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The major challenges in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) management are local or distant metastasis and limited targeted therapeutics to prevent it. To identify a druggable target in tumor secretome and to explore its therapeutic intervention, we performed a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)–based proteomic analysis of tumors obtained from a patient-derived xenograft model of PDAC. Galectin-3 binding protein (Gal-3BP) is identified as a highly secreted protein, and its overexpression is further validated in multiple PDAC tumors and primary cells. Knockdown and exogenous treatment of Gal-3BP showed that it is required for PDAC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Mechanistically, we revealed that Gal-3BP enhances galectin-3–mediated epidermal growth factor receptor signaling, leading to increased cMyc and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. To explore the clinical impact of these findings, two antibody clones were developed, and they profoundly abrogated the metastasis of PDAC cells in vivo. Altogether, our data demonstrate that Gal-3BP is an important therapeutic target in PDAC, and we propose its blockade by antibody as a therapeutic option for suppressing PDAC metastasis.

The transcription factor NRF2 is a master regulator of cellular responses to oxidative stress, contributing to the pathogenesis of autoimmunity, metabolic disorders, and neurodegeneration. Somatic alterations in the NRF2 pathway also contribute to the growth and metastasis of many cancer types including ~30% of lung cancers. Still, the activation of NRF2 has frequently been observed in the absence of known genomic alterations, indicating that other pathways may drive its dysregulation. Further, approaches to target NRF2 pharmacologically have remained elusive. Here, we conducted a screen that identified a small molecule, ML329, exhibiting selective cytotoxicity in cells exhibiting NRF2 dependency and synthetic lethality to NRF2 pathway mutations across 489 cell lines. Surprisingly, we find that melanomas—which rarely have somatic mutations in the NRF2 pathway—were commonly sensitive to ML329. Melanomas were seen to exhibit NRF2-dependent metabolomic and transcriptional programs through the transcriptional activation of the adaptor protein p62/SQSTM1 by the melanocyte master regulator and oncoprotein MITF. This pathway was found to be conserved among all cancers characterized by genomic alterations of the MiT family (MITF, TFEB and TFE3) including subsets of renal cell carcinomas, pediatric sarcomas, and uveal and cutaneous melanomas. Our data identify a previously unrecognized, non-canonical mechanism of NRF2 activation by the MiT family, clarifying the regulation of NRF2 in pathologic and physiologic contexts. Pharmacologic inhibition of NRF2 could be valuable in the treatment of conditions with MITF family dysregulation. Citation Format: Xinbo Luo, Bart Lutterbach, Priya Pancholi, Yeon Sook Choi, Xiao Liu, Phillip Munson, Saqib Faisal, David A. Whipple, Robert A. Smith, Warren S. Weiner, David K. Johnson, Myriam Boukhali, Nicole S. Persky, Matthew G. Rees, Shunsuke Kitajima, David Barbie, Anuradha Roy, Michael Baltezor, Lian Rajewski, William McGuinness, John Haslam, Ananthan Sadagopan, Charles H. Yoon, Cory M. Johannessen, Christine G. Lian, Jason L. Hornick, Srinivas R. Viswanathan, David Liu, Vicki Nienaber, Wilhelm Haas, Frank J. Schoenen, David E. Fisher, Rizwan Haq. A non-canonical MiT/TFE-dependent NRF2 program is a druggable vulnerability in multiple cancer types [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 1706.

Dabrafenib is a BRAF kinase inhibitor approved for treatment of BRAF-mutated anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) in combination with trametinib. Erlotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of EGF receptor (EGFR). We evaluated effects of dabrafenib and erlotinib combination treatment on ATC cells in vitro and in vivo. Cell proliferation, colony formation, apoptosis, and migration of ATC cells harboring a BRAF mutation (BHT101, 8505C, and SW1736) were evaluated after treatment with dabrafenib in combination with erlotinib or trametinib. The changes in activation of mitogen extracellular kinase (MEK) and extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) signaling were also evaluated by Western blot analysis. Effects of these combinations were also evaluated using an in vivo xenograft model. First, we detected EGFR activation in dabrafenib-resistant SW1736 cells using a phospho-receptor tyrosine kinase array. A dabrafenib and erlotinib combination synergistically inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, and migration, with an induction of apoptotic cell death in all three ATC cells, compared with dabrafenib or erlotinib alone. This synergistic effect was comparable with a dabrafenib and trametinib combination. The dabrafenib and erlotinib combination effectively inhibited phosphorylated (p)-MEK, p-ERK, and p-EGFR expressions compared with dabrafenib or erlotinib alone, while the dabrafenib and trametinib combination only inhibited p-MEK and p-ERK expressions. The dabrafenib with erlotinib or trametinib combinations also significantly suppressed tumor growth and induced apoptosis in a BHT101 xenograft model. The dabrafenib and erlotinib combination could be a potential novel treatment regimen to overcome drug resistance to dabrafenib alone in patients with BRAF-mutated ATC.

