Cooperative therapeutic effects of androgen ablation and adenovirus-mediated herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene and ganciclovir therapy in experimental prostate cancer.
(1/1479)
Adenovirus-mediated transduction of the herpes simplex thymidine kinase gene (HSV-tk) in conjunction with ganciclovir (GCV) has been shown to result in significant growth suppression and to enhance survival in a model of mouse prostate cancer. However, this therapeutic activity is not sustained, because in most cases tumors eventually regrow and ultimately cause the death of the host. Androgen ablation, an inducer of apoptosis in prostate cells which is used widely as palliative therapy in patients with prostate cancer, was combined with HSV-tk plus GCV using an androgen-sensitive mouse prostate cancer cell line. The combination of castration and HSV-tk plus GCV led to markedly enhanced tumor growth suppression in both subcutaneous and orthotopic models compared with either treatment alone and resulted in an enhanced survival in which combination-treated animals lived twice as long as controls in the subcutaneous model and over 50% longer than controls in the orthotopic model. Further analysis of apoptotic activity demonstrated high levels of apoptosis only in combined androgen ablation and HSV-tk plus GCV-treated tumors after 14 days of growth in an androgen-depleted environment and 8 days after HSV-tk plus GCV therapy. At this time, the apoptotic index, but not the percent of necrotic tissue, was significantly higher for combination therapy-treated tumors relative to control-treated tumors or either treatment alone. These data indicate that the therapeutic effects of androgen ablation and HSV-tk plus GCV are cooperative and that increased apoptosis may, in part, underlie these activities. (+info)
The relationship between adrogen receptors and the hormonally controlled responses of rat ventral prostate.
(2/1479)
1. The administration of dihydrotestosterone to rats orchidectomized 7 days previously stimulated the synthesis of nuclear receptor in prostatic cells several hours in advance of DNA synthesis and mitosis. 2. The synthesis of nuclear receptor is tightly coupled to cell proliferation; consequently, in resting cells, there is no further net synthesis of nuclear receptor above the maximum of approx. 8000 molecules/cell. 3. After orchidectomy a rapid decline in the concentration of free androgen in the nuceus and a slower decline in the concentration of nuclear receptor are observed. 4. Owing to the apparent scarcity of receptor-inactivating factors in the nucleus, and the inverse relationship between amounts of nuclear and cytoplasmic receptors, it is concluded that the nuclear receptor is discharged into the cytoplasm after orchidectomy. 5. The formation of the cytoplasmic receptor is an early event preceding the onset of cellular autolysis. 6. Regressing prostate develops the capacity to eliminate cytoplasmic receptor, and this capacity is retained by the regenerating prostate for at least 14 days. 7. The synthesis of nuclear receptor in early G1 phase may control the entry of cells into the cell cycle and the prolonged retention of receptor in the nucleus may prevent the activation of autophagic processes. (+info)
Testosterone control of nucleic acid content and proliferation of epithelium and stroma in rat seminal vesicles.
(3/1479)
Tissue wet weight, nucleic acid content and epithelial and stromal cell numbers were measured in the seminal vesicles of sexually mature male rats. After castration, tissue weight and RNA decreased rapidly and in aprallel to reach, after 14 days, values only 15-20% of those in control (not castrated) animals. During this period, DNA decreased to a much lesser extent (by about 40%), but this change in DNA correlates well with the observed loss of cells from the epithelium. Testosterone in vivo promoted an immediate resynthesis of RNA, the value characteristic of control animals being reached within 80h. Delays occurred in the hormone-induced regain of tissue weight (30h) and DNA (40h), each of which preceded proliferation of the epithelium (40--50h). The cells of the stroma were unaffected by these changes in the androgenic statls of the animal. It is suggested that these proliferative changes in the epithelium cannot account for the previously reported induction by testosterone of basic secretory proteins in this tissue. (+info)
Kinetic analysis of hormone-induced mitoses in epithelial cells of mouse uterus and vagina.
