Classification of human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines.
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Eleven human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines established in this laboratory were classified into three groups based on morphological features (light and electron microscopy), modal chromosome number, and ability to synthesize carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Group 1 cell lines contained both dedifferentiated and differentiating cells growing in tight clusters or islands of epithelium-like cells; their modal chromosome number was about 47, and they synthesized small to moderate amounts of CEA. Group 2 cell lines were more dedifferentiated, were hyperdiploid, and synthesized small amounts of CEA. Group 3 cell lines were morphologically similar to those of Group 1 by light microscopy. They differed ultrastructurally by containing microvesicular bodies; the modal chromosome number varied from hyperdiploid to hypertriploid or they had bimodal populations of hypodiploid and hypertriploid cells, and they synthesized relatively large amounts of CEA. No correlation could be found between Broder's grade or Duke's classification of the original tumor and modal chromosome number or ability to synthesize CEA. These findings support Nowell's hypothesis that the stem line is different for each solid tumor, which makes it difficult to relate chromosomal changes to the initiation of the neoplastic state. (+info)
Expression and differential regulation of connective tissue growth factor in pancreatic cancer cells.
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CTGF is an immediate early growth responsive gene that has been shown to be a downstream mediator of TGFbeta actions in fibroblasts and vascular endothelial cells. In the present study hCTGF was isolated as immediate early target gene of EGF/TGFalpha in human pancreatic cancer cells by suppression hybridization. CTGF transcripts were found in 13/15 pancreatic cancer cell lines incubated with 10% serum. In 3/7 pancreatic cancer cell lines EGF/TGFalpha induced a significant rise of CTGF transcript levels peaking 1-2 h after the start of treatment. TGFbeta increased CTGF transcript levels in 2/7 pancreatic cancer cell lines after 4 h of treatment and this elevation was sustained after 24 h. Only treatment with TGFbeta was accompanied by a parallel induction of collagen type I transcription. 15/19 human pancreatic cancer tissues were shown to overexpress high levels of CTGF transcripts. CTGF transcript levels in pancreatic cancer tissues and nude mouse xenograft tumors showed a good correlation to the degree of fibrosis. In situ hybridization and the nude mouse experiments revealed that in pancreatic cancer tissues, fibroblasts are the predominant site of CTGF transcription, whereas the tumor cells appear to contribute to a lesser extent. We conclude that CTGF may be of paramount importance for the development of the characteristic desmoplastic reaction in pancreatic cancer tissues. (+info)
Mechanisms related to [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose uptake of human colon cancers transplanted in nude mice.
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[18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG), a glucose analogue, has been widely used for tumor imaging. To investigate the mechanisms related to [18F]FDG uptake by tumors, an experiment involving nude mice was performed. METHODS: Human colon cancer cell lines SNU-C2A, SNU-C4 and SNU-C5 were transplanted to nude mice. Using immunohistochemical staining and Western blot, the expression of glucose transporter (Glut) isoforms (Glut-1 through -5) in xenografted tumors was analyzed. For the analysis of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and Northern blot were used and the enzyme activity of hexokinase in cancer tissues was measured by continuous spectrophotometric rate determination. RESULTS: [18F]FDG uptake in SNU-C4 and SNU-C5 cells was higher than in normal colon cells. Among these cells and xenografted tumors, SNU-C5 showed the highest level of [18F]FDG uptake, followed by SNU-C4 and SNU-C2A. An immunostaining experiment showed intense staining of Glut-1 in SNU-C5 tumors but somewhat faint staining in SNU-C4. SNU-C5 tumors also showed positive staining with Glut-3, although this was not the case with SNU-C2A and SNU-C4. Western blot analysis showed the expression of Glut-1 and Glut-3 in all tumors. Experiments involving