Giant congenital melanocytic nevi are NRAS-driven proliferations that may cover up to 80% of the body surface. Their most dangerous consequence is progression to melanoma. This risk often triggers preemptive extensive surgical excisions in childhood, producing severe lifelong challenges. We have presented preclinical models, including multiple genetically engineered mice and xenografted human lesions, which enabled testing locally applied pharmacologic agents to avoid surgery. The murine models permitted the identification of proliferative versus senescent nevus phases and treatments targeting both. These nevi recapitulated the histologic and molecular features of human giant congenital nevi, including the risk of melanoma transformation. Cutaneously delivered MEK, PI3K, and c-KIT inhibitors or proinflammatory squaric acid dibutylester (SADBE) achieved major regressions. SADBE triggered innate immunity that ablated detectable nevocytes, fully prevented melanoma, and regressed human giant nevus xenografts. These findings reveal nevus mechanistic vulnerabilities and suggest opportunities for topical interventions that may alter the therapeutic options for children with congenital giant nevi.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death, mainly due to the absence of early diagnostic tool and effective therapeutic agents. To identify an effective therapeutic agent for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells (PDAC), we used 10 Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data sets and L1000CDS2 pharmacogenetic search tool and obtained chemical "perturvants" that were predicted to reverse the abnormal gene expression changes in PDAC. Among 20 initial candidates, we measured IC50 for six compounds and identified BX-795, PDK1/TBK1 inhibitor, as a therapeutic candidate. We found that BX-795 inhibits primary PDAC cell proliferation more effectively than normal cells. Following molecular analysis revealed that BX-795 down-regulates mTOR-GSK3β pathway and trigger apoptosis. Moreover, we found that BX-795 suppresses primary PDAC cell migration via downregulation of Snail and Slug. Finally, efficacy test in patient-derived xenograft model of PDAC showed BX-795 can inhibit in vivo tumor growth as efficient as gemcitabine and a combination with trametinib further suppresses tumor growth. Collectively, these results demonstrate the BX-795 as an effective therapeutic candidate for PDAC treatment.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common type of sarcoma, with approximately 5,000 patients diagnosed per year in the US. Approximately 80% of patients with GIST present with mutations in the c-KIT oncogene at exon 9 or 11, which leads to constitutive, ligand-independent activation of the KIT receptor tyrosine kinase. For patients with metastatic GIST, frontline therapy with imatinib is effective, with a response rate of approximately 51-54% and median progression-free survival (PFS) of 19-23 months, in a molecularly unselected population. Other agents are approved for advanced GIST, without molecular selection, after progression on imatinib, including sunitinib, regorafenib, and ripretinib; however, response rates are less than 10% with PFS of approximately 5-6 months. Notably, patients who progress on imatinib and other tyrosine kinase inhibitors may develop a variety of on-target resistance mutations in the KIT oncogene, such as those in exon 17 (including at amino acids D816 and D820, activation loop mutation), exon 13 (V654A, ATP-binding region mutation), and less frequently in exon 14 (T670I, gatekeeper mutation). Several KIT inhibitors have been developed to potently target the exon 17 resistance mutations (avapritinib and ripretinib); however, there remains an important medical need in 2nd- and 3rd-line therapy in a molecularly unselected population of imatinib-resistant GIST. This suggests more broad-spectrum KIT inhibition is likely required, a hypothesis supported by the observation of large inter- and intra-patient heterogeneity of KIT secondary mutations across hundreds of samples obtained from patients with GIST treated with avapritinib. Sequencing data from the NAVIGATOR phase 1 trial (NCT02508532) revealed that patients with KIT mutant GIST and with the KIT V654A secondary resistance mutation had a poor response to treatment with avapritinib. To address this, we developed a highly potent and selective inhibitor of KIT V654A. This inhibitor showed dose-dependent modulation of downstream pharmacodynamic markers and induced tumor regression in a mastocytoma xenograft model driven by an exon 11 plus 13 V654A resistance mutation. Importantly, this inhibitor was generally well-tolerated and showed high selectivity over wild-type KIT. These findings suggest this novel KIT inhibitor has the potential to be used as a single agent or combination therapy for patients with imatinib-resistant GIST harboring the KIT V654A mutation. Citation Format: Alexandra R. Grassian, Joseph Kim, Omar Ahmad, Kevin Barvian, Alison Davis, Tom Dineen, Wei Hu, Ebby Job, Ludivine Moine, Kate Newberry, Maria Roche, Doug Shorten, Yeon Sook Choi, Francis Wolenski, Sebastian Bauer, Cesar Serrano, Jonathan Trent, Suzanne George. Efficacy of a highly potent and selective KIT V654A inhibitor for treatment of imatinib resistant GIST [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr LB565.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death, mainly due to the absence of early diagnostic tool and effective therapeutic agents. To identify an effective therapeutic agent for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells (PDAC), we used 10 Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data sets and L1000CDS

