This thesis concerns the atomistic investigation of the extra-cellular protein angiogenin. The main aims of this project are to propose new potential inhibitors to the angiogenin, and to investigate how they might bind to the protein. Two main families of inhibitors have been investigated; firstly, anthracycline antineoplastic antibiotics of which adriamycin is the parent drug; and secondly, uridine and cytidine nucleotide derivatives. The project has been divided into four research areas; conformational analysis of adriamycin; conformational analysis of nucleotide derivatives; a comparative study of the published crystal structure of angiogenin and a published in-house homology model of the protein; finally a series of docking studies to explore the similarity of the active site of angiogenin to ribonuclease A. Angiogenin has been shown to be 68% similar to ribonuclease A on an atom-by-atom basis, and a new sequence alignment has been produced following the release of the crystal structure of angiogenin.

Telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein enzyme minimally composed of an RNA template (hTR) and a catalytically active protein subunit (hTERT), synthesizes telomeric repeats onto chromosome ends and is obligatory for continuous tumor cell proliferation, as well as malignant progression of breast cancer cells. Telomerase is an attractive anticancer therapeutic target because its activity is present in over 90% of human cancers, including more than 95% of breast carcinomas, but undetectable in most somatic cells. Traditions chemo- and radio-therapies lack the ability to effectively control and cure breast cancer, in part because residual cells are or become resistant to DNA damaging modalities.While various telomerase inhibition strategies cause cancer cells to undergo apoptosis car senescence, there is often a lag period between administration and biologic effect (Corey, 2002). Our goal in this study was to compare the efficacy of different telomerase inhibition strategies in concert with standard chemotherapeutic agents at triggering senescence and/or apoptosis in cultures of breast cancer cells. We hypothesized that telomerase inhibition strategies will sensitize breast cancer cells to traditional chemotherapies, potentially reducing the lag phase, allowing for more potent anti-tumor effects at lower doses, and therefore ultimately imparting less toxicity to the patient.We blocked telomerase by targeting hTR and hTERT, individually and collectively utilizing synthetic short interfering RNA (siRNA), short hairpin RNA (siRNA), and a dominant negative form of hTERT (DN-hTERT) in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. We analyzed the efficiency of telomerase inhibition for each strategy alone and then treated the cells with two mainstay chemotherapeutic agents, Adriamycin (AdR) and Taxol. The most effective telomerase inhibition strategies were synthetic siRNA and DN-hTERT, individually. After treatment with various concentrations of AdR or Taxol, breast cancer cells with inhibited telomerase grew significantly slower and exhibited widespread senescence or apoptosis within a much shorter time period and at a dose that is insufficient to trigger cytostasis. In addition, we provide evidence that cells in which telomerase was inhibited were more sensitive to anti-cancer agents, whether the drug inhibited topoisomerase II resulting in DNA damage (AdR) or blocked mitosis via protracted microtubule stabilization (Taxol). Collectively, our data indicate that alone, anti-telomerase inhibition strategies differ in their efficacy. However, when used in the adjuvant setting with diverse acting chemotherapeutic agents, there is a potent synergy resulting in chemotherapeutic sensitization characterized in part by widespread senescence and/or apoptosis.

