Marina Tombesi

A strong glutathione S-transferase inhibitor overcomes the P-glycoprotein-mediated resistance in tumor cells. 6-(7-Nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-ylthio)hexanol (NBDHEX) triggers a caspase-dependent apoptosis in MDR1-expressing leukemia cells.

The new glutathione S-transferase inhibitor 6-(7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-ylthio)hexanol (NBDHEX) is cytotoxic toward P-glycoprotein-overexpressing tumor cell lines, i.e. CEM-VBL10, CEM-VBL100, and U-2 OS/DX580. The mechanism of cell death triggered by NBDHEX has been deeply investigated in leukemia cell lines. Kinetic data indicate a similar NBDHEX membrane permeability between multidrug resistance cells and their sensitive counterpart revealing that NBDHEX is not a substrate of the P-glycoprotein export pump. Unexpectedly, this molecule promotes a caspase-dependent apoptosis that is unusual in the P-glycoprotein-overexpressing cells. The primary event of the apoptotic pathway is the dissociation of glutathione S-transferase P1-1 from the complex with c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Interestingly, leukemia MDR1-expressing cells show lower LC50 values and a higher degree of apoptosis and caspase-3 activity than their drug-sensitive counterparts. The increased susceptibility of the multidrug resistance cells toward the NBDHEX action may be related to a lower content of glutathione S-transferase P1-1. Given the low toxicity of NBDHEX in vivo, this compound may represent an attractive basis for the selective treatment of MDR1 P-glycoprotein-positive tumors.

IL-2 induces expression and secretion of IFN-γ in murine peritoneal macrophages

We investigated the effect of interleukin (IL)‐2, a T cell growth factor capable of activating certain macrophage functions, on interferon (IFN)‐γ expression in resting mouse peritoneal macrophages (PM). IL‐2 addition to PM from different mouse strains up‐modulated IFN‐γ mRNA and protein secretion. It is notable that endogenous type I and II IFNs did not play any role in the IL‐2‐mediated effect, as comparable levels of secreted IFN‐γ were observed upon IL‐2 stimulation of PM from deficient mice. In contrast, endogenous IFN‐γ was requested for the IL‐12‐induced IFN‐γ production. It is interesting that blocking of each component of the IL‐2 receptor (IL‐2R) by neutralizing antibodies almost completely abolished IL‐2‐induced IFN‐γ production, suggesting that all IL‐2R chains contribute to the PM biological response to IL‐2. The simultaneous treatment of PM with IL‐2 and IL‐12 resulted in a higher IFN‐γ secretion with respect to that obtained upon treatment with IL‐2 or IL‐12 alone. It is notable that IFN‐γ protein was expressed intracellularly in the majority of cells exhibiting a macrophage phenotype (i.e., F4/80+) and was secreted upon IL‐2 stimulation. Overall, these findings demonstrate that IL‐2 regulates at different levels IFN‐γ expression in macrophages, highlighting the crucial role of these cells and their regulated responsiveness to key cytokines in the cross‐talk between innate and adaptive immunity.

Differential effect of HIV-1 protease inhibitors on P-glycoprotein function in multidrug-resistant variants of the human CD4+ T lymphoblastoid CEM cell line.

Background: P-glycoprotein causing multidrug resistance (MDR) and limiting the efficacy of antineoplastic drugs and protease inhibitors (PIs) is expressed in human CD4+ T lymphocytes, one of the main targets of HIV, in a range of pharmacological barriers and at varying degrees in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Kaposi’s sarcoma. Methods: The differential effect of PIs on P-glycoprotein function was studied by measuring drug efflux inhibition, MDR-reversing ability and MAb UIC2 epitope modulation in MDR variants of the human T lymphoblastoid CEM cell line. Results: The treatment of MDR cells with PIs induces different UIC2 epitope modulations indicating a differential recognition and binding of these antiviral drugs by MDR1 P-glycoprotein. In fact, ritonavir, saquinavir and indinavir act differently to the P-glycoprotein blocker in CEM-VBL10 cells. The MDR level of these cells was markedly affected by ritonavir and saquinavir in the order, while the PI indinavir does not seem to compete with the P-glycoprotein drug transport function. In CEM-VBL100 cells, expressing a very high number of P-glycoprotein molecules, only ritonavir acts as an efficient drug efflux inhibitor and MDR-reversing agent. Conclusion: TheHIV-1 PIs ritonavir and saquinavir even at different levels act as genuine P-glycoprotein substrates by inhibiting dye substrate efflux, modulating UIC2 epitope and reversing drug resistance. Conversely, at least in the in vitrosystem used in the present study, the PI indinavir does not significantly alter P-glycoprotein drug transport activities and function.

Generation and characterization of a human single-chain fragment variable (scFv) antibody against cytosine deaminase from Yeast

BackgroundThe ability of cytosine deaminase (CD) to convert the antifungal agent 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) into one of the most potent and largely used anticancer compound such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) raised considerable interest in this enzyme to model gene or antibody – directed enzyme-prodrug therapy (GDEPT/ADEPT) aiming to improve the therapeutic ratio (benefit versus toxic side-effects) of cancer chemotherapy. The selection and characterization of a human monoclonal antibody in single chain fragment (scFv) format represents a powerful reagent to allow in in vitro and in vivo detection of CD expression in GDEPT/ADEPT studies.ResultsAn enzymatic active recombinant CD from yeast (yCD) was expressed in E. coli system and used as antigen for biopanning approach of the large semi-synthetic ETH-2 antibody phage library. Several scFvs were isolated and specificity towards yCD was confirmed by Western blot and ELISA. Further, biochemical and functional investigations demonstrated that the binding of specific scFv with yCD did not interfere with the activity of the enzyme in converting 5-FC into 5-FU.ConclusionThe construction of libraries of recombinant antibody fragments that are displayed on the surface of filamentous phage, and the selection of phage antibodies against target antigens, have become an important biotechnological tool in generating new monoclonal antibodies for research and clinical applications. The scFvH5 generated by this method is the first human antibody which is able to detect yCD in routinary laboratory techniques without interfering with its enzymatic function.

Topology of MDR1-P-glycoprotein as indicated by epitope mapping of monoclonal antibodies to human MDR cells

The MDR1-P-glycoprotein binding sites of three different murine monoclonal antibodies (MM4.17, MM6.15 and MC57), directed towards living, intact human multidrug-resistant cells were investigated in order to study P-glycoprotein topology. By using synthetic peptide scanning, we demonstrated that well-defined regions localized on the predicted first, fourth and sixth extracellular loops are external. On the basis of the structure of MM6.15 epitope, which is distributed on the above three different extracellular loops (and thus is discontinuous), P-glycoprotein molecules result to be differently organized in the lipid bilayer. Moreover, the outcome of the MC57 and MM4.17 epitopes localization experiments, obtained through the use of phage-displayed peptide libraries, represent an additional challenge to the classical 12-transmembrane domain model of P-glycoprotein, since they agree with the novel topography of the molecule (10-transmembrane domain), which was recently proposed on the basis of biochemical and expression studies.