molecular weights of 150,000 (pp150) and 160,000 (pp160) was found in NL-17 cells. In contrast, this phosphorylation stayed at significantly lower levels in NL-44 cells than in NL-17 cells. The phosphorylation of pp150 and pp160 was induced within 10 s after the addition of IGF-I and reached its maximal level by 30 s. After the removal of IGF-I, the phosphorylation of pp150 and pp160 was reduced to the basal level within 30 min. This phosphorylation was not induced by platelet-derived or epidermal growth factor. The pp150 and pp160 were not absorbed by wheat germ agglutinin-agarose. They were found in the soluble fraction of cytoplasm but not in the membrane or the cytoskeleton. The pp150 and pp160 might be endogenous substrates of IGF-I receptor kinase. These results suggest that tyrosine phosphorylation of pp150 and pp160 mediates the higher proliferative response of NL-17 cells to IGF-I.

Acquisition of metastatic ability in hybridomas between two low metastatic clones of murine colon adenocarcinoma 26 defective in either platelet-aggregating activity or in vivo growth potential.

Two low metastatic clones, NL-14 and NL-44, had been isolated from the murine colon 26 adenocarcinoma after in vivo selection and subsequent in vitro cloning. NL-14 is defective in the ability to induce platelet aggregation, but it has good in vivo growth potential. NL-44 possesses low growth potential after s.c. inoculation, but it has strong platelet-aggregating ability. A ouabain-resistant variant of NL-14 and a G418-resistant variant of NL-44 were established. Each resistant cell line conserved the phenotypes of platelet-aggregating ability or in vivo growth potential as compared to the respective parental cell line. These two clones were fused to examine the metastatic potential of hybridomas. Of eight hybridomas tested, six possessed both platelet-aggregating ability and good in vivo growth potential. These six hybridomas formed a higher number of pulmonary metastases after i.v. inoculation than the parental cells. Of the two low metastatic hybridomas, one was lacking in the ability to induce platelet aggregation, and the other showed the least potential for in vivo growth. Hybridoma clones with high platelet-aggregating activity in vitro were generally arrested well in the lung following i.v. inoculation. These results suggest that platelet-aggregating ability and in vivo growth potential are two major determinants for successful experimental lung metastasis of the colon 26 adenocarcinoma.

Cyclic hydroxamic-acid-containing peptide 31, a potent synthetic histone deacetylase inhibitor with antitumor activity.

Cyclic hydroxamic-acid-containing peptide 1 (CHAP1), designed as a hybrid of trichostatin A and trapoxin, is a lead compound for the development of potent inhibitors of histone deacetylase (HDAC). In this study, we synthesized a series of CHAP derivatives and evaluated their biological activities by monitoring the potency of their inhibition of HDAC activity, their ability to augment the expression of MHC class-I molecules in B16/BL6 cells, and their effect on cell proliferation. A structure-activity relationship study using these three assay systems revealed several requirements of their structure for the strong inhibition of HDAC not only in the cell-free situation, but also in cells. When the structures of CHAP derivatives are represented as cyclo(-Asu(NHOH)-AA(2)-AA(3)-Pro or Pip-)(n), where Asu(NHOH) and Pip are zeta-hydroxamide-alpha-aminosuberic acid and pipecolic acid, respectively, (a) the tetrapeptide structure (n = 1) was better than the octapeptide one (n = 2); (b) AA(2) and AA(3) should be hydrophobic; and (c) the combination of amino acid chirality should be LDLD for the strongest inhibition of HDAC in cells (LDLD > LLLD, LDLL > LLDL). cyclo(-L-Asu(NHOH)-D-Tyr(Me)-L-Ile-D-Pro-) or CHAP31 was selected as one of the strongest CHAPs, and its biological activity was characterized further. CHAP31 was much more stable in the presence of cultured cells (t(1/2) > 3000 h) than trichostatin A (t(1/2) = 14.7 h) or trapoxin A (t(1/2) = 2.10 h). CHAP31 exhibited antitumor activity in C57BL x DBA/2 F(1) (BD2F(1)) mice bearing B16/BL6 tumor cells. Furthermore, CHAP31 inhibited the growth in four of five human tumor lines implanted into nude mice. These results suggest CHAP31 to be promising as a novel therapeutic agent for cancer treatment.

