Mit der Entdeckung der katalytischen Aktivität von Ribonukleinsäuren wurde begonnen, darauf basierende therapeutische Strategien zu entwickeln, die auf genetischer Ebene den Stoffwechsel oder virale Infektionen von Zellen beeinflussen. Entsprechende Oligoribonukleotide waren befähigt, spezifisch RNA-Stränge zu erkennen und zu spalten. In Analogie zu Enzymen wurden sie als Ribozyme bezeichnet. Aufgabe der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Entwicklung eines metabolisch stabilen Hammerhead-Ribozyms. Dieses sollte lipidvermittelt in die Zellen des Nierenzellkarzinoms RCC 95/96 transfiziert werden und dort die Genexpression des dem Parathormon verwandten Proteins (PTHrP) durch die Spaltung der PTHrP-mRNA unterdrücken. Ausgangspunkt der Entwicklung war das Hammerhead-Ribozym RbO. Es wies in zellfreien Versuchen bei der Spaltung einer 232 Basen langen Substrat-RNA mit einem k(obs)-Wert von 47,42 E-3 /min eine zur Literatur vergleichbar hohe Aktivität auf, jedoch zeigte es sich als reiner RNA-Strang gegenüber Nukleasen sehr fragil. Das Endprodukt der in mehreren Schritten abgelaufenen Weiterentwicklung des Ribozyms RbO stellte das Ribozym RbS dar. Im Vergleich zum Ausgangsribozym bestand das in der Stammschleife verkürzte Ribozym zu 71 % aus DNA. Es besaß Phosphorothioatmodifi-kationen in den Flanken und in den konservierten Sequenzbereichen. Zudem war durch einen Basenwechsel im katalytischen Teil der Stammschleife eine Pyrimidinbase durch eine Purinbase ausgetauscht worden. Zu-sammen bedingten die genannten Veränderungen eine Steigerung der Ribozymstabilität um mehr als das Zehnfache. Dabei war die katalytische Aktivität des Ribozyms RbS mit einem k(obs)-Wert von 45,76 E-3 /min gegenüber RbO annähernd identisch. Das schrittweise Vorgehen bei der Ribozymentwicklung mit dem Erstellen von 20 unterschiedlich modifi-zierten Ribozymen ermöglichte es, den Einfluss einzelner Modifikationen auf die Ribozymaktivität zu prüfen. Mehrfach konnten dabei die Ergebnisse anderer Forschungsgruppen bestätigt werden. So wurde erkannt, dass für viele Modifikationen, wie Ribozymverkleinerung, RNA-DNA-Basenaustausch und Phosphorothioa-teinbindung, die Auswirkung auf die katalytische Aktivität nur begrenzt vorherzusagen ist und optimale Er-gebnisse nur durch Testreihen zu erlangen sind. Bei der Behandlung der Tumorzellen in Monolayer-Zellkultur ließ sich für das Ribozym RbS keine signifi-kante Wirkung nachweisen. Als Ursache dafür ist am ehesten die auf Grund von Sekundärstrukturen fehlende Erkennung der Zielsequenz innerhalb der PTHrP-mRNA anzunehmen. / The development of therapeutic strategies affecting cellular metabolism and viral infections of cells was in-troduced after the discovery of the catalytic activity of ribonucleic acid. Appropriate oligoribonucletides were able to specificly recognize and cleave RNA strands. They were called ribozymes by analogy with enzymes. The main task of our research was the development of a metabolic stable hammerhead ribozym. The ribozym should be transfected by lipid mediated transport into renal carcinoma cells RCC 95/96 where it should suppress the gene expression of parathormone-related peptide (PTHrP) by means of cleavage of the PTHrP mRNA. The hammerhead ribozyme RbO was the starting point of the development. Its activity in cleavage of 232 base long subsrats in cell-free tests was comparable to the literature (k(obs) value 47,42 E-3 /min). However it was very fragile regarding nucleases. The end product of the gradual further develop-ment of the ribozyme RbO was the ribozyme RbS. This ribozyme which was shortened in helix 2 consisted of 71 percent DNA in comparison to the original one. It was modified with phosphorothioates in helix 1 and 3 and in the conserved sequence regions. Furthermore a pyrimidine base was exchanged for a purine base in the catalytic part of helix 2. Altogether the named alterations increased the stability of the ribozyme more than 10 times. The catalytic activity of the ribozyme RbS compared to RbO was approximately identical (k(obs) value 45,76 E-3 /min). The step-by-step development of the ribozymes with the creation of 20 different modified ribozyms made it possible to study the impact of individual modifications on the ribozyme activity. Often the results of other research groups were confirmed. Thus it was detected that the effects of some modifications like ribozyme reduction, RNA-DNA base exchange and phosphorothioates integration are only partly predictable. Therefo-re optimal results are only obtained by a number of tests. Finally we could not demonstrate a significant effect of the ribozyme RbS in the treatment of tumor cells in monolayer. The most likely explanation for this seems to be that the target sequence inside of the PTHrP-mRNA wasn't recognized due to secondary structures.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第17946号 / 医博第3830号 / 新制||医||1000(附属図書館) / 30776 / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 稲垣 暢也, 教授 小西 郁生, 教授 安達 泰治 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

