Ruisheng Yao

INHIBITION OF COX-2 AND INDUCTION OF APOPTOSIS: Two Determinants of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs' Chemopreventive Efficacies in Mouse Lung Tumorigenesis

Recent studies suggested that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) inhibit lung tumorigenesis under conditions that are immunosuppressive. We hypothesized that this inhibition of mouse lung tumorigenesis requires induction of apoptosis and inhibition of COX(cyclooxygenase)-1, COX-2, and the incidence of K-ras mutation. The NSAIDs used in this study include acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) that is anti-inflammatory with COX-1and COX-2inhibition and N-[2-(cyclohexyloxy)4-nitrophenyl]-methanesulfonamide (NS398) that is a specific COX-2inhibitor. Wehave previously demonstrated that ASA (147 and 294 mg/kg diet) and NS398 (7 mg/kg diet) inhibited lung tumorigenesis by 31%, 44%, and 34%, respectively, in 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1- butanone (NNK)-treated A/Jmice. No difference in the incidence and types of K-ras mutations was found between the lung tumors treated with NNK and those treated with NNK/ASA and NNK/NS398. In NNK-treated mice, ASA (294 mg/kg diet) or NS398 significantly increased the apoptotic index, from 0.07 to 0.30 or to 0.33, respectively. ASA (294 mg/kg diet) and NS398 also inhibited the expression of COX-2. Finally, modulation of gene expression by NS398 and ASA (294 mg/kg diet) was determined using Atlas cDNA expression arrays. Expression of cyclin B2 was decreased and expression of Fas-L and BAD were increased in lung tissues treated with both NS398 and ASA. Treatment with NS398 also increased expression of p 57kip2 and myosin. These genes modulated by NSAIDs may play a role in mediating the observed chemopreventive effects of the NSAIDs in the mouse lung. Our results demonstrate that lung tumor prevention with NSAIDs involve both the induction of apoptosis and the inhibition of COX-2 expression.Recent studies suggested that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) inhibit lung tumorigenesis under conditions that are immunosuppressive. We hypothesized that this inhibition of mouse lung tumorigenesis requires induction of apoptosis and inhibition of COX (cyclooxygenase)-1, COX-2, and the incidence of K-ras mutation. The NSAIDs used in this study include acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) that is anti-inflammatory with COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition and N-[2-(cyclohexyloxy)-4-nitrophenyl]-methanesulfonamide (NS398) that is a specific COX-2 inhibitor. We have previously demonstrated that ASA (147 and 294 mg/kg diet) and NS398 (7 mg/kg diet) inhibited lung tumorigenesis by 31%, 44%, and 34%, respectively, in 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-treated A/J mice. No difference in the incidence and types of K-ras mutations was found between the lung tumors treated with NNK and those treated with NNK/ASA and NNK/NS398. In NNK-treated mice, ASA (394 mg/kg diet) or NS398 significantly increased the apoptotic index, from 0.07 to 0.30 or to 0.33, respectively. ASA (294 mg/kg diet) and NS398 also inhibited the expression of COX-2. Finally, modulation of gene expression by NS398 and ASA (294 mg/kg diet) was determined using Atlas cDNA expression arrays. Expression of cyclin B2 was decreased and expression of Fas-L and BAD were increased in lung tissues treated with both NS398 and ASA. Treatment with NS398 also increased expression of p57kip2 and myosin. These genes modulated by NSAIDs may play a role in mediating the observed chemopreventive effects of the NSAIDs in the mouse lung. Our results demonstrate that lung tumor prevention with NSAIDs involve both the induction of apoptosis and the inhibition of COX-2 expression.

Differentially expressed genes associated with mouse lung tumor progression.

To detect altered gene expression associated with mouse lung tumor progression, we compared the gene expression profile of lung adenocarcinomas with that of lung adenomas and normal lungs. Autoradiographic analysis showed that among the 588 genes surveyed, 152 genes were detected and the remaining 436 genes did not give any signals. A gene-specific semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction method was used to confirm the expression profile. A total of 29 genes was found to be differentially expressed in mouse lung tumors when compared to normal lungs. The pattern of expression, either underexpression or overexpression, was the same for 10 genes between adenocarcinomas and adenomas. Among them, seven genes were overexpressed, two genes were underexpressed and one gene was lost. Interestingly, 19 genes showed differential expression or increased incidence or difference in level of change between lung adenomas and adenocarcinomas, including Stat1, ADAP, IGFBP-6, PDGF-A, TGF-β2, Int-3, VEGFR2, BAX, BAG-1, c-Jun, FasL, TRAIL, YB-1, CD31, Cdc42, B-raf, Rab-2, Abi-1, and ACE. These genes can be designated as candidate ‘lung tumor progression’ (LTP) genes because their expression changes may specifically affect lung tumor progression in mice. Further analyses of these candidate LTP genes may provide new leads for elucidation of lung tumor progression in mice.

Cancer chemopreventive activity of a mixture of Chinese herbs (antitumor B) in mouse lung tumor models

Antitumor B (ATB), also known as Zeng Sheng Ping, is a Chinese herbal mixture composed of six plants. Previously, clinical studies have shown a significant chemopreventive efficacy of ATB against human esophageal and lung cancers. In the present study, A/J mice harboring a dominant-negative p53 and/or heterozygous deletion of Ink4a/Arf and treated with benzo[a]pyrene were used to investigate the chemopreventive effects of ATB on chemically induced lung tumorigenesis. Mice with various genotypes treated with ATB displayed a significant reduction in lung tumor multiplicity and tumor load. Treatment with ATB resulted in an approximately 40% decrease in tumor multiplicity and a 70% decrease in tumor load in both wild-type mice and in mice with a loss of the Ink4a/Arf tumor suppressor genes. Interestingly, ATB decreased tumor multiplicity and volume by 50 and 90%, respectively, in mice with a dominant-negative p53 and in mice with both a p53 mutation and deletion of Ink4a/Arf. Kras2 mutation analysis of the lung tumors revealed that tumors harbored mutations in the 12th codon of Kras2. There were no differences in either the incidence or types of mutations between tumors treated with or without ATB. Oligonucleotide array analysis revealed 284 genes that were differentially expressed in mouse lung tumors as compared to the normal lung, and it was found that 114 out of these 284 genes changed their expression toward the normal levels in tumors treated with ATB. Most of the genes modulated by ATB belong to several cellular signaling pathways, including Notch (Notch homolog 2, manic fringe homolog), growth factor (FGF intracellular-binding protein, PDGFα), G protein-Ras-MAPK (MAPK3, MAP3K4, rab3A, Rap1, RSG5, PKCθ), ubiquitin-proteasome (CDC34, Cullin1, 26S proteasome), and apoptosis (BAD promoter, caspase 3). These results suggest that ATB is an effective chemopreventive against mouse lung tumorigenesis. Furthermore, ATB exhibited an enhanced inhibitory effect in animals harboring genetic alterations (Kras2, p53, and Ink4a/Arf), which are often seen in human lung adenocarcinomas.

Budesonide exerts its chemopreventive efficacy during mouse lung tumorigenesis by modulating gene expressions

Budesonide, a glucocorticoid, was proven to be a highly effective agent in preventing the development of lung tumors in A/J mice. In a lung tumor bioassay, budesonide produced 70% inhibition of tumor multiplicity and 94% reduction of total tumor load compared to benzopyrene (B[a]P) treated mice. Gene expression array analysis was performed on mouse lung tumors from this bioassay using Affymetrix U74Av2 GeneChips to determine gene expression changes associated with budesonide treatment. We found 363 genes that were changed between lung tumors induced by treatment with B[a]P and similar tumors treated with budesonide. Among them, 243 genes were overexpressed and 120 genes were underexpressed after budesonide treatment. In addition, 108 genes differentially expressed during mouse lung tumorigenesis (50 genes overexpressed and 58 genes underexpressed) were modulated back to normal levels after budesonide treatment when compared with the controls group. These genes are involved in a broad range of different pathways including control of cell cycle, signal transduction, and apoptosis and may play a role in the observed preventive effect. Our results suggest that budesonide exerts its effects of chemoprevention through growth arrest via Mad2/3 and through apoptosis via Bim/Blk and, by inference, caspase-8/9. Using the pathway visualization tool GenMapp, G protein pathway and MAPK cascade were also regulated by budesonide. Thus, we have determined, for the first time, the expression profiles of genes modulated by budesonide during murine lung tumorigenesis. Our results indicate that the chemopreventive effects of budesonide in the mouse lung tumorigenesis assay involved increase and decrease expression of a wide variety of genes in multiple signaling pathways.

