Anaira C. Clavo

Exposure to Strong Static Magnetic Field Slows the Growth of Human Cancer Cells In Vitro

Proposals to enhance the amount of radiation dose delivered to small tumors with radioimmunotherapy by constraining emitted electrons with very strong homogeneous static magnetic fields has renewed interest in the cellular effects of prolonged exposures to such fields. Past investigations have not studied the effects on tumor cell growth of lengthy exposures to very high magnetic fields. Three malignant human cell lines, HTB 63 (melanoma), HTB 77 IP3 (ovarian carcinoma), and CCL 86 (lymphoma: Raji cells), were exposed to a 7 Tesla uniform static magnetic field for 64 hours. Following exposure, the number of viable cells in each group was determined. In addition, multicycle flow cytometry was performed on all cell lines, and pulsed-field electrophoresis was performed solely on Raji cells to investigate changes in cell cycle patterns and the possibility of DNA fragmentation induced by the magnetic field. A 64 h exposure to the magnetic field produced a reduction in viable cell number in each of the three cell lines. Reductions of 19.04 +/- 7.32%, 22.06 +/- 6.19%, and 40.68 +/- 8.31% were measured for the melanoma, ovarian carcinoma, and lymphoma cell lines, respectively, vs. control groups not exposed to the magnetic field. Multicycle flow cytometry revealed that the cell cycle was largely unaltered. Pulsed-field electrophoresis analysis revealed no increase in DNA breaks related to magnetic field exposure. In conclusion, prolonged exposure to a very strong magnetic field appeared to inhibit the growth of three human tumor cell lines in vitro. The mechanism underlying this effect has not, as yet, been identified, although alteration of cell growth cycle and gross fragmentation of DNA have been excluded as possible contributory factors. Future investigations of this phenomenon may have a significant impact on the future understanding and treatment of cancer.

Influence of hypoxia on tracer accumulation in squamous-cell carcinoma: in vitro evaluation for PET imaging

Hypoxic accumulation of 2-[5,6-3H]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([3H]FDG),L-[methyl-3H] methionine ([3H]MET), and L-[1-3H]leucine ([3H]LEU) was evaluated in two cell lines (UT-SCC-5 and UT-SCC-20) obtained from patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Both cell lines were exposed to decreasing oxygen atmosphere (20%, 1.5%, or 0% O2) for 6 h, after which they were incubated for a further 1 h with tritiated FDG, MET, or LEU. An anoxic atmosphere resulted in a mean increase of [3H]FDG uptake of 120% and 46% over a baseline 20% oxygen atmosphere for UT-SCC-5 and UT-SCC-20A, respectively. Both total and acid-precipitable [3H]MET uptake remained unchanged at 0% versus baseline, whereas acid-precipitable [3H]LEU uptake decreased by 46% for UT-SCC-5 and by 34% for UT-SCC-20A at 0% O2. Our findings demonstrate that [3H]FDG accumulation is increased in hypoxic UT-SCC cell lines probably through activation of the metabolic steps associated with the glycolytic pathway. The decrease in acid-precipitable [3H]LEU uptake in hypoxia may indicate a decline in protein synthesis, whereas the unchanged [3H]MET uptake probably reflects the unaffected amino acid transport and slow incorporation of radiolabeled methyl group of MET in tumor proteins and nucleic acids. FDG and LEU, but probably not MET, warrant additional study as hypoxia-avid or hypoxia-reduced tracers for assessment of treatment effects designed to modify hypoxia.

Kinetics of murine gammaherpesvirus 68 gene expression following infection of murine cells in culture and in mice.

ABSTRACT A model system to study the pathogenesis of gammaherpesvirus infections is the infection of mice with murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68). To define the kinetics of infection, we developed an RNase protection assay to quantitate gene expression from lytic (K3, Rta, M8, DNA polymerase [DNA pol], and gB) and candidate latency (M2, M3, M9, M11, ORF73, and ORF74) genes. All candidate latency genes were expressed during lytic infection of 3T3 cells. Four kinetic classes of transcripts were observed following infection of 3T3 cells: immediate-early (K3, Rta, M8, and ORF73), early (DNA pol), early-late (M3, M11, and ORF74), and late (M2, M9, and gB). To assess the kinetics of viral gene expression in vivo, lungs, spleens, and mediastinal lymph nodes (MLN) were harvested from MHV-68-infected mice. All transcripts were expressed between 3 and 6 days postinfection (dpi) in the lungs. In the spleen, K3, M3, M8, and M9 transcripts were expressed between 10 and 16 dpi when latency is established. The K3, M3, M8, M9, and M11 transcripts were detected in the MLN from 2 through 16 dpi. This is the first demonstration of MHV-68 gene expression in the MLN. Importantly, our data showed that MHV-68 has different kinetics of gene expression at different sites of infection. Furthermore, we demonstrated that K3, a gene recently shown to encode a protein that downregulates major histocompatibility complex class I on the surface of cells, is expressed during latency, which argues for a role of K3 in immune evasion during latent infection.

