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Um der Erkennung durch das körpereigene Immunsystem entkommen, weisen Tumore Modifikationen in ihrer Mikroumgebung auf. Zu diesen gehören u. a. veränderte Sauerstoffkonzentrationen im Tumorkern und die Freisetzung biochemischer Faktoren aus Tumorzellen, welche die Funktion von Tumor-assoziierten Phagozyten, wie z.B. Dendritischen Zellen (DC) beeinflussen. DC sind professionelle Antigen-präsentierende Zellen, die eine Spezialisierung in verschiedene funktionale Subtypen aufweisen. Myeloische DC (mDC) sind besonders effizient in Hinsicht auf die Präsentation von Antigenen, wohingegen plasmazytoide DC (pDC) regulatorisch auf das Immunsystem einwirken. Beide Subtypen spielen eine wichtige Rolle bei der Karzinogenese.
Während humane mDC, zur therapeutischen Verwendung, ex vivo aus Monozyten hergestellt werden können, war dies für humane pDC bisher nicht möglich. Ein war deshalb ein erstes Ziel dieser Arbeit, ein Protokoll zur Generierung humaner pDC aus humanen Monozyten zu entwickeln. Diese wurden mittels des Wachstumsfaktors Fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (Flt3-L) zu pDC-Äquivalenten differenziert, welche als monocyte-derived pDC (mo-pDC) bezeichnet wurden. In der Tat zeigten mo-pDC ein für humane pDC charakteristisches Oberflächenmarkerprofil und wiesen, im Vergleich zu mDC, eine geringe Kapazität zur Induktion der Proliferation autologer T Zellen und zur Phagozytose apoptotischer Zellen auf. Mo-pDC erwarben im Verlauf ihrer Differenzierung aus Monozyten eine kontinuierlich erhöhte Expression des pDC-spezifischen Transkriptionfaktors E2-2 und seiner spezifischen Zielgene. Der wichtigste funktionale Parameter von pDC ist die Produktion großer Mengen von Interferon-α (IFN-α). Mo-pDC sezernierten, nach vorheriger Aktivierung mit Tumornekrosefaktor-α (TNF-α) oder wenn zu ihrer Differenzierung neben Flt3-L auch Vitamin D3 oder all-trans-Retinolsäure verwendet wurde, ebenfalls große Mengen IFN-α. Wurden mo-pDC unter Hypoxie, einem prominenten Faktor der Tumormikroumgebung, generiert, so waren die Expression des spezifischen Transkriptionsfaktors E2-2 und die Freisetzung von IFN-α stark vermindert. Diese Daten zeigten zunächst, dass mo-pDC für das Studium von Differenzierung und Funktion humaner pDC eingesetzt werden können.
Weiterhin lieferten sie Hinweise auf eine veränderte Differenzierung humaner pDC unter Hypoxie. In einem nächsten Schritt wurde folglich untersucht, ob Hypoxie auch die Differenzierung von pDC aus deren physiologischen Vorläufern beeinflusst. Wurden Knochenmarkszellen der Maus mit Flt3-L unter Normoxie oder Hypoxie kultiviert, so war die Differenzierung zu pDC unter Hypoxie in der Tat unterdrückt. Dies war abhängig von der Hypoxie-induzierten Aktivität des Hypoxie-induzierten Faktors 1 (HIF-1), da die Flt3-Linduzierte Differenzierung von murinen Knochenmarkszellen, in denen die Expression von HIF-1 in pDC-Vorläuferzellen ausgeschaltet war, unter Hypoxie normal verlief.
Zusammenfassend kann also gesagt werden, dass Hypoxie, durch Aktivierung von HIF-1, Differenzierung und Funktion von pDC unterdrückt. Dieser Mechanismus könnte zu ihrer beschriebenen Dysfunktion in humanen Tumoren beitragen.
Neben Hypoxie sind viele andere Faktoren an der Immunsuppression in Tumoren beteiligt.
Eine Komponente der Mikroumgebung in Tumoren ist das Vorhandensein apoptotischer Tumorzellen. Apoptose von Tumorzellen findet, im Kontrast zur generellen Sicht von Tumoren als Apoptose-resistente Entitäten, auch in unbehandelten Tumoren im Überfluss statt. Apoptotische körpereigene Zellen unterdrücken unter physiologischen Bedingungen das Immunsystem. Deshalb könnte das Freisetzen von apoptotischem Material oder die Sekretion von Faktoren aus sterbenden Tumorzellen einen starken Einfluss auf die Funktion von Tumor-assoziierten DC und die damit verbundene Aktivierung von tumoriziden Lymphozyten haben. Eine diesbezügliche Studie war das zweite Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit. Humane mDC wurden zu diesem Zweck mit Überständen lebender, apoptotischer oder nekrotischer humaner Brustkrebszellen aktiviert und anschließend mit autologen T Zellen ko-kultiviert. Danach wurde das zytotoxische Potential der ko-kultivierten T Zellen analysiert. Interessanterweise unterdrückte die Aktivierung mit Überständen apoptotischer Tumorzellen die DC-vermittelte Generierung tumorizider T Zellen durch die Ausprägung einer Population von regulatorischen T Zellen (Treg), die durch die gleichzeitige Expression der Oberflächenmoleküle CD39 und CD69 charakterisiert war. Die Ausprägung der CD39-und CD69-exprimierenden Treg Zell-Population war abhängig von der Freisetzung des bioaktiven Lipids Sphingosin-1-Phosphat (S1P) aus apoptotischen Zellen, welches durch den S1P-Rezeptor 4 zur Freisetzung des immunregulatorischen Zytokins IL-27 aus mDC führte.
Neutralisierung von IL-27 in AC-aktivierten Ko-Kulturen von mDC und T Zellen blockierte die Generierung von CD39- und CD69-exprimierenden Treg Zellen und resultierte folglich in der Aktivierung zytotoxischer T Zellen. Weiterhin war die Bildung von Adenosin in den Ko-Kulturen für die Unterdrückung zytotoxischer T Zellen vonnöten. Erste Experimente lieferten Hinweise auf eine direkte Interaktion von CD69- und CD39-exprimierenden Treg Zellen mit CD73-exprimierenden zytotoxischen T Zellen. CD39 und CD73 werden für die Bildung von Adenosin aus ATP benötigt, weswegen die Interaktion von Treg Zellen und zytotoxischen T Zellen die Adenosin-Produktion fördern könnte.
Zusammenfassend zeigen die hier präsentierten Befunde wie Faktoren der
Tumormikroumgebung die Funktion von humanen DC Subtypen beeinflussen können. Ein Verständnis der zugrundeliegenden Mechanismen kann wertvolle Informationen für die Wahl effektiver Immuntherapien oder Chemotherapien liefern und so die Therapie humaner Tumore unterstützen.
Drug toxicity and viral resistance limit long-term efficacy of antiviral drug treatment for HIV
infection. Thus, alternative therapies need to be explored. Previously, group of “Prