Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Wnt Signaling Exerts An Antiproliferative Effect On Adult Cardiac Progenitor Cells Through Igfbp3., Angelos Oikonomopoulos, Konstantina-Ioanna Sereti, Frank Conyers, Michael Bauer, Annette Liao, Jian Guan, Dylan Crapps, Jung-Kyu Han, Hanhua Dong, Ahmad F Bayomy, Gabriel C Fine, Karen Westerman, Travis L Biechele, Randall T Moon, Thomas Force, Ronglih Liao

Center for Translational Medicine Faculty Papers

RATIONALE: Recent work in animal models and humans has demonstrated the presence of organ-specific progenitor cells required for the regenerative capacity of the adult heart. In response to tissue injury, progenitor cells differentiate into specialized cells, while their numbers are maintained through mechanisms of self-renewal. The molecular cues that dictate the self-renewal of adult progenitor cells in the heart, however, remain unclear.

OBJECTIVE: We investigate the role of canonical Wnt signaling on adult cardiac side population (CSP) cells under physiological and disease conditions.

METHODS AND RESULTS: CSP cells isolated from C57BL/6J mice were used to study the effects of canonical …

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Valproic Acid Suppresses The Growth And Increases The Androgen Responsiveness Of Prostate Cancer Cells., Yu-Wei Chou, Nagendra K. Chaturvedi, Shougiang Ouyang, Fen-Fen Lin, Dharam Kaushik, Jue Wang, Isaac Kim, Ming-Fong Lin

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

We identified the molecular target by histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors for exploring their potential prostate cancer (PCa) therapy. Upon HDAC inhibitors-treatment, LNCaP cell growth was suppressed, correlating with increased cellular prostatic acid phosphatase (cPAcP) expression, an authentic protein tyrosine phosphatase. In those cells, ErbB-2 was dephosphorylated, histone H3/H4 acetylation and methylation increased and cyclin proteins decreased. In PAcP shRNA-transfected C-81 cells, valproic acid (VPA) efficacy of growth suppression was diminished. Further, VPA pre-treatment enhanced androgen responsiveness of C-81, C4-2 and MDA PCa2b-AI cells. Thus, cPAcP expression is involved in growth suppression by HDAC inhibitors in PCa cells, and VPA pre-treatments …

The Raf/Mek/Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase 1/2 Pathway Can Mediate Growth Inhibitory And Differentiation Signaling Via Androgen Receptor Downregulation In Prostate Cancer Cells., Seung-Keun Hong, Jin-Hwan Kim, Ming-Fong Lin, Jong-In Park

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Upregulated ERK1/2 activity is correlated with androgen receptor (AR) downregulation in certain prostate cancer (PCa) that exhibits androgen deprivation-induced neuroendocrine differentiation, but its functional relevance requires elucidation. We found that sustained ERK1/2 activation using active Raf or MEK1/2 mutants is sufficient to induce AR downregulation at mRNA and protein levels in LNCaP. Downregulation of AR protein, but not mRNA, was blocked by proteasome inhibitors, MG132 and bortezomib, indicating that the pathway regulation is mediated at multiple points. Ectopic expression of a constitutively active AR inhibited Raf/MEK/ERK-mediated regulation of the differentiation markers, neuron-specific enolase and neutral endopeptidase, and the cyclin-dependent kinase …

Human Glial-Restricted Progenitor Transplantation Into Cervical Spinal Cord Of The Sod1 Mouse Model Of Als., Angelo C Lepore, John O'Donnell, Andrew S Kim, Timothy Williams, Alicia Tuteja, Mahendra S Rao, Linda L Kelley, James T Campanelli, Nicholas J Maragakis

Department of Neuroscience Faculty Papers

Cellular abnormalities are not limited to motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). There are numerous observations of astrocyte dysfunction in both humans with ALS and in SOD1(G93A) rodents, a widely studied ALS model. The present study therapeutically targeted astrocyte replacement in this model via transplantation of human Glial-Restricted Progenitors (hGRPs), lineage-restricted progenitors derived from human fetal neural tissue. Our previous findings demonstrated that transplantation of rodent-derived GRPs into cervical spinal cord ventral gray matter (in order to target therapy to diaphragmatic function) resulted in therapeutic efficacy in the SOD1(G93A) rat. Those findings demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of transplantation-based …

Rip1-Dependent And Independent Effects Of Necrostatin-1 In Necrosis And T Cell Activation., Youngsik Cho, Thomas Mcquade, Haibing Zhang, Jianke Zhang, Francis Ka-Ming Chan

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Programmed necrosis/necroptosis is an emerging form of cell death that plays important roles in mammalian development and the immune system. The pro-necrotic kinases in the receptor interacting protein (RIP) family are crucial mediators of programmed necrosis. Recent advances in necrosis research have been greatly aided by the identification of chemical inhibitors that block programmed necrosis. Necrostatin-1 (Nec-1) and its derivatives were previously shown to target the pro-necrotic kinase RIP1/RIPK1. The protective effect conferred by Nec-1 and its derivatives in many experimental model systems was often attributed to the inhibition of RIP1 function.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We compared the effect of …

Ceacam1 Separates Graft-Versus-Host-Disease From Graft-Versus-Tumor Activity After Experimental Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation., Sydney X Lu, Lucy W Kappel, Anne-Marie Charbonneau-Allard, Renée Atallah, Amanda M Holland, Claire Turbide, Vanessa M Hubbard, Jimmy A Rotolo, Marsinay Smith, David Suh, Christopher King, Uttam K Rao, Nury Yim, Johanne L Bautista, Robert R Jenq, Olaf Penack, Il-Kang Na, Chen Liu, George Murphy, Onder Alpdogan, Richard S Blumberg, Fernando Macian, Kathryn V Holmes, Nicole Beauchemin, Marcel R M Van Den Brink

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) is a potentially curative therapy for a variety of hematologic diseases, but benefits, including graft-versus-tumor (GVT) activity are limited by graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). Carcinoembryonic antigen related cell adhesion molecule 1 (Ceacam1) is a transmembrane glycoprotein found on epithelium, T cells, and many tumors. It regulates a variety of physiologic and pathological processes such as tumor biology, leukocyte activation, and energy homeostasis. Previous studies suggest that Ceacam1 negatively regulates inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease models.

