Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 361-367).

Cancer cells, unlike normal tissue, frequently rely on glycolysis for the production of energy and the metabolic intermediates required for their growth regardless of cellular oxygenation levels. This metabolic reconfiguration, termed the Warburg effect, provides a potential strategy to preferentially target tumours from a therapeutic perspective. The present study sought to investigate the glycolytic phenotype of breast and ovarian cancer, and assess the possibility of exploiting several glycolytic targets therapeutically. Initially the growth dependency of breast and ovarian cancer cells on the availability of glucose was established. An array of 10 compounds reported to inhibit key enzymes of the glycolytic pathway were investigated and compared against an extended panel of breast and ovarian cancer cell line models. All inhibitors investigated, targeted against multiple points of the pathway, were shown to block the glycolytic pathway as demonstrated by glucose accumulation in the culture media combined with decreased lactate secretion, and attenuated breast and ovarian cancer cell proliferation in a concentration dependent manner. Furthermore their mechanism of action was investigated by flow cytometric analysis and their antiproliferative effect was associated with induction of apoptosis and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. The glycolytic inhibitors were further assessed in combination strategies with established chemotherapeutic and targeted agents and several synergistic interactions, characterised by low combination index values, were revealed. Among them, 3PO (a novel PFKFB3 inhibitor) enhanced the effect of cisplatin in both platinum sensitive and platinum resistant ovarian cancer cells suggesting a strategy for treatment of platinum resistant disease. Furthermore robust synergy was identified between IOM-1190 (a novel GLUT1 inhibitor) and metformin, an antidiabetic inhibitor of oxidative phosphorylation, resulting in strong inhibition of breast cancer cell growth. This combination is proposed for the treatment of highly aggressive triple negative breast tumours. An additional objective of this research was to investigate the effect of the oxygen level on sensitivity to glycolysis inhibition. Breast cancer cells were found to be more sensitive to glycolysis inhibition in high oxygen conditions. This enhanced resistance at low oxygen levels was associated with upregulation of the targeted glycolytic enzymes as demonstrated at both the mRNA (by gene expression microarray profiling, Illumina BeadArrays) and protein level (by Western blotting). Manipulation of LDHA (Lactate Dehydrogenase A) by siRNA knockdown provided further evidence that downregulation of this target was sufficient to significantly suppress breast cancer cell proliferation. Finally, the expression of selected glycolytic targets was examined in a clinical tissue microarray set of a large cohort of ovarian tumours using quantitative immunofluorescence technology, AQUA. The role of the glycolytic phenotype in ovarian cancer was suggested and interesting associations between the glycolytic profile and clear cell and endometrioid ovarian cancers revealed. Increased PKM2 (Pyruvate kinase isozyme M2) and LDHA expression were demonstrated in clear cell tumours and also low expression of these enzymes was significantly correlated with improved survival of endometrioid ovarian cancer patients. Taken together the findings of this study support the glycolytic pathway as a legitimate target for further investigation in breast and ovarian cancer treatment.

A aprotinina, um inibidor de serinoproteinase ácido resistente de massa molar de 7 kDa, é utilizada como insumo ou medicamento. O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi purificar a aprotinina a partir de pulmão suíno. Três procedimentos foram utilizados. O primeiro procedimento utilizou a coluna de tripsina-agarose, o segundo procedimento utilizou a filtração tangencial e coluna de tripsina-Sepharose. O terceiro procedimento utilizou três cromatografias: filtração em gel, troca-iônica e afinidade (tripsina-agarose). A aprotinina suína foi purificada de pulmão utilizando o terceiro procedimento. A seqüência parcial do gene da aprotinina suína apresentou 74% de identidade com a seqüência do gene da aprotinina bovina. Outros dois inibidores de serinoproteinases ácido resistentes foram purificados, são eles: o fragmento ativo do segundo domínio do inibidor de leucoprotease secretada (SLPI), e um segundo inibidor de alta massa molecular, provavelmente bikunina. O protocolo de purificação utilizado neste trabalho recuperou 85mg de aprotinina suína por kg de pulmão. / Aprotinin, an acid stable serine proteinase inhibitor with a molecular mass of 7 kDa, is used as a reagent or drug. The purification of the aprotinin from porcine lungs was the main objective of this work. Three procedures were used. The first one utilized the trypsin-agarose column. The tangential ultra filtration and trypsin-Sepharose column were used in the second procedure. And finally, the gel filtration, ion-exchange and affinity chromatography were employed in the third procedure. The porcine lung aprotinin was purified using the third procedure. The partial sequence of the aprotinin gene was obtained and showed 74% of the identity with the aprotinin bovine gene sequence. Another two acid stable serine proteinase inhibitors were purified: the active fragment of the secretory leukoprotease inhibitor second domain, and one high molecular mass inhibitor, probably bikunina. The purification protocol used in this work recovered 85mg of the porcine aprotinin from kg of lung.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2008.

A aprotinina, um inibidor de serinoproteinase ácido resistente de massa molar de 7 kDa, é utilizada como insumo ou medicamento. O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi purificar a aprotinina a partir de pulmão suíno. Três procedimentos foram utilizados. O primeiro procedimento utilizou a coluna de tripsina-agarose, o segundo procedimento utilizou a filtração tangencial e coluna de tripsina-Sepharose. O terceiro procedimento utilizou três cromatografias: filtração em gel, troca-iônica e afinidade (tripsina-agarose). A aprotinina suína foi purificada de pulmão utilizando o terceiro procedimento. A seqüência parcial do gene da aprotinina suína apresentou 74% de identidade com a seqüência do gene da aprotinina bovina. Outros dois inibidores de serinoproteinases ácido resistentes foram purificados, são eles: o fragmento ativo do segundo domínio do inibidor de leucoprotease secretada (SLPI), e um segundo inibidor de alta massa molecular, provavelmente bikunina. O protocolo de purificação utilizado neste trabalho recuperou 85mg de aprotinina suína por kg de pulmão. / Aprotinin, an acid stable serine proteinase inhibitor with a molecular mass of 7 kDa, is used as a reagent or drug. The purification of the aprotinin from porcine lungs was the main objective of this work. Three procedures were used. The first one utilized the trypsin-agarose column. The tangential ultra filtration and trypsin-Sepharose column were used in the second procedure. And finally, the gel filtration, ion-exchange and affinity chromatography were employed in the third procedure. The porcine lung aprotinin was purified using the third procedure. The partial sequence of the aprotinin gene was obtained and showed 74% of the identity with the aprotinin bovine gene sequence. Another two acid stable serine proteinase inhibitors were purified: the active fragment of the secretory leukoprotease inhibitor second domain, and one high molecular mass inhibitor, probably bikunina. The purification protocol used in this work recovered 85mg of the porcine aprotinin from kg of lung.