La glomérulonéphrite mésangioproliférative (GNMP) se caractérise par une inflammation locale et la prolifération et l’apoptose des cellules mésangiales (CM). La protéine apparentée à l’hormone parathyroïdienne (PTHrP) a été impliquée dans ces processus dans divers types cellulaires. Nous avons analysé les effets de la PTHrP sur ces processus dans les CM. Nous montrons que la PTHrP majore la prolifération des CM par voie intracrine et diminue leur apoptose par voie paracrine. La PTHrP stimule les voies de l’AMPc/PKA et PI3-K/Akt conduisant à l’activation du NFkB et à la majoration de la cyclooxygénase-2 (Cox-2). La Cox-2 était responsable de la survie des CM par la PTHrP. Par ailleurs, l’IL-1beta et le TNF-alpha majorent l’expression de la PTHrP dans les CM, et la PTHrP elle-même induisait l’expression de cytokines et chimiokines. L’expression des cytokines (IL-17, IL-16), était brève (pic à 2h). L’expression des chimiokine (RANTES, MIP-2, TARC et I-TAC) était plus prolongée (4h). Dans un modèle murin de GNMP, la PTHrP était surexprimée à J1 dans les glomérules malades. Elle pourrait contribuer à l’inflammation locale, à la prolifération et à la survie des CM. / Mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) is characterized by mesangial cells (MC) inflammation, proliferation and apoptosis. The parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is known to influence these processes in many cell types. In this work we analyzed the effects of PTHrP on MC proliferation, apoptosis and inflammation. Our results show that PTHrP induced MC proliferation through the intracrine pathway while it promoted their survival through the paracrine one. PTHrP activating its receptor PTH1R, led to the activation of cAMP/PKA and PI3-K/Akt pathways, which induced NF-kappaB, and upregulated the cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2). We have shown that the Cox-2 was responsible of the anti-apoptotic effect of PTHrP on MC. Otherwise, IL-1beta and TNF-alpha importantly upregulated the PTHrP in MC and PTHrP itself led to an overexpression of many cytokines and chemokines. The overexpression of cytokines (IL-17 and IL-16) was brief (2h) while that of chemokines was extended (4h). In a mouse model of MPGN, PTHrP was upregulated in the injured glomeruli at day 1. PTHrP may then contribute to the inflammation, the proliferation and the survival of MC.

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A prognostic factor is a marker or a feature that can be used to estimate the risk of recurrence of disease, metastatic spread and clinical outcome. Despite intensive search for more sophisticated markers in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), few have added prognostic information to earlier described factors like stage of disease, nuclear grade, tumour type, and in metastatic disease; performance status, anaemia, hypercalcaemia and increased erythrocyte sedimentation. In the dominating tumour type, clear cell renal RCC (cRCC), hypoxia is common, leading to an up-regulation of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF). The majority of cRCC have a mutation in the von Hippel Lindau gene (VHL-gene), which regulates HIF and in turn leads to up-regulation of a number of target genes for potential growth factors. The aim of the study was to evaluate the possible prognostic information of a few factors associated to pVHL/HIF, anemia and/or hypercalcaemia in RCC; erythropoietin (EPO) and it´s receptor (EPO-R), carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX), parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) and osteopontin (OPN). Patients diagnosed with RCC between 1982-2007 were included in the studies. The tumour tissue expressions of EPO, EPO-R and PTHrP were assessed using immunohistochemistry. Serum/plasma levels of EPO, CA IX, PTHrP and OPN were also analyzed using immunometric methods. Our study demonstrated that the expression of EPO and EPO-R were related, and the expressions differed significantly between RCC types. The serum EPO levels did not associate to the tumour expression of EPO or EPO-R, indicating that circulating EPO derives from other sources than tumour cells. Erythropietin receptor expression was more frequent in advanced stages of disease, but neither EPO, nor EPO-R, were independent prognostic factors for survival. Serum CA IX levels were higher in cRCC compared to papillary RCC (pRCC). In cRCC, the CA IX serum levels correlated positively to TNM stage, but serum CA IX did not add independent prognostic information. Parathyroid hormone-related protein is a cause of hypercalcaemia in malignancy, and we observed that circulating PTHrP related to hypercalcaemia in RCC. The tumour expression of PTHrP associated positively to serum PTHrP, but not to serum calcium. We found an association between PTHrP and OPN in plasma, and both plasma PTHrP and OPN were positively associated to TNM stage.  