Prior studies have demonstrated the effect of diazoxide in protecting against apoptosis via mitochondrial KATP channel opening in vitro. The current investigations are designed to determine if sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor and known mitochondrial KATP channel opener, would protect against chronic doxorubicin cardiomyopathy both in vivo and in vitro.Male ICR mice were randomized to 1 of 4 treatments: saline, sildenafil (0.7 mg/kg IP), doxorubicin (5 mg/kg IP), and sildenafil (0.7 mg/kg IP)+doxorubicin. Apoptosis was determined using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick-end labeling and in situ oligo ligation methods. Desmin distribution was determined via immunofluorescence. Bcl-2 was analyzed by Western blot. Left ventricular function was measured in Langendorff mode. Electrocardiographical analysis measured changes indicative of doxorubicin cardiotoxicity (ST-prolongation). In vitro studies using adult ventricular cardiomyocytes were exposed to doxorubicin (1 μM), sildenafil (1 μM) with or without NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 100 μM), or 5-hydroxydecanoate (5-HD; 100 μM) 1 hour before doxorubicin and incubated for 18 hours. Doxorubicin-treated mice demonstrated increased apoptosis and desmin disruption, which was attenuated in the sildenafil+doxorubicin group. Bcl-2 decreased in the doxorubicin group but was maintained at basal levels in the sildenafil+doxorubicin group. Left ventricular developed pressure and rate pressure product were significantly depressed in the doxorubicin group but attenuated in the sildenafil+doxorubicin group. ST-interval significantly increased in the doxorubicin group over 8 weeks. In the sildenafil+doxorubicin group, ST-interval remained unchanged from baseline. Doxorubicin significantly increased apoptosis, caspase-3 activation, and disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential in vitro,. In contrast, sildenafil significantly protected against doxorubicin cardiotoxicity; however, protection was abolished by both L-NAME and 5-HD. Cell viability studies using spectrophotometer and flow cytometric techniques demonstrated that sildenafil did not affect the antitumor efficacy of doxorubicin in PC-3 cells in vitro. In fact, flow cytometry data indicate that sildenafil, when combined with doxorubicin, was synergistic in the antineoplastic action of doxorubicin. Prophylactic treatment with sildenafil prevented apoptosis and left ventricular dysfunction in a chronic model of doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy. Moreover, these studies provide relevant clinical data on the safety and efficacy of sildenafil, leading the way for clinical trials in humans receiving doxorubicin chemotherapy.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第23805号 / 医博第4851号 / 新制||医||1058(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 長船 健二, 教授 寺田 智祐, 教授 稲垣 暢也 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

A nefropatia induzida por adriamicina (ADR) em ratos é um dos modelos experimentais mais utilizados para o estudo desenvolvimento da doença renal progressiva. Uma dose única deste quimioterápico induz a proteinúria progressiva e irreversível que progride para glomeruloesclerose segmental e focal, com fusão dos processos podais e lesões tubulointersticiais. A lesão das células endoteliais glomerulares precede as alterações dos podócitos na nefropatia induzida pela ADR. A atividade física regular melhora as funções cardíacas e renais em pacientes e animais com doença renal progressiva e pode reduzir ou retardar a progressão da lesão renal. Este estudo avaliou o efeito do treinamento físico prévio na evolução da lesão renal induzida por ADR e a sua relação com o processo inflamatório, a função endotelial e angiogênese. Ratos Wistar submetidos ou não ao treinamento físico receberam ADR (2,5 mg/kg, e.v) ou solução salina fisiológica (SAL). Amostras de sangue e urina foram coletadas 60 dias após as injeções para avaliação da função renal e os rins removidos para estudos histológicos, imuno-histoquímicos, Western blot e de ELISA. Amostras de urina de 24 h, obtidas 7, 30 e 60 dias após a administração de ADR ou SAL, foram utilizadas para avaliação da albuminúria. Os ratos tratados com ADR apresentaram albuminúria progressiva, elevação dos níveis plasmáticos de creatinina e queda da taxa de filtração glomerular (TFG), lesão de podócitos, expansão da área mesangial, alargamento da área intersticial relativa no córtex renal, infiltração de macrófagos, aumento dos níveis de