There is a global rise in the use of herbal products in combination with allopathic medicines, while most patients do not inform their health care providers of the use of these natural products. Both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic interactions between herbal products and conventional drugs must be avoided for the wellbeing of the patient. Increasing evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that changed drug pharmacokinetics by co-administered herbs may be attributed to modulation of efflux drug transporters such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Garlic (Allium sativum), lemon (Citrus limonum) and beetroot (Beta vulgaris) are widely used by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients, especially following the pronouncement by a former President of South Africa and the Ministers of Health at that time who promoted the use of these botanicals in HIV patients. The aim of this study was to measure the bi-directional in vitro transport of indinavir, a protease inhibitor, in the presence of crude extracts and pure phytoconstituents of A. sativum (L-alliin and diallyl disulphide), C. limonum (hesperidin and eriocitrin) and B. vulgaris (betaine monohydrate and ß-carotene) across excised porcine intestinal tissue in Sweetana-Grass diffusion chambers. In the negative control group, the transport of indinavir alone (200 M) was determined with no modulator added. In the positive control group, the transport of indinavir was determined in the presence of verapamil (100 M), a known P-gp related efflux inhibitor. The control experiments were used to indicate that the effects of the test compounds were caused by their action and not by chance interferences or external factors. Samples collected at pre-determined time intervals were analysed by means of a validated high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method and the transport was expressed as the apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) and the transepithelial flux (J) from which the efflux ratio (ER) and the net flux (Jnet) values were calculated. Statistical analysis was used to compare the results of the test compounds with the control groups in order to indicate significant differences. The mean ER value for indinavir in the negative control group was 1.41 ± 0.170 and in the positive control group it was 0.56 ± 0.0426. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) inhibition of indinavir efflux as indicated by reduced ER values was obtained for L-alliin (ER = 0.280 ± 0.030), diallyl disulphide (ER = 0.505 ± 0.034) and ß-carotene (ER = 0.664 ± 0.075). Inhibition of indinavir efflux will lead to increased transport and therefore a potentially higher bioavailability. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) promotion of indinavir efflux as indicated by increased ER values was obtained for C. limonum crude extract (ER = 5.551 ± 0.575) and hesperidin (ER = 3.385 ± 0.477), which potentially may lead to lower bioavalability. B. vulgaris crude extract (p = 0.8452), betaine monohydrate (p = 0.9982), A. sativum crude extract (p = 0.7161) and eriocitrin (p = 0.4431) displayed no statistically significant effect compared to the negative control group on indinavir transport across excised porcine intestinal tissue. The results from this study demonstrate that L-alliin, diallyl disulphide and ß-carotene have an inhibitory effect on indinavir efflux, which may significantly increase indinavir plasma levels after oral administration. C. limonum crude extract and hesperidin promote indinavir efflux, which may significantly reduce indinavir plasma levels. These pharmacokinetic interactions between certain drugs and plant extracts may negatively affect the anti-retroviral treatment of HIV patients, but deliberate and controlled inclusion of L-alliin, diallyl disulphide and ß-carotene in dosage forms may possibly cause more effective delivery of protease inhibitors after oral administration resulting in less frequent dosing intervals. / Thesis (MSc (Pharmaceutics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

New technologies to probe the global output of the normal and cancer genomes have recently reached widespread use. The resulting genomewide gene expression profiles, e.g, a gene expression measurement per gene and per tissue sample, remain challenging to analyze and interpret, but have already provided new insights into the pathophysiology of cancer and towards personalized care.<p><p><p>In vitro cell culture-based experimental models are used to elucidate cancer onset and progression because experimentation in humans is difficult practically and ethically unacceptable, and because they provide simplified, reproducible and controlled systems to test hypotheses. The thyroid tumors and their in vitro experimental models are particularly suited to compare the molecular phenotypes of experimental models and tumors. From one type of cell, the thyrocyte, at least five distinct benign and malignant tumors can arise. In addition, many immortalized tumor-derived cell lines and primary cultures models of these cells exist.<p><p><p>This thesis has focused on the bioinformatic comparison of these in vitro models to the in vivo tumors, from the point of view of their gene expression profiles, to gain insight into the pathogenesis of thyroid tumors, and of tumors in general.<p><p><p>In a first study, we showed that primary cultures of freshly isolated normal thyroid cells where proliferation and differentiation through the TSHR/cAMP pathway was chronically activated experimentally resemble specifically the autonomous thyroid adenomas, a type of benign thyroid tumor, and provide insight into a general mechanism of tumor progression: the suppression of negative feedbacks that normally restrain excessive cell division.<p><p><p>Subsequently, we found that immortalized thyroid tumor-derived cell lines have converged to a common phenotype regardless of their tumor subtype of origin. A TSHR/cAMP thyroid cell differentiation signature, derived from data obtained for the first study, was used to show that the cell lines were dedifferentiated. Accordingly, we showed that the cell lines resemble most the phenotype of the more dedifferentiated, clinically aggressive anaplastic thyroid cancers.<p><p><p>Finally, using large databases of gene expression profiles publicly available, we extended the comparison of cell lines and tumors to cancers of five other organs: breast, colon, kidney, ovary and lung. We discuss the correct use of these models and advance an hypothesis regarding the nature of the state to which these cells have converged: they could represent a surviving subpopulation of tumors cells, cancer stem cells, capable of initiating and maintaining tumor growth.<p><p><p>As other technologies designed to perturb the genome in experimental models are emerging, careful characterization and validation of the experimental models are needed to extrapolate the results in vivo.<p> / Doctorat en sciences biomédicales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Notre équipe vient de découvrir une méthode originale d’obtention d’extraits de Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (E) qui préserve sa viabilité. Après culture anaérobie de ce commensal intestinal en milieu gélosé pauvre en facteurs de croissance, puis exposition à l’air, la bactérie semble posséder et générer dans E tout l’équipement de détoxication des espèces réactives de l’oxygène in vitro. Il laisse alors augurer d’un pouvoir thérapeutique à visée anti-inflammatoire.Objectifs et méthodes : Le but est d’abord de caractériser E, aux plans glucidique, lipidique et protéique. Dans ce dernier cas, il s’agit de séparer les protéines produites par la bactérie vivante et contenues dans E par électrophorèse bidimensionnelle et de les identifier par la technique des cartes peptidiques massiques. Les gels (n&#8805;6) sont traités statistiquement (PDQuest®, Bio-Rad). Pour mieux localiser ces protéines dans la bactérie, elles sont comparées avec celles obtenues par destruction de B. thetaiotaomicron et identifiées dans la fraction cellulaire relative à la membrane bactérienne externe. Un travail de microscopie électronique est aussi entrepris pour visualiser les éventuels évènements intervenant pendant l’extraction.Le but est alors de vérifier, in vitro, l’effet antioxydant de l’extrait bactérien standardisé et d’en contrôler l’innocuité en modèles cellulaires utilisant le granulocyte neutrophile. L’effet thérapeutique anti-inflammatoire est ensuite recherché chez l’animal. L’action de E est d’abord évaluée en modèle murin d’inflammation cutanée auriculaire induite par dépôt de chlorure de benzalkonium, sous anesthésie générale. Des témoins positifs et négatifs de traitement et d’autres ne subissant pas d’irritation sont testés en parallèle. L’épaisseur des oreilles est mesurée toutes les heures pendant 5 h et des coupes histologiques d’oreilles, effectuées au bout de 2 h chez certains animaux. Deux colorations différentes permettent alors d’évaluer la quantité de mastocytes dégranulant localement.L’action de E, administré par voie intra-rectale (IR), est ensuite testée chez des souris subissant les premières phases d’un processus inflammatoire, en modèle de colite aiguë. Celle-ci est induite per os par du dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) ; elle évolue sur 8 jours. Sont considérés en parallèle des témoins positifs et négatifs de traitement et d’autres ne subissant pas de colite. Des scores cliniques et des scores histologiques de sévérité sont établis tous les jours de l’expérience. Des marqueurs de l’inflammation sont suivis dans les tissus murins après autopsie des animaux. [...] / Our team had discovered a new method to obtain extracts of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (E) which preserved its viability. This intestinal symbiont was anaerobically grown on an agar medium poorly supplemented in growth factors. After exposure to air, the bacterium seemed to possess and generate in E all the equipment able in vitro to detoxify reactive oxygen species. It let us expect a therapeutic power referred to anti-inflammatory properties.Objectives and methods: The aim was first to characterize E, in terms of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. To achieve this last-mentioned goal, proteins contained in E coming from living bacteria were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and identified by the peptide mass fingerprinting technique. The gels (n &#8805; 6) were statistically analyzed (PDQuest®, Bio-Rad). To find the origin of these proteins in bacteria, they were compared with those obtained by destruction of B. thetaiotaomicron (BT) and identified in the cell fraction containing the bacterial outer membrane proteins. Electron microscopy work was also undertaken to visualize any event occurring during extraction.The antioxidative effect of standardized E extracts was checked in vitro. E safety was also controlled in cell models using polymorphonuclear neutrophils. An E anti-inflammatory effect was then searched in animal models. E was first evaluated using a skin irritation mouse model. Inflammation was induced by benzalkonium chloride on ears of anesthetized mice. Positive and negative controls were treated in parallel. The ear thickness was measured every hour for 5 h and histological ear sections were performed after 2h for some animals. Two different staining methods enabled the enumeration of degranulating mast cells in ear sections.The effect of the bacterial extract was next tested locally by intrarectal (IR) instillations in mice undergoing the early stages of inflammation in a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. This acute model evolved over 8 days. In parallel, positive and negative animal controls underwent or not the colitis and were treated or not. Clinical and colonic histological severity scores were daily determined. Inflammation markers were measured in mouse colonic tissues after animal autopsy. [...]

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Although rare, classification of over 200 hereditary cancer susceptibility syndromes accounting for ~5-10% of cancer incidence has enabled the discovery and understanding of cancer predisposition genes that are also frequently mutated in sporadic cancers. The need to prevent or delay invasive cancer can partly be addressed by characterization of cells derived from healthy individuals predisposed to cancer due to inherited "single-hits" in genes in order to develop patient-derived samples as preclinical models for mechanistic in vitro studies. Here, we present microarray-based transcriptome profiling of Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) patient-derived unaffected breast epithelial cells and their phenotypic characterization as in vitro three-dimensional (3D) models to test pharmacological agents. In this study, the epithelial cells derived from the unaffected breast tissue of a LFS patient were cultured and progressed from non-neoplastic to a malignant stage by successive immortalization and transformation steps followed by growth in athymic mice. These cell lines exhibited distinct transcriptomic profiles and were readily distinguishable based upon their gene expression patterns, growth characteristics in monolayer and in vitro 3D cultures. Transcriptional changes in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition gene signature contributed to the unique phenotypes observed in 3D culture for each cell line of the progression series; the fully transformed LFS cells exhibited invasive processes in 3D culture with disorganized morphologies due to cell-cell miscommunication, as seen in breast cancer. Bioinformatics analysis of the deregulated genes and pathways showed inherent differences between these cell lines and targets for pharmacological agents. After treatment with small molecule APR-246 that restores normal function to mutant p53, we observed that the neoplastic LFS cells had reduced malignant invasive structure formation from 73% to 9%, as well as an observance of an increase in formation of well-organized structures in 3D culture (from 27% to 91%) by stereomicroscopy and confocal microscopy. Therefore, the use of well-characterized and physiologically relevant preclinical models in conjunction with transcriptomic profiling of high-risk patient derived samples as a renewable laboratory resource can potentially guide the development of safer and more effective chemopreventive approaches.

La barrière hémato-encéphalique (BHE) protège le système nerveux central (SNC) des fluctuations plasmatiques des molécules endogènes, mais aussi exogènes, et notamment des molécules à potentiel thérapeutique. L’imperméabilité de la BHE est compensée par la présence de mécanismes qui assurent le transport transendothélial des nutriments nécessaires au tissu nerveux, parmi lesquels la transcytose relayée par différents récepteurs. Dans le but d’améliorer le transfert d’agents thérapeutiques à travers la BHE, nous développons des « vecteurs » qui se lient à certains de ces récepteurs. Au cours de notre thèse, nous avons développé et optimisé des modèles in vitro de BHE et barrière sang-moelle épinière (BSME) syngéniques de rats et souris, basés sur la co-culture de cellules endothéliales microvasculaires (CEMs) cérébrales (CEMCs) ou spinales (CEMSs) et d'astrocytes. Parmi les récepteurs étudiés, nous montrons que le LDLR est exprimé à la membrane plasmique apicale des CEMCs et qu’il est impliqué dans la transcytose du LDL tout en évitant le compartiment lysosomal, confirmant l’intérêt de son ciblage dans nos approches. Nous montrons que nos vecteurs, conjugués à une molécule organique ou à un cargo protéique, sont endocytés par les CEMCs de façon LDLR-dépendante, évitent le compartiment lysosomal et franchissent la monocouche de CEMCs. Nous avons également mis en place des modèles in vitro de BHE et BSME enflammés, sachant que l’inflammation des CEMs est associée à de nombreuses pathologies du SNC. Ces modèles seront utiles pour évaluer des stratégies de vectorisation ciblant préférentiellement les structures du SNC en situation pathologique. / The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the central nervous system (CNS) from plasma fluctuations of endogenous, but also exogenous molecules, including therapeutic molecules. The BBB’s restrictive properties are compensated by the presence of different mechanisms that provide transport of nutrients across the BBB, including transcytosis of endogenous ligands mediated by receptors. Our objective is to improve drug delivery across the BBB and we developed “vectors” that target different recpetors. During our thesis we developed and optimized cellular tools and approaches, in particular syngeneic in vitro models of the BBB and blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) from both rat and mouse, based on the co-culture of brain (BMECs) or spinal cord (SCMECs) microvascular endothelial cells (MECs) and astrocytes. Among the receptors we studied, we show that the LDL receptor (LDLR) is expressed at the apical plasma membrane of BMECs and confirmed that it is involved in transcytosis of LDL through the vesicular compartment, while avoiding the lysosomal compartment, further establishing its interest as a target receptor. We show that our vectors conjugated to an organic molecule or to a protein cargo are endocytosed by BMECs in a LDLR-dependent manner, avoid the lysosomal compartment and cross the BMEC monolayers. Finally, we developed BBB and BSCB in vitro models in inflammatory conditions, considering that MECs inflammation is associated with many CNS lesions and pathologies. These models will be useful to better understand the inflammatory processes of CNS endothelial cells and to evaluate vectorization strategies preferentially targeting CNS structures in pathological condition.