Sequence comparisons of A/AA/6/60 influenza viruses: mutations which may contribute to attenuation

Influenza virus infection is a worldwide public health threat. Cold-adaptation was used to develop a vaccine line (ca A/AA/6/60 H2N2) which promised to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with influenza and to serve as a model for other live virus vaccines. This study establishes that two distinct lines of wt A/AA/6/60 viruses exist with different phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. The two virus lines have the same parent but different passage histories. The first line is both temperature sensitive (ts) and attenuated in ferrets and the second line (after multiple passages in chick kidney cells, eggs and mice) is non-ts and virulent in ferrets. Both lines of viruses have been further differentiated by sequence analysis. We have identified point mutations common to all virulent viruses but absent from the attenuated viruses. This was accomplished by comparing the nucleotide sequences of the six internal genes in three different attenuated passages of A/AA/6/60 with those of five different virulent passages of the same virus. The corresponding nucleotides of the attenuated viruses, therefore, represent candidate attenuating lesions: 6 in the basic polymerase genes (5 in PB1, 1 in PB2), 2 in the acidic polymerase gene (PA), 1 in the matrix (M) gene, 2 in the non-structural (NS) gene, and none in the nucleoprotein (NP) gene. Two of the 5 attenuating lesions in PB1 are silent; 1/2 in PA is silent; and 1/2 in NS is silent. Further changes which might be identified by comparing nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the A/AA/6/60 viruses with those of other influenza viruses may also contribute to the attenuation of the ca virus. Our study identifies nucleotides which more precisely define virulence for this virus and suggests that growth of the virus at low temperature may have preserved a non-virulent virus population rather than attenuating a virulent one.

A persistent infection in MDCK cells by an influenza type B virus

A persistent infection in Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells by an influenza B virus (B/Tecumseh/63/80) has been established and characterized. Virus recovered from the persistent state titrated lower in relation to the parental wild-type (wt) that initiated the infection as measured by hemagglutination and egg and tissue culture infectious dose, suggesting that the virus is a less cytopathic variant of the original wt virus. The persistent virus (pv) has decreased cytopathology for both MDCK and primary chick kidney (PCK) cell lines, and exhibits different RNA and protein electrophoretic migrations. Plaques of the persistent virus are smaller and take longer to appear, indicating that the pv is a slower growing variant of the wt. The small plaque mutant phenotype may play a role in the maintenance of the persistent infection in MDCK cells. The pv differs from the wt antigenically and in its ability to form deposits of uric acid-like crystals beneath the culture monolayers.

Magnetically-enhanced radionuclide therapy (MERiT): In vitro evaluation

PURPOSE Radionuclide therapy is a promising method for delivering radiation dose selectively to tumors. In situations where electron -emitters are used and the tumor is small relative to the maximum range of therapeutic electrons, these particles exit the tumor before delivering the maximum amounts of radiation dose. In this study, the method of magnetically constraining electrons to small tumors, known as magnetically -enhanced radionuclide therapy (MERiT), is explored using in vitro experiments. METHODS AND MATERIALS The potential utility of MERiT was investigated by first measuring the reduction of number of electrons exiting a small sphere containing 90Y embedded in a block of plastic scintillator. Measurements of total energy deposited in the plastic scintillator made inside and outside a 7 Tesla magnetic field were compared. Furthermore, an experiment utilizing lymphoma cells of human origin was performed. Groups of cells were added to wells containing 90Y-labeled bovine serum albumin (and control groups containing no radioactivity) were placed either inside a 7 Tesla magnet or at a position where the magnetic field was minimal (essentially zero) for 18 hr. RESULTS The presence of a 7 Tesla magnetic field reduced the amount of energy deposited in the scintillator by 16.63 +/- 1.05%. This demonstrates that the magnetic field constrains a large fraction of the emissions to the sphere and implies that normal tissues adjacent to radiotracer-avid tumors can be protected from radiation dose. Results from the cell culture experiment showed that the presence of a 7 Tesla magnetic field significantly (p < 0.005) reduced the number of viable cells remaining after treatment with non-specific 90Y-labeled bovine serum albumin by 11.7% compared to the appropriate control group (90Y treated, not exposed to magnetic field). CONCLUSIONS These initial physical and biological studies indicate that magnetically-enhanced radionuclide therapy can be effective in increasing radiation absorbed dose to small tumors, consequently reducing radiation dose to surrounding normal structures.

Improved monoclonal antibody tumor/background ratios with exchange transfusions

Blood exchange transfusions were performed in nude rats with subcutaneous HTB77 human ovarian carcinoma xenografts in an attempt to improve specific monoclonal antibody (MoAb) tumor/non-tumor uptake ratios. Animals were injected intravenously with both 131I-5G6.4 specific and 125I-UPC-10 non-specific MoAb. Twenty-four hours later 65-80% of the original blood was exchanged with normal heparinized rat blood and then these rodents were sacrificed. Exchange transfusion significantly (P less than 0.05) decreased normal tissue activities of 131I (except for muscle) by 63-85%, while tumor activity decreased only 5%. Tumor to background ratios increased from 0.1-0.8 to 2.3-6.3. Exchange transfusions substantially enhance tumor/normal tissue antibody uptake ratios and, along with plasmapheresis, may be useful in enhancing antibody localization in vivo, particularly for therapy.

