The potential antitumor activity of mixed CB1/CB2 cannabinoid receptor agonists, such as the aminoalkylindole WIN55,212-2 (WIN2), has been extensively studied, but little information is available as to their potential interaction with conventional cancer therapies, such as ionizing radiation (IR). In the present work, we investigated the effects of WIN2 on the antiproliferative effects of radiation in human (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and murine (4T1) breast cancer cells, as well as an immortalized human breast epithelial cell line (MCF-10A). WIN2 or radiation alone inhibited breast tumor growth, while the combination of WIN2 and radiation was more effective than either agent alone in breast cancer cells. WIN2 showed lower potency in MCF-10A cells than MCF-7 cells, but was still able to augment the effects of radiation at higher doses. The stereoisomer of WIN2, WIN55,212-3 (WIN3) failed to inhibit growth or potentiate the growth-inhibitory effects of radiation, indicating stereospecificity in all cell lines tested. The combination of WIN2 and IR was examined in vivo but the results were inconclusive. Interestingly, while other aminoalkylindoles, pravadoline and JWH-015, enhanced the antiproliferative effects of radiation, this was not the case for other synthetic cannabinoids (i.e., nabilone, CP55,940 and methanandamide) or phytocannabinoids (i.e., ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol). The antiproliferative actions of WIN2 were not ameliorated by CB1, CB2, TRPV1, or PPAR receptor antagonists, suggesting the possibility of a novel site of action. Studies utilizing sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) agonists and estradiol suggest that WIN2 interferes with S1P signaling in cell proliferation, but agonist stimulated [³⁵S]GTPγS binding assays show that this antagonism is not occurring at the level of S1P receptors. In addition, WIN2 did not alter radiation-induced DNA damage or the rate of DNA repair based on γH2AX staining. Treatment with WIN2 and radiation promoted both autophagy and senescence, but not apoptosis or necrosis. Time course studies combined with senescence and cell death data suggest that radiation-induced senescence, while WIN2 induced classical growth arrest and the WIN2/IR combination produced parallel mechanisms of both senescent growth arrest and classical growth arrest. Taken together, these findings raise the possibility that aminoalkylindole compounds targeting a novel site of action represents a potential strategy to augment the effectiveness of radiation treatment in breast cancer.

This diploma thesis brings new data about design, synthesis, physico-chemical characterisation and biological efficacy of the novel star-like HPMA-based conjugates intended for treatment of solid tumors. Recently, many different water-soluble drug delivery systems based on N-(2- hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymers have been described. Here, we report synthesis and physico-chemical characterisation of high molecular weight star-like HPMA- based polymer carriers with low polydispersity prepared by controlled grafting of HPMA copolymers onto PAMAM dendrimer core. With the aim to keep the polydispersity of drug delivery system as low as possible, reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) polymerisation was used for HPMA-based polymer precursor preparation. The end groups of the polymer presursors was afterwards used for grafting using carbodidimide condensation reaction or copper free click chemistry on polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers resulting in a formation of star-like high-molecular-weight (HMW) drug carriers. Described synthetic procedure provided preparation of star-like HMW drug carriers with Mw between 1.105 - 3.105 g/mol and narrow distribution of Mw. The model drug, doxorubicin (Dox), was attached to the hydrazide group containing polymer cariers by pH- sensitive...

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Anatomy and Physiology / Deryl L. Troyer / Many cell types were known to have migratory properties towards tumors and different research groups have shown reliable results regarding cells as delivery vehicles of therapeutics for targeted cancer treatment. Present report discusses proof of concept for 1. Cell mediated delivery of Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and targeted Magnetic hyperthermia (MHT) as a cancer treatment by using in vivo mouse cancer models, 2. Cells surface engineering with chimeric proteins for targeted cancer treatment by using in vitro models. 1. Tumor homing cells can carry MNPs specifically to the tumor site and tumor burden will decrease after alternating magnetic field (AMF) exposure. To test this hypothesis, first we loaded Fe/Fe3O4 bi-magnetic NPs into neural progenitor cells (NPCs), which were previously shown to migrate towards melanoma tumors. We observed that NPCs loaded with MNPs travel to subcutaneous melanoma tumors. After alternating magnetic field (AMF) exposure, the targeted delivery of MNPs by the NPCs resulted in a mild decrease in tumor size (Chapter-2). Monocytes/macrophages (Mo/Ma) are known to infiltrate tumor sites, and also have phagocytic activity which can increase their uptake of MNPs. To test Mo/Ma-mediated MHT we transplanted Mo/Ma loaded with MNPs into a mouse model of pancreatic peritoneal carcinomatosis. We observed that MNP-loaded Mo/Ma infiltrated pancreatic tumors and, after AMF treatment, significantly prolonged the lives of mice bearing disseminated intraperitoneal pancreatic tumors (Chapter-3). 2. Targeted cancer treatment could be achieved by engineering tumor homing cell surfaces with tumor proteases cleavable, cancer cell specific recombinant therapeutic proteins. To test this, Urokinase and Calpain (tumor specific proteases) cleavable; prostate cancer cell (CaP) specific (CaP1 targeting peptide); apoptosis inducible (Caspase3 V266ED3)- rCasp3V266ED3 chimeric protein was designed in silico. Hypothesized membrane anchored chimeric protein (rCasp3V266ED3, rMcherry red) plasmids were constructed. Membrane anchoring and activity of designed proteins were analyzed in RAW264.7 Mo/Ma and HEK293 cells in vitro. Further, Urokinase (uPA) mediated cleavage and release of rCasp3V266ED3 from engineered cells was tested (Chapter-4). Animal models for cancer therapy are invaluable for preclinical testing of potential cancer treatments. Final chapter of present report shows evidence for immune-deficient line of pigs as a model for human cancers (Chapter-5)

Les molécules chirales représentent environ 60% des médicaments présents sur le marché pharmaceutique et plus de 80% des médicaments en développement avec plus de 150 milliards de dollars de chiffre d’affaire pour l’année 2002. Les intermédiaires chiraux sont fortement demandés dans l’industrie pharmaceutique atteignant 15 milliards de dollars de chiffre d’affaire en 2009. D’autres domaines en sont demandeurs avec une répartition d’environ 15% dans l’agrochimie et 5% pour la parfumerie. L’obtention de composés d’intérêt pharmaceutique de façon asymétrique est un réel défi et une réelle nécessité. Ces molécules possèdent une architecture spatiale qui entraîne des interactions spécifiques et des affinités particulières avec les enzymes ou des récepteurs biologiques chiraux. L’utilisation de catalyseurs pour accéder à des composés organiques chiraux et plus précisément l’oxydation d’alcanes prochiraux ou d’oléfines constitue un domaine en essor ces dernières décennies. Pour parvenir à synthétiser des molécules chirales, l’industrie pharmaceutique s’est tournée vers l’utilisation de biocatalyseurs en partie pour réaliser différentes réactions stéréo-contrôlées avec la nécessité de séparer les mélanges racémiques par résolution enzymatique. Cependant, les biocatalyseurs présentent un inconvénient majeur qui est généralement le faible rendement en composé chiral recherché et nécessite un savoir faire pour la manipulation de ces enzymes. Les métalloporphyrines sont des catalyseurs comportant un macrocycle tétrapyrrolique et différentes fonctionnalisations en positions méso. Ces molécules ont fait l’objet de nombreuses études qui ont conduit à la synthèse de métalloporphyrines chirales très complexes. Malheureusement, leur synthèse est souvent longue avec de faibles rendements et leur application à un nombre limité de substrats ne permet pas leur généralisation. Ce travail de thèse, développé pour la première fois au laboratoire, s’inscrit dans le cadre d'un contrat CIFRE, dans le but de parvenir à la synthèse de porphyrines chirales facilement accessibles, applicables dans des réactions d’oxydation énantiosélectives efficacement (stabilité). Le premier objectif visé est la synthèse de porphyrines chirales dont la structure ciblée comporte des groupements hétérocycliques azotés chiraux en position méso, reliés par une liaison carbone-hétéroatome (C-N). Nous avons pu atteindre 4 séries de porphyrines qui ont été évaluées dans des réactions d’oxydation énantiosélectives (époxydation, hydroxylation). Le deuxième objectif visé est d’exploiter les propriétés électroniques particulières des porphyrines permettant l’application des porphyrines en tant que photosensibilisant après photoactivation en thérapie anticancéreuse. L’étude des paramètres physiques est primordiale pour déterminer la longueur d’onde d’activation et le rendement quantique. Nous avons souhaité utiliser nos porphyrines et leurs précurseurs en tant qu’agents antiparasitaires, sans photoactivation dans un premier temps, conduisant à la découverte d’activités très intéressantes sur certaines espèce de leishmanies. Enfin, leur application sur P. falciparum nous a permis d’isoler une molécule avec une activité très intéressante. Dans les deux cas, des manipulations avec photoactivation sont en cours. / Chiral molecules represent about 60% of drugs in pharmaceutical market and over 80% of drugs in development with more than 150 billion dollars in 2002. Chiral intermediates are in high demand in the pharmaceutical industry producing a turnover of 15 billion dollars in 2009. Other areas are seekers of chiral molecules with a distribution of about 15% in agrochemicals and 5% for the perfume. Asymmetrically production