// Jaeyun Jung 1, * , Cue Hyunkyu Lee 3, * , Hyang Sook Seol 4 , Yeon Sook Choi 4 , Eunji Kim 3, 5 , Eun Ji Lee 1 , Je-Keun Rhee 6 , Shree Ram Singh 7 , Eun Sung Jun 1 , Buhm Han 3 , Seung Mo Hong 8 , Song Cheol Kim 9 , Suhwan Chang 1, 2 1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 2 Department of Physiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 3 Department of Convergence Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 4 Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea 5 Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 6 Department of Medical Informatics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea 7 Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, USA 8 Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea 9 Department of Surgery, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Song Cheol Kim, email: drksc@amc.seoul.kr Suhwan Chang, email: suhwan.chang@amc.seoul.kr Keywords: pancreatic cancer, patient-derived xenograft, single nucleotide polymorphism, cancer panel, heterogeneity Received: June 01, 2016 Accepted: August 08, 2016 Published: August 23, 2016 ABSTRACT Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most challenging type of cancer to treat, with a 5-year survival rate of

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to cure due to the lack of early diagnostic tools and effective therapeutic agents. In this study, we aimed to isolate new bioactive compounds that effectively kill pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells, but not untransformed, human pancreatic ductal epithelial (HPDE) cells. To this end, we established four primary PDAC cell lines and screened 4141 compounds from four bioactive‐compound libraries. Initial screening yielded 113 primary hit compounds that caused over a 50% viability reduction in all tested PDAC cells. Subsequent triplicate, dose‐dependent analysis revealed three compounds with a tumor cell‐specific cytotoxic effect. We found that these three compounds fall into a single category of thiopurine biogenesis. Among them, 6‐thioguanine (6‐TG) showed an IC50 of 0.39–1.13 μm toward PDAC cells but had no effect on HPDE cells. We propose that this cancer selectivity is due to differences in thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) expression between normal and cancer cells. This enzyme is responsible for methylation of thiopurine, which reduces its cytotoxicity. We found that TPMT levels were lower in all four PDAC cell lines than in HPDE or Panc1 cells, and that knockdown of TPMT in HPDE or Panc1 cells sensitized them to 6‐TG. Lastly, we used a patient‐derived xenograft model to confirm that 6‐TG has a significant antitumor effect in combination with gemcitabine. Overall, our study presents 6‐TG as a strong candidate for use as a therapeutic agent against PDAC with low levels of TPMT.

The roles of oncogenic miRNAs are widely recognized in many cancers. Inhibition of single miRNA using antagomiR can efficiently knock-down a specific miRNA. However, the effect is transient and often results in subtle phenotype, as there are other miRNAs contribute to tumorigenesis. Here we report a multi-potent miRNA sponge inhibiting multiple miRNAs simultaneously. As a model system, we targeted miR-21, miR-155 and miR-221/222, known as oncogenic miRNAs in multiple tumors including breast and pancreatic cancers. To achieve efficient knockdown, we generated perfect and bulged-matched miRNA binding sites (MBS) and introduced multiple copies of MBS, ranging from one to five, in the multi-potent miRNA sponge. Luciferase reporter assay showed the multi-potent miRNA sponge efficiently inhibited 4 miRNAs in breast and pancreatic cancer cells. Furthermore, a stable and inducible version of the multi-potent miRNA sponge cell line showed the miRNA sponge efficiently reduces the level of 4 target miRNAs and increase target protein level of these oncogenic miRNAs. Finally, we showed the miRNA sponge sensitize cells to cancer drug and attenuate cell migratory activity. Altogether, our study demonstrates the multi-potent miRNA sponge is a useful tool to examine the functional impact of simultaneous inhibition of multiple miRNAs and proposes a therapeutic potential.

Contemporary cancer therapy refers to treatment based on genetic abnormalities found in patient's tumor. However, this approach is faced with numerous challenges, including tumor heterogeneity and molecular evolution, insufficient tumor samples available along with genetic information linking to clinical outcomes, lack of therapeutic drugs containing pharmacogenomic information, and technical limitations of rapid drug efficacy tests with insufficient quantities of primary cancer cells from patients. To address these problems and improve clinical outcomes of current personalized gene-targeted cancer therapy, we have developed a micropillar/microwell chip platform, which is ideally suited for encapsulating primary cancer cells in nanoscale spots of hydrogels on the chip, generating efficacy data with various drugs, eventually allowing for a comparison of the in vitro data obtained from the chip with clinical data as well as gene expression data. As a proof of concept in this study, we have encapsulated a U251 brain cancer cell line and three primary brain cancer cells from patients (448T, 464T, and 775T) in 30 nL droplets of alginate and then tested the therapeutic efficacy of 24 anticancer drugs by measuring their dose responses. As a result, the IC50 values of 24 anticancer drugs obtained from the brain cancer cells clearly showed patient cell-specific efficacy, some of which were well-correlated with their oncogene overexpression (c-Met and FGFR1) as well as the in vivo previous results of the mouse xenograft model with the three primary brain cancer cells.