interleucina (IL)-1?, elevação dos níveis urinários do fator de transformação do crescimento ? (TGF-?) e dos níveis urinários de proteína quimiotática de monócitos 1 (MCP-1), diminuição de marcação de aminopeptidase P (marcador de células endoteliais) nos glomérulos e perda de capilares peritubulares corticais, que estavam associados com reduções das expressões do fator de crescimento endotelial vascular (VEGF) e da óxido nítrico sintase endotelial (eNOS) no córtex renal desses animais. Estas alterações foram menos intensas nos ratos que realizaram treinamento físico prévio ao tratamento com ADR. Em conclusão, o pré-condicionamento físico reduziu as lesões renais induzidas pela ADR. Este efeito esteve associado com as reduções do processo inflamatório, das lesões endoteliais e das alterações de fatores relacionados com o processo de angiogênese (VEGF e eNOS) no córtex renal. / Adriamycin (ADR)-induced nephropathy is one of the most experimental models of progressive kidney disease in rats. A single dose of this drug induces progressive and irreversible proteinuria that progresses to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial lesions. The lesion of glomerular endothelial cells precedes the podocyte damage in nephropathy induced by ADR. Regular physical activity improves cardiac and renal functions in patients and animals with progressive renal disease and may reduce or delay the progress of impaired renal function. This study evaluated the effect of previous physical training in renal damage induced by ADR and the role of inflammation, endothelial lesions and angiogenesis in this process. Male Wistar rats submitted or not to previous physical training received ADR (2.5 mg/kg, i.v.) or physiological saline (SAL). Urine and plasma samples were collect 60 days after the injection in order to evaluated the renal function. The kidneys were removed for histological, immunohistochemical, Western blot and ELISA analysis. Twenty-four-hour urine samples were collected to dose albuminuria 7, 30 and 60 days after ADR or SAL injection. ADR-treated rats presented progressive albuminuria, increases in plasma creatinine levels, decreasing glomerular filtration rate (GFR), podocyte damage, mesangial expansion, enlargement of the tubular interstitial relative area of renal cortex, macrophage infiltration, higher interleukin (IL)- 1? levels in renal tissue, urinary transforming growth factor ? (TGF-?) and urinary monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, reduction of aminopeptidase P (endothelial cell marker) in the glomeruli and cortical peritubular capillary number. Those were associated with reduction in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expressions in renal cortex. Those alterations were less intense in the animals undergone previous exercise training. In conclusion, physical training prior to ADR injection reduced the renal damage induced by this drug. This effect was related with the reduction of the inflammatory process, endothelial lesions and with the decrease in alterations of factors related to the process of angiogenesis (VEGF and eNOS) in renal cortex.

NRH quinone oxidoreductase 2 (NQO2) is regarded as a mammalian Phase I detoxifying enzyme responsible for reducing quinones to hydroquinones. NQO2 is highly expressed in different types of cancer such as breast and prostate cancer suggesting its participatory role in the progression of these diseases. A potential reason for this is that NQO2 has the ability to modulate the stability of cyclin D1 and activity of NF-ÃŽÂoB and it has been shown that inhibition of NQO2, either genetically or pharmacologically, can alter the pattern of proliferation of cancer cells. However, the biological roles of NQO2 in cancer progression are still ambiguous and need further investigation. A panel of seven ovarian cancer cell lines (OVCs) were screened for the presence and functionality of NQO2. SKOV-3 and TOV-112D cells expressing comparatively the highest and lowest levels of NQO2 were stably transduced to silence and overexpress NQO2 respectively. Pharmacological inhibition was achieved using resveratrol or a series of novel 4-aminoquinolines synthesised in-house. Cell proliferation was monitored by cell counting and clonogenic assays. Flow cytometric analysis was used to determine cell cycle distribution and levels of ROS following modulation of NQO2 function. The expression of cell cycle regulatory markers was determined by Western blot. The contributory roles of NQO2 in determining the cytotoxicity of Adriamycin (ADR) towards