of compounds of pharmaceutical interest is a real challenge. These molecules have a spatial architecture that results in specific interactions and affinity with the enzymes or biological chiral receptors. The use of catalysts to synthesis chiral organic compounds, and more specifically to oxidize alkenes and alkanes having prochiral positions, is a very important area extensively studied in recent decades with few positive results. To achieve the synthesis of chiral molecules, the pharmaceutical industry has turned to the use of biocatalysts, in part, to perform various stereo-controlled reactions with systematically followed by separation of the different isomers by different methodes. However, biocatalysts have a major disadvantage relative to low yields of chiral compound and requires expertise for handling these enzymes. Metalloporphyrins are tetrapyrrolic macrocyle substituted in meso position with various functional groups and incorporating metals (Fe, Mn, Co, Ru). These molecules have been extensively studied and led to the synthesis of many complex chiral metalloporphyrins. Unfortunately, their synthesis is often long with low yields and their application to a limited number of substrates is a major drawback. The first objective of this work is the synthesis of original chiral porphyrins. The targeted structure contains chiral heterocyclic nitrogen groups in two meso positions, connected by a carbon-heteoatom bond (C-N). We were able to reach 4 porphyrins-series that have been evaluated as catalyst in oxidation reactions (epoxidation, hydroxylation). The second objective is to take advantage of specific electronic properties of porphyrins for applications as photosensitizer after photoactivation for cancer by photodynamic therapy. The use of this therapy increased during last decades but poor specificity and solubility of the different porphyrins used in clinic against many cancers prompt us to investigate this area. The study of the physical parameters is essential to determine wavelength activation and quantum yield of a photosensitizer. We wanted to use our porphyrins and their precursors as antiparasitic agents, with and without photoactivation against L. donovani, L. major, T. brucei brucei. Malaria is caused by a protist of the genus of Plasmodium. This parasite has an iron deficiency on one hand and cannot biosynthesize certain amino acids. Strucure analogy of porphyrins with heme led us to evaluate antimalarial activity of several porphyrins against P. falciparum.

Zelluläre Seneszenz beschreibt einen terminalen Zellzyklus-Arrest. Nach zellulärem Stress u. a. durch aktivierte Onkogene oder DNA-schädigende Chemotherapie wird Seneszenz induziert und kann so zur Tumorsuppression bzw. zum Behandlungserfolg beitragen. Vor kurzem wurde gezeigt, dass der Transkriptionsfaktor NF-kappaB – welcher bisher vor allem durch seine onkogenen Funktionen mit Krebs in Verbindung gebracht wurde - bei der Seneszenz-assoziierten Zytokinausschüttung mitwirkt und den seneszenzten Phänotyp möglicherweise sogar verstärkt, wodurch NF-kappaB potentiell eine tumorsuppressive Rolle zukäme. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung des NF-kappaB-Signalweges in Seneszenz und Therapie. In der vorliegenden Arbeit zeige ich die deutliche Aktivierung von NF-kappaB nach Therapie-induzierter Seneszenz (therapy-induced senescence, TIS) und erhöhte Expression NF-kappaB-regulierter Zytokine. TIS ist vor allem in vivo mit starker Aktivität des NF-kappaB-Signalweges assoziiert und von selbiger abhängig. Primäre Eµ-myc-transgene Mauslymphome wurden nach ihrer endogenen NF-kappaB-Aktivität klassifiziert bzw. mit inhibierenden und aktivierenden NF-kappaB-Konstrukten modifiziert, welche auch in diffusen großzelligen B-Zell Lymphomen (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, DLBCL) als natürlich vorkommende Mutationen gefunden wurden. Über einen neuartigen „Cross-Species“-Vergleich wurden Bcl2-hochexprimierende Keimzentrums-B-Zell-DLBCL (germinal center B-cell type, GCB) als klinisch relevante Gruppe identifiziert, welche nach NF-kappaB-Hyperaktivierung signifikant besser auf Therapie ansprach. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen eine kontextspezifische, d. h. von „onkogenen Netzwerken“ abhängige Rolle des NF-kappaB Signalweges unter Chemotherapie. Diese Information könnte für künftige klinische Studien bedeutsam sein, da sie Bedingungen aufzeigt, unter denen NF-kappaB als Vermittler einer erwünschten Therapie-induzierten Seneszenzantwort eher nicht inhibiert werden sollte. / Cellular senescence is a terminal cell-cycle arrest program that is executed in response to cellular stresses, such as activated oncogenes or DNA-damaging anti-cancer chemotherapy, where it serves as a tumor-suppressive mechanism or contributes to treatment outcome, respectively. Recently, transcription factor NF-kappaB which has long been linked to cancer development primarily through its oncogenic functions, has been postulated to participate in a senescence-associated and possibly senescence-reinforcing cytokine response, thereby suggesting a tumor-restraining role for NF-kappaB. The aim of my PhD project was to understand the role of the NF-kappaB pathway in senescence and cancer treatment outcome. In this thesis, I show markedly elevated NF-kappaB activity upon therapy-induced senescence (TIS), associated with strong upregulation of NF-kappaB-controlled cytokines. TIS is associated with and depends on hyper-activated NF-kappaB signaling. By characterization and genetic engineering of primary mouse lymphomas according to distinct NF-kappaB-related oncogenic networks reminiscent of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) subtypes, Bcl2-overexpressing germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) DLBCL were identified as a clinically relevant subgroup with significantly superior outcome when NF-kappaB is hyperactive. These results demonstrate the context-dependent role of NF-kappaB signaling in cancer therapy and unveil oncogenic scenarios in which NF-kappaB hyperactivity unexpectedly accounts for superior long-term outcome to therapy. This finding has significant ramifications for future clinical trials that aim at inhibiting NF-kappaB activity based on the assumption of its detrimental impact on treatment outcome.

At present, the combination of high drug development costs and external pressure to lower consumer prices is forcing the pharmaceutical industry to innovate in ways unlike ever before. One of the main drivers of increased productivity in research and development recently has been the application of computational methods to the drug discovery process. While this investment has generated promising insights in many cases, there is still much progress to be made.<div><br></div><div>There currently exists a dichotomy in the types of algorithms employed which are roughly defined by the extent to which they compromise predictive accuracy for computational efficiency, and vice versa. Many computational drug discovery algorithms exist which yield commendable predictive power but are typically associated with overwhelming resource costs. High-throughput methods are also available, but often suffer from disappointing and inconsistent performance. <br></div><div><br></div><div>In the world of kinase inhibitor design, which often takes advantage of such computational tools, small molecules tend to have myriad side effects. These are usually caused by off-target binding, especially with other kinases (given the large size of the enzyme family and overall structural conservation), and so inhibitors with tunable selectivity are generally desirable. This issue is compounded when considering therapeutically relevant targets like Abelson Protein Tyrosine Kinase (Abl) and Lymphocyte Specific Protein Tyrosine Kinase (Lck) which have opposing effects in many cancers. <br></div><div><br></div><div>This work attempts to solve both of these problems by creating a methodology which incorporates high-throughput computational drug discovery methods, modern machine learning techniques, and novel protein-ligand binding descriptors based on backbone hydrogen bond (dehydron) wrapping, chosen because of their potential in differentiating between kinases. Using this approach, a procedure was developed to quickly screen focused chemical libraries (in order to narrow the domain of applicability and keep medicinal chemistry at the forefront of development) for detection of selective kinase inhibitors. In particular, five pharmacologically relevant kinases were investigated to provide a proof of concept, including those listed above.</div><div><br></div><div>Ultimately, this work shows that dehydron wrapping indeed has predictive value, though it's likely hindered by common and current issues derived from noisy training data, imperfect feature selection algorithms, and simplifying assumptions made by high-throughput algorithms used for structural determination. It also shows that the procedure's predictive value varies depending on the target, leading to the conclusion that the utility of dehydron wrapping for drug design is not necessarily universal, as originally thought. However, for those targets which are amenable to the concept, there are two major benefits: relatively few features are required to produce modest results; and those structural features chosen are easily interpretable and can thereby improve the overall design process by pointing out regions to optimize within any given lead. Of the five kinases explored, Src and Lck are shown in this work to fit particularly well with the general hypothesis; given their importance in treating cancer and evading off-target related side effects, the developed methodology now has the potential to play a major role in the development of drug candidates which specifically inhibit and avoid these kinases.<br></div>

Notch receptors and ligands are type I transmembrane proteins that regulate development and differentiation during cell-cell contact. There are four Notch receptor homologues and five notch ligands, identified in humans till date. Upon ligand activation, Notch1 intracellular domain (NIC-1) is released into the cytoplasm, which binds to several proteins as well as translocates into the nucleus to effect the Notch signaling. In the absence of the activated Notch signaling, the Notch target genes are kept repressed by the transcriptional repressor C protein binding factor 1 (CBF1) also known as RBPjk or CSL for CBF1/Su(H)/Lag1. RBPjk binds to the sequence “CGTGGGAA” and acts as a constitutive repressor. Upon ligand dependent activation, NIC-1 enters into the nucler and converts RBPjk from transcriptional repressor to an activator. Notch binding to CSL replaces the SMRT corepressor complex with a coactivator complex including SKIP, Mastermind like 1 (MAML1) (Mastermind in Drosophila), and histone acetyl transferases PCAF, GCN5 and