Background/Objectives: This study investigates the potential impacts of inclusive education in day care center, and reviews issues about supporting services including web sites as a community of knowledge. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Literature review method is applied to investigate the expected effects and barriers of inclusive education and promoting factors for improving educational excellence such as teachers' attitude and efficacy toward disabled children, supporting services for disabled children. Some Korean and international web-sites for inclusive education as the community of knowledge are also examined. Findings: Most teachers agree to the value and effectiveness of inclusive education but a teacher efficacy level required to guide and lead children with disabilities in the actual field is relatively low. The lack of disability-related knowledge and skills, know how of classroom management strategies, lack of faith in the educational effectiveness of interventions was reported as barriers. Promoting factors for effective inclusive education include positive attitude and efficacy toward disabled children, efficient supporting services for disabled children, and the cooperation system among general nursing teachers, special education teachers and therapists. In order to build the partnership, portal sites in the form of knowledge community is needed. But in reality, it is not easy to operate inclusive education portals with profitability, some of which are examined in the paper. Budget support from government or non-profit organizations is essential for effective operation of portal sites. Improvements/Applications: The results can be applied to derive various policies for reducing burden of teachers and improving the efficacy of teachers working in the inclusive education field.

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate influencing factors on recovery among alcoholics. Methods: The participants were 123 hospitalized patients with alcohol use disorder in two hospitals in Gyeonggi province. The data were collected from May 16 to June 4, 2012 using self-report questionnaires including Hanil Alcohol Insight Scale, Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale, and Recovery Scale. The data were analyzed using the SPSS/Win 18.0 program with descriptive statistics, Pearson`s correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results: Recovery is positively related to abstinence self-efficacy and duration of abstinence. Recovery differed by insight type, gender, and occupation. Insight, duration of abstinence, gender, and occupation accounted for 59.1% of the variance in recovery of the alcoholics. Conclusion: The influencing factors on recovery among alcoholics were insight, duration of abstinence, gender, and occupation. Programs focusing on insight, abstinence self-efficacy, and abstinence maintenance should be developed and provided. When developing the programs, the environmental context in which the alcoholics work should be considered.

Interleukin (IL)-33, an IL-1 family member, acts as an extracellular cytokine by binding its cognate receptor, ST2. IL-33 is also a chromatin-binding transcriptional regulator highly expressed in the nuclei of endothelial cells. However, the function of IL-33 as a nuclear factor is poorly defined. Here, we show that IL-33 is a novel transcriptional regulator of the p65 subunit of the NF-κB complex and is involved in endothelial cell activation. Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR and Western blot analyses indicated that IL-33 mediates the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 in endothelial cells basally and in response to tumor necrosis factor-α-treatment. IL-33-induced ICAM-1/VCAM-1 expression was dependent on the regulatory effect of IL-33 on the nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway; NF-κB p65 expression was enhanced by IL-33 overexpression and, conversely, reduced by IL-33 knockdown. Moreover, NF-κB p65 promoter activity and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that IL-33 binds to the p65 promoter region in the nucleus. Our data provide the first evidence that IL-33 in the nucleus of endothelial cells participates in inflammatory reactions as a transcriptional regulator of NF-κB p65.

Interleukin-33 (IL-33), a member of the IL-1 cytokine family, is emerging as a new regulator of immune responses and inflammatory vascular diseases. Although IL-33 and its cognate receptor ST2 appear to be expressed in vascular cells, the precise role of IL-33 in the vasculature has not been determined. In this study, we report a novel role of IL-33 as a potent endothelial activator, promoting both angiogenesis and vascular permeability. IL-33 increased proliferation, migration, and morphologic differentiation of human endothelial cells, consistently with increased angiogenesis in vivo. IL-33 also increased endothelial permeability with reduced vascular endothelial–cadherin-facilitated cell–cell junctions in vitro and induced vascular leakage in mouse skin. These effects of IL-33 were blocked by knockdown of ST2. Ligation of IL-33 with ST2 rapidly increased endothelial nitric oxide (NO) production through TRAF6-mediated activation of phosphoinoside-3-kinase, Akt, and endothelial NO synthase. Moreover, pharmacologic or genetic blockage of endothelial NO generation resulted in the inhibition of angiogenesis and vascular hyperpermeability induced by IL-33. These data demonstrate that IL-33 promotes angiogenesis and vascular leakage by stimulating endothelial NO production via the ST2/TRAF6-Akt-eNOS signaling pathway. These findings open new perspectives for the role of IL-33 in the pathogenesis of angiogenesis-dependent and inflammatory vascular diseases.

