Abstract

BackgroundIMMUNEPOTENT-CRP® (I-CRP) is a bovine dialyzable leukocyte extract containing transfer factor. It is a cost-effective, unspecific active immunotherapy that has been used in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as an adjuvant to reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and has shown cytotoxic activity in vitro on different cancer cell lines. However, its mechanism of action against lung cancer cells has not been assessed. Therefore, the objective of this work was to assess the cytotoxic mechanism of I-CRP on lung cancer cell lines.MethodsWe assessed cell viability through MTT assay on the NSCLC cell lines A549, A427, Calu-1, and INER-51 after treatment with I-CRP. To further understand the mechanisms of cell viability diminution we used fluorescence-activated cell sorting to evaluate cell death (annexin-V and propidium iodide [PI] staining), cell cycle and DNA degradation (PI staining), mitochondrial alterations (TMRE staining), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (DCFDA staining). Additionally, we evaluated caspase and ROS dependence of cell death by pretreating the cells with the pan-caspase inhibitor Q-VD-OPH and the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC), respectively.ResultsOur data shows that I-CRP is cytotoxic to NSCLC cell lines in a dose and time dependent manner, without substantial differences between the four cell lines tested (A549, A427, Calu-1, and INER-51). Cytotoxicity is induced through regulated cell death and cell cycle arrest induction. I-CRP-induced cell death in NSCLC cell lines is characterized by DNA degradation, mitochondrial damage, and ROS production. Moreover, cell death is independent of caspases but relies on ROS production, as it is abrogated with NAC.ConclusionAltogether, these results improve the knowledge about the cytotoxic activity of I-CRP on NSCLC cells, indicating that cell death, cell cycle arrest, DNA degradation and mitochondrial damage are important features, while ROS play the main role for I-CRP mediated cytotoxicity in lung cancer cells.

Highlights

  • Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and the second in women worldwide (Torre et al, 2016; Bray et al, 2018)

  • To evaluate IMMUNEPOTENT CRP (I-CRP) cytotoxicity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, we assessed indirect cell viability through MTT assay in A549, A427, CALU-1, and INER-51 lung carcinoma cells

  • These results indicate that I-CRP induces similar cytotoxicity to different lung cancer cell lines in a time- and concentration-dependent manner

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and the second in women worldwide (Torre et al, 2016; Bray et al, 2018). I-CRP protects mice against 5-Fluorouracil-induced bone marrow myeloablation (Coronado-Cerda et al, 2016), while it increases the rate of oxaliplatin-induced immunogenic cell death in murine melanoma cells (Rodríguez-Salazar et al, 2017) This emphasizes its broad, yet misunderstood, specific cytotoxicity to cancer cells. IMMUNEPOTENT-CRP R (I-CRP) is a bovine dialyzable leukocyte extract containing transfer factor It is a cost-effective, unspecific active immunotherapy that has been used in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as an adjuvant to reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and has shown cytotoxic activity in vitro on different cancer cell lines. These results improve the knowledge about the cytotoxic activity of I-CRP on NSCLC cells, indicating that cell death, cell cycle arrest, DNA degradation and mitochondrial damage are important features, while ROS play the main role for I-CRP mediated cytotoxicity in lung cancer cells

Objectives
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.