A Gene Expression Signature that Can Predict Green Tea Exposure and Chemopreventive Efficacy of Lung Cancer in Mice

Green tea has been shown to be a potent chemopreventive agent against lung tumorigenesis in animal models. Previously, we found that treatment of A/J mice with either green tea (0.6% in water) or a defined green tea catechin extract (polyphenon E; 2.0 g/kg in diet) inhibited lung tumor tumorigenesis. Here, we described expression profiling of lung tissues derived from these studies to determine the gene expression signature that can predict the exposure and efficacy of green tea in mice. We first profiled global gene expressions in normal lungs versus lung tumors to determine genes which might be associated with the tumorigenic process (TUM genes). Gene expression in control tumors and green tea-treated tumors (either green tea or polyphenon E) were compared to determine those TUM genes whose expression levels in green tea-treated tumors returned to levels seen in normal lungs. We established a 17-gene expression profile specific for exposure to effective doses of either green tea or polyphenon E. This gene expression signature was altered both in normal lungs and lung adenomas when mice were exposed to green tea or polyphenon E. These experiments identified patterns of gene expressions that both offer clues for green teas potential mechanisms of action and provide a molecular signature specific for green tea exposure.

Prevention of lung cancer progression by bexarotene in mouse models

Bexarotene (Targretin®, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc.) is a synthetic high-affinity RXR receptor agonist with limited affinity for RAR receptors. Bexarotene has shown efficacy in a phase I/II trial of non-small-cell lung cancers. However, the chemopreventive efficacy of bexarotene has not been determined in mouse lung cancer models. In this study, we have investigated the ability of bexarotene to inhibit lung tumor progression in the mutant A/J mouse models with genetic alterations in p53 or K-ras, two of the most commonly altered genes in human lung tumorigenesis. Mice were administered vinyl carbamate (VC), a carcinogen, by a single intraperitoneal injection (i.p.) at 6 weeks of age. Bexarotene was given by gavage starting at 16 weeks after VC and was continued for 12 weeks. Although all mice developed lung tumors, only 7% of lung tumors were adenocarcinomas in wild-type mice, whereas 22 and 26% of lung tumors were adenocarcinomas in p53 transgenic or K-ras heterozygous deficient mice. Bexarotene inhibited both tumor multiplicity and tumor volume in mice of all three genotypes. Furthermore, bexarotene reduced the progression of adenoma to adenocarcinoma by ∼50% in both p53wt/wtK-rasko/wt and p53wt/wtK-raswt/wt mice. Thus, bexarotene appears to be an effective preventive agent against lung tumor growth and progression.

Effect of an Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitor in Mouse Models of Lung Cancer

Gefitinib (Iressa, ZD1839) is a potent high-affinity competitive tyrosine kinase inhibitor aimed primarily at epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Inhibitors in this class have recently been approved for clinical use in the treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer as monotherapy following failure of chemotherapy. We examined the efficacy of gefitinib on lung tumorigenesis in mouse models using both postinitiation and progression protocols. Gefitinib was given at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight (i.g.) beginning either 2 or 12 weeks following carcinogen initiation. In the postinitiation protocol, gefitinib significantly inhibited both tumor multiplicity (∼70%) and tumor load (∼90%) in A/J or p53-mutant mice (P < 0.0001). Interestingly, gefitinib was also highly effective against lung carcinogenesis in the progression protocol when individual animals already have multiple preinvasive lesions in the lung. Gefitinib exhibited ∼60% inhibition of tumor multiplicity and ∼80% inhibition of tumor load when compared with control mice (both P < 0.0001). These data show that gefitinib is a potent chemopreventive agent in both wild-type and p53-mutant mice and that a delayed administration was still highly effective. Analyses of mutations in the EGFR and K-ras genes in lung tumors from either control or treatment groups showed no mutations in EGFR and consistent mutation in K-ras. Using an oligonucleotide array on control and gefitinib-treated lesions showed that gefitinib treatment failed to alter the activity or the expression level of EGFR. In contrast, gefitinib treatment significantly altered the expression of a series of genes involved in cell cycle, cell proliferation, cell transformation, angiogenesis, DNA synthesis, cell migration, immune responses, and apoptosis. Thus, gefitinib showed highly promising chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic activity in this mouse model of lung carcinogenesis. (Mol Cancer Res 2006;4(12):971–81)

Cell proliferation, apoptosis, and expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin E as potential biomarkers in tamoxifen-treated mammary tumors.