Neither serum/plasma PTHrP nor tumour expression of PTHrP were independent prognostic factors for survival. The serum OPN levels were higher in pRCC but no impact on survival was observed in this RCC type. In contrast, plasma/serum OPN was an independent prognostic factor for disease-specific survival in cRCC. Our results support a role for these factors in RCC. The expressions vary between tumour types, which can be explained by different gene aberrations. Some of the factors have a close relation to para-malignant symptoms like hypercalcaemia. Most of the factors correlate positively to TNM-stage, reflecting a relation to advanced disease. Although expression of EPO, EPO-R, PTHrP and CA IX did not add independent prognostic information, the results might contribute to greater understanding of important mechanisms and associations in RCC. Osteopontin is a strong independent prognostic factor in cRCC, and should be further evaluated as a tool in the clinic when treating RCC patients.

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Skeletal metastasis is a lethal component of many advanced cancers including prostate, the second most common cancer among men. Patients whose prostate cancer is localized and detected early benefit from multiple treatment options ranging from active surveillance to radiation and surgery, resulting in a 5-year survival rate of nearly 100%. Unfortunately, the prognosis and survival for patients with advanced metastatic disease is much worse due to the highly aggressive nature of the disease and a paucity of treatment options. Understanding the mechanisms and interactions that occur between metastatic cancer cells and the bone will enable the future treatment landscape for bone metastatic prostate cancer to expand, thereby improving patient outcomes. Our current knowledge of how metastatic prostate cancer cells interact with the bone is summarized in a model known as the “vicious cycle.” Numerous fundamental vicious cycle factors have been identified, including parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), while additional elements, such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), are progressively being discovered and added to the model. PTHrP is a critical regulator of bone resorption and augments osteolysis in skeletal malignancies. In Chapter 2, we report that the mature PTHrP1-36 hormone is processed by MMPs to yield a stable product, PTHrP1-17. PTHrP1-17 retains the ability to signal through PTH1R to induce calcium flux and ERK phosphorylation but not cyclic AMP production or CREB phosphorylation. Notably, PTHrP1-17 promotes osteoblast migration and mineralization in vitro, and systemic administration of PTHrP1-17 augments ectopic bone formation in vivo. Further, in contrast to PTHrP1-36, PTHrP1-17 does not affect osteoclast formation/function in vitro or in vivo. Finally, immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry analyses using PTHrP1-17-specific antibodies establish that PTHrP1-17 is indeed generated by cancer cells. Thus, MMP-directed processing of PTHrP disables the osteolytic functions of the mature hormone to promote osteogenesis, indicating important roles for this mechanism in bone remodeling in normal and disease contexts. MMPs have traditionally been associated with cancer progression based on their extracellular matrix degrading activities. However, it has become evident that their regulation of non-extracellular matrix substrates can exert both contributive and protective effects during tumorigenesis. Previous studies of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) have demonstrated tissue dependent pro- and anti-tumorigenic effects, but despite elevated expression, its roles have not been explored in bone metastatic prostate cancer. In Chapter 3, we show that tumor-derived MMP-3 contributes to prostate tumor growth in bone. In vitro, we observe that silencing MMP-3 reduces prostate cancer cell proliferation. Further, we found increased levels of IGFBP3, a known MMP-3 substrate, and decreased IGF-1R, ERK, and AKT phosphorylation in the MMP-3 silenced cells. Notably, we also observe reduced tumor growth and proliferation in in vivo intratibial models when tumor-derived MMP-3 expression is silenced. These data suggest that increased MMP-3 expression by prostate cancer cells contributes to their proliferation in bone by regulating the activity of the IGF/IGF-1R signaling axis. Taken together, our studies indicate that MMPs possess important functional roles in bone metastatic prostate cancer. We believe that elucidation of these mechanisms and their contributions to the vicious cycle of bone metastasis will offer novel opportunities to design effective therapeutic treatment options.