MMP-9/RECK imbalance: a mechanism associated with high-grade cervical lesions and genital infection by Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Chlamydia trachomatis

"Manuscript"BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are important enzymes in the tumor microenvironment associated with progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) toward squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix. However, the role of MMPs in the inflammatory process associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection concomitant with the carcinogenic process driven by HPV has not yet been addressed. In the present study, we analyzed the state of the MMP-9-RECK axis in cervical carcinogenesis. METHODS: The levels of MMP-9 and RECK expression were analyzed by immunocytochemistry in liquid-based cytology samples from 136 women with high-grade cervical lesions (CIN2/CIN3) and cervical SCC diagnosed by LLETZ, and in 196 women without cervical neoplasia or CIN1. Real-time qPCR was performed to analyze expression of MMP-9 and RECK in 15 cervical samples. The presence of HPV-DNA and other genital pathogens was evaluated by PCR. RESULTS: We found a higher expression of MMP-9 [OR, 4.2; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.2-7.8] and lower expression of RECK (OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.7) in women with CIN2/CIN3/SCC when compared with women from the control group (no neoplasia/CIN1). A statistically significant association was also found between MMP-9/RECK imbalance and infection by alpha-9 HPV and C. trachomatis. The prevalence of C. trachomatis infection was significantly higher in women with high-grade cervical disease (OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 1.3-11.3). CONCLUSIONS: MMP-9/RECK imbalance in cervical smears is significantly associated with high-grade cervical diseases and infection by alpha-9 HPV and C. trachomatis. IMPACT: MMP-9/RECK imbalance during cervical inflammation induced by C. trachomatis might play a role in HPV-mediated cervical carcinogenesis.This work was supported by Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP), numbers 2008/03232-1 (to L.L. Villa) and 2012/09746-2 (to M.G. Discacciati and S.S. Maria-Engler) and National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development pharmaceutical innovation (CNPQ-INCT-if; to S.S. Maria-Engler)

Antitumor evaluation of DM-1 compound and boron neutron capture therapy associated to dacarbazine chemotherapeutic in melanoma treatment

O melanoma maligno é a forma mais agressiva dos tumores cutâneos. Sendo o responsável por mais de 75% das mortes relativas á este tipo de câncer. O principal quimioterápico utilizado no tratamento do melanoma é a dacarbazina (DTIC), entretanto, as taxas de resposta são insatisfatórias. O composto DM-1 é um análogo estrutural da curcumina, e por esta razão possui propriedades biológicas semelhantes, como agente antiproliferativo e próapoptótico. A terapia de captura de nêutrons por boro (BNCT) atua por meio da deposição do isótopo 10Boro nas células tumorais e após a irradiação de nêutrons térmicos há produção de partículas alfa e lítio que destroem a célula. Neste trabalho estudou-se o mecanismo de ação destas três terapias, DTIC, DM-1 e BNCT no tratamento do melanoma e seus efeitos em células normais in vitro com a finalidade de obtenção de modalidades terapêuticas diferentes para o tratamento desta neoplasia. A IC50 foi obtida pela metodologia de MTT, além da análise da progressão do ciclo celular e marcadores de morte celular por citometria de fluxo. O composto DM-1 e a BNCT apresentaram efeito citotóxico seletivo para as linhagens de melanoma, com alta produção de radicais livres peroxidados. Nas mesmas condições, estes efeitos foram mínimos em células normais, diferente do tratamento com DTIC. Houve diminuição da proporção de matriz extracelular e colágeno solúvel sintetizado em células de melanoma tratadas com DM-1, BNCT e DTIC, entretanto, o quimioterápico ocasionou isoladamente diminuição também em células normais. O potencial elétrico mitocondrial das células de melanoma foi diminuído nos três protocolos de tratamento, assim como houve aumento na quantidade de DNA fragmentado. Este efeito não foi encontrado em células normais tratadas com DM-1 e BNCT. O composto DM-1 foi capaz de induzir apoptose via intrínseca e extrínseca, avaliado pela Anexina V e por marcadores de cinética e de morte celular. A terapia de BNCT induziu apoptose e necrose, indicando que esta terapia atua por diferentes vias em cada linhagem celular. BNCT e DM-1 induziram aumento na expressão dos marcados próapoptóticos, como Bax, citocromo c, caspase 3 e 8 clivadas, além de diminuir os valores na expressão de ciclina D1 e Ki-67, relacionados com a progressão do ciclo celular e proliferação. O quimioterápico DTIC apresentou alguns indícios de apoptose em células de melanoma, mas seus efeitos em células normais foram extensivos, ocasionando morte e parada do ciclo celular em melanócitos, células endoteliais e fibroblastos. O composto DM-1 apresentou formação de corpos apoptóticos, modificações no citoesqueleto e clivagem de caspase 9 e Parp em linhagens de melanoma humano. Desta forma, o composto DM-1 e a BNCT mostraram-se ferramentas terapêuticas mais eficazes no controle da progressão e no aumento da morte celular em células de melanoma. O poder efetivo da terapia de BNCT e do composto DM-1 faz com que a possibilidade de terapias combinatórias tenha resultados extremamente favoráveis na modulação da resposta proliferativa desses tumores.Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive skin cancer. It is responsible for more than 75% of deaths. The main and most active chemotherapy in the melanoma treatment is represented by dacarbazine (DTIC), however, response rates are disappointing. The DM-1 compound is a curcumin structural analogue and it has similar biological properties, such as an antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic agent. Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) works through the deposition of the isotope 10Boron in tumor cells, with subsequent irradiation of thermal neutrons, which produce alpha particles and lithium that destroy the cell. In this study, the action mechanism of these three therapies, DTIC, DM-1 and BNCT in the melanoma treatment and its effects in vitro on normal cells were studied in order to obtain different therapeutic modalities for cancer treatment. The IC50 was obtained by MTT method, besides the analysis of cell cycle progression and cell death markers by flow cytometry. The DM-1 and BNCT showed selective cytotoxic in melanoma cell lines, with high of free radicals production. In the same conditions, these effects were minimal in normal cells, unlike the treatment with DTIC. There was a decrease in the proportion of extracellular matrix and soluble collagen synthesized in melanoma cells treated with DM-1, BNCT and DTIC, however, only DTIC also resulted in decreased in normal cells. The mitochondrial electrical potential of melanoma cells was decreased in the three treatment protocols, as there was an increase in the amount of fragmented DNA. This effect was not found in normal cells treated with DM-1 and BNCT. The compound DM-1 was able to induce apoptosis by the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways, as assessed by Annexin V, cell death and kinetic markers. BNCT induced apoptosis and necrosis, indicating that this therapy acts through different pathways in each cell line. DM-1 and BNCT induced an increase of pro-apoptotic markers, such as Bax, cytochrome c, cleaved caspase 3 and 8 expression, and they reduced cyclin D1 and Ki-67, expression related to the progression of the cell cycle and proliferation. The DTIC has shown some signs of apoptosis in melanoma cells, but its effect on normal cells were extensive, causing death and cell cycle arrest in melanocytes, fibroblasts and endothelial cells. The DM-1 showed apoptotic bodies formation, cytoskeleton changes and caspase 9 and Parp cleavage in human melanoma cell lines. Thus, the DM-1 and BNCT showed as therapeutic tools more with high effectiveness in controlling the cell cycle progression and cell death increase in melanoma cells. The effectiveness of BNCT and DM-1 makes the possibility of combinatorial therapies, with extremely favorable results in the modulation of the proliferative response of these tumors

Cell cycle arrest, extracellular matrix changes and intrinsic apoptosis in human melanoma cells are induced by Boron Neutron Capture Therapy

AbstractBoron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) involves the selective accumulation of boron carriers in tumor tissue followed by irradiation with a thermal or epithermal neutron beam. This therapy is therefore a cellular irradiation suited to treat tumors that have infiltrated into healthy tissues. BNCT has been used clinically to treat patients with cutaneous melanomas which have a high mortality. Human normal melanocytes and melanoma cells were treated with BNCT at different boronophenylalanine concentrations for signaling pathways analysis. BNCT induced few morphological alterations in normal melanocytes, with a negligible increase in free radical production. Melanoma cells treated with BNCT showed significant extracellular matrix (ECM) changes and a significant cyclin D1 decrease, suggesting cell death by necrosis and apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, respectively. BNCT also induced a significant increase in cleaved caspase-3 and a decrease in the mitochondrial electrical potential with selectivity for melanoma cells. Normal melanocytes had no significant differences due to BNCT treatment, confirming the data from the literature regarding the selectivity of BNCT. The results from this study suggest that some signaling pathways are involved in human melanoma treatment by BNCT, such as cell cycle arrest, ECM changes and intrinsic apoptosis

Curcumin analog DM-1 in monotherapy or combinatory treatment with dacarbazine as a strategy to inhibit in vivo melanoma progression.

Malignant melanoma is a highly aggressive form of skin cancer with a high mortality rate if not discovered in early stages. Although a limited number of treatment options for melanoma currently exist, patients with a more aggressive form of this cancer frequently decline treatment. DM-1 is a sodium phenolate and curcumin analog with proven anticancer, anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic properties. In this paper, the DM-1 compound showed in vivo antitumor activity alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic DTIC in B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice. Beneficial effects such as melanoma tumor burden reduction with pyknotic nuclei, decreased nuclei/cytoplasmic ratio and nuclear degradation occurred after DM-1 treatment. No toxicological changes were observed in the liver, kidneys, spleen and lungs after DM-1 monotherapy or DTIC combined therapy. DTIC+DM-1 treatment induced the recovery of anemia arising from melanoma and immunomodulation. Both DM-1 treatment alone and in combination with DTIC induced apoptosis with the cleavage of caspase-3, -8 and -9. Furthermore, melanoma tumors treated with DM-1 showed a preferential apoptotic intrinsic pathway by decreasing Bcl-2/Bax ratio. Considering the chemoresistance exhibited by melanoma towards conventional chemotherapy drugs, DM-1 compound in monotherapy or in combination therapy provides a promising improvement in melanoma treatment with a reduction of side effects

The curcumin analog DM-1 induces apoptotic cell death in melanoma

The main difficulty in the successful treatment of metastatic melanoma is that this type of cancer is known to be resistant to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy remains the treatment of choice, and dacarbazine (DTIC) is the best standard treatment. The DM-1 compound is a curcumin analog that possesses several curcumin characteristics, such as antiproliferative, antitumor, and antimetastatic properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the signaling pathways involved in melanoma cell death after treatment with DM-1 compared to the standard agent for melanoma treatment, DTIC. Cell death was evaluated by flow cytometry for annexin V and iodide propide, cleaved caspase 8, and TNF-R1 expression. Hoechst 33342 staining was evaluated by fluorescent microscopy; lipid peroxidation and cell viability (MTT) were evaluated by colorimetric assays. The antiproliferative effects of the drugs were evaluated by flow cytometry for cyclin D1 and Ki67 expression. Mice bearing B16F10 melanoma were treated with DTIC, DM-1, or both therapies. DM-1 induced significant apoptosis as indicated by the presence of cleaved caspase 8 and an increase in TNF-R1 expression in melanoma cells. Furthermore, DM-1 had antiproliferative effects in this the same cell line. DTIC caused cell death primarily by necrosis, and a smaller melanoma cell population underwent apoptosis. DTIC induced oxidative stress and several physiological changes in normal melanocytes, whereas DM-1 did not significantly affect the normal cells. DM-1 antitumor therapy in vivo showed tumor burden decrease with DM-1 monotherapy or in combination with DTIC, besides survival rate increase. Altogether, these data confirm DM-1 as a chemotherapeutic agent with effective tumor control properties and a lower incidence of side effects in normal cells compared to DTIC

Molecular structure of DM-1.

<p>Molecular structure of DM-1.</p

Involvement of apoptotic members in melanoma tissues samples of B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice.

<p>Protein total extracts were used to analyzed Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-8, caspase-9 and caspase-3 after DTIC, DTIC+DM-1 or DM-1 treatment at the endpoint of the experiment. α-Tubulin expression was used as a loading control.</p

Liver (A); lungs (B); kidneys (C) and spleen (D) weight of untreated normal mice and B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice after DTIC, DM-1 or DTIC+DM-1 treatment.

<p>The values are expressed as mean ± s.d. Significance is indicated by #p<0.05 compared to untreated normal mice.</p

Total weight and tumor mass of B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice on the 1st day of DTIC, DM-1 or DTIC+DM-1 treatment in comparison to the control group (A); Total weight and tumor mass of B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice on the 7^th day of DTIC, DM-1 or DTIC+DM-1 treatment in comparison to the control group(B); Total weight and tumor mass of B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice on the 14^th day of DTIC, DM-1 or DTIC+DM-1 treatment in comparison to the control group (C).

<p>The values are expressed as mean ± s.d. Significance is indicated by *p<0.05, **p<0.01 and ***p<0.001 compared to control.</p