p300 activating the transcription of target genes. Mastermind-like (MAML), a family of transcriptional activator proteins comprising of 3 members 1 to 3, has been shown to be required for Notch signaling. MAML forms a ternary complex with RBPjk-NIC by directly interacting with NIC. In turn, MAML recruits the histone acetyl transferase p300/CBP, which acetylates the histones, thereby altering the structure of chromatin amenable for transcription. Activation of Notch pathway induces oncogenesis, which can be divided into two categories including 1) Inhibition of Apoptosis and 2) Induction of proliferation. In T cells, activation of Notch1 protects cells from T cell receptor, dexamethasone and etoposide-mediated apoptosis, Fas receptor-mediated signaling by up regulating IAP (Inhibitor of Apoptosis) and Bcl-2 families, as well as FLIP (FLICE-like inhibitor protein). Notch signaling also promotes the survival of T cells through maintenance of cell size as well as through the promotion of glucose uptake and metabolism. Notch-1 has been shown to protect against anoikis (apoptosis induced by matrix withdrawal) or p53-mediated apoptosis in immortalized epithelial cells, T cell receptor-induced apoptosis in mature cells and dexamethasone-mediated apoptosis in thymocytes. This study was carried out to functionally characterize NIC-1 (human Notch1-intracellular domain) as an inhibitor of apoptosis and to evaluate the therapeutic potential of reversal of this apoptosis inhibition. The main objectives of this study are 1. Construction of recombinant adenovirus expressing human Notch1-intracellular domain (Ad-NIC-1) and characterization of NIC-1 as an inhibitor of chemotherapy and p53-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis. 2. Role of PI3 kinase -Akt/PKB -mTOR pathway in NIC-1-mediated inhibition of p53-induced apoptosis. 3. Essential role of association between mTOR and NIC-1 and the dependent NIC-1 phosphorylation in Notch1-mediated transcription and survival signaling. 4. Identification of NIC-1 as an inhibitor of E1A-induced apoptosis and the role of mTOR in NIC-1-mediated inhibition of E1A-induced apoptosis. Activated Notch1 was first linked to tumorigenesis through identification of a recurrent t(7;9)(q34;q34.3) chromosomal translocation involving the human Notch1 gene that is found in a subset of human pre-T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia’s (T-ALL). Deregulated Notch signaling is oncogenic, inhibits apoptosis and promotes survival. In order to understand survival signaling induced by Notch1 and its possible role in chemoresistance, we have generated a replication deficient recombinant adenovirus expressing human Notch1-intracellular domain (Ad-NIC-1) and shown that it produces functional NIC-1 protein. Using this overexpression system, we characterized that activated Notch1-inhibits chemotherapy and in particular p53 induced apoptosis. Notch1-mediated inhibition of p53-induced apoptosis does not include coactivator squelching. p53 was inefficient in binding to its DNA in NIC-1 overexpressing cells. The levels of phosphorylation at Ser15, Ser20, and Ser392 of p53 expressed from Ad-p53 significantly reduced in NIC-1 preinfected cells. These results suggest that NIC-1-mediated inhibition of p53-mediated apoptosis involves reduced DNA binding, reduced nuclear localization and reduced post translational modifications and thus reduced transactivation of its target genes. Notch1-mediated inhibition of p53 was found to occur mainly through mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) using PI3 kinase-Akt/PKB pathway, as the mTOR inhibitor; rapamycin treatment was able to reverse Notch-1 mediated inhibition of p53 and chemoresistance. Consistent with this, rapamycin failed to reverse NIC-1 induced chemoresistance in cells expressing rapamycin resistant mTOR. Our results also suggest that the N-terminal HEAT repeat and the kinase function of mTOR are essential for Notch mediated inhibition of p53. Further, ectopic expression of eIF4E, a translational regulator that acts downstream of mTOR, inhibited p53-induced apoptosis and conferred protection against p53-mediated cytotoxicity to similar extent as that of NIC-1 overexpression, but was not reversed by rapamycin, which indicates that eIF4E is the major target of mTOR in Notch1-mediated survival signaling. Notch1-intracellular domain (NIC-1), following proteolytic cleavage, binds to RBPjk and regulates transcription. Active NIC-1 located in the nucleus is phosphorylated, which makes it more stable and bind better to RBPjk. NIC-1 was also shown to bind to Deltex1 in the