The Elf5/ESE-2 transcription factor is a member of the Epithelium Specific Ets subfamily of Ets transcription factors. Expression of Elf5 has been known to be restricted to organs and tissues rich in glandular or secretory epithelial cells such as kidney and mammary gland as well as differentiated keratinocytes of the skin. We have engineered an Elf5-LacZ mouse strain in which the bulk of the coding region of the Elf5 gene has been replaced by the beta-galactosidase (LacZ) reporter gene and the neomycin resistance cassette. We show here that LacZ gene expression in Elf5-LacZ mice occurs in spatial and temporal patterns that mimic endogenous Elf5 expression as observed by strong X-Gal staining in the mammary luminal epithelial cells of heterozygous Elf5-LacZ animals. Our analysis also reveals previously undiscovered expression site for Elf5 in the differentiated cells of the inner root sheath of hair follicle. The generation of a novel Elf5 gene targeted mouse model harboring a LacZ reporter gene provides an advantage for in vivo studies of Elf5 due to the highly sensitive and easy in situ detection of LacZ gene expression through histochemical staining with X-Gal. Taken together, this study brings new insights into novel patterns of Elf5 expression likely correlating with functionally important control in hair follicle cycle.

The stabilization of optimum pH for cells can cause a higher erythropoietin (EPO) production rate and a good growth rate with the prolonged culture span in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (r-CHO) cells. Our strategy for stabilizing the optimum pH in this study is to reduce the lactate production by adding sodium lactate to a culture medium. When 40 mM sodium lactate was added, a specific growth rate was decreased by approximately 22% as compared with the control culture. However the culture longevity was extended to 187 h, and more than a 2.7-fold increase in a final accumulated EPO concentration was obtained at 40 mM of sodium lactate. On the condition that caused the high production of EPO, a specific glucose consumption rate and lactate production rate decreased by 23.3 and 52%, respectively. Activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in r-CHO cells increased and catalyzed the oxidation of lactate to pyruvate, together with the reverse reaction, at the addition of 40 mM sodium lactate. The addition of 40 mM sodium lactate caused the positive effects on a cell growth and an EPO production in the absence of carbon dioxide gas as well as in the presence of carbon dioxide gas by reducing the accumulation of lactate.

The ESE (epithelium-specific Ets) subfamily of Ets transcription factors plays an important role in regulating gene expression in a variety of epithelial cell types. Although ESE proteins have been shown to bind to regulatory elements of some epithelial genes, the optimal DNA-binding sequence has not been experimentally ascertained for any member of the ESE subfamily of transcription factors. This has made the identification and validation of their targets difficult. We are studying ESE-2 (Elf5), which is highly expressed in epithelial cells of many tissues including skin keratinocytes. Here, we identify the preferred DNA-binding site of ESE-2 by performing CASTing (cyclic amplification and selection of targets) experiments. Our analysis shows that the optimal ESE-2 consensus motif consists of a GGA core and an AT-rich 5′- and 3′-flanking sequences. Mutational and competition experiments demonstrate that the flanking sequences that confer high DNA-binding affinity for ESE-2 show considerable differences from the known consensus DNA-binding sites of other Ets proteins, thus reinforcing the idea that the flanking sequences may impart recognition specificity for Ets proteins. In addition, we have identified a novel isoform of murine ESE-2, ESE-2L, that is generated by use of a hitherto unreported new exon and an alternate promoter. Interestingly, transient transfection assays with an optimal ESE-2 responsive reporter show that both ESE-2 and ESE-2L are weak transactivators. However, similar studies utilizing GAL4 chimaeras of ESE-2 demonstrate that while the DNA-binding ETS (E twenty-six) domain functions as a repressor, the PNT (pointed domain) of ESE-2 can act as a potent transcriptional activation domain. This novel transactivating property of PNT is also shared by ESE-3, another ESE family member. Identification of the ESE-2 consensus site and characterization of the transcriptional activation properties of ESE-2 shed new light on its potential as a regulator of target genes.

The limiting dilution assay (LDA) is a clonogenic drug efficacy test designed to determine a value for drug efficacy based on an all-or-none (positive or negative) response within replicates. It also attempts to calculate minimum cell numbers for cells to form colony in each drugged conditions, wherein a large value implies high drug efficacy (as a large number of extant cells are required to start a colony). However, traditional LDAs are time-consuming to set up, often requiring many replicates for statistical analysis, and manual colony identification under a microscope to determine a positive or negative response is tedious and is susceptible to human error. To address these issues, a high-throughput miniaturized LDA assay is developed using a micropillar/microwell chip platform using an automatic colony identification method. Three glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumor isolates (448T, 464T, and 775T) are used to test this new assay, using the c-Met kinase inhibitors SU11274 and PHA665752 as the target drugs. The results show that the minimum cell number of 775T is larger than that of the other two cell types (SU11274 and PHA665752) in both the sampled drugs, a result that is in good agreement with the results of previous conventional experiments using 96 well plates.