(4/1479)
The intracellular localization of 3H-estradiol-17beta and 3H-progesterone to the different types of cells in the mouse uterus was investigated using autoradiographic techniques. The kinetics of cell proliferation in the surface epithelium of the uterus and in the vaginal epithelium (basal layer) are analysed by means of cumulative labeling method and mitosis chase method using 3H-thymidine autoradiographic procedures. The results are as follows, (1) Epithelial cell population of the uterine lumen and basal cell population of the vaginal epithelium in the ovariectomized mouse are divided into a major subpopulation of GO cells and a minor subpopulation of proliferating cells. (2) Proliferative potencies of uterine surface epithelial cells and vaginal basal cells in the ovariectomized mouse are regulated by a steroid-independent mechanisms through which the proportion of the GO cell-compartment and Tc value of the proliferating cell-compartment are determined according to their age; as the castrated mouse grows older, Tc value becomes longer and the proportion of the Go cell-compartment becomes larger. (3) If the dose levels of estrogen administered exceed the threshold value, estrogen-dependent cell proliferation will be provoked by transferring the cells in the GO cell-compartment to the proliferating cell-compartment in all or none fashion, and by reducing the Tc value of proliferating cell to 1/2-1/3 of that in the castrated mouse. (4) It is suggested that proliferating cells in the uterine surface epithelium and in the vaginal epithelium turn the cell cycle at a constant Tc value during estrous cycle, and that the tissue growth during estrous cycle is dependent on the size of the proliferating cell-compartment but not on the Tc value. (5) The results obtained from autoradiography of tritiated steroids in the mouse uterus gave a supporting clue to the kinetic data. (+info)
An elevated bax/bcl-2 ratio corresponds with the onset of prostate epithelial cell apoptosis.
(5/1479)
The prostate gland in adult male rats is highly dependent on androgenic steroids. Castration initiates the regression of this tissue through a process involving the loss of the vast majority of cells by means of apoptosis. We studied this well characterized in vivo model of apoptosis to evaluate how the expression of two particular gene products, bcl-2 and bax, known to be important for the regulation of apoptosis were affected by castration. An RNase protection assay designed to quantify the levels of bax mRNA showed that this transcript was transiently elevated after castration, reaching a peak in expression at 3 days and declining thereafter. In contrast, bcl-2 mRNA expression was continuously elevated over a period of up to 7 days after castration. The distinct changes in the expression of the mRNAs encoding these two genes were confirmed by an in situ hybridization analysis of regressing rat ventral prostate tissues. The elevation in mRNAs were apparently restricted to the secretory epithelial cells of the gland, the cellular compartment of the tissue most affected by castration. Finally, SDS - PAGE/Western blot analysis of bax and bcl-2 protein expression in the regressing rat prostate gland with bax and bcl-2-specific antibodies showed that the changes in the bax and bcl-2 protein levels were similar and consistent to that found for the mRNAs. In summary, the expression of both bax and bcl-2 gene products are uniquely modulated during castration-induced regression of the rat ventral prostate gland. The changes we observed identify a transient but marked increase in the bax/bcl-2 expression ratio of the tissue that peaks on the second and third days after castration, coinciding with the peak periods of prostate cell apoptosis. These data support previous studies done on in vitro systems wherein it was shown that the bax/bcl-2 ratio determines the apoptotic potential of a cell. (+info)
Occurrence of permanent changes in vaginal and uterine epithelia in mice treated neonatally with progestin, estrogen and aromatizable or non-aromatizable androgens.
(6/1479)
Female mice of the C57 Black/Tw strain were injected daily with 100 microng testosterone, 50 microng testosterone propionate (TP), 100 microng 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or 50 microng 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP), for 10 days from the day of birth. Two other groups of female mice were given neonatal injections with 20 microng estradiol-17 beta and 100 microng progesterone for 10 days, respectively. All mice were ovariectomized at 60 days of age and killed at 90 days. In 100% of neonatally estrogenized or androgenized, ovariectomized mice, the cranial part of the vagina was lined with stratified epithelium with either cornification or parakeratosis or mucification. Stratification only or stratification with superficial squamous metaplasia or cornification took place in the uterine epithelia of 18% of the TP-treated, 75% of the DHT-treated and 50% of the DHTP-treated, ovariectomized mice. In contrast, neonatally estrogenized, ovariectomized mice did not show the estrogen-independent, persistent uterine changes. Neonatal progesterone treatment failed to induce the permanent changes in the vaginal and uterine epithelia. (+info)
Development of the vaginal epithelium showing estrogen-independent proliferation and cornification in neonatally androgenized mice.
(7/1479)
Female mice of the C57 Black/Tw strain given 5 daily injections with 100 microng testosterone (T) or 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from the day of birth showed estrogen-independent persistent proliferation and cornification of the vaginal epithelium in adulthood. The vaginal epithelium of the mice was essentially similar to that of the controls in histological structure during or shortly after neonatal injections of the androgens. In T- and DHT-mice aged over 20 days, however, a marked proliferation with or without superficial cornification took place in the epithelium lining the proximal and middle parts of the vagina (Mullerian vagina), while neither proliferation nor cornification occurred in the epithelium of the distal vagina (urogenital sinus vagina). On the second day of postnatal life in mice given a single injection with T on the day of birth, the mitotic activity in the epithelium of the middle vagina was heightened, but it dropped to the control level on the third day and remained low until 20 days. By contrast, the mitotic rates in the epithelium of the rest of the vagina in T-mice and of all parts of the vagina in DHT-mice were approximately the same as in the controls until 20 or 30 days. The mitotic rates in the epithelium of the Mullerian vagina were markedly elevated in T-mice at 20 days of age and DHT-mice at 30 days, and thereafter remained almost unchanged until 60 days of age. These results were different from the findings in mice given neonatal injections with the dose of estradiol-17 beta (E) capable of estrogen-independent vaginal cornification (Iguchi et al., 1976). The present finding seem to indicate that the mechanism involved in the induction of estrogen-independent vaginal changes by neonatal administration of androgen (T, DHT) is different from that following neonatal treatment with estrogen (E), although androgen and estrogen act directly on the vaginal epithelium of neonates. (+info)
Ultrastructural characteristics of the vaginal epithelium of neonatally estrogenized mice in response to subsequent estrogen treatment.
(8/1479)
Adult mice which had received 10 daily injections of 20 microng estradiol beginning with the day of birth were in a "persistent-estrous" state, showing ovary-independent proliferation and cornification of the vaginal epithelium. Ultrastructural changes of the vaginal epithelium in neonatally estrogenized mice was examined after a single postpuberal injection of 10 microng estradiol and compared with those seen in normal mice to estrogen. In ovariectomized normal mice, the basal cells were round. The nucleus was polygonal and contained peripheral condensed chromatin. After estradiol treatment, the basal cells became columnar. The nucleus was round to oval, containing dispersed chromatin. In neonatally estrogenized ovariectomized mice, the basal layer of vaginal epithelium consisted of round cells with polygonal nuclei, much as in normal ovariectomized mice. The nucleus occupied a large area of the cytoplasm and contained prominent nucleoli. Intercellular spaces were moderately distended. Late estradiol treatment resulted in distended intercellular spaces and in the appearance of the other cell type along with round cells in the basal layers: the columnar cells containing an oval nucleus with dispersed chromatin, resembled the basal cells in normal ovariectomized mice receiving postpuberal estrogen injection. The intercellular spaces between the columnar cells were narrow compared with those between round cells. However, the nuclei of round cells still had prominent nucleoli and peripheral condensed chromatin regardless of subsequent estrogen treatment. This fact suggests that these nuclei do not respond to estrogen. These results clearly show that the vaginal epithelium of neonatally estrogenized mice with ovary-independent persistent cornification consists of a mixed population of cells. (+info)