cytoplasm. Next, we studied the requirement of components of Notch1 signaling pathway for this function. By using variety of approaches, we found that both RBPjk and Maml1 and hence transcription activation is required for NIC-1-mediated survival signaling and inhibition of p53 functions. Interestingly, while we found the other Notch1 effector, Deltex1 is also required for above functions, Notch1 failed to activate PI3 kinase -Akt/PKB -mTOR pathway in Deltex1, but not in RBPjk silenced cells. Our results suggest that Notch-Deltex1 pathway activates PI3 kinase. Previous studies show that NIC-1 interacts with Deltex1 and Grb2 interacts with PI3 kinase. Our data shows that Deltex1 interacts with SH3 domain of Grb2. Since Notch1-Deltex1 and PI3 kinase-Grb2 interactions are known, we conclude that Notch1 activation of PI3 kinase involves Deltex1 and Grb2. We found activated mTOR was able to binds to NIC-1 and regulates its phosphorylation. Inhibition of mTOR either by PI3 kinase inhibitors or mTOR inhibitor treatment or silencing of Akt/PKB or mTOR reduced the phosphorylation of NIC-1 with the concomitant reduction in NIC-1-mediated transcription. Further, endogenous Notch1 receptor activated by the DSL ligand failed to activate transcription efficiently in rapamycin treated cells, implying a positive role for mTOR in mammalian Notch signaling. These studies reveal that Notch1 activates PI3 kinase -Akt/PKB -mTOR signaling through Deltex1 and subsequently activated mTOR modulates Notch1 signaling by direct binding and possibly thorough phosphorylation of the intracellular domain of Notch. Adenoviral E1A, in the absence of cooperating oncogene, suppresses primary tumor growth and reverses the transformed phenotype of human tumor cells by inducing apoptosis. E1A requires p53 for efficient induction of apoptosis and was shown to induce apoptosis by down regulating Akt and the activation of pro apoptotic factor p38 MAP kinase. Since our results suggest Notch1 inhibits chemotherapy and p53-induced apoptosis, we analyzed the ability of Notch1 to protect cells from E1A-induced apoptosis. Here we show that NIC-1 suppresses the ability of E1A to induce apoptosis. NIC-1 requires mTOR-dependent signal to inhibit E1A-mediated apoptosis, as the rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor was able to completely reverse the ability of Notch1 to protect cells against E1A-induced apoptosis. The role of mTOR in NIC-1-mediated survival signaling was further confirmed by using the cells stably expressing rapamycin resistant mTOR. Rapamycin was able to reverse Notch1-mediated protection in cells expressing wild type mTOR but not in rapamycin resistant mTOR expressing cells. We also found that E1A was able to induce apoptosis in cells silenced for the pro apoptotic factor p38 and NIC-1 continued to inhibit E1A-induced apoptosis in these cells. These results confirm that Notch1 requires the activation of mTOR signaling but not p38 MAP kinase for inhibition of E1A-induced apoptosis. These results also suggest that the combination therapy utilizing E1A-mediated gene delivery in combination with inhibition of mTOR pathway may prove successful in treating Notch overexpressing cancers. Chemotherapy remains a major treatment modality for human cancers. Chemoresistance is a clinical problem that severely limits treatment success. It can be divided into two forms: intrinsic and acquired. Intrinsic resistance is the essence of oncogenic transformation, resulting from activation of oncogenes and the loss of tumor suppressors, and manifests itself as alterations in cell cycle checkpoints and apoptotic pathways. It is now widely accepted that the apoptotic capacity of the cancer cell is crucial in determining the response to chemotherapeutic agents. Indeed, several gene products that regulate apoptosis, i.e., p53, Akt and PI3K are frequently altered in cancer cells. In this study, we identified that cells with aberrant Notch1 signaling are chemoresistant. Activated Notch1 overexpression makes cells resistant to chemotherapy in a wild type p53 dependent manner. Notch protected p53 wild type cells but not p53 mutated or p53 deleted cells against chemotherapy induced cytotoxicity. Further, inactivation of p53 by specific silencing abrogated the ability of NIC-1 to protect H460 cells against adriamycin induced cytotoxicity. Most importantly, NIC-1 mediated chemoresistance can be reversed by blocking PI3 kinase -Akt/PKB -mTOR pathway. Collectively, these results suggest that cancers with activated Notch1 signaling are chemoresistant and provide basis for the reversal of chemoresistance.

Recently HER3, member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family (EGFR), has been found to play a crucial role in the development of resistance towards inhibitors that are given to patients with HER1- and HER2-driven cancers. As HER3 is up-regulated or over-activated in several types of human cancers, it is of outmost importance that new innovative drugs target its oncologic activity. The Affibody® Molecule Z08698 inhibits the heregulin induced signalling of HER3 with high affinity (KD~50 pM). As the Affibody® Molecule is small, has high solubility and outstanding folding kinetics, an effective penetration of tumour tissue is suggested together with a rationalized manufacturing process. Further coupling to an albumin binding domain (ABD) expands the plasma half-life of the molecule, hence increasing the molecule's potential of serving as a therapeutic. A process development for production of Z08698-VDGS-ABD094 has been established, where the molecule is efficiently produced in the E. coli host strain BL21(DE3), through a T7 based expression system. Cultivations were performed with a fed-batch fermentation process and the conditions were further optimized in order to obtain highest expression, while avoiding undesirable modifications like gluconoylations. By employing Design of experiments in combination with multivariate data analysis, a production process resulting in ~3.5 g product/ l culture could be verified. Moreover, thermolysis was evaluated as a suitable method for cell disruption, enabling an easy and cost-effective manufacturing process of the ABD fused Affibody® Molecule.

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No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Luis Cesar Branquinho - 2014.pdf: 6091709 bytes, checksum: 2c59441af9866c02cd7a2cc3cc667b3e (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Magnetic nanoparticles can generate heat when submitted to alternating magnetic fields of adequate amplitude and frequency. This phenomenon is named magnetic hyperthermia and has several therapeutic applications, as for example, in the treatment of cancer. In general, the theoretical models used to describe this neglect the effect of interparticle interaction. In this thesis we investigate the effect of magnetic dipolar interaction in the magnetothermal efficiency (named specific loss power – SLP) of bicompatible magnetic nanoparticles. Firstly, we develop a chain of magnetic particles model, where we prove that the interaction leads to a contribution to the uniaxial anisotropy. This term in the free energy density allowed us to extract from the electron magnetic resonance technique (EMR) information about the mean chain size in the colloid. Further, this additional magnetic nanoparticle anisotropy term was used to develop an analytical theoretical model that takes into account the effect of the dipolar interaction between nanoparticles to SLP, considering the case where the magnetization responds linearly to the field (Linear Response Theory). Our calculations indicate that depending on the particle parameters, specially the anisotropy, the effect can be to enhance or decrease the heat generation. Moreover, we showed that increasing the chain size (number of particles in the chain) the optimal particle size for hyperthermia can decrease up to 30% in comparison with non-interacting particles. This result has several clinical implications, which allowed us to suggest some strategies for improving the therapeutic efficacy. In order to investigate experimentally the effect, two magnetic fluids, one containing spherical nanoparticles based on manganese ferrite (MnF-citrate) in the superparamagnetic regime, and another commercial one (BNF-starch) magnetite-based with a shape of a parallellepiped and blocked, were selected and deeply characterized. We found a decrease of SLP increasing the chain size for the MnF sample, while for BNF-starch no effect was found at the same experimental conditions. The decrease of SLP in the MnF sample, within the particle concentration range, was explained considering in the model not only the effect in the anisotropy but also by an increase in the damping factor parameter, a term correlated to spin-phonon interaction. Data obtained using EMR and Monte Carlo simulations corroborate our hypothesis. The absence of concentration effect for the BNF sample was attributed to the higher anisotropy value and to the probable influence of brownian relaxation. In addition, the same chain model was used to investigate the behavior of blocked nanoparticles of Stoner-Wohlfarth type. In this case, we demonstrate that the chain formation increases the magnetic hyperthermia, as found in magnetosomes. Finally, we showed that a fluctuation of the dipolar interaction field between particles in the chain, which does not destroy the symmetry of this term, shows a Vogel-Fulcher behaviour in the weak coupling regime. / Nanopartículas magnéticas são capazes de gerar calor quando submetidas a campo magnético alternado de amplitude e frequência adequadas. Este fenômeno é conhecido como magnetohipertermia e possui aplicações terapêuticas como, por exemplo, no tratamento de câncer. Em geral, os modelos teóricos que descrevem o fenômeno não levam em conta efeitos associados à interação partícula-partícula. Nesta tese investigamos o efeito da interação dipolar