Glioblastoma (GBM) heterogeneity in the genomic and phenotypic properties has potentiated personalized approach against specific therapeutic targets of each GBM patient. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network has been established the comprehensive genomic abnormalities of GBM, which sub-classified GBMs into 4 different molecular subtypes. The molecular subtypes could be utilized to develop personalized treatment strategy for each subtype. We applied a classifying method, NTP (Nearest Template Prediction) method to determine molecular subtype of each GBM patient and corresponding orthotopic xenograft animal model. The models were derived from GBM cells dissociated from patient's surgical sample. Specific drug candidates for each subtype were selected using an integrated pharmacological network database (PharmDB), which link drugs with subtype specific genes. Treatment effects of the drug candidates were determined by in vitro limiting dilution assay using patient-derived GBM cells primarily cultured from orthotopic xenograft tumors. The consistent identification of molecular subtype by the NTP method was validated using TCGA database. When subtypes were determined by the NTP method, orthotopic xenograft animal models faithfully maintained the molecular subtypes of parental tumors. Subtype specific drugs not only showed significant inhibition effects on the in vitro clonogenicity of patient-derived GBM cells but also synergistically reversed temozolomide resistance of MGMT-unmethylated patient-derived GBM cells. However, inhibitory effects on the clonogenicity were not totally subtype-specific. Personalized treatment approach based on genetic characteristics of each GBM could make better treatment outcomes of GBMs, although more sophisticated classifying techniques and subtype specific drugs need to be further elucidated.

SummaryWnt/β-catenin signaling is a central regulator of adult stem cells. Variable sensitivity of Wnt reporter transgenes, β-catenin’s dual roles in adhesion and signaling, and hair follicle degradation and inflammation resulting from broad deletion of epithelial β-catenin have precluded clear understanding of Wnt/β-catenin’s functions in adult skin stem cells. By inducibly deleting β-catenin globally in skin epithelia, only in hair follicle stem cells, or only in interfollicular epidermis and comparing the phenotypes with those caused by ectopic expression of the Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor Dkk1, we show that this pathway is necessary for hair follicle stem cell proliferation. However, β-catenin is not required within hair follicle stem cells for their maintenance, and follicles resume proliferating after ectopic Dkk1 has been removed, indicating persistence of functional progenitors. We further unexpectedly discovered a broader role for Wnt/β-catenin signaling in contributing to progenitor cell proliferation in nonhairy epithelia and interfollicular epidermis under homeostatic, but not inflammatory, conditions.

Radiotherapy is the most widely used therapeutic modality in brain metastasis; however, it only provides palliation due to inevitable tumor recurrence. Resistance of tumor cells to ionizing radiation is a major cause of treatment failure. A critical unmet need in oncology is to develop rationale driven approaches that can enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy against metastatic tumor. Utilizing in vivo orthotopic primary tumor and brain metastasis models that recapitulate clinical situation of the patients with metastatic breast cancer, we investigated a molecular mechanism through which metastatic tumor cells acquire resistance to radiation. Recent studies have demonstrated that the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-c-Met pathway is essential for the pathologic development and progression of many human cancers such as proliferation, invasion and resistance to anticancer therapies. In this study, c-Met signaling activity as well as total c-Met expression was significantly upregulated in both breast cancer cell lines irradiated in vitro and ex vivo radio-resistant cells derived from breast cancer brain metastatic xenografts. To interrogate the role of c-Met signaling in radioresistance of brain metastasis, we evaluated the effects on tumor cell viability, clonogenicity, sensitivity to radiation, and in vitro/in vivo tumor growth after targeting c-Met by small-hairpin RNA (shRNA) or small-molecule kinase inhibitor (PF-2341066). Although c-Met silencing or radiation alone demonstrated a modest decrease in clonogenic growth of parental breast cancers and brain metastatic derivatives, combination of two modalities showed synergistic antitumor effects resulting in significant prolongation of overall survival in tumor-bearing mice. Taken together, optimizing c-Met targeting in combination with radiation is critical to enhance the effectiveness of radiotherapy in the treatments of brain metastasis.

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a major risk factor for melanoma development, but it has been unclear exactly how UVR leads to melanomagenesis. In a recent publication in Nature, Viros et al. identify TP53/Trp53 as a UVR-target gene in melanoma and show that UVR-induced TP53/Trp53 mutations accelerate BRAF(V600E)-driven melanomagenesis.

Rationale: Although recent studies have suggested a role for the receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL) in the late stages of atherosclerosis (eg, plaque destabilization and rupture), the underlying mechanisms and subsequent events are unclear. Objective: Because blood clotting is common after plaque rupture, we hypothesized that RANKL influenced tissue factor (TF) expression and activity to initiate the coagulation cascade. Methods and Results: RANKL increased the TF mRNA level and procoagulant activity in macrophages, as determined by semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (semiquantitative RT-PCR) and a chromogenic assay. TF promoter analysis revealed that AP-1 and Egr-1 are responsible for RANKL-induced TF transcription. In addition, RANKL increased phosphorylation of c-Jun NH 2 -terminal kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2. RANKL-induced TF expression was attenuated by JNK- and MEK1-specific inhibitors and by small interfering RNA knockdown of c-Jun and Egr-1. Conclusion: Our results indicate that RANKL induces TF in macrophages mainly through the cooperative action of AP-1 and Egr-1 via JNK and ERK1/2 pathways. These findings provide strong mechanistic support for the role of RANKL in the thrombogenicity of atherosclerotic plaques.