Northern blot analysis and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction confirmed the overexpression of Glut-1 mRNA in all tumors, with the highest level in SNU-C5. The level of Glut-3 mRNA was also elevated in SNU-C5 tumors but not in SNU-C2A and SNU-C4. The enzyme activity of hexokinase did not vary among different tumors. CONCLUSION: Gluts, especially Glut-1, are responsible for [18F]FDG uptake in a nude mouse model of colon cancer rather than hexokinase activity. Increased numbers of glucose transporters at the plasma membrane of cancer cells is attributed to an increased level of transcripts of glucose transporter genes and may be a cause of increased [18F]FDG uptake, at least in colon cancer tumors. (+info)
Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a naturally occurring 28-amino acid peptide with a wide range of biological activities. Recent reports suggest that VIP receptors are expressed on a variety of malignant tumor cells and that the receptor density is higher than for somatostatin. Our aims were to label VIP with 99mTc--a generator-produced, inexpensive radionuclide that possesses ideal characteristics for scintigraphic imaging--and to evaluate 99mTc-VIP for bioactivity and its ability to detect experimental tumors. METHODS: VIP28 was modified at the carboxy terminus by the addition of four amino acids that provided an N4 configuration for a strong chelation of 99mTc. To eliminate steric hindrance, 4-aminobutyric acid (Aba) was used as a spacer. VIP28 was labeled with 1251, which served as a control. Biological activity of the modified VIP28 agonist (TP3654) was examined in vitro using a cell-binding assay and an opossum internal anal sphincter (IAS) smooth muscle relaxivity assay. Tissue distribution studies were performed at 4 and 24 h after injection, and receptor-blocking assays were also performed in nude mice bearing human colorectal cancer LS174T. Blood clearance was examined in normal Sprague-Dawley rats. RESULTS: The yield of 99mTc-TP3654 was quantitative, and the yields of 125I-VIP and 1251-TP3654 were >90%. All in vitro data strongly suggested that the biological activity of 99mTc-TP3654 agonist was equivalent to that of VIP28. As the time after injection increased, radioactivity in all tissues decreased, except in the receptor-enriched tumor (P = 0.84) and in the lungs (P = 0.78). The tumor uptake (0.23 percentage injected dose per gram of tissue [%ID/g]) was several-fold higher than 125I-VIP (0.06 %ID/g) at 24 h after injection in the similar system. In mice treated with unlabeled VIP or TP3654, the uptake of 99mTc-TP3654 decreased in all VIP receptor-rich tissues except the kidneys. The blood clearance was biphasic; the alpha half-time was 5 min and the beta half-time was approximately 120 min. CONCLUSION: VIP28 was modified and successfully labeled with 99mTc. The results of all in vitro examinations indicated that the biological activity of TP3654 was equivalent to that of native VIP28 and tumor binding was receptor specific. (+info)
Effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha on vascular resistance, nitric oxide production, and glucose and oxygen consumption in perfused tissue-isolated human melanoma xenografts.
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The effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) on vascular resistance, nitric oxide production, and consumption of oxygen and glucose was examined in a perfused tissue-isolated tumor model in nude mice. One experimental group was perfused with heparinized Krebs-Henseleit buffer, a second one was perfused with TNF-alpha (500 microgram/kg) 5 h before perfusion. The vascular resistance increased significantly 5 h after TNF-alpha injection. The increase in vascular resistance did not seem to be mediated by a decrease in tumor nitric oxide production, as determined by perfusate nitrate/nitrite concentrations, but may be due to aggregation of leukocytes, platelets, and erythrocytes and/or endothelial consumption among the three experimental groups. The oxygen consumption was linearly dependent on the amount of available oxygen in the perfusate, whereas the glucose consumption was constant and independent of the glucose delivery rate. The present experiments provide new insights into physiological and metabolic mechanisms of action of TNF- alpha for optimization of future treatment schedules involving TNF-alpha. (+info)
Fish swimbladder: an excellent mesodermal inductor in primary embryonic induction.