Isolation of murine and human homologues of the fission-yeast dis3+ gene encoding a mitotic-control protein and its overexpression in cancer cells with progressive phenotype.

To investigate genes involved in metastasis, we used a differential display method to compare the levels of gene expression in three cell lines derived from murine colon-adenocarcinoma 26 that show different metastatic potentials. The results, and subsequent Northern analyses, confirmed that one gene was expressed most strongly in NL17, the cell line with the highest experimentally metastatic potential to the lung; strongly in NL22, the line with moderately metastatic potential; and very weakly in NL4, which has no metastatic potential in recipient mice. Using this fragment as a probe, we isolated the murine cDNA as well as its human homologue and determined their DNA sequences. The cDNA sequences from both species contained open reading frames of 2874 nucleotides, encoding peptides of 958 amino acids with calculated molecular weights of approximately 109,000; the murine and human nucleotide sequences were 90% identical. The deduced amino acid sequences of these cDNAs revealed significant homology (45% identity) to the dis3+ gene product of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a protein thought to be essential for mitotic control in the yeast. We therefore termed the murine and human genes hmc (homologue to the mitotic-control gene) and HMC, respectively. In 7 of 13 patients with colorectal cancers and liver metastases, expression of HMC was increased up to 38-fold in primary tumors and metastatic foci as compared to adjacent normal colorectal mucosa. An increase in expression of HMC, its novel product likely to belong to a structurally distinct family of mitotic-control proteins, may be associated with malignant phenotypes of some colorectal cancers.

Inhibitory effects of tumor invasion-inhibiting factor 2 and its conjugate on disseminating tumor cells.

Tumor invasion-inhibiting factor 2 (IIF-2) is a polypeptide of 21 amino acids which binds to the surface of tumor cells and inhibits experimental invasion in vitro. An albumin conjugate of IIF-2 was used to examine its potential as an antimetastatic compound. The conjugate inhibits in vivo lung metastasis of various highly metastatic tumor cells, including murine melanoma, colon adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, forestomach carcinoma, and human fibrosarcoma. In addition to the anti-lung metastasis activity of this compound, it also showed the inhibitory effects on liver and spleen metastasis of murine T-lymphoma cells. A single administration of the conjugate with melanoma cells resulted in prolonged survival times, and their lung colonization was also inhibited when the conjugate was administrated i.v. at times ranging from 6 h before to 1 h after tumor cell inoculation. Similarly, i.p. administration 1 h prior to melanoma cell injection suppressed lung colonization. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that the conjugate was more stable than IIF-2 peptide alone. Approximately 10% of the conjugate remained circulating 2 h postinjection and persisted 20 h without degradation, compared with rapid clearing of the unconjugated IIF-2 peptide within 5 min. Furthermore, spontaneous lung metastasis of murine melanoma and colon adenocarcinoma cell was inhibited by successive i.p. administration of the conjugate before the removal of the primary site, with no effect on primary tumor growth. The conjugate significantly reduced tumor cell arrest in the lung and both the IIF-2 peptide and its conjugate demonstrated potent inhibition of basal as well as cytokine-induced-stimulated tumor cell motility. These results suggest that one mode of IIF-2 action may be inhibition of the extravasation of metastasizing cells which have arrested in a target organ, and that the IIF-2-albumin conjugate may be a potent antimetastatic substance with utility in the prevention of artificial seeding of tumor cells during surgical removal of the primary lesions as well as inhibiting metastasis from established metastases.

Potent antitumor activity of MS-247, a novel DNA minor groove binder, evaluated by an in vitro and in vivo human cancer cell line panel.

