Hana Polanská

Clinical significance of head and neck squamous cell cancer biomarkers

Head and neck tumors belong among the six leading causes of cancer death worldwide. The predominant type of head and neck tumors consists of squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Early detection of primary tumor and relapse is a key factor for enhancing the survival rate of HNSCC patients, because high rates of cases are recognized at advanced stages. Accordingly, biomarkers suitable for the early detection of HNSCC are sorely needed to improve patient outcomes. HNSCC evolve through a multistep process by the accumulation of genetic and phenotypic changes. Searching for specific biomarkers capable of characterizing each degree is therefore really essential. In this review, genomic and gene expression alterations of HNSCC are summarized and associated with HPV status, clinicopathological conditions, and patient history from the perspective of potential biomarker utilization. The emphasis is placed on non-invasive markers detectable from saliva and blood and clinically relevant studies are mentioned in particular. These include analyses of tumorous tissues, saliva, and blood from patients with histologically defined tumors; cell culture- and other in vitro-based studies with no clinical correlations are rather excluded.

Haloperidol cytotoxicity and its relation to oxidative stress.

Haloperidol (HP) is used for the symptomatic treatment of psychosis, manic phases, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and acute delirium. Long-term use leads to various adverse side effects, especially to severe impairment of extrapyramidal nerve tracts and in particular, altered QT interval and increased incidence of arrhytmias. It is believed that cytotoxicity of HP and its metabolites is responsible for both neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity. Extrapyramidal and cardiac adverse side effects may be explained by the HP-induced oxidative stress, as implicated by many studies. HP was reported to induce lipid peroxidation with subsequent membrane changes, responsible for cell death. Vice versa, cells resistant to oxidative stress are also resistant to the toxic effects of HP. Similarly, high percentage of patients suffering from extrapyramidal symptoms treated by vitamin E and other lipid-soluble antioxidants demonstrates diminishing of these adverse side effects. HPs ability to induce oxidative stress by multi-modal action (increased metabolism of dopamine, decrease of glutathione content, induction of NF-κB transcription factor, and inhibition of complex I of respiratory chain) has been established just recently. This review brings summarizing view on the cytotoxicity of haloperidol and involvement of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress HP-induced cytotoxicity.

Prognostic significance of the tumour-adjacent tissue in head and neck cancers.

Even with significant advances in operative skills and adjuvant therapies, the overall survival of patients suffering with head and neck squamous cancers (HNSCC) is unsatisfactory. Accordingly, no clinically useful prognostic biomarkers have been found yet for HNSCC. Many studies analysed the expression of potential markers in tumour tissues compared to adjacent tissues. Nevertheless, due to the sharing of the same microenvironment, adjacent tissues show molecular similarity to tumour tissues. Thus, gene expression patterns of 94 HNSCC tumorous tissues were compared with 31 adjacent tissues and with 10 tonsillectomy specimens of non-cancer individuals. The genes analysed at RNA level using quantitative RT-PCR and correlated with clinico-pathological conditions were as follows: EGF, EGFR, MKI67, BCL2, BAX, FOS, JUN, TP53, VEGF, FLT1, MMP2, MMP9, MT1A and MT2A. The elevated MT2A, BAX, EGF and JUN expression was associated with the influence of tumour cells on the rearrangement of healthy tissues, as well as a significant shift in the BAX/BCL2 ratio. Our investigation also indicated that adjacent tissues play an important role in cancerogenesis by releasing several tumour-supporting factors such as EGF. A gradual increase in the metallothionein expression, from the lowest one in tonsillectomy samples to the highest ones in tumour samples, suggests that MT expression might be tissue reaction to the presence of tumour cells. The results of this study confirmed the significance of metallothionein in tumori-genesis and gave evidences for its use as a potential HNSCC biomarker. Furthermore, this study highlighted the importance of histologically normal tumour-adjacent tissue in prediction of HNSCC progress.

Sarcosine Up-Regulates Expression of Genes Involved in Cell Cycle Progression of Metastatic Models of Prostate Cancer

The effects of sarcosine on the processes driving prostate cancer (PCa) development remain still unclear. Herein, we show that a supplementation of metastatic PCa cells (androgen independent PC-3 and androgen dependent LNCaP) with sarcosine stimulates cells proliferation in vitro. Similar stimulatory effects were observed also in PCa murine xenografts, in which sarcosine treatment induced a tumor growth and significantly reduced weight of treated mice (p < 0.05). Determination of sarcosine metabolism-related amino acids and enzymes within tumor mass revealed significantly increased glycine, serine and sarcosine concentrations after treatment accompanied with the increased amount of sarcosine dehydrogenase. In both tumor types, dimethylglycine and glycine-N-methyltransferase were affected slightly, only. To identify the effects of sarcosine treatment on the expression of genes involved in any aspect of cancer development, we further investigated expression profiles of excised tumors using cDNA electrochemical microarray followed by validation using the semi-quantitative PCR. We found 25 differentially expressed genes in PC-3, 32 in LNCaP tumors and 18 overlapping genes. Bioinformatical processing revealed strong sarcosine-related induction of genes involved particularly in a cell cycle progression. Our exploratory study demonstrates that sarcosine stimulates PCa metastatic cells irrespectively of androgen dependence. Overall, the obtained data provides valuable information towards understanding the role of sarcosine in PCa progression and adds another piece of puzzle into a picture of sarcosine oncometabolic potential.