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Swimbladder of the crucian carp, Carassius auratus, was found to be better as a vegatalizing tissue than other tissues, such as guinea-pig bone marrow, when presumptive ectoderm of Triturus gastrulae was used as reacting tissue. Swimbladder usually induced assemblies of highly organized mesodermal tissues, such as notochord, somites and pronephric tubules, some of which were covered by mesodermal epithelium without any epidermal covering. A special character of the effect of swimbladder was the rather frequent induction of solid balls of undifferentiated cells, which were identified as mesodermal or mesodermal and probably endodermal. These findings show that swimbladder has a strong and fast spreading vegetalizing effect on the responding presumptive ectoderm. (+info)
Mutated epithelial cadherin is associated with increased tumorigenicity and loss of adhesion and of responsiveness to the motogenic trefoil factor 2 in colon carcinoma cells.
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Epithelial (E)-cadherin and its associated cytoplasmic proteins (alpha-, beta-, and gamma-catenins) are important mediators of epithelial cell-cell adhesion and intracellular signaling. Much evidence exists suggesting a tumor/invasion suppressor role for E-cadherin, and loss of expression, as well as mutations, has been described in a number of epithelial cancers. To investigate whether E-cadherin gene (CDH1) mutations occur in colorectal cancer, we screened 49 human colon carcinoma cell lines from 43 patients by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and direct sequencing. In addition to silent changes, polymorphisms, and intronic variants in a number of the cell lines, we detected frameshift single-base deletions in repeat regions of exon 3 (codons 120 and 126) causing premature truncations at codon 216 in four replication-error-positive (RER+) cell lines (LS174T, HCT116, GP2d, and GP5d) derived from 3 patients. In LS174T such a mutation inevitably contributes to its lack of E-cadherin protein expression and function. Transfection of full-length E-cadherin cDNA into LS174T cells enhanced intercellular adhesion, induced differentiation, retarded proliferation, inhibited tumorigenicity, and restored responsiveness to the migratory effects induced by the motogenic trefoil factor 2 (human spasmolytic polypeptide). These results indicate that, although inactivating E-cadherin mutations occur relatively infrequently in colorectal cancer cell lines overall (3/43 = 7%), they are more common in cells with an RER+ phenotype (3/10 = 30%) and may contribute to the dysfunction of the E-cadherin-catenin-mediated adhesion/signaling system commonly seen in these tumors. These results also indicate that normal E-cadherin-mediated cell adhesion can restore the ability of colonic tumor cells to respond to trefoil factor 2. (+info)
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue conjugates with strong selective antitumor activity.
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Conjugation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues GnRH-III, MI-1544, and MI-1892 through lysyl side chains and a tetrapeptide spacer, Gly-Phe-Leu-Gly (X) to a copolymer, poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone-co-maleic acid) (P) caused increased antiproliferative activity toward MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast, PC3 and LNCaP prostate, and Ishikawa endometrial cancer cell lines in culture and against tumor development by xenografts of the breast cancer cells in immunodeficient mice. MCF-7 cells treated with P-X-1544 and P-X-1892 displayed characteristic signs of apoptosis, including vacuoles in the cytoplasm, rounding up, apoptotic bodies, bleb formation, and DNA fragmentation. Conjugates, but not free peptides, inhibited cdc25 phosphatase and caused accumulation of Ishikawa and PC3 cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle after 24 h at lower doses and in the G1 and G2 phases after 48 h. Since P-X-peptides appear to be internalized, the increased cytotoxicity of the conjugates is attributed to protection of peptides from proteolysis, enhanced interaction of the peptides with the GnRH receptors, and/or internalization of P-X-peptide receptor complexes so that P can exert toxic effects inside, possibly by inhibiting enzymes involved in the cell cycle. The additional specificity of P-X-peptides compared with free peptides for direct antiproliferative effects on the cancer cells but not for interactions in the pituitary indicates the therapeutic potential of the conjugates. (+info)