OVCs was investigated using MTT assay together with evaluation of P-gp expression and basal ROS levels. In the OVCs panel, NQO2 protein levels and enzymatic activity showed an excellent correlation; with activity varying 36-fold between the cell lines. The sensitivity of OVCs to CB1954 was significantly increased when combined with the NRH-like co-factor, EP0152R. This supports the notion that NQO2 mediates the toxicity of CB1954, which is further confirmed by the strong correlation between cellular NQO2 activity and the responsiveness of the OVC cell lines to CB1954. Hydrazone quinolines showed the highest inhibitiory potency against NQO2 in SKOV-3 when compared to the typical and in-house synthesised quinolines inhibitors. NQO2-overexpressing TOV-112D cells showed more aggressive growth pattern and higher capacity to form colonies than wild-type cells. This was consistently associated with an enhancement in the progression of cells through cell cycle phases and significant reduction in Rb expression. A reduction in ROS levels in NQO2-OE cells may also explain this enhancement in cell growth. Overexpressing NQO2 also resulted in destabilisation of CDK4 and cyclin D1 with significant reduction in their expression levels, and concomitant increase in p-cyclin D1 (Thr286). The involvement of NQO2 in controlling cyclin D1 turnover is also confirmed in SKOV-3 cells when genetic silencing of NQO2 was accompanied by significant reduction in p-cyclin D1 and subsequent stabilisation of cyclin D1 levels. In spite of this, no alterations in the growth pattern of SKOV-3 cells were observed highlighting the impact of cell type on the variations in cellular responses. The role of NQO2 in determining the toxicity of ADR treatment was not proved in OVC cells. This was despite that modulation of NQO2 levels caused significant changes in P-gp expression. The intracellular basal levels of ROS was found to affect the responsiveness of OVCs to ADR as demonstrated when treating SKOV-3 with resveratrol was accompanied by significant increase in ROS levels and concomitant enhancement in the cells’ response to ADR. In conclusion, NQO2 can profoundly alter the proliferation characteristics of OVCs and is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of this disease. However, the biological functions of NQO2 and its contributory roles in particular pathways are varied among different types of cancer -in other words- are highly dependent on cancer type.

A nefropatia induzida por adriamicina (ADR) em ratos é um dos modelos experimentais mais utilizados para o estudo desenvolvimento da doença renal progressiva. Uma dose única deste quimioterápico induz a proteinúria progressiva e irreversível que progride para glomeruloesclerose segmental e focal, com fusão dos processos podais e lesões tubulointersticiais. A lesão das células endoteliais glomerulares precede as alterações dos podócitos na nefropatia induzida pela ADR. A atividade física regular melhora as funções cardíacas e renais em pacientes e animais com doença renal progressiva e pode reduzir ou retardar a progressão da lesão renal. Este estudo avaliou o efeito do treinamento físico prévio na evolução da lesão renal induzida por ADR e a sua relação com o processo inflamatório, a função endotelial e angiogênese. Ratos Wistar submetidos ou não ao treinamento físico receberam ADR (2,5 mg/kg, e.v) ou solução salina fisiológica (SAL). Amostras de sangue e urina foram coletadas 60 dias após as injeções para avaliação da função renal e os rins removidos para estudos histológicos, imuno-histoquímicos, Western blot e de ELISA. Amostras de urina de 24 h, obtidas 7, 30 e 60 dias após a administração de ADR ou SAL, foram utilizadas para avaliação da albuminúria. Os ratos tratados com ADR apresentaram albuminúria progressiva, elevação dos níveis plasmáticos de creatinina e queda da taxa de filtração glomerular (TFG), lesão de podócitos, expansão da área mesangial, alargamento da área intersticial relativa no córtex renal, infiltração de macrófagos, aumento dos níveis de interleucina (IL)-1?, elevação dos níveis urinários do fator de transformação do crescimento ? (TGF-?) e dos níveis urinários de proteína quimiotática de monócitos 1 (MCP-1), diminuição de marcação de aminopeptidase P (marcador de células endoteliais) nos glomérulos e perda de capilares peritubulares corticais, que estavam associados com reduções das expressões do fator de crescimento endotelial vascular (VEGF) e da óxido nítrico sintase endotelial (eNOS) no córtex renal desses animais. Estas alterações