Regenerative therapy of the salivary gland (SG) is a promising therapeutic approach for irreversible hyposalivation in patients with head and neck cancer treated by radiotherapy. However, little is known about the molecular regulators of stem/progenitor cell activity and regenerative processes in the SG. Wnt/β-catenin signaling regulates the function of many adult stem cell populations, but its role in SG development and regeneration is unknown. Using BAT-gal Wnt reporter transgenic mice, we demonstrate that in the submandibular glands (SMGs) of newborn mice Wnt/β-catenin signaling is active in a few cells at the basal layer of intercalated ducts, the putative location of salivary gland stem/progenitor cells (SGPCs). Wnt activity decreases as mice age, but is markedly enhanced in SG ducts during regeneration of adult SMG after ligation of the main secretory duct. The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway is also activated after duct ligation. Inhibition of epithelial β-catenin signaling in young Keratin5-rtTA/tetO-Dkk1 mice impairs the postnatal development of SMG, particularly affecting maturation of granular convoluted tubules. Conversely, forced activation of epithelial β-catenin signaling in adult Keratin5-rtTA/tetO-Cre/Ctnnb1((Ex3)fl) mice promotes proliferation of ductal cells, expansion of the SGPC compartment, and ectopic activation of Hh signaling. Taken together, these results indicate that Wnt/β-catenin signaling regulates the activity of SGPCs during postnatal development and regeneration upstream of the Hh pathway, and suggest the potential of modulating Wnt/β-catenin and/or Hh pathways for functional restoration of SGs after irradiation.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and most lethal brain tumor. As current standard therapy consisting of surgery and chemo-irradiation provides limited benefit for GBM patients, novel therapeutic options are urgently required. Forkhead box M1 (FoxM1) transcription factor is an oncogenic regulator that promotes the proliferation, survival, and treatment resistance of various human cancers. The roles of FoxM1 in GBM remain incompletely understood, due in part to pleotropic nature of the FoxM1 pathway. Here, we show the roles of FoxM1 in GBM stem cell maintenance and radioresistance. ShRNA-mediated FoxM1 inhibition significantly impeded clonogenic growth and survival of patient-derived primary GBM cells with marked downregulation of Sox2, a master regulator of stem cell phenotype. Ectopic expression of Sox2 partially rescued FoxM1 inhibition-mediated effects. Conversely, FoxM1 overexpression upregulated Sox2 expression and promoted clonogenic growth of GBM cells. These data, with a direct binding of FoxM1 in the Sox2 promoter region in GBM cells, suggest that FoxM1 regulates stemness of primary GBM cells via Sox2. We also found significant increases in FoxM1 and Sox2 expression in GBM cells after irradiation both in vitro and in vivo orthotopic tumor models. Notably, genetic or a small-molecule FoxM1 inhibitor-mediated FoxM1 targeting significantly sensitized GBM cells to irradiation, accompanying with Sox2 downregulation. Finally, FoxM1 inhibition combined with irradiation in a patient GBM-derived orthotopic model significantly impeded tumor growth and prolonged the survival of tumor bearing mice. Taken together, these results indicate that the FoxM1-Sox2 signaling axis promotes clonogenic growth and radiation resistance of GBM, and suggest that FoxM1 targeting combined with irradiation is a potentially effective therapeutic approach for GBM.

