scholarly journals Specific Targeting of PEGylated Liposomal Doxorubicin (Doxil®) to Tumour Cells Using a Novel TIMP3 Peptide

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Mohammed S. Aldughaim ◽  
Munitta Muthana ◽  
Fatimah Alsaffar ◽  
Michael D. Barker

Doxorubicin is a cytotoxic anthracycline derivative that has been used as a chemotherapeutic in many different forms of human cancer with some success. However, doxorubicin treatment has several side-effects, the most serious of which is cardiomyopathy, that can be fatal. Doxorubicin encapsulation in PEGylated liposomes (Doxil®) has been shown to increase tumour localisation and decrease cardiotoxicity. Conversely, the stability of such liposomes also leads to increased circulation times and accumulation in the skin, resulting in palmar planter erythrodysesthesia, while also limiting release of the drug at the tumour site. Specific targeting of such liposomes to tumour cells has been attempted using various receptor-specific peptides and antibodies. However, targeting a single epitope limits the likely number of tumour targets and increases the risk of tumour resistance through mutation. In this report, Doxil® was coupled to peptide sequence p700 derived from tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3. This Doxil® -P700 complex results in an approximately 100-fold increase in drug uptake, relative to Doxil® alone, by both mouse and human breast cancer cells and immortalised vascular cells resulting in an increase in cytotoxicity. Using p700 to target liposomes in this way may enable specific delivery of doxorubicin or other drugs to a broad range of cancers.

2005 ◽  
Vol 386 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina PÉREZ-GÓMEZ ◽  
José A. CAMPOS-SANDOVAL ◽  
Francisco J. ALONSO ◽  
Juan A. SEGURA ◽  
Elisa MANZANARES ◽  
...  

The pattern of expression of glutaminase isoenzymes in tumour cells has been investigated to clarify its role in the malignant transformation and the prospect of its use as a clinically relevant factor. Using leukaemia cells from medullar blood of human patients and several established human cancer cell lines, we have developed a competitive RT (reverse transcriptase)-PCR assay to quantify simultaneously K-type (kidney-type) and L-type (liver-type) glutaminase mRNAs. Co-expression of both transcripts and higher amounts of L-type mRNA were always found in all cancer cell types analysed. However, mature lymphocytes from the medullar blood of a patient suffering aplasia did not express the K-type transcript and showed a 15-fold increase of L-type transcript. Co-expression was also confirmed at the protein level using isoform-specific antibodies; nevertheless, it did not correlate with the relative abundance of glutaminase transcripts and strong K-type protein signals were detected. On the other hand, marked differences were found with regard to glutamate inhibition and phosphate activation of tumour glutaminase activity. Taken together, the protein data suggest that K isoform would account for the majority of glutaminase activity in these human tumour cells. The results confirm that simultaneous expression of both isoenzymes in human cancer cells is a more frequent event than previously thought. Furthermore, the present work and other previous data suggest that K isoform is up-regulated with increased rates of proliferation, whereas prevalence of the L isoform seems to be related with resting or quiescent cell states.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Grignani ◽  
L Pacchiarini ◽  
M Zucchella ◽  
L Dezza ◽  
S C Rizzo

The mechanisms of platelet activation by human tumour cells grown “in vitro” or freshly dissociated from tumour tissues have been investigated.MoCCL human T-lymphoblastic cells cultured “in vitro” induced platelet aggregation through the production of ADP, as evidenced by inhibition of the effect by apyrase. The maximum of ADP production by tumour cells was reached after 1 hour and was 225 p moles/106 cells.On the contrary, platelet aggregation induced by 5637 human bladder carcinoma cells was not inhibited by apyrase, but was abolished by hirudin, indicating the important role of thrombin in this effect.Tumour cells dissociated from 3 breast carcinomas showed a very high platelet aggregating activity, which was not inhibited by hirudin or apyrase, but was abolished by iodoacetic acid, suggesting a role for a cystein-protease in platelet activation.These results confirm that platelets can be activated by tumour cells through different mechanisms; they also suggest that the methods employed to obtain the tumour cells can influence the results, probably because of the different cell populations which are present in the dissociated tumour tissues.Informations obtained with freshly dissociated cells are interesting, because this method has been used seldom so far and because it provides a more physiological approach to the study of the interactions of tumours and platelets.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Mangesh Morey ◽  
Akshay Srivastava ◽  
Abhay Pandit