foram menos intensas nos ratos que realizaram treinamento físico prévio ao tratamento com ADR. Em conclusão, o pré-condicionamento físico reduziu as lesões renais induzidas pela ADR. Este efeito esteve associado com as reduções do processo inflamatório, das lesões endoteliais e das alterações de fatores relacionados com o processo de angiogênese (VEGF e eNOS) no córtex renal. / Adriamycin (ADR)-induced nephropathy is one of the most experimental models of progressive kidney disease in rats. A single dose of this drug induces progressive and irreversible proteinuria that progresses to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial lesions. The lesion of glomerular endothelial cells precedes the podocyte damage in nephropathy induced by ADR. Regular physical activity improves cardiac and renal functions in patients and animals with progressive renal disease and may reduce or delay the progress of impaired renal function. This study evaluated the effect of previous physical training in renal damage induced by ADR and the role of inflammation, endothelial lesions and angiogenesis in this process. Male Wistar rats submitted or not to previous physical training received ADR (2.5 mg/kg, i.v.) or physiological saline (SAL). Urine and plasma samples were collect 60 days after the injection in order to evaluated the renal function. The kidneys were removed for histological, immunohistochemical, Western blot and ELISA analysis. Twenty-four-hour urine samples were collected to dose albuminuria 7, 30 and 60 days after ADR or SAL injection. ADR-treated rats presented progressive albuminuria, increases in plasma creatinine levels, decreasing glomerular filtration rate (GFR), podocyte damage, mesangial expansion, enlargement of the tubular interstitial relative area of renal cortex, macrophage infiltration, higher interleukin (IL)- 1? levels in renal tissue, urinary transforming growth factor ? (TGF-?) and urinary monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, reduction of aminopeptidase P (endothelial cell marker) in the glomeruli and cortical peritubular capillary number. Those were associated with reduction in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expressions in renal cortex. Those alterations were less intense in the animals undergone previous exercise training. In conclusion, physical training prior to ADR injection reduced the renal damage induced by this drug. This effect was related with the reduction of the inflammatory process, endothelial lesions and with the decrease in alterations of factors related to the process of angiogenesis (VEGF and eNOS) in renal cortex.

The cancer recognition (CARE) antibody (Ab) test is a serologic assay for a specific IgM that is elevated in cancer patients. All tests are measured using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of human serum. The target polypeptide in the CARE Ab test is the IgM binding epitope (LT-11) of the CARE antigen (Ag) consisting of a 16 mer structure that has been produced synthetically. The mean relative concentration (MRC) is determined relative to standard, normalized human plasma. Non-parametric analysis showed median MRC values of healthy volunteers (HVs) with no history of cancer (n=47), family history of cancer (n=126) and a previous cancer history (n=24) to be 26, 34 and 46, respectively. It was determined that there was no significance found among the medians of the three HV groups (P=0.53). The specificity of the HV types was between 87 and 98%. Benign/non-cancer surgical patients (n=27) had a median value of 20 with a specificity of 96%. The cancer patients (n=61) had a median value of 246 with a sensitivity of 89%. There was a significant difference between the HV and cancer patients (P<0.0001) as well as between the benign/surgical non-cancerous group and cancer patients (P<0.0001). The IgM antibody is heat stable at room temperature for two days versus being frozen at -80°C (r2=0.97). Either serum or plasma samples may be used in the CARE Ab test (r2=0.92). The CARE Ab was almost exclusively IgM with no serum conversion to IgG in sequential measurements of patients with cancer over a six-month period. Preliminary data from patients undergoing post-operative cancer treatment showed that decreasing Ab levels revealed patients negative for residual cancer or undergoing remission, while relapsing patients show an increase in Ab levels. A return to a positive Ab level shortly after treatment is a poor prognostic sign while in advanced cancers the Ab levels may be depressed significantly.