It was examined whether hepatocyte cell lines can be used for ammonia removal in mammalian cell cultures. It was found that there exists a critical ammonium concentration level for each hepatocyte cell to remove ammonia. Among the cells tested in this work, primary hepatocytes showed the strongest ammonia removal capability if ammonium concentration is higher than the critical level. However, primary hepatocytes lost the liver function gradually and finally died after 2-3 weeks. Because of this limitation, primary hepatocytes were not appropriate to be used for ammonia removal in long-term cultures. Hep G2 cells, which are immortal, also showed a strong ammonia removal activity. The ammonia removal activity of Hep G2 cells depended on the concentration of ammonium in the medium, as in the case of primary hepatocytes. However, urea could not be detected in the course of ammonia removal by Hep G2 cells. Instead of urea, Hep G2 cells secreted glutamine into the culture medium. The capacity for ammonia removal was higher in the absence than in the presence of glutamine. Thus we checked the activity of glutamine synthetase in the Hep G2 cells. The level of glutamine synthetase activity increased with the addition of ammonium chloride. This result accounts for the ammonium concentration dependency of Hep G2 cells in ammonia removal and glutamine synthesis. Furthermore Hep G2 cells could grow well in the absence of glutamine, which was necessarily required in mammalian cell cultures. These results prove that glutamine formation serves as the primary mechanism of detoxifying ammonia in hepatocyte cell lines as expected. In addition, it was demonstrated that ammonium level could be reduced 38% and that erythropoietin production increased 2-fold in the mixed culture of Hep G2 and recombinant CHO cells.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate the expression of many mammalian genes and play key roles in embryonic hair follicle development; however, little is known of their functions in postnatal hair growth. We compared the effects of deleting the essential miRNA biogenesis enzymes Drosha and Dicer in mouse skin epithelial cells at successive postnatal time points. Deletion of either Drosha or Dicer during an established growth phase (anagen) caused failure of hair follicles to enter a normal catagen regression phase, eventual follicular degradation and stem cell loss. Deletion of Drosha or Dicer in resting phase follicles did not affect follicular structure or epithelial stem cell maintenance, and stimulation of anagen by hair plucking caused follicular proliferation and formation of a primitive transient amplifying matrix population. However, mutant matrix cells exhibited apoptosis and DNA damage and hair follicles rapidly degraded. Hair follicle defects at early time points post-deletion occurred in the absence of inflammation, but a dermal inflammatory response and hyperproliferation of interfollicular epidermis accompanied subsequent hair follicle degradation. These data reveal multiple functions for Drosha and Dicer in suppressing DNA damage in rapidly proliferating follicular matrix cells, facilitating catagen and maintaining follicular structures and their associated stem cells. Although Drosha and Dicer each possess independent non-miRNA-related functions, the similarity in phenotypes of the inducible epidermal Drosha and Dicer mutants indicates that these defects result primarily from failure of miRNA processing. Consistent with this, Dicer deletion resulted in the upregulation of multiple direct targets of the highly expressed epithelial miRNA miR-205.

Langerhans cells (LCs) are distinct dendritic cells (DCs) that populate stratified squamous epithelia. Despite extensive studies, our understanding of LC development is incomplete. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) is required for LC development, but other epidermis-derived influences may also be important. Recently, EpCAM (CD326) has been identified as a cell surface protein discriminating LCs from Langerin(+) dermal DCs and other DCs in the skin. EpCAM is a known transcriptional target of the Wnt signaling pathway. We hypothesized that intraepidermal Wnt signaling might influence LC development. Addition of Wnt3A into cultures of bone-marrow-derived cells in combination with TGFβ1, GM-CSF, and M-CSF resulted in increased (33%; P0.05) accumulation of EpCAM(+) DCs. In contrast, addition of the Wnt antagonist dickkopf-related protein 1 (Dkk1) decreased the number of EpCAM(+) DCs (21%; P0.05). We used K14-KRM1; K5-rtTA; tetO-Dkk1 triple-transgenic and K5-rtTA; tetO-Dkk1 double-transgenic mice to test the in vivo relevance of our in vitro findings. Feeding doxycycline to nursing mothers induced expression of Dkk1 in the skin of transgenic pups, causing an obvious hair phenotype. Expression of Dkk1 reduced LC proliferation (40%; P0.01) on P7, decreased LC densities (26%; P0.05) on P14, and decreased EpCAM expression intensities on LCs as well (33%). In aggregate, these data suggest that Wnt signaling in skin influences LC development.

The transcription factor Elf5 plays an important role in mammary gland development. However, because of the embryonic lethality of Elf5 straight knockout mice, prior studies have been limited to experiments with Elf5 haploinsufficient animals, overexpression systems or transplants. Here, we have utilized K14-Cre to generate mammary-gland specific Elf5 conditional knockout mice. During pregnancy, Elf5-null mammary epithelium completely failed to initiate alveologenesis, and a characteristic of virgin ductal epithelial cells persisted postpartum. We demonstrate that the loss of Elf5 leads to the absence of alveolar secretory markers confirming previous published data. Interestingly, the developmental block due to a lack of Elf5 could not be restored by multiple gestations. Elf5-null mammary epithelial cells also display disorganized cell structures as evident by altered cell polarities, which might be the cause for collapsed lumina. We observe reduced levels of Stat5 and attenuated Stat5 activity as measured by p-Stat5 levels both in Elf5-null mammary glands as well as cultured mammary epithelial cells. This data suggests that the failure of alveolar and lactogenic differentiation due to the loss of Elf5 is mediated in part due to impaired Stat5 activity. In support of this hypothesis, we show by ChIP experiments that Stat5a promoter contains a conserved Elf5-binding site that is occupied by Elf5 in mammary glands. Mammary epithelia lacking Elf5 exhibited downregulation of several other critical genes involved in alveologenesis, suggesting Elf5 as a master regulator in alveolar development. We propose a model for Elf5-mediated alveolar development, in which Elf5 regulates the expression of key mediators of the PrlR/Jak2/Stat5 signaling pathway.