We report a physiologically stable and cytocompatible glucose-responsive nonviral gene delivery system made up of boronate functionalized polymeric material. Herein, we utilize boronate cis-diol interactions to develop a glucose-responsive submicron particle (SMP) system. The stability of the boronate interaction at a physiological pH was achieved by copolymerization of dimethyl aminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) with acrylamidophenylboronic acid (AAPBA) and the formation of a complex with polyvinylalcohol (PVA) which is governed by cis-diol interactions. The shift in hydrodynamic diameter of SMPs was observed and correlated with increasing glucose concentrations at a physiological pH. Optimal transfection was observed for a 5 µg dose of the gaussia luciferase reporter gene in NIH3T3 cells without any adverse effect on cellular viability. The destabilization of the AAPBA–PVA complex by interacting with glucose allowed the release of encapsulated bovine serum albumin (BSA) in a glucose-responsive manner. In total, 95% of BSA was released from SMPs at a 50 mM glucose concentration after 72 h. A two-fold increase in transfection was observed in 50 mM glucose compared to that of 10 mM glucose.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 625
Author(s):  
Mohammed S. Aldughaim ◽  
Fatimah Alsaffar ◽  
Michael D. Barker

Broad-spectrum cytotoxic drugs have been used in cancer therapy for decades. However, their lack of specificity to cancer cells often results in serious side-effects, limiting efficacy. For this reason, antibodies have been used to attempt to specifically target cytotoxic drugs to tumours. One such approach is antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) which uses a tumour-directed monoclonal antibody, coupled to an enzyme, to convert a systemically administered non-toxic prodrug into a toxic one only at the tumour site. Among the main drawbacks of ADEPT is the immunogenicity of the antibody-enzyme complex, which is exacerbated by slow clearance due to size, hence limiting repeated administration. Additionally, the mono-specificity of the antibody could potentially result in drug resistance with repeated administration. We have identified a novel short peptide sequence, p700, derived from a human tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 (TIMP-3), which binds to and inhibits a number of tyrosine kinase growth factor receptors (VEGFRs1-3, FGFRs 1-4 and PDGFRα) which are known to be upregulated in many tumours and tumour vasculature. In this report, we fused p700 to His-tagged, codon-optimised, carboxypeptidase G2 (CPG2). CPG2 is a bacterial enzyme used in ADEPT, which activates potent nitrogen-mustard pro-drugs by removal of an inhibitory glutamic acid residue. Recombinant CPG2-p700 was highly expressed in Escherichia coli and successfully purified by nickel affinity chromatography. Biolayer interferometry showed that CPG2-p700 had a 100-fold increase in binding affinity for VEGFR2 compared with CPG2 alone and retained its catalytic activity, as determined by methotrexate cleavage. In the presence of CPG2-p700, the ZD2676P pro-drug showed significant cytotoxicity for 4T1 cells compared with prodrug alone or CPG2 alone. p700 is, therefore, a potentially useful alternative to monoclonal antibodies for enzyme pro-drug therapy and could equally be used for effective delivery of other cytotoxic drugs to tumour tissue.


1994 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-419
Author(s):  
M Radłowski ◽  
D Job

The effect of disulfide and sulfhydryl reagents on the rate of abortive and productive elongation has been studied using Escherichia coli RNA polymerase holoenzyme and poly[d(A-T)] as template. In the presence of UTP as a single substrate and UpA as a primer, the enzyme catalyzed efficiently the synthesis of the trinucleotide product UpApU. Incubation of RNA polymerase with 1 mM 2-mercaptoethanol resulted in a 5-fold increase of the rate of UpApU synthesis. In contrast, incubation of the enzyme with 1 mM 5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic) acid resulted in a 6-fold decrease of the rate of abortive elongation. Determination of the steady state kinetic constants associated with UpApU synthesis disclosed that the disulfide and sulfhydryl reagents mainly affected the rate of UpApU release from the ternary transcription complexes and therefore influenced the stability of such complexes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia Gattinger ◽  
Shiva Izadi ◽  
Clemens Grünwald-Gruber ◽  
Somanath Kallolimath ◽  
Alexandra Castilho

