Differential responses to doxorubicin-induced phosphorylation and activation of Akt in human breast cancer cells

INTRODUCTION: We have shown previously that overexpression of constitutively active Akt or activation of Akt caused by constitutively active Ras or human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) confers on breast cancer cells resistance to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. As an expanded study we here report differential responses in terms of phosphorylation and activation of Akt as a result of treatment with doxorubicin in a panel of breast cancer cell lines. METHODS: The levels of Akt phosphorylation and activity were measured by Western blot analysis with an anti-Ser473-phosphorylated Akt antibody and by in vitro Akt kinase assay using glycogen synthase kinase-3 as a substrate. RESULTS: Within 24 hours after exposure to doxorubicin, MCF7, MDA468 and T47D cells showed a drug-dose-dependent increase in the levels of phosphorylated Akt; in contrast, SKBR3 and MDA231 cells showed a decrease in the levels of phosphorylated Akt, and minimal or no changes were detected in MDA361, MDA157 and BT474 cells. The doxorubicin-induced Akt phosphorylation was correlated with increased kinase activity and was dependent on phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-K). An increased baseline level of Akt was also found in MCF7 cells treated with ionizing radiation. The cellular responses to doxorubicin-induced Akt phosphorylation were potentiated after the expression of Akt upstream activators including HER2, HER3 and focal adhesion kinase. CONCLUSION: Taken together with our recent published results showing that constitutive Akt mediates resistance to chemotherapy or radiotherapy, our present data suggest that the doxorubicin-induced phosphorylation and activation of Akt might reflect a cellular defensive mechanism of cancer cells to overcome doxorubicin-induced cytotoxic effects, which further supports the current efforts of targeting PI3-K/Akt for enhancing the therapeutic responses of breast cancer cells to chemotherapy and radiotherapy

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Foaming of flat glass cullet using Si3N4 and MnO2 powders

The introduction of a compound capable of releasing oxygen, such as MnO2, greatly improves the foaming ability of Si3N4 used as foaming agent in soda-lime glass powder, leading to expansion at a relatively low temperature (800\u2013850 \ub0C) and short processing time (7\u201330 min). The effect is based on the supply of oxygen, in addition to that in the furnace atmosphere. At the highest level of porosity, however, the strength of foams is negatively affected by a coarse microstructure, determined by cell coalescence. The reduction of firing temperature or, above all, the reduction of the processing time, was found to limit the coalescence and significantly improve the strength of the foams

Gluconeogenic carbon flow of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates is critical for Mycobacterium tuberculosis to establish and maintain infection

Metabolic adaptation to the host niche is a defining feature of the pathogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). In vitro, Mtb is able to grow on a variety of carbon sources, but mounting evidence has implicated fatty acids as the major source of carbon and energy for Mtb during infection. When bacterial metabolism is primarily fueled by fatty acids, biosynthesis of sugars from intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle is essential for growth. The role of gluconeogenesis in the pathogenesis of Mtb however remains unaddressed. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) catalyzes the first committed step of gluconeogenesis. We applied genetic analyses and 13C carbon tracing to confirm that PEPCK is essential for growth of Mtb on fatty acids and catalyzes carbon flow from tricarboxylic acid cycle–derived metabolites to gluconeogenic intermediates. We further show that PEPCK is required for growth of Mtb in isolated bone marrow–derived murine macrophages and in mice. Importantly, Mtb lacking PEPCK not only failed to replicate in mouse lungs but also failed to survive, and PEPCK depletion during the chronic phase of infection resulted in mycobacterial clearance. Mtb thus relies on gluconeogenesis throughout the infection. PEPCK depletion also attenuated Mtb in IFNγ-deficient mice, suggesting that this enzyme represents an attractive target for chemotherapy