Effect of nitroimidazole sensitizers on in vitro glycolytic metabolism of hypoxic squamous cell carcinoma

Two nitroimidazole compounds, misonidazole (MISO) and nimorazole (NIMO), were evaluated for their potential to modify uptake of [5,6-3H] 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (3H-FDG) in the human squamous carcinoma cell line UT-SCC-5 exposed to increasing levels of hypoxia. UT-SCC-5 cells were incubated with 0-10 mM of MISO or NIMO under normal or reduced oxygen concentrations of 20%, 1.5%, or 0% with 5% CO2 for 6 h, after which 74 KBq of 3H-FDG was added in media for 1 h. In the presence of normal concentrations of O2, both sensitizers increased 3H-FDG uptake by up to 178% (MISO) or 84% (NIMO) when compared with untreated cells. In anoxia, MISO decreased 3H-FDG uptake to 35% of that of control whereas NIMO-treated cells showed a respective decrease in tracer uptake to 62%. Clonogenic assays clearly indicated that MISO was toxic and NIMO moderately toxic for hypoxic cells, whereas both sensitizers exerted only a very modest effect on survival of fully oxygenated cells. Our findings indicate that nitroimidazole treatment consistently increases 3H-FDG uptake into UT-SCC-5 cells under normal oxygen concentrations. In hypoxia, the observed decrease in tracer uptake is dependent on both the level of ambient oxygen and drug concentration and may reflect both direct toxicity and inhibition of glycolysis. The observations may be useful for further applications of 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) to monitor effects of hypoxic cell radiosensitizers on tumor metabolism in vivo.Two nitroimidazole compounds, misonidazole (MISO) and nimorazole (NIMO), were evaluated for their potential to modify uptake of [5,6-3H] 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (3H-FDG) in the human squamous carcinoma cell line UT-SCC-5 exposed to increasing levels of hypoxia. UT-SCC-5 cells were incubated with 0-10 mM of MISO or NIMO under normal or reduced oxygen concentrations of 20%, 1.5%, or 0% with 5% CO2 for 6 h, after which 74 KBq of 3H-FDG was added in media for 1 h. In the presence of normal concentrations of O2, both sensitizers increased 3H-FDG uptake by up to 178% (MISO) or 84% (NIMO) when compared with untreated cells. In anoxia, MISO decreased 3H-FDG uptake to 35% of that of control whereas NIMO-treated cells showed a respective decrease in tracer uptake to 62%. Clonogenic assays clearly indicated that MISO was toxic and NIMO moderately toxic for hypoxic cells, whereas both sensitizers exerted only a very modest effect on survival of fully oxygenated cells. Our findings indicate that nitroimidazole treatment consistently increases 3H-FDG uptake into UT-SCC-5 cells under normal oxygen concentrations. In hypoxia, the observed decrease in tracer uptake is dependent on both the level of ambient oxygen and drug concentration and may reflect both direct toxicity and inhibition of glycolysis. The observations may be useful for further applications of 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) to monitor effects of hypoxic cell radiosensitizers on tumor metabolism in vivo.

Quantitative autoradiographic evaluation of the influence of protein dose on monoclonal antibody distribution in human ovarian adenocarcinoma xenografts

SummaryWe studied the effect of monoclonal antibody protein dose on the uniformity of radioiodinated antibody distribution within tumor masses using quantitative autoradiography. Groups (n = 11–13/group) of athymic nude mice with subcutaneous HTB77 human ovarian carcinoma xenografts were injected intraperitoneally with an125I-labeled anticarcinoma-associated antigen murine monoclonal antibody, 5G6.4, using a high or a low protein dose (500 µg or 5 µg). At 6 days post-injection the macroscopic and microscopic intratumoral biodistribution of radiolabeled antibody was determined. The degree of heterogeneity of the labeled antibody distribution within each tumor was quantified and expressed as thecoefficient of variation (CV) of the activity levels in serial histological sections. Tumors from mice given the 500-µg protein doses had substantially lower CV values, 0.327±0.027, than did tumors from animals given 5-µg protein doses, 0.458±0.041, (P = 0.0078), indicating that the higher protein dose resulted in more homogeneous distribution of radioactivity in tumors than did the lower dose. While the percentage of the injected dose reaching the tumor was comparable between groups, injecting the higher dose of protein resulted in significantly lower tumor to non-tumor uptake ratios than those obtained for the lower protein dose. These data indicate, in this system, that to achieve more uniform intratumoral antibody (and radiation for radioimmunotherapy) delivery, a relatively high protein dose must be administered. However, to obtain this increased uniformity, a substantial drop in tumor/background uptake ratios was seen. Quantitative autoradiographic evaluation of human tumor xenografts is a useful method to assess the intratumoral distribution of antibodies.