The potential therapeutic value of many proteins is ultimately limited by their rapid in vivo clearance. One strategy to limit clearance by metabolism and excretion, and improving the stability of therapeutic proteins, is their fusion to the immunoglobulin fragment crystallizable region (Fc). The Fc region plays multiple roles in (i) dimerization for the formation of “Y”-shaped structure of Ig, (ii) Fc-mediated effector functions, (iii) extension of serum half-life, and (iv) a cost-effective purification tag. Plants and in particular Nicotiana benthamiana have proven to be suitable expression platforms for several recombinant therapeutic proteins. Despite the enormous success of their use for the production of full-length monoclonal antibodies, the expression of Fc-fused therapeutic proteins in plants has shown limitations. Many Fc-fusion proteins expressed in plants show different degrees of instability resulting in high amounts of Fc-derived degradation products. To address this issue, we used erythropoietin (EPO) as a reporter protein and evaluated the efforts to enhance the expression of full-length EPO-Fc targeted to the apoplast of N. benthamiana. Our results show that the instability of the fusion protein is independent from the Fc origin or IgG subclass and from the peptide sequence used to link the two domains. We also show that a similar instability occurs upon the expression of individual heavy chains of monoclonal antibodies and ScFv-Fc that mimic the “Y”-shape of antibodies but lack the light chain. We propose that in this configuration, steric hindrance between the protein domains leads to physical instability. Indeed, mutations of critical residues located on the Fc dimerization interface allowed the expression of fully stable EPO monomeric Fc-fusion proteins. We discuss the limitations of Fc-fusion technology in N. benthamiana transient expression systems and suggest strategies to optimize the Fc-based scaffolds on their folding and aggregation resistance in order to improve the stability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-52
Author(s):  
N.G. Zemlianskykh ◽  
◽  
L.O. Babiychuk ◽  

Protein modifications in the membrane-cytoskeleton complex (MCC) of human erythrocytes, as well as changes in the intensity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production upon cell cryopreservation with polyethylene glycol (PEG) were investigated. The protein profile of ghosts of erythrocytes frozen with PEG has common features with both the control and cells frozen without cryoprotectant. PEG makes it possible to restrict the structural rearrangements of the main MCC proteins under the effect of extreme factors and to restrain the amount of high molecular weight polypeptide complexes induced by the protein-cross-linking reagent diamide at the control level, in contrast to cells frozen without a cryoprotectant. However, changes related to the protein peroxiredoxin 2 in ghosts of erythrocytes cryopreserved with PEG are also attributed to cells frozen without a cryoprotectant that may be associated with the activation of oxidative processes. This is evidenced by a 10-fold increase in ROS formation in erythrocytes frozen under PEG protection. Thus, upon cryopreservation of erythrocytes with PEG, certain disorders in MCC proteins may be associated with increased formation of ROS, which may contribute to the disorganization of the structural components of MCC and disrupt the stability of cryopreserved cells under physiological conditions.


1982 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-95
Author(s):  
W.J. Nelson ◽  
P. Traub

Ehrlich ascites tumour cells were extracted in buffers containing Triton X-100 and mono-di- and polyvalent cations and then analysed by phase-contrast and electron microscopy. The results of this ultrastructural analysis confirm those of the biochemical analysis in the accompanying paper that the stability of intermediate-sized filaments is dependent on the ionic environment. Furthermore, the organization of filaments in long parallel arrays is dependent on the presence of divalent cations and can be inhibited, to some extent, by the presence of monovalent cations. The stability of other detergent-resistant structures, the boundary lamina, microfilaments, microtubules, centrioles, polyribosomes and the nuclear cortex, is also affected by the ionic environment but to a lesser extent.


