Protect and Counter-attack: Nutritional Supplementation with Essential Amino acid Ratios Reduces Doxorubicin induced Cardiotoxicity in vivo and promote Cancer Cell Death in vitro

Giovanni Corsetti1*, Vincenzo Flati2, Patrizia Sanita2, Evasio Pasini3 and Francesco Saverio Dioguardi4 1Department of Clinical & Experimental Sciences, Division of Human Anatomy & Physiopathology, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy 2Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy 3"S. Maugeri Fundation", IRCCS, Cardiology Rehabilitative Division, Medical Centre of Lumezzane, Lumezzane (Brescia), Italy 4Department of Internal Medicine and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy *Corresponding author: Giovanni Corsetti, Department of Clinical & Experimental Sciences, Division of Human Anatomy and Physiopathology, University of Brescia, v.le Europa, 11; 25124 Brescia, Italy, Tel: +39 030 3717484; Fax: +39 030 3717486; E-mail: [email protected]

Anti-angiogenesis: making the tumor vulnerable to the immune system

Ongoing angiogenesis has been shown to possess immune suppressive activity through several mechanisms. One of these mechanisms is the suppression of adhesion receptors, such as intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and E-selectin—adhesion molecules involved in leukocyte interactions—on the vascular endothelium. This phenomenon, when happening to the tumor endothelium, supports tumor growth due to escape from immunity. Since angiogenesis has this immune suppressive effect, it has been hypothesized that inhibition of angiogenesis may circumvent this problem. In vitro and in vivo data now show that several angiogenesis inhibitors are able to normalize endothelial adhesion molecule expression in tumor blood vessels, restore leukocyte vessel wall interactions, and enhance the inflammatory infiltrate in tumors. It is suggested that such angiogenesis inhibitors can make tumors more vulnerable for the immune system and may therefore be applied to facilitate immunotherapy approaches for the treatment of cancer

NF-κB: a new player in angiostatic therapy

Angiogenesis is considered a promising target in the treatment of cancer. Most of the angiogenesis inhibitors in late-stage clinical testing or approved for the treatment of cancer act indirectly on endothelial cells. They either neutralize angiogenic growth factors from the circulation or block the signaling pathways activated by these growth factors. Another group of angiogenesis inhibitors are the direct angiostatic compounds. These agents have a direct effect on the endothelium, affecting cellular regulatory pathways, independently of the tumor cells. The reason that this category of agents is lagging behind regarding their translation to the clinic may be the lack of sufficient knowledge on the mechanism of action of these compounds. The transcription factor NF-κB has been recently connected with multiple aspects of angiogenesis. In addition, several recent studies report that angiogenesis inhibition is associated to NF-κB activation. This is of special interest since in tumor cells NF-κB activation has been associated to inhibition of apoptosis and currently novel treatment strategies are being developed based on inhibition of NF-κB. The paradigm that systemic NF-κB inhibition can serve as an anti-cancer strategy, therefore, might need to be re-evaluated. Based on recent data, it might be speculated that NF-κB activation, when performed specifically in endothelial cells, could be an efficient strategy for the treatment of cancer

Attenuation of G protein-mediated inhibition of N-type calcium currents by expression of caveolins in mammalian NG108–15 cells

Caveolins are integral proteins of glycolipid/cholesterol-rich plasmalemmal caveolae domains, where, they may function as a plasma membrane scaffold onto which many classes of signalling molecules, including receptors and heterotrimeric G proteins, can assemble. To ascertain whether caveolins influence G protein-mediated signal transduction, we stably expressed caveolin-1 and −3 isoforms in the neuroblastoma × glioma NG108–15 hybrid cell line, lacking endogenous caveolins. Subsequently, using whole-cell voltage clamp methods, we examined whether the modulation of N-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels by Go protein-coupled, δ-type opioid receptors might be affected by recombinant caveolin expression.In transfected NG108–15 cells, caveolins localized at the plasma membrane and, upon subcellular fractionation on sucrose density gradients, they co-localized in Triton-resistant, low buoyancy fractions, with endogenous Go protein α-subunits.The voltage-dependent inhibition of ω-conotoxin GVIA-sensitive Ba2+ currents following either activation of δ-opioid receptors by the agonist [o-pen2,o-pen5]-enkephalin (DPDPE), or direct stimulation of G proteins with guanosine 5′-O-(thiotriphosphate) (GTPγS) was significantly attenuated in caveolin-expressing cells. The kinetics of Ca2+ channel inhibition were also modified by caveolins.Overall, these results suggest that caveolins may negatively affect G protein-dependent regulation of voltage-gated N-type Ca2+ channels, presumably by causing a reduction of the available pool of activated G proteins