published_or_final_version / Surgery / Master / Master of Philosophy

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the predominant type of esophageal cancer in Asia. Cisplatin is commonly used as an agent for treating ESCC patients undergoing chemotherapy. However establishment of resistance over the course of treatment diminishes the clinical usefulness and is one reason explaining poor prognosis of ESCC patients. In order to gain insights into the mechanism of cisplatin resistance in ESCC, HPLC/nESI-MS/MS proteomic profiling was employed to examine the global protein alterations of cisplatin-resistant ESCC cell line HKESC2/CDDP comparing with its parental cisplatin-sensitive cell line HKESC2. Stable over-expression and knocked-down cell lines were established for pathway analysis and functional studies. Seventeen proteins were identified with more than 2-fold difference in expression levels. These proteins are involved in endoplasmic reticulum stress response, metabolic processes, DNA replication and repair, nucleotide binding and cell cycle control, while some of them are components of cytoskeletal proteins. Among them, 14-3-3σ was one of the most significantly upregulated proteins found in HKESC2/CDDP cells and its differential expression levels were validated using western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Pathway analysis revealed that ectopic overexpression of 14-3-3σ caused a general upregulation in DNA repairing genes. Furthermore, functional validation showed that elevated 14-3-3σ expression contributed considerably to the observed cisplatin resistance in HKESC2/CDDP cells. While knocking down 14-3-3σ expression reversed the above situations in SLMT1 cells. I conclude that up-regulation in 14-3-3σ, together with DNA repairing genes, contributes to the establishment of cisplatin resistance in HKESC2/CDDP cells. Knocking down 14-3-3σ expression sensitized ESCC cells to cisplatin treatment, and hence, opens a therapeutic opportunity for ESCC cisplatin resistance. / published_or_final_version / Surgery / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

<p>Background and objectives: Apoptosis is a process in which a cell programmes its own death. It is a highly organized physiological mechanism in which injured or damaged cells are destroyed. Apart from physiological stimuli however, exogenous factors can induce apoptosis. Many anti-cancer drugs work by activating apoptosis in cancer cells. Natural substances have been found to have the ability to induce apoptosis in various tumour cells and these substances have been used as templates for the construction of&nbsp / novel lead compounds in anticancer treatment. On the other hand, alkylating agents such as cisplatin, cis- [PtCl2 (NH3) 2] have been widely used as antineoplastic agents for a&nbsp / wide variety of cancers including testicular, ovarian, neck and head cancers, amongst others. However, the use of cisplatin as an anticancer agent is limited due to toxicity and resistance problems. The aim of this present study was to screen the leaves of Rhus laevigata, a South African indigenous plant, for the presence of pro-apoptotic and&nbsp / anti-proliferative natural compounds and also to screen newly synthesised palladium based complexes (15 and 57) and a platinum based complex (58) for their antineoplastic&nbsp / activities tested against a panel of cell lines. Results. The results showed that crude methanol extracts from Rhus laevigata as well as the newly synthesised palladium based complexes (15 and 57) and a platinum based complex (58) induced apoptosis in the cell lines tested, as demonstrated by the externalization of phosphatidylserine, mitochondrial membrane permeabilization,caspase-3 activation, and DNA fragmentation. Caski (cervical cancer) and H157 (non small cell lung carcinoma) cell lines treated with the methanol extract from Rhus laevigata however, were more resistant to apoptosis induction. Among the metallocomplexes, complexes 15 and 57, palladium based complexes, were the most active. Conclusion: The methanol extract from the leaves of Rhus laevigata contain pro-apoptotic and antiproliferative natural compound(s), which need to be characterised and elucidated as they could provide the much-needed lead compounds in the fight against cancer. On the other hand the newly synthesized palladium complexes also need further evaluation to&nbsp / see if they can be used as anticancer agents that can overcome the problems associated with cisplatin.</p>

Monitoring treatment efficacy is a large area of cancer research as it can increase the effectiveness of therapy regimens. Diffusion weighted Magnetic Resonance imaging (DWI), allows assessment of tissue microstructure without exogenous contrast agents. In this thesis, two different DWI techniques were used to acquire data from acute myeloid leukemia cells undergoing apoptosis, and data was fitted to an analytical model of re- stricted diffusion. Results indicated a decrease in average restriction size from 6.4 to 2.7μm, and an increase in the restricted diffusion coefficient from 0.17 to 0.82μm^2/ms in untreated versus treated cells. The free diffusion coefficient was constant indicating changes in restrictions, rather than any intrinsic changes in the intra-cellular or extra- cellular fluid. This combination of techniques has the potential for use in preclinical and clinical settings as it demonstrates that apoptotic changes may be measured consistently.

Monitoring treatment efficacy is a large area of cancer research as it can increase the effectiveness of therapy regimens. Diffusion weighted Magnetic Resonance imaging (DWI), allows assessment of tissue microstructure without exogenous contrast agents. In this thesis, two different DWI techniques were used to acquire data from acute myeloid leukemia cells undergoing apoptosis, and data was fitted to an analytical model of re- stricted diffusion. Results indicated a decrease in average restriction size from 6.4 to 2.7μm, and an increase in the restricted diffusion coefficient from 0.17 to 0.82μm^2/ms in untreated versus treated cells. The free diffusion coefficient was constant indicating changes in restrictions, rather than any intrinsic changes in the intra-cellular or extra- cellular fluid. This combination of techniques has the potential for use in preclinical and clinical settings as it demonstrates that apoptotic changes may be measured consistently.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2007. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.