1998 ◽  
Vol 201 (8) ◽  
pp. 1073-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
A F Riggs

Cooperative ligand binding by tetrameric vertebrate hemoglobins (Hbs) makes possible the delivery of oxygen at higher pressures than would otherwise occur. This cooperativity depends on changes in dimer-dimer interactions within the tetramer and is reflected in a 50 000-fold increase in the tetramer-dimer dissociation constant in human Hb upon oxygenation at pH 7.4, from approximately 2x10(-11)mol l-1 to approximately 10(-6)mol l-1. Hbs that undergo such ligand-dependent changes in association are widespread in non-vertebrates, where the mechanisms are very different from those in vertebrates. Oligomeric Hbs have been identified in organisms in five phyla (molluscs, echinoderms, annelids, phoronids and chordates) that dissociate to subunits upon oxidation of the heme iron and reassociate with the binding of ferric iron ligands such as CN-, N3- or NO2-. Thus, the valence and ligand state of the heme iron control the stability of a critical subunit interface. The broad distribution of this phenomenon suggests a common mechanism of communication between heme and interface that may be almost universal among non-vertebrate Hbs. This interaction may be similar to that known for the homodimeric Hb of the mollusc Scapharca inaequivalvis. Although muscle tissue Hbs or myoglobins (Mbs) are usually monomeric, with non-cooperative O2 binding, the radular muscles of gastropod molluscs and chitons have homodimeric Mbs that bind O2 cooperatively. Cooperative non-muscle tissue Hbs have also been identified. These include the neural Hb of the nemertean worm Cerebratulus lacteus and the Hb of the diving beetle Anisops assimilis, which exhibit deoxygenation-dependent self-association of monomers that is associated with high Hill coefficients. Calculations suggest that the 2-3 mmol l-1 concentration of Hb on a heme basis in the brain of Cerebratulus should substantially extend the time as an active predator in an anaerobic or hypoxic environment. Oxygen from the Hb of Anisops is delivered to a gas bubble and thereby controls the buoyant density. Many Hbs of amphibians, reptiles, birds and some embryonic mammals exhibit a further 'supercooperativity' of O2 binding which depends on reversible deoxygenation-dependent tetramer-tetramer association to form an assemblage with a very low affinity for O2. This phenomenon results in steeper O2-binding curves than exhibited by tetramers alone. The increased cooperativity should result in an increase in the amount of O2 delivered to the tissues and should be especially valuable for avian flight muscles.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3211
Author(s):  
Gils Jose ◽  
Yu-Jen Lu ◽  
Jung-Tung Hung ◽  
Alice L. Yu ◽  
Jyh-Ping Chen

The consistent expression of disialoganglioside GD2 in neuroblastoma tumor cells and its restricted expression in normal tissues open the possibility to use it for molecularly targeted neuroblastoma therapy. On the other hand, immunoliposomes combining antibody-mediated tumor recognition with liposomal delivery of chemotherapeutics have been proved to enhance therapeutic efficacy in brain tumors. Therefore, we develop immunoliposomes (ImmuLipCP) conjugated with anti-GD2 antibody, for targeted co-delivery of CPT-11 and panobinostat in this study. U87MG human glioma cell line and its drug resistant variant (U87DR), which were confirmed to be associated with low and high expression of cell surface GD2, were employed to compare the targeting efficacy. From in vitro cytotoxicity assay, CPT-11 showed synergism drug interaction with panobinostat to support co-delivery of both drugs with ImmuLipCP for targeted synergistic combination chemotherapy. The molecular targeting mechanism was elucidated from intracellular uptake efficacy by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry analysis, where 6-fold increase in liposome and 1.8-fold increase in drug uptake efficiency was found using targeted liposomes. This enhanced intracellular trafficking for drug delivery endows ImmuLipCP with pronounced cytotoxicity toward U87DR cells in vitro, with 1.6-fold increase of apoptosis rate. Using xenograft nude mice model with subcutaneously implanted U87DR cells, we observe similar biodistribution profile but 5.1 times higher accumulation rate of ImmuLip from in vivo imaging system (IVIS) observation of Cy5.5-labelled liposomes. Taking advantage of this highly efficient GD-2 targeting, ImmuLipCP was demonstrated to be an effective cancer treatment modality to significantly enhance the anti-cancer therapeutic efficacy in U87DR tumors, shown from the significant reduced tumor size in and prolonged survival time of experiment animals as well as diminished expression of cell proliferation and enhanced expression of apoptosis marker proteins in tumor section.


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