Tamoxifen has been widely used for treatment, and more recently, for the prevention of breast cancer. Since breast carcinomas are composed of heterogeneous populations of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) cells, we hypothesized that tamoxifen may suppress tumor growth by differentially affecting cell proliferation and apoptosis. ER+ mammary tumors were induced in Sprague–Dawley rats by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) and when they became palpable, the animals were treated for 5, 10, or 20 days with tamoxifen, 1.0 mg/kg body weight. Tamoxifen induced a time-dependent decrease in proliferating (BrdU-labeled) cells, arrested the cells in G1/0 phase, and differentially decreased the cyclin E and cyclin D1 expression at mRNA and protein levels. In the same tumors, apoptotic cells increased during the first 10 days of treatment, but their number remained unchanged with extension of the treatment to 20 days. Thus, we provide data that tamoxifen may differentially affect cell proliferation and apoptosis in mammary tumors and that the expression levels of cyclin D1 and cyclin E might also be considered potential intermediate biomarkers of response of mammary tumors to tamoxifen and possibly to other selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs).

Organ-specific expression profiles of rat mammary gland, liver, and lung tissues treated with targretin, 9-cis retinoic acid, and 4-hydroxyphenylretinamide

A rexinoid, targretin, and two retinoids, 9-cis retinoic acid (9cRA) and 4-hydroxyphenylretinamide (4HPR), were examined for their effects on gene expression in rat mammary gland, liver, and lung tissues. The chemopreventive effects of these agents have largely been attributed to their ability to interact with retinoic acid receptors (RAR) and/or retinoid X receptors (RXR). Targretin interacts with the RXR receptors. 9cRA interacts with both the RAR and RXR receptors, whereas 4HPR has a moderate affinity primarily for RAR γ. Based on previous studies on mammary chemoprevention, targretin (150 mg/kg diet), 9cRA (100 mg/kg diet), and 4HPR (782 mg/kg diet), were administered to rats continually in their diet for 7 days. Tissue- and agent-specific expression differences were determined by comparing tissues from treated rats with those from rats given a control diet. There were significantly more changes associated with targretin than 9cRA or 4HPR. Only a limited number of expression changes were found with 4HPR treatment. For each organ, targretin- and 9cRA-treated tissues clustered closely together, whereas 4HPR-treated tissues clustered with the tissues from the control diet group. In contrast to 9cRA treatment, targretin treatment altered genes that involved fatty acid metabolism and modulation of various cytochromes P450 in the liver, clearly demonstrating the very disparate nature of these two retinoids. These expression signatures could provide useful pharmacodynamic biomarkers for retinoid treatment and chemoprevention. [Mol Cancer Ther 2006;5(4):1060–72]

Altered gene expression profile in chemically induced rat mammary adenocarcinomas and its modulation by an aromatase inhibitor.

In the present study, competitive cDNA library screening (CCLS) and cDNA microarray analyses were employed to identify differentially expressed genes in methylnitrosourea-induced rat mammary adenocarcinomas. The preliminary screening of 100 000 plaques by CCLS identified 1217 clones with differential expression. Dot–blot analysis of the isolated clones verified differential expression in 471 distinct genes. Confirmation of these 471 genes was conducted by performing reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions, and a total of 160 genes were confirmed after comparing six rat mammary adenocarcinomas and three normal rat mammary glands. Fifty-nine of these showed lower expression in the adenocarcinomas while the remaining 101 were overexpressed in the tumors. Employing a cDNA microarray containing 588 known genes revealed an additional 33 differentially expressed genes in these tumors. Importantly, most of the identified genes demonstrated relatively reproducible overexpression or underexpression in individual tumors. Many of the altered genes determined by cDNA microarray analysis were oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, or genes involved in cell cycle control and apoptosis. CCLS identified many others not previously associated with mammary carcinogenesis, including a novel gene named RMT-7. Preliminary studies to determine the applicability of this gene expression approach for detecting potential biomarkers for cancer chemoprevention was evaluated in rat mammary tumors obtained from animals treated with vorozole, a potent aromatase inhibitor. When genes exhibiting differential expression as determined by CCLS or cDNA microarray analysis were examined in control and vorozole-treated tumors, expression of 19 genes was found to be modulated significantly in tumors treated with vorozole. Further investigations into these identified genes should contribute significantly to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of rat mammary tumorigenesis. In addition, the identified genes may become useful targets for drug development and potential biomarkers for monitoring treatment and prevention of breast cancer in humans.