magnética na eficiência magnetotérmica (SLP) de nanopartículas magnéticas biocompatíveis. Primeiramente desenvolvemos um modelo de cadeia de nanopartículas magnéticas, aonde provamos que a interação entre partículas que formam uma cadeia linear equivalem a uma contribuição uniaxial a anisotropia. Essa contribuição à densidade de energia permitiu que obtivéssemos por meio da técnica de ressonância magnética eletrônica (RME) informações acerca do tamanho médio de aglomerado na suspensão coloidal. Posteriormente utilizamos esse termo adicional da anisotropia efetiva da nanopartícula para propor um modelo teórico analítico que leve em consideração o efeito de tal interação na eficiência de aquecimento de nanopartículas magnéticas em um fluido para o caso em que a magnetização das nanopartículas responde linearmente ao campo (Teoria da Resposta Linear). Nossos cálculos indicaram que, dependendo de parâmetros da nanopartícula, em particular da anisotropia, este efeito pode aumentar ou diminuir a geração de calor. Além disso, mostramos que o aumento do número de partículas formando cadeias lineares reduz o diâmetro ótimo para hipertermia em até 30% em relação ao valor esperado para partículas isoladas. Este resultado possui fortes implicações clínicas, e permitiu que sugeríssemos algumas estratégias para aumentar a eficiência terapêutica. No intuito de investigar experimentalmente este efeito, dois fluidos magnéticos, um contendo nanopartículas esféricas de ferrita de Mn (MnF-citrato) no regime superparamagnético e outra comercial (BNF-starch) à base de magnetita com forma de nanoparalelepípedos e contendo partículas bloqueadas, foram selecionados e amplamente caracterizados. Observamos uma diminuição no SLP com o aumento de partículas na cadeia para a amostra MnF-citrato, para todos os valores de campo, enquanto que para a amostra BNF-starch não percebemos alteração do SLP. O decréscimo do SLP da amostra MnF, na faixa de concentração investigada, foi explicado incluindo não apenas o efeito na anisotropia efetiva, mas também o aumento no valor do fator de amortecimento. Dados de RME e simulação de Monte Carlo corroboraram tal hipótese. A ausência de efeito para amostra BNF-starch foi atribuída à alta anisotropia e provável influência de relaxação browniana. Adicionalmente, o modelo de cadeia foi usado para explicar o comportamento de nanopartículas bloqueadas do tipo Stoner-Wohlfarth. Neste caso demonstramos que a formação de cadeias aumenta a hipertermia magnética, como verificado em magnetossomos. Finalmente, mostramos que uma flutuação no campo dipolar interpartículas na cadeia, que não destrua a simetria desta contribuição, fornece um comportamento do tipo Vogel-Fulcher no regime fracamente interagente.

Les peptides pénétrants sont de petits peptides capables de se rentrer dans les cellules sans endommager la membrane, présentant un grand potentiel dans la délivrance de diverses cargaisons, y compris des peptides, pour le traitement du cancer ainsi que d'autres maladies. Les peptides comme médicaments, bénéficient d'être spécifiques, relativement sûrs, faciles à produire et faciles à modifier. Cependant, des défis significatifs demeurent concernant l'application de peptides en tant qu'agents thérapeutiques. L'identification des motifs de liaison des peptides est difficile et les peptides se comportent généralement avec une perméabilité cellulaire faible et une sensibilité à l'hydrolyse des proteases. Dans le présent travail, nous avons caractérisé deux interactions protéine-protéine Ras/Raf et PP2A/SET qui sont impliqués dans la régulation de la transformation tumorale et de l'apoptose. Nous avons identifié le site de liaison parmi ces protéines (peptides interférents). Ces peptides interférents ont été associés à une navette optimisée pour générer des peptides chimériques capables de dissocier ces interactions protéine/protéine. Les peptides chimeriques ont été testés in vitro et in vivo, montrant un effet anti-tumor. Ces peptides pourraient être considérés comme des candidats prometteurs pour des applications futures en tant que vecteurs pour la délivrance de médicaments intracellulaires. / Cell penetrating peptides are small peptides which are able to translocate into cells without causing membrane damage, presenting a great potential in the delivery of various cargos including peptides, for the treatment of cancer as well as other diseases. Peptides as drugs, benefit from being specific, relative safe, easy to produce and easy to modify. However, significant challenges remain regarding the application of peptides as therapeutic agents. Identification of the binding motifs of the peptides is difficult, and peptides generally behave low-cellular permeability and sensitivity to proteases hydrolysis. In the present work, we characterized two protein-protein interactions Ras/Raf and PP2A/SET that are involved in the regulation of tumor transformation and apoptosis. We have identified the binding site among these proteins (interfering peptides). These interfering peptides were associated to an optimized shuttle to generate chimeric peptides able to dissociate these protein/protein interactions. The chimeric peptides were tested in vitro an in vivo, showing an anti-tumor effect. These peptides could be considered as promising candidates for future applications as vectors for intracellular drugs delivery.