Comparative study on toxicity of extracellularly biosynthesized and laboratory synthesized CdTe quantum dots

Nanobiosynthesis belongs to the most recent methods for synthesis of nanoparticles. This type of synthesis provides many advantages including the uniformity in particle shape and size. The biosynthesis has also a significant advantage regarding chemical properties of the obtained particles. In this study, we characterized the basic properties and composition of quantum dots (QDs), obtained by the extracellular biosynthesis by Escherichia coli. Furthermore, the toxicity of the biosynthesized QDs was compared to QDs prepared by microwave synthesis. The obtained results revealed the presence of cyan CdTe QDs after removal of substantial amounts of organic compounds, which stabilized the nanoparticle surface. QDs toxicity was evaluated using three cell lines Human Foreskin Fibroblast (HFF), Human Prostate Cancer cells (PC-3) and Breast Cancer cells (MCF-7) and the MTT assay. The test revealed differences in the toxicity between variants of QDs, varying about 10% in the HFF and 30% in the MCF-7 cell lines. The toxicity of the biosynthesized QDs to the PC-3 cell lines was about 35% lower in comparison with the QDs prepared by microwave synthesis.

Prostate tumor attenuation in the nu/nu murine model due to anti-sarcosine antibodies in folate-targeted liposomes

Herein, we describe the preparation of liposomes with folate-targeting properties for the encapsulation of anti-sarcosine antibodies (antisarAbs@LIP) and sarcosine (sar@LIP). The competitive inhibitory effects of exogenously added folic acid supported the role of folate targeting in liposome internalization. We examined the effects of repeated administration on mice PC-3 xenografts. Sar@LIP treatment significantly increased tumor volume and weight compared to controls treated with empty liposomes. Moreover, antisarAbs@LIP administration exhibited a mild antitumor effect. We also identified differences in gene expression patterns post-treatment. Furthermore, Sar@LIP treatment resulted in decreased amounts of tumor zinc ions and total metallothioneins. Examination of the spatial distribution across the tumor sections revealed a sarcosine-related decline of the MT1X isoform within the marginal regions but an elevation after antisarAbs@LIP administration. Our exploratory results demonstrate the importance of sarcosine as an oncometabolite in PCa. Moreover, we have shown that sarcosine can be a potential target for anticancer strategies in management of PCa.

Co-delivery of VP-16 and Bcl-2-targeted antisense on PEG-grafted oMWCNTs for synergistic in vitro anti-cancer effects in non-small and small cell lung cancer

Present study describes the preparation of a polyethylene glycol-grafted oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (oMWCNTs-PEG) hybrid nanosystem as a carrier of etoposide (VP-16) and Bcl-2 phosphorothioate antisense deoxyoligonucleotides (Aso) to achieve a superior cytostastic efficacy in non-small and small cell lung cancer in vitro. We have demonstrated that the adsorption of hydrophobic VP-16 and Bcl-2 Aso results in a stable nanotransporter exhibiting good dispersion with excellent release profiles (both, in pH 7.4 and 4.8) and negligible hemolytic activity (up to 6.5%). The evaluation of cytotoxicity was carried out in in vitro using small cell (SCLC; DMS53) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; NCIH2135) cell lines. It was found that Bcl-2 interference significantly increased the anti-cancer efficiency of VP-16 in the chemoresistant NSCLC cells. This was further supported using a flow-cytometry (Annexin V/propidium iodide assay), which revealed a significant increase in apoptotic cells in both the cell lines after the co-administration of VP-16 and Bcl-2 Aso using oMWCNTs-PEG hybrid, and fluorescence microscopy, which showed an increase in reactive oxygen species identified after Bcl-2 knock-down. Overall, oMWCNTs-PEG provided an exceptional biocompatible vehicle enabling the internalization of negatively charged nucleic acids and pH-sensitive release of cargoes in a hypoxic environment of the most of solid tumors. Moreover, Aso specifically binding to the first six codons of the Bcl-2 mRNA gave a satisfactorily decrease in Bcl-2 translation and an increase in NCIH2135 chemosensitivity towards VP-16.

Relation of exposure to amino acids involved in sarcosine metabolic pathway on behavior of non-tumor and malignant prostatic cell lines

Sarcosine (N‐methylglycine) was previously delineated as a substantial oncometabolite of prostate cancer (PCa) and its metabolism seems to be significantly involved in PCa development and behavior.

The Zinc-Schiff Base-Novicidin Complex as a Potential Prostate Cancer Therapy

Prostate cancer cells control energy metabolism by chelating intracellular zinc. Thus, zinc delivery has been a popular therapeutic approach for prostate cancer. Here, we propose the use of the membrane-penetrating peptide Novicidin connected to zinc-Schiff base as a carrier vehicle for the delivery of zinc to prostate cells. Mass spectrometry, electrochemistry and spectrophotometry confirmed the formation/stability of this complex and provided insight regarding the availability of zinc for complex interactions. This delivery system showed minor toxicity in normal PNT1A cells and high potency towards PC3 tumor cells. The complex preferentially penetrated PC3 tumor cells in contrast to confinement to the membranes of PNT1A. Furthermore, zinc uptake was confirmed in both cell lines. Molecular analysis was used to confirm the activation of zinc stress (e.g., ZnT-1) and apoptosis (e.g., CASP-1). Our results strongly suggest that the zinc-Schiff base-Novicidin complex has great potential as a novel anticancer drug.

The effect of Benzothiazolone-2 on the expression of Metallothionein-3 in modulating Alzheimer's disease

Metallothioneins (MTs) are a class of ubiquitously occurring low‐molecular‐weight cysteine‐ and metal‐rich proteins containing sulfur‐based metal clusters. MT‐3 exhibits neuro‐inhibitory activity. The possibility to enhance the expression of MT‐3 or protect it from degradation is an attractive therapeutic target, because low levels of MT‐3 were found in brains of Alzheimers disease (AD) patients.