METHODS: We studied Ceacam1 as a regulator of GVHD and GVT after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) in mouse models. In …

Recombination Phenotypes Of The Nci-60 Collection Of Human Cancer Cells, Dawn M. Stults, Michael W. Killen, Brent J. Shelton, Andrew J. Pierce

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The NCI-60 is a collection of tumor cell lines derived from a variety of human adult cancer tissue types and is commonly used for genetic analysis and screening of potential chemotherapeutic agents. We wanted to understand the contributions of specific mechanisms of genomic instability to the etiology of cancers represented by the NCI-60.

RESULTS: We screened the NCI-60 for dysregulated homologous recombination by using the gene cluster instability (GCI) assay we pioneered, and for defects in base excision repair by sensitivity to 5-hydroxymethyl-2'-deoxyuridine (hmdUrd). We identified subsets of the NCI-60 lines that either displayed the characteristic molecular signature of …

Inhibition Of Phosphorylated C-Met In Rhabdomyosarcoma Cell Lines By A Small Molecule Inhibitor Su11274., Jinxuan Hou, Jixin Dong, Lijun Sun, Liying Geng, J. Wang, Jialin C. Zheng, Yan Li, Julia A. Bridge, Steven H. Hinrichs, Shi-Jian Ding

Journal Articles: Pathology and Microbiology

BACKGROUND: c-Met is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) that is over-expressed in a variety of cancers and involved in cell growth, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis. In this study, we investigated the role of c-Met in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) using its small molecule inhibitor SU11274, which has been hypothesized to be a potential therapeutic target for RMS.

METHODS: The expression level of phosphorylated c-Met in RMS cell lines (RD, CW9019 and RH30) and tumor tissues was assessed by phospho-RTK array and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The inhibition effects of SU11274 on RMS cells were studied with regard to intracellular signaling, cell proliferation, cell cycle …

Mitostatin Is Down-Regulated In Human Prostate Cancer And Suppresses The Invasive Phenotype Of Prostate Cancer Cells., Matteo Fassan, Domenico D'Arca, Juraj Letko, Andrea Vecchione, Marina P Gardiman, Peter Mccue, Bernadette Wildemore, Massimo Rugge, Dolores Shupp-Byrne, Leonard G Gomella, Andrea Morrione, Renato V Iozzo, Raffaele Baffa

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

MITOSTATIN, a novel putative tumor suppressor gene induced by decorin overexpression, is expressed in most normal human tissues but is markedly down-regulated in advanced stages of mammary and bladder carcinomas. Mitostatin negatively affects cell growth, induces cell death and regulates the expression and activation levels of Hsp27. In this study, we demonstrated that ectopic expression of Mitostatin in PC3, DU145, and LNCaP prostate cancer cells not only induced a significant reduction in cell growth, but also inhibited migration and invasion. Moreover, Mitostatin inhibited colony formation in soft-agar of PC3 and LNCaP cells as well as tumorigenicity of LNCaP cells in …

Steroids Up-Regulate P66shc Longevity Protein In Growth Regulation By Inhibiting Its Ubiquitination., Santosh Kumar, Satyendra Kumar, Mythilypriya Rajendran, Syed Mahfuzul Alam, Fen-Fen Lin, Pi-Wan Cheng, Ming-Fong Lin

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

BACKGROUND: p66Shc, an isoform of Shc adaptor proteins, mediates diverse signals, including cellular stress and mouse longevity. p66Shc protein level is elevated in several carcinomas and steroid-treated human cancer cells. Several lines of evidence indicate that p66Shc plays a critical role in steroid-related carcinogenesis, and steroids play a role in its elevated levels in those cells without known mechanism.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism by which steroid hormones up-regulate p66Shc protein level. In steroid-treated human prostate and ovarian cancer cells, p66Shc protein levels were elevated, correlating with increased cell proliferation. These steroid effects on …

Thiazolyl N-Benzyl-Substituted Acetamide Derivatives: Synthesis, Src Kinase Inhibitory And Anticancer Activities, Asal Fallah-Tafti, Alireza Foroumadi, Rakesh Tiwari, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi, David G. Hangauer, Yahao Bu, Tahmineh Akbarzadeh, Keykavous Parang, Abbas Shafiee

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

KX2-391 (KX-01/Kinex Pharmaceuticals), N-benzyl-2-(5-(4-(2-morpholinoethoxy)phenyl)pyridin-2-yl)acetamide, is a highly selective Src substrate binding site inhibitor. To understand better the role of pyridine ring and N-benzylsubstitution in KX2-391 and establish the structure-activity relationship, a number of N-benzyl substituted (2-morpholinoethoxy)phenyl)thiazol-4-yl)acetamide derivatives containing thiazole instead of pyridine were synthesized and evaluated for Src kinase inhibitory activities. The unsubstituted N-benzyl derivative (8a) showed the inhibition of c-Src kinase with GI50 values of 1.34 μM and 2.30 M in NIH3T3/c-Src527F and SYF/c-Src527F cells, respectively. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for inhibition of cell proliferation of human colon carcinoma (HT-29), breast carcinoma (BT-20), and leukemia (CCRF-CEM) cells. …