We synthesized a novel anticancer agent MS-247 (2-[[N-[1-methyl-2-[5-[N-[4-[N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl) amino] phenyl]] carbamoyl]-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl] pyrrol-4-yl] carbamoyl] ethyldimethylsulfonium di-p-toluenesulfonate) that has a netropsin-like moiety and an alkylating residue in the structure. We evaluated antitumor activity of MS-247 using a human cancer cell line panel coupled with a drug sensitivity database and subsequently using human cancer xenografts. The average MS-247 concentration required for 50% growth inhibition against a panel of 39 cell lines was 0.71 microM. The COMPARE analysis revealed that the differential growth inhibition pattern of MS-247 significantly correlated with those of camptothecin analogues and anthracyclins, indicating that MS-247 and the two drug groups might have similar modes of action. MS-247 exhibited remarkable antitumor activity against various xenografts. A single i.v. injection of MS-247 significantly inhibited the growth of all 17 xenografts tested, which included lung, colon, stomach, breast, and ovarian cancers. In many cases, MS-247 was more efficacious than cisplatin, Adriamycin, 5-fluorouracil, cyclophosphamide, VP-16, and vincristine and was almost comparable with paclitaxel and CPT-11; these are the most clinically promising drugs at present. MS-247 was noticeably more effective than paclitaxel (in HCT-15) and CPT-11 (in A549, HBC-4, and SK-OV-3). The toxicity of MS-247, indicated by body weight loss, was reversible within 10 days after administration. The MS-247 mode of action showed DNA binding activity at the site where Hoechst 33342 bound, inhibited topoisomerases I and II (as expected by the COMPARE analysis) blocked the cell cycle at the G2-M phase, and induced apoptosis. These results indicate that MS-247 is a promising new anticancer drug candidate to be developed further toward clinical trials.

Constitutive activation of the 41-/43-kDa mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway in human tumors.

The 41-kDa and 43-kDa mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases play a pivotal role in the mitogenic signal transduction pathway and are essential components of the MAP kinase cascade, which includes MAP kinase kinase (MEK) and Raf-1. As aberrant activation of signal transducing molecules such as Ras and Raf-1 has been linked with cancer, we examined whether constitutive activation of the 41-/43-kDa MAP kinases is associated with the neoplastic phenotype of 138 tumor cell lines and 102 primary tumors derived from various human organs. Constitutive activation of the MAP kinases was observed in 50 tumor cell lines (36.2%) in a rather tissue-specific manner: cell lines derived from pancreas, colon, lung, ovary and kidney showed especially high frequencies with a high degree of MAP kinase activation, while those derived from brain, esophagus, stomach, liver and of hematopoietic origin showed low frequencies with a limited degree of MAP kinase activation. We also detected constitutive activation of the 41-/43-kDa MAP kinases in a relatively large number of primary human tumors derived from kidney, colon and lung tissues but not from liver tissue. Many tumor cells, in which point mutations of ras genes were detected, showed constitutive activation of MAP kinases, however, there were also many exceptions to this observation. In contrast, the activation of the 41-/43-kDa MAP kinases was accompanied by the activation of Raf-1 in the majority of tumor cells and was completely associated with the activation of MEK and p90rsk in all the tumor cells examined. These results suggest that the constitutive activation of 41-/43-kDa MAP kinases in tumor cells is not due to the disorder of MAP kinases themselves, but is due to the disorder of Raf-1, Ras, or some other signaling molecules upstream of Ras.

Selective activation of apoptosis program by S-p-bromobenzylglutathione cyclopentyl diester in glyoxalase I-overexpressing human lung cancer cells.

PURPOSE: Glyoxalase I (GLO1) is an enzyme that plays a role in the detoxification of methylglyoxal, a side-product of glycolysis. We previously reported that GLO1 was a resistant factor to antitumor agent-induced apoptosis, and that S-p-bromobenzylglutathione cyclopentyl diester (BBGC), an effective inhibitor of GLO1, selectively sensitized to etoposide the drug-resistant human leukemia cells that overexpressed GLO1. In this study, we quantitatively measured GLO1 enzyme activity in various human solid tumor cells, and the antiproliferative effect of the GLO1 inhibitor was examined. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: BBGC-induced apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. To evaluate antitumor activity of BBGC in vivo, we developed human cancer xenografts in nude mice. RESULTS: We found that GLO1 enzyme activity was higher in all of the 38 human cancer cell lines that we examined than in the normal tissue samples. Moreover, GLO1 activity was frequently elevated in human lung carcinoma cells. Positive correlation between cellular GLO1 activity and BBGC sensitivity was observed in the lung cancer cell lines. Human lung cancer NCI-H522 and DMS114 cells, expressing higher GLO1 activity, underwent apoptosis when treated with BBGC, whereas A549 cells, expressing lower activity, did not. BBGC induced the activation of the stress-activated protein kinases c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), which led to caspase activation in GLO1-overexpressing tumor cells. BBGC significantly inhibited the growth of xenografted DMS114 and human prostate cancer DU-145. CONCLUSIONS: Our present results indicate that GLO1 is a tumor-specific target enzyme especially in human lung carcinoma cells and that the GLO1 inhibitor is a potent chemotherapeutic agent to repress GLO1-overexpressing human tumors.

Growth stimulating activity of lung extract on lung-colonizing colon 26 clones and its partial characterization.

The effects of lung tissue extract on the cell growth of eight colon 26 tumor clones, four highly and four poorly lung-colonizing clones, were examined in vitro. Addition of lung extract to serum-free medium stimulated the growth of all four of the highly lung-colonizing clones and one of the poorly lung-colonizing clones, but it had minimal effect on the other three poorly lung-colonizing clones. These results indicate that the lung extract contains a growth stimulating activity; it selectively stimulated some of the colon 26 clones including highly lung-colonizing ones. The growth stimulating activity was not dialyzable, was partially destroyed by heating at 56 degrees C or 80 degrees C for 30 min and completely destroyed by trypsin. These results suggest that the activity resides in a protein. Gel filtration chromatography of lung extract on Sephacryl S-200 revealed that the active component was eluted in a molecular weight range of 90,000-120,000.

Tumor-induced platelet aggregation and growth promoting factors as determinants for successful tumor metastasis.

Two clones isolated from a metastatic variant of mouse colon adenocarcinoma 26; the high metastatic NL-17 and the low metastatic NL-44, induced similar platelet aggregation in vitro. Heterotypic aggregates of tumor cells and platelets were injected i.v. into mice. The lung colonization potential of the NL-17 was dependent on the extent of tumor cell platelet aggregation. This clearly indicates that the interaction of tumor cells with platelets can lead to enhanced tumor metastasis possibly through more efficient intravascular arrest of the heterotypic aggregates. The interaction of tumor cells with platelets could thus be an important determinant for successful metastasis. NL-44, however, did not form pulmonary metastasis even after the tumor cells formed heterotypic aggregates with platelets, suggesting that tumor metastasis, is dependent on the intrinsic nature of tumor cells. Lung extract enhanced the growth of NL-17 more effectively than that of NL-44. These results suggest that, in addition to the interaction of metastatic cells and platelets, host factors including growth-promoting factors might also have an important role in tumor metastasis.

Development of lymphosarcoma lines with high metastatic ability to lymph nodes and visceral organs in BALB/c mice.

A metastatic tumor population was isolated in BALB/c mice during routine s.c. passage of the colon 26 adenocarcinoma. The tumor metastasized to lymph nodes, liver, spleen, ovary and kidney. A primary culture established from the s.c. growing tumor was composed of both adherent and nonadherent cells. These two cell types were successfully separated from the primary culture and designated CMS (suspension cells) and CMA (adherent cells). The CMS and CMA cell lines are morphologically distinct in culture; however both formed similar histopathologic tumors when inoculated s.c. Furthermore, both tumor lines showed identical metastatic patterns in BALB/c mice with involvement of lymph node, liver, spleen, ovary and kidney. CMS and CMA expressed T-antigen as revealed by FITC-labeled-anti-Thy 1.2 antibody. Chromosome analysis and morphologic studies by light and electron microscopy indicated that the present metastatic lines have no relationship with the colon 26 adenocarcinoma and seem to be non-thymic T-cell lymphosarcomas which developed spontaneously in BALB/c mice.