YB-1 dependent oncolytic adenovirus efficiently inhibits tumor growth of glioma cancer stem like cells

Background: The brain cancer stem cell (CSC) model describes a small subset of glioma cells as being responsible for tumor initiation, conferring therapy resistance and tumor recurrence. In brain CSC, the PI3-K/AKT and the RAS/mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways are found to be activated. In consequence, the human transcription factor YB-1, knowing to be responsible for the emergence of drug resistance and driving adenoviral replication, is phosphorylated and activated. With this knowledge, YB-1 was established in the past as a biomarker for disease progression and prognosis. This study determines the expression of YB-1 in glioblastoma (GBM) specimen in vivo and in brain CSC lines. In addition, the capacity of Ad-Delo3-RGD, an YB-1 dependent oncolytic adenovirus, to eradicate CSC was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. Methods: YB-1 expression was investigated by immunoblot and immuno-histochemistry. In vitro, viral replication as well as the capacity of Ad-Delo3-RGD to replicate in and, in consequence, to kill CSC was determined by real-time PCR and clonogenic dilution assays. In vivo, Ad-Delo3-RGD-mediated tumor growth inhibition was evaluated in an orthotopic mouse GBM model. Safety and specificity of Ad-Delo3-RGD were investigated in immortalized human astrocytes and by siRNA-mediated downregulation of YB-1. Results: YB-1 is highly expressed in brain CSC lines and in GBM specimen. Efficient viral replication in and virus-mediated lysis of CSC was observed in vitro. Experiments addressing safety aspects of Ad-Delo3-RGD showed that (i) virus production in human astrocytes was significantly reduced compared to wild type adenovirus (Ad-WT) and (ii) knockdown of YB-1 significantly reduced virus replication. Mice harboring othotopic GBM developed from a temozolomide (TMZ)-resistant GBM derived CSC line which was intratumorally injected with Ad-Delo3-RGD survived significantly longer than mice receiving PBS-injections or TMZ treatment. Conclusion: The results of this study supported YB-1 based virotherapy as an attractive therapeutic strategy for GBM treatment which will be exploited further in multimodal treatment concepts

Estrogen Receptor Alpha Expression in Ovarian Cancer Predicts Longer Overall Survival

Estrogen as a potential factor of ovarian carcinogenesis, acts via two nuclear receptors, estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and estrogen receptor beta (ERβ), but the cellular signal pathways involved are not completely clear so far. In this study we have described the expression of ERα, detected by immunocytochemistry in 11 ovarian carcinoma cell lines and by immunohistochemistry in 43 Federation Internationale des Gyneacologistes et Obstetristes stage III ovarian carcinoma specimens prepared before and after treatment with cisplatin-based schemes. For cisplatin resistance is a major obstacle in the treatment of ovarian carcinoma, analysis of cisplatin sensitivity in 11 ovarian carcinoma cell line was also performed. The strong nuclear ERα expression was only shown in the single A2780P cell line. Expression of ERα in tissue specimens did not reveal any correlations between histopathological parameters (histologic type and grading). We demonstrated a significant association with ERα expression in specimens from primary laparotomies (PL) and cause–specific survival. In the cases terminated by death of the patient, overall immunoreactivity score of ERα expression at PL was significantly lower than in surviving patients. In addition, Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed significantly shorter overall survival time and progression-free time in cases with lower immunoreactivity score of ERα expression at PL. Our findings support the hypothesis that aberrant hormone activity, by way of altered receptor expression, might be an important factor in the malignant transformation of ovarian cancer

Online Survival Analysis Software to Assess the Prognostic Value of Biomarkers Using Transcriptomic Data in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

In the last decade, optimized treatment for non-small cell lung cancer had lead to improved prognosis, but the overall survival is still very short. To further understand the molecular basis of the disease we have to identify biomarkers related to survival. Here we present the development of an online tool suitable for the real-time meta-analysis of published lung cancer microarray datasets to identify biomarkers related to survival. We searched the caBIG, GEO and TCGA repositories to identify samples with published gene expression data and survival information. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier survival plot with hazard ratio and logrank P value are calculated and plotted in R. The complete analysis tool can be accessed online at: www.kmplot.com/lung. All together 1,715 samples of ten independent datasets were integrated into the system. As a demonstration, we used the tool to validate 21 previously published survival associated biomarkers. Of these, survival was best predicted by CDK1 (p<1E-16), CD24 (p<1E-16) and CADM1 (p = 7E-12) in adenocarcinomas and by CCNE1 (p = 2.3E-09) and VEGF (p = 3.3E-10) in all NSCLC patients. Additional genes significantly correlated to survival include RAD51, CDKN2A, OPN, EZH2, ANXA3, ADAM28 and ERCC1. In summary, we established an integrated database and an online tool capable of uni- and multivariate analysis for in silico validation of new biomarker candidates in non-small cell lung cancer

Comparision of the Cytotoxic Effects of Birch Bark Extract, Betulin and Betulinic Acid Towards Human Gastric Carcinoma and Pancreatic Carcinoma Drug-sensitive and Drug-Resistant Cell Lines

Betulin and betulinic acid are naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenes showing cytotoxicity towards a number of cancer cell lines. These compounds can be found in the bark of the many plants. In this report we have compared the cytotoxic activity of crude birch bark extract and purified betulin and betulinic acid towards human gastric carcinoma (EPG85-257) and human pancreatic carcinoma (EPP85-181) drug-sensitive and drug-resistant (daunorubicin and mitoxantrone) cell lines. Our results show significant differences in sensitivity between cell lines depending on the compound used, and suggest that both betulin and betulinic acid can be considered as a promising leads in the treatment of cancer

Survival characteristics of the patients included in the database including histology of adenocarcinoma (adeno), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and large cell carcinoma (large), gender, stage (only with overall survival) and smoking history.

<p>Survival characteristics of the patients included in the database including histology of adenocarcinoma (adeno), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and large cell carcinoma (large), gender, stage (only with overall survival) and smoking history.</p

Validation of 29 previously published NSCLC biomarkers.

<p>Meta-analysis of these genes and signatures in the respective sample cohort yielded CCNE1, CDC2 and CADM1 as the best performing individual genes <b>(A–C)</b> and the signature of Yamauchi et al. <b>(D)</b>. A funnel plot depicting the hazard ratios (with confidence intervals) versus sample number for CDC2 and VEGF shows more reliable estimation with larger database sizes <b>(E–F)</b>.</p

Performance of previously published biomarker candidates associated with survival in non-small-cell lung cancer.

<p>Performance of previously published biomarker candidates associated with survival in non-small-cell lung cancer.</p

Elevated nuclear S100P expression is associated with poor survival in early breast cancer patients

S100P - low molecular weight acidic protein has been shown to be involved in processes of proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, multidrug resistance and metastasis in various human malignancies. In breast cancer, S100P expression is associated with immortalization of neoplastic cells and aggressive tumour behaviour, indicating that this protein may have adverse prognostic value. We analyzed nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of S100P in 85 stage II breast cancer patients with a median follow up of 17 years. Immunohistochemical reactions were performed on paraffin sections of primary tumours, using monoclonal antibodies against S100P. We also studied prognostic value of S100P mRNA expression using the KM plotter which assessed the effect of 22,277 genes on survival in 2422 breast cancer patients. Moreover, the relationship was examined between expression of S100P in cells of four breast cancer cell lines and their sensitivity to the 11 most frequently applied cytotoxic drugs. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that higher expression of nuclear S100P (S100Pn) was typical for cases of a shorter overall survival and disease-free time. KM plotter analysis showed that elevated S100P expression was specific for cases of a relapse-free survival and distant metastases-free survival. No relationship could be documented between expression of S100P and sensitivity of breast cancer cells to cytostatic drugs. We demonstrated that a high S100Pn expression level was associated with poor survival in early stage breast cancer patients. Since preliminary data indicated that expression of S100P was up-regulated by activation of glucocorticoid receptor and several agents manifested potential to activate or inhibit S100P promoter activity, this protein might become a therapy target and warrants further studies with respect to its prognostic, predictive and potentially therapeutic value