Cell Lines Including Breast Cancer Research Articles

Abstract 109: Identification of tumor-intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms of T cell exclusion in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer through integration of bulk and single-cell transcriptome and spatial analysis

Abstract T cells are generally present in low numbers in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer (BC) potentially due to limited antigens or impaired antigen presentation, however defined mechanisms are not fully understood. This study explores the interplay between estrogen receptor signaling (ERS), antigen presentation machinery (APM), and T cell signaling (TC) using diverse datasets, including BC cell lines, TCGA, METABRIC, and clinical trial bulk transcriptomes, single-cell RNA-sequencing of ER+ primary BC, and single-cell spatial multi-plex cyclic immunofluorescence (CyCIF) of primary BC patients. Co-expression analysis of both computationally and manually curated genes in TCGA and METABRIC data unveiled distinct 29-gene ERS and 225-gene combined APM/TC modules with strong inverse correlations in ER+ BC. This inverse correlation was confirmed in independent cohorts. ERS and APM/TC modules were down- and up-regulated, respectively, in response to aromatase inhibitor therapy in ER+ BC patients from the ACOSOG Z1301B trial who demonstrated clinical benefit. Analysis of published single-cell RNA-sequencing data of 20 primary ER+ BC was performed to elucidate cell types that express individual genes in the modules. It confirmed that high ERS activity is associated with reduced T cells, and identified distinct cell types contributing to each module, showing higher ERS activity in tumor cells and higher APM/TC activity in stromal and immune cells. At the cell type level, we found distinct contributions and precise insights of individual genes. The prevalence of ERS activity in tumor cells prompted investigation to determine if the ERS and APM/TC modules were preserved as tumor-intrinsic signaling. Analysis of 54 BC cell lines indicated partially preserved module correlations in cancer cell lines and revealed that the APM/TC module is a contribution of both tumor-intrinsic (e.g., complement and type-I IFN-response), and tumor-extrinsic (e.g., lymphocyte activation) factors. CyCIF analysis of 29 ER+ BC samples was performed to bridge gene signatures with spatial biology and validated that higher ERS activity correlates with lower T cell infiltration. The spatial pattern of T cells varied from immune desert to stromally bound to fully inflamed tumors. Neighborhood analysis revealed increased frequency of CD8 T cells around a tumor cell is associated with elevated MHC I and II in broad immune cells and macrophage subsets, respectively. pTBK1+ macrophages inversely correlated with CD8 T cell frequency and MHC expression in neighboring cells, suggesting an immunosuppressive role. This study uncovers robust and tightly regulated ERS and APM/TC signaling in ER+ patients, unraveling molecular intricacies and offering potential insights for targeted therapeutic interventions. Citation Format: Kenichi Shimada, Yvonne X. Cui, Daniel Michaud, Kelly F. Zheng, Jonathan Goldberg, Ricardo Pastorello, Lukas Kania, Sandra S. McAllister, Sara M. Tolaney, Adrienne Waks, Rinath Jeselsohn, Peter K. Sorger, Judith Agudo, Jennifer L. Guerriero, Elizabeth A. Mittendorf. Identification of tumor-intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms of T cell exclusion in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer through integration of bulk and single-cell transcriptome and spatial analysis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 109.

JSKN003, A NOVEL BIPARATOPIC ANTI-HER2 ANTIBODY-DRUG CONJUGATE, EXHIBITS POTENT ANTITUMOR EFFICACY

Abstract In human advanced solid tumors, expression of HER2 protein has been reported in various tumor tissues and a variety of cultured tumor cell lines including breast cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and ovarian cancer. Due to the critical roles of HER2 in carcinogenesis, two main targeted therapies have been developed in the past two decades to block the HER2-driven pathways, which include small molecule compounds that inhibit the tyrosine kinase activity of the intracellular domain, and mono-antibodies (mAbs) that target the extracellular domain (ECD) of the receptors. JSKN003 is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) comprised of a recombinant, humanized anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) bispecific antibody conjugated to a topoisomerase I inhibitor via a dibenzocyclooctyne tetrapeptide linker. The anti-HER2 component, KN026, is a recombinant, humanized bispecific antibody that targets both extra-cellular domains II (pertuzumab binding site) and IV (trastuzumab binding site) of HER2. JSKN003 showed high affinity binding to human HER2 with KDs of 2.209 E-10M, which is comparable to its parental antibody KN026 and bound to NCI-N87 and BxPC-3 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. At the same time JSKN003 showed more extensive and faster internalization than DS8201 on NCI-N87 cells. As expected, JSKN003 showed directly inhibits growth by targeting HER2 positive tumor model (NCI-N87 and BT474 cell models). The single dose and multiple dose pharmacokinetics study in cynomolgus monkey indicated that JSKN003, total antibody and DXd had general linear dynamic characteristics, and pharmacokinetics parameters showed no significant differences between males and females in the range 0.3-30 mg/kg. The HNSTD (highest non-severely toxic dose) of JSKN003 was determined as 30mg/kg in cynomolgus monkeys. These preclinical data suggest that JSKN003 could potentially benefit patients with tumors co-expressing HER2 through improved drug selectivity and efficacy. JSKN003’s safety, tolerability and preliminary anti-tumor activity are currently being evaluated in a first-in-human phase I study in advanced stage solid tumors in Australia (NCT05494918) using a BOIN design. This ADC is targeted on the subjects who has HER2 expression and/or HER2-gene mutation and may address an unmet medical need for these patients.

Abstract 5653: LCB97, an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) targeting a novel tumor antigen for the treatment of multiple solid tumors

Abstract LCB97 is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) directed against a novel tumor antigen, composed of monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) as payload (DAR 4) and the humanized IgG1 antibody AFF4 generated by Elthera. AFF4 targets a novel antigen preferentially expressed in various solid tumors including pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer and melanoma. LCB97 generated by using LCB’s ConjuAllTM technology with AFF4 showed potent cytotoxicity in various cancer cell lines including breast cancer (BC), ovarian cancer (OC), pancreatic cancer (PaC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), colorectal cancer (CRC) and melanoma. LCB97 also showed excellent anticancer efficacy in several cell line-derived xenograft (CDX) models, including BC, CRC, OC and melanoma. Preliminary toxicity assessment in cynomolgus monkeys (an AFF4 cross reactive species) demonstrated that LCB97 was well tolerated within the estimated therapeutic index of ~20 for repeat dosing. In conclusion, LCB97, generated by combining theAFF4 monoclonal antibody of Elthera and the highly innovative ConjuAllTM platform technology of LegoChem Biosciences is a promising next-generation ADC for the treatment of various solid cancers, including BC, CRC, melanoma, OC and PaC. Citation Format: Yeojin Jeong, Gunther Spohn, Flavio Mehli, Chul-Woong Chung, Changsik Park. LCB97, an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) targeting a novel tumor antigen for the treatment of multiple solid tumors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 5653.

Anticancer Effects and Mechanisms of Action of Plumbagin: Review of Research Advances.

Plumbagin (PLB), a natural naphthoquinone constituent isolated from the roots of the medicinal plant Plumbago zeylanica L., exhibited anticancer activity against a variety of cancer cell lines including breast cancer, hepatoma, leukemia, melanoma, prostate cancer, brain tumor, tongue squamous cell carcinoma, esophageal cancer, oral squamous cell carcinoma, lung cancer, kidney adenocarcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, gastric cancer, lymphocyte carcinoma, osteosarcoma, and canine cancer. PLB played anticancer activity via many molecular mechanisms, such as targeting apoptosis, autophagy pathway, cell cycle arrest, antiangiogenesis pathway, anti-invasion, and antimetastasis pathway. Among these signaling pathways, the key regulatory genes regulated by PLB were NF-kβ, STAT3, and AKT. PLB also acted as a potent inducer of reactive oxygen species (ROS), suppressor of cellular glutathione, and novel proteasome inhibitor, causing DNA double-strand break by oxidative DNA base damage. This review comprehensively summarizes the anticancer activity and mechanism of PLB.

Microarray data analysis reveals gene expression changes in response to ionizing radiation in MCF7 human breast cancer cells

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to identify potential therapeutic target genes for breast cancer (BC) by the investigation of gene expression changes after ionizing radiation (IR) in BC cells. Gene expression profile GSE21748, including BC cell line MCF-7 samples at different time points after IR treatment, were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in different time points following IR compared with cell samples before IR, respectively. Gene ontology functions and The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways of the overlapping DEGs were enriched using DAVID. Transcription factor (TFs)-encoding genes were identified from the overlapping DEGs, followed by construction of transcriptional regulatory network and co-expression network.ResultsA total of 864 overlapping DEGs were identified, which were significantly enriched in regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis, and cell cycle process. We found that FOXD1, STAT6, XBP1, STAT2, LMO2, TFAP4, STAT3, STAT1 were hub nodes in the transcriptional regulatory network of the overlapping DEGs. The co-expression network of target genes regulated by STAT3, STAT1, STAT6 and STAT2 included some key genes such as BCL2L1.ConclusionSTAT1, STAT2, STAT3, STAT6, XBP1, BCL2L1, CYB5D2, ESCO2, and PARP2 were significantly affected by IR and they may be used as therapeutic gene targets in the treatment of BC.

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of 1,2,4-Thiadiazole-1,2,4-Triazole Derivatives Bearing Amide Functionality as Anticancer Agents.

A novel library of amide functionality having 1,2,4-thiadiazole-1,2,4-triazole (8a–j) analogs was designed, synthesized, and structures were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass (ESI–MS) spectral data. Further, all compounds were evaluated for their anticancer activities against four different cancer cell lines including breast cancer (MCF-7, MDA MB-231), lung cancer (A549), and prostate cancer (DU-145) by MTT reduction assay method, and etoposide acts as a standard drug. The results confirmed that majority of the synthesized compounds showed moderate to potent anticancer activities aligned with four cell lines. Among the synthesized compounds, 8b, 8c, 8d, 8e, 8g and 8i displayed more potent activity along with inhibitory concentration values ranging from 0.10 ± 0.084 to 11.5 ± 6.49 µM than the standard IC50 values, which ranges from 1.91 ± 0.84 to 3.08 ± 0.135 µM, respectively.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13369-020-04626-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of arylphosphonium-benzoxaborole conjugates as novel anticancer agents

Arylphosphonium-benzoxaborole conjugates have been synthesized as potential mitochondria targeting anticancer agents. The synthesized compounds have been tested for their effects on cell viability in various solid tumor cell lines including breast cancer 4T1 and MCF-7, pancreatic cancer MIAPaCa-2 and colorectal adenocarcinoma WiDr. Compound 6c is designated as a lead compound for further studies due to its enhanced effects on cell viability in the above-mentioned cell lines. Seahorse Xfe96 based metabolic assays reveal that the lead candidate 6c inhibits mitochondrial respiration in 4T1 and WiDr cell lines as evidenced by the reduction of mitochondrial ATP production and increase in proton leak. Epiflourescent microscopy experiments also illustrate that 6c causes significant mitochondrial fragmentation in 4T1 and WiDr cells, morphologically consistent with programmed cell death. Our current studies illustrate that arylphosphonium-benzoxaborole conjugates have potential to be further developed as anticancer agents.

Development and Characterization of Solid Dispersion System for Enhancing the Solubility and Dissolution Rate of Dietary Capsaicin

Background:Capsaicin is a pungent component of chili peppers that suppresses the growth of various cancer cell lines including breast cancer. However, it shows extremely low oral bioavailability due to its poor water solubility.Objective:The objective of the present work was to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of capsaicin.Methods:Solid dispersions were prepared by the solvent evaporation method using different molar ratios of capsaicin and urea (1:1, 1:2, and 1:3). Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) study were used to characterize the solid dispersion. Solid dispersions were evaluated for solubility, dissolution rate and in vitro cytotoxicity in breast cancer cell lines.Results:XRD and DSC studies exhibited the reduced crystallinity of a drug in solid dispersion. Phase solubility study shows that the drug solubility increased by increasing carrier concentration. In vitro release study of the solid dispersion showed the faster dissolution of a drug with increasing carrier concentration. Solid dispersion formulation effectively inhibited the growth of MCF-7 human breast cancer and MDA-MB-231 triple negative human breast cancer cells in an MTT assay that measures metabolic activity, but only slightly decreased cell viability when compared to capsaicin alone.Conclusion:The present study demonstrated that solid dispersion of capsaicin in PEG 6000 overcomes the problems related to the poor aqueous solubility of this drug and improving its dissolution rate.

Anticancer activity of synthetic (±)-kusunokinin and its derivative (±)-bursehernin on human cancer cell lines

Kusunokinin is a potent lignan compound with a several biological properties including antitrypanosomal and anticancer. In this study, (±)-kusunokinin and its derivative, (±)-bursehernin, were synthesized and investigated for their anticancer activities on cell viability, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in cancer cell lines including breast cancer (MCF-7, MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-231), colon cancer (HT-29) and cholangiocarcinoma (KKU-K100, KKU-M213 and KKU-M055) cells. The result showed that (±)-kusunokinin and (±)-bursehernin represented the strongest growth inhibition against breast cancer (MCF-7) and cholangiocarcinoma (KKU-M213) cells with the IC50 values of 4.30 ± 0.65 μM and 3.70 ± 0.79 μM, respectively, both of which were lower than IC50 of normal fibroblast cells (L929). Etoposide was used as a positive control since this chemotherapeutic drug is in the lignan group same as (±)-kusunokinin. Surprisingly, etoposide showed less cytotoxicity than (±)-kusunokinin and its derivative on MCF-7, HT-29, KKU-M213 and KKU-K100. Moreover, (±)-bursehernin induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase, meanwhile (±)-kusunokinin tended to increased cell population at G2/M phase but did not show the significant difference compared with non-treated cells. Interestingly, protein levels related to cell proliferation pathway (topoisomerase II, STAT3, cyclin D1, and p21) were significantly decreased at 72 h. Both compounds induced apoptotic cell in time-dependent manner as confirmed by MultiCaspase assay. In conclusion, synthetic compound, (±)-kusunokinin and (±)-bursehernin, showed anticancer effects via the reduction of cell proliferation proteins and induction of apoptosis.

Synthesis, X-Ray Crystal Structures, and Preliminary Antiproliferative Activities of New s-Triazine-hydroxybenzylidene Hydrazone Derivatives

We herein report a new small library of Schiff-base compounds that encompasses s-triazine and (2 or 4)-hydroxylbenzylidene derivatives. These compounds were synthesized through a hydrazone linkage connecting both the s-triazine and hydroxybenzylidene derivatives. The synthetic strategy adopted allowed the synthesis of the target compounds with excellent yields and purities as observed from their NMR (1H and 13C) and elemental analysis. Furthermore, 4f, 5b, and 5f were further confirmed by X-ray single crystal diffraction technique. The preliminary antiproliferative activities for the synthesized compounds were tested against two different cancer cell lines including breast cancer (MCF-7) and colon cancer (HCT-116). From the eighteen compounds, which have been examined, only two derivatives having piperidine moiety showed more selectivity against the two cell lines MCF-7 and HCT-116, while the others showed very weak activity. The position of the hydroxyl group in the benzylidine ring and the substituent on the s-triazine moiety has great effect on the activity of the prepared compounds. The IC50 values for the two derivatives 4a and 5a evaluated against breast cancer cells, very close to those for the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin, are 27 µM (13.3 µg/mL), 17 µM (8.4 µg/mL), and 20 µM (6 µg/mL) for 4a, 5a, and cisplatin, respectively. These results propose the preliminary antiproliferative activity of these two derivatives may deserve further consideration for development of new derivatives as potent anticancer agents.

A Role for Syntenin-1 in Multiple Myeloma Cell Survival

Multiple myeloma is the second most common hematological malignancy in the U.S. with an estimated 30,700 new diagnoses in 2018. It is a clonal disease of plasma cells that, despite recent therapeutic advances, remains incurable. Myeloma cells retain numerous characteristics of normal plasma cells including reliance on survival signals in the bone marrow for long term viability. However, malignant transformation of plasma cells imparts the ability to proliferate, causing harmful bone lesions in patients, and in advanced stages independence of the bone-marrow microenvironment. Therefore, we are investigating the molecular mechanisms of myeloma cell survival that allow them to become extramedullary.We identified syntenin-1 (SDCBP) as a protein involved in myeloma cell survival and a potential therapeutic target. Syntenin-1 is an adapter protein that has been shown to regulate surface expression of several transmembrane proteins by binding with membrane phospholipids and mediating vesicular trafficking of proteins throughout the cell. Syntenin-1 regulates the surface expression of CD138, a plasma/myeloma cell marker. Syntenin-1 has been shown to regulate apoptosis in numerous cancer cell lines including breast cancer, glioma, and pancreatic cancer but its role in multiple myeloma survival has not been studied. To determine if syntenin-1 expression has an effect on myeloma cell survival, we utilized the CoMMpass dataset (IA12), a longitudinal study of myeloma patients that includes transcriptomic analysis throughout treatment. We found that patients with the highest expression of syntenin-1 mRNA (top quartile) had significantly worse overall survival, progression-free survival, and a shorter response duration than those in the bottom quartile of expression. To determine if syntenin-1 has a role in myeloma cell survival, we used short hairpin RNA to knock down syntenin-1 (shsyn) in RPMI 8226 and MM1.s myeloma cell lines. We then determined the amount of cell death using Annexin-V staining flow cytometry four days following lentiviral infection. We found increased cell death in syntenin-1-silenced cells compared to our empty vector control in both RPMI 8226 (control=42.17%, shsyn=71.53%, p=0.04) and MM1.s cell lines (control=8.57%, shsyn=29.9%, p=0.04) suggesting that syntenin-1 is important for myeloma cell survival.Syntenin-1 contains two PDZ domains that allow it to bind to receptor proteins via their corresponding PDZ-binding motifs. We therefore wanted to look at correlation of syntenin-1 expression with CD138 and CD86, two PDZ-binding domain containing proteins expressed on the surface of myeloma cells. Using the CoMMpass dataset, we found patients with high expression of syntenin-1 had a median expression of CD86 that was twice as high as the total population (P<0.0001) while syntenin-1-low patients expressed CD86 at levels that were half as much as the population (P<0.0001). In contrast, there was no clear relationship between syntenin-1 and CD138 mRNA expression. Indeed if one takes into account all patients, there is a positive correlation between CD86 and syntenin-1 expression (r=0.228, P<0.0001) while there is a negative correlation between CD138 and syntenin-1 (r=-0.1923, P<0.0001). The correlation with CD86 but not CD138 suggests a previously undescribed role for syntenin-1 in myeloma cells. Our lab has previously shown that expression of CD86 is necessary for myeloma cell survival, and signals via its cytoplasmic domain to confer drug resistance. Silencing syntenin-1 results in a decrease in CD86 surface expression. However, there is no change in CD86 transcript or total cellular CD86 protein levels in our shsyn treated cells. Moreover, knockdown of CD86 resulted in increased protein expression and transcript levels of syntenin-1. Taken together, these data suggest that syntenin-1 may regulate CD86 expression on the cell surface.Our data supports a novel role for syntenin-1 in myeloma cell viability and as a potential regulator of CD86 surface expression. The role of syntenin-1 has not previously been explored in multiple myeloma and determining its molecular function is warranted as it may be an attractive target for therapeutic treatment of the disease. DisclosuresLonial:Amgen: Research Funding. Boise:AstraZeneca: Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy.

The inhibitory effect of kokusaginine on the growth of human breast cancer cells and MDR-resistant cells is mediated by the inhibition of tubulin assembly

The emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) is a significant challenge in breast carcinoma chemotherapy. Kokusaginine isolated from Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz. has been reported to show cytotoxicity in several human cancer cell lines including breast cancer cells MCF-7. In this study, kokusaginine showed the potent inhibitory effect on MCF-7 multidrug resistant subline MCF-7/ADR and MDA-MB-231 multidrug resistant subline MDA-MB-231/ADR. Kokusaginine markedly induced apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner in MCF-7/ADR cells. Furthermore, kokusaginine reduced P-gp mRNA and protein levels, and suppressed P-gp function especially in MCF-7/ADR cells. In addition, kokusaginine showed to inhibit tubulin assembly and the binding of colchicine to tubulin by binding directly to tubulin and affects tubulin formation in vitro. Taken together, these results support the potential therapeutic value of kokusaginine as an anti-MDR agent in chemotherapy for breast carcinoma.

Synthesis, characterization, and bioactivity of new bisamidrazone derivatives as possible anticancer agents

A novel series of new di-(N-piperazin-1-yl)amidrazones and related congeners (3a–s) was synthesized by reaction of Nʹ,Nʺ-(biphenyl-4,4ʹ-diyl)-bis(2-oxopropanehydrazonoyl chloride) (2) with a selected set of secondary amines in basic media. Structures of the newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis and by various spectroscopic techniques such as 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 2D-NMR, and ESI-HRMS spectral data. Prepared compounds have been screened for antitumor activity against different cancer cell lines including breast cancer (MCF-7), colon cancer (Caco-2), and Leukemia (K562) cell lines using the tetrazolium dye 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) cell viability assay. Although with varying degrees, a significant growth inhibitory and cytotoxic effect was observed on all three cancer cell lines. Compounds 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, and 3m, showed significant growth inhibitory and cytotoxic effect against the aforementioned cancer cell lines. Glide docking studies against PI3Kα demonstrated that some structural analogues accommodate PI3Kα kinase domain and bind to Ser774, Ala775, Glu798, Lys802, Tyr836, Val851, Asn853, Thr856, Gln859, Ser919, and Asp933. Additionally, part of the backbones of prepared compounds fit the pharmacophoric features of PI3Kα active inhibitors.

Anti‐proliferative activity of newly synthesized Cd(II), Cu(II), Zn(II),Ni(II), Co(II), VO(II), and Mn(II) complexes of 2‐((4,9‐dimethoxy‐5‐oxo‐5H‐furo[3,2‐g]chromen‐6‐yl)methylene) hydrazinecarbothioamide on three human cancer cells

Thiosemicarbazone ligand, 2‐((4,9‐dimethoxy‐5‐oxo‐5H‐furo[3,2‐g]chromen‐6‐yl)methylene) hydrazinecarbothioamide and its Cd(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Ni(II), Co(II), VO(II), and Mn(II) complexes have been prepared and characterized by various spectroscopic and analytical techniques. Complexes molar conductance measurements displayed that all complexes (2–8) are non‐electrolyte. With general composition [M(H3L)(CH3COO)2H2O].nH2O, where M = Cd(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Ni(II), Co(II) and Mn(II) while complex (8) has [VO(H3L)(SO4)H2O].2H2O formula. Based on analytical and spectral measurements, the octahedral or distorted octahedral geometries suggested for complexes. Ligand and complexes anti‐proliferative activities were assessed against three various human tumor cell lines including breast cancer (MCF‐7), liver cancer (HepG2) and lung cancer (A549) using SRB fluorometric assay and cis‐platin as positive control. The anti‐proliferative activity result indicated that the ligand and its complexes have considerable anti‐proliferative activity analogous to that of ordinarily utilized anti‐cancer drug (cis‐platin). They do their anti‐cancer activities by modifying free radical's generation via raising the superoxide dismutase activity and depletion of intracellular reduced glutathione level, catalase, glutathione peroxidase activities, escorted by highly generation of hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide and other free radicals leading to tumor cells death, as monitoring by decreasing the protein and nucleic acids synthesis.

Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent

BackgroundCancer cells exhibit elevated levels of glucose uptake and may obtain pre-formed, diet-derived fatty acids from the bloodstream to boost their rapid growth; they may also use nucleic acid from their microenvironment. The study of processing nucleic acid by cancer cells will help improve the understanding of the metabolism of cancer. DNA is commonly packaged into a viral or lipid particle to be transferred into cells; this process is called transfection in laboratory. Cancer cells are known for having gene mutations and the evolving ability of endocytosis. Their uptake of DNAs might be different from normal cells; they may take in DNAs directly from the environment. In this report, we studied the uptake of DNAs in cancer cells without a transfection reagent.MethodsA group of DNA fragments were prepared with PCR and labeled with isotope phosphorous-32 to test their uptake by Huh 7 (liver cancer) and THLE3 (normal liver cells) after incubation overnight by counting radioactivity of the cells’ genomic DNA. Multiple cell lines including breast cancer and lung cancer were tested with the same method. DNA molecules were also labeled with fluorescence to test the location in the cells using a kit of “label it fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)” from Mirus (USA).ResultsThe data demonstrated that hepatocellular carcinoma cells possess the ability to take in large DNA fragments directly without a transfection reagent whereas normal liver cells cannot. Huh7 and MDA-MB231 cells displayed a significantly higher Rhodamine density in the cytoplasmic phagosomes and this suggests that the mechanism of uptake of large DNA by cancer cells is likely endocytosis. The efficacy of uptake is related to the DNA’s size. Some cell lines of lung cancer and breast cancer also showed similar uptake of DNA.ConclusionsIn the present study, we have revealed the evidence that some cancer cells, but not nontumorigenic cells, can take DNA fragments directly from the environment without the aid of the transfecting reagent.

Single cell multiplexed assay for proteolytic activity using droplet microfluidics

Cellular enzymes interact in a post-translationally regulated fashion to govern individual cell behaviors, yet current platform technologies are limited in their ability to measure multiple enzyme activities simultaneously in single cells. Here, we developed multi-color Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based enzymatic substrates and use them in a microfluidics platform to simultaneously measure multiple specific protease activities from water-in-oil droplets that contain single cells. By integrating the microfluidic platform with a computational analytical method, Proteolytic Activity Matrix Analysis (PrAMA), we are able to infer six different protease activity signals from individual cells in a high throughput manner (~100 cells/experimental run). We characterized protease activity profiles at single cell resolution for several cancer cell lines including breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231, lung cancer cell line PC-9, and leukemia cell line K-562 using both live-cell and in-situ cell lysis assay formats, with special focus on metalloproteinases important in metastasis. The ability to measure multiple proteases secreted from or expressed in individual cells allows us to characterize cell heterogeneity and has potential applications including systems biology, pharmacology, cancer diagnosis and stem cell biology.

Abstract 5522: Combination of a supramolecular nanotherapeutic targeting MEK and immune checkpoint inhibitor exerts a synergistic antitumor outcome

Abstract The use of targeted therapeutics, such as BRAF inhibitors, and breakthrough immunotherapy treatments such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, are two emerging paradigms in treatment of chemotherapy-resistant melanoma. However, the treatment responses with targeted therapies are short lived mainly because the patients develop resistance, and also the treatment leads to severe toxicities. Higher concentrations of drug in tumor and sustained inhibition of the kinase signaling pathway for longer period of time is required to achieve better therapeutic efficacy. Similarly, immunotherapy results in lower response rates and the response takes longer time. We envision a new paradigm where a quick as well as durable objective response could be achieved by novel supramolecular nanotherapeutic that targets MEK, downstream of BRAF, in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitor antibody PD-L1. A supramolecular nanotherapeutic is engineered from self-assembly due to supramolecular interactions of molecular building blocks designed using an in silico model based on large scale all atomistic explicit water molecular dynamic simulations. The molecular building blocks were engineered using selumetinib as a template, and rationally re-engineering these molecules by conjugating it to cholesterol to enable supramolecular nanoassembly. The supramolecular nanostructures were stable for over a month as measured by changes in size and zeta potential at different time points. Drug release kinetics profiles showed sustained activation into selumetinib in cell lysate conditions. In vitro cytotoxicity studies in multiple cell lines including Breast Cancer (MDA-MB-231), Lung Cancer (A549) and Melanoma (B16F10) cells showed that supramolecular nanotherapeutics were as effective as selumetinib, and resulted in a sustained inhibition of the MAPK pathway. In vivo studies using a B16/F10 melanoma model revealed that supramolecular nanotherapeutics alone exerted significant tumor growth inhibition as compared to selumetinib. Furthermore, the combination of supramolecular nanotherapeutics and PD-L1 antibody resulted in superior antitumor efficacy, as well as significantly increased number of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, compared to selumetinib + PD-L1 antibody or PD-L1 antibody alone treatments. This study shows that a successful strategy to improve chemotherapy outcome could be devised by synergistic combinations of supramolecular nanoparticles that target oncogenic signaling pathway with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Citation Format: Ashish A. Kulkarni, Venkata Sabbisetti, Prithvi Raj Pandey, Shiladitya Sengupta. Combination of a supramolecular nanotherapeutic targeting MEK and immune checkpoint inhibitor exerts a synergistic antitumor outcome. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 5522. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-5522

English

Cichorium intybus commonly known as chicory is a member of the family Compositeae. It has been known for various pharmacological activities and anticancer effects against various cell lines including breast cancer MCF-7, prostate cancer LNCaP, amelanotic melanoma C32 and renal adenocarcinoma ACHN. In the present study, aerial parts of C. intybus were collected, identified, soaked in n-hexane non polar solvent, filtered and evaporated till the extract residue was isolated, dried and stored at 4°C and then checked for cytotoxic activities. Lymphoblastic leukemia cells (Jurkat cells) were used to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of n-hexane extract of C. intybus. Extracts were added to the cultured cells of selected cell line in various concentrations (10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 µg/ml) and incubated for 24 h. Trypan blue exclusion assay, MTS assay and FACS analysis were carried out to analyze cell viability, cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. The non polar n-hexane extract significantly reduced the number of viable cells and cell proliferation percentage but induced the apoptosis haphazardly. Results of this study demonstrate that n-hexane extract of C. intybus has potent anti-proliferative and cytotoxic activity against Jurkat cells, a human leukemia cell line.   Key words: Cichorium intybus, Jurkat cells, lymphoblastic leukemia cells, MTS, trypan blue assay, apoptotic analysis.

Targeting chemotherapy induced adaptive resistance using hybrid nanoparticles (LB577)

Chemotherapy is still a standard of care in adjuvant treatment of breast cancer, but it often leads to incomplete tumor response resulting in acquisition of chemoresistance and relapse, primarily due to upregulation of survival signals in tumor cells. To overcome this, chemotherapeutic agent and signaling inhibitor need to be delivered to the same cell sequentially with a precise spatial and temporal control. We designed a hybrid nanoparticle platform that synergistically integrates a cytotoxic agent with an ‘Oncogenic Signaling Inhibitor’ into a single nanovector thereby overcomes adaptive resistance to cytotoxics, increase efficacy &amp;amp; minimize significant off‐target toxicities. As traditional approaches for nanoformulation were incompatible with cytotoxic molecules such as Paclitaxel (PTX) and PI3K inhibitors (PI103), we rationally re‐engineered these molecules by conjugating it to cholesterol to enable supramolecular nanoassembly. Hybrid supramolecular nanoparticles were synthesized by lipid film hydration method. In vitro cytotoxicity studies in multiple cell lines including Breast Cancer (4T1, MDA‐MB‐231), Ovarian Cancer (4306) and Lung Cancer (A549, LLC) showed that hybrid nanoparticles were as effective as free drug combinations and more potent that individual drug nanoparticles. In both 4T1 breast cancer and in a K‐RasLSL/+/Ptenfl/fl ovarian cancer model in vivo, hybrid nanoparticles exerted superior antitumor efficacy as compared with free drugs &amp;amp; individual drug combination (p&lt;0.01, one way ANOVA). Immunohistochemistry staining of tumor tissues for p‐AKT showed that the hybrid nanoparticles had significantly higher inhibition of p‐AKT as compared to individual drug nanoparticles (p&lt;0.01, Student t‐test). These results posit supramolecular nanochemistry as a powerful approach that can potentially impact clinical translation of cytotoxic agents and PI3K inhibitors, and could be extended to enhance the efficacy of molecularly targeted therapeutics. Additionally, rational optimization of the chemical structures to facilitate supramolecular assembly can overcome existing limitations associated with parent molecules, thereby opening up possibility of resuscitating promising drug candidates that had failed to translate to clinics, rejuvenating drug pipelines.Grant Funding Source: National Institute of Health, Department of Defense, BCRP Collaborative Innovator award

Oridonin Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles Enhanced Antitumor Activity in MCF-7 Cells

Oridonin (ORI), a famous diterpenoid from Chinese herbal medicine, has drawn rising attention for its remarkable apoptosis and autophagy-inducing activity in human cancer therapy, while clinical application of ORI is limited by its strong hydrophobicity and rapid plasma clearance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the antitumor activity of ORI could be enhanced by loading into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs). ORI-loaded SLNs were prepared by hot high pressure homogenization with narrow size distribution and good entrapment efficacy. MTT assay indicated that ORI-loaded SLNs enhanced the inhibition of proliferation against several human cancer cell lines including breast cancer MCF-7 cells, hepatocellular carcinoma HepG 2 cells, and lung carcinoma A549 cells compared with free ORI, while no significant enhancement of toxicity to human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells was shown. Meanwhile, flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that ORI-SLNs induced more significant cell cycle arrest at S and decreased cell cycle arrest at G1/G0 phase in MCF-7 cells than bulk ORI solution. Hoechst 33342 staining and Annexin V/PI assay indicated that apoptotic rates of cells treated with ORI-loaded SLNs were higher compared with free ORI. In summary, our data indicated that SLNs may be a potential carrier for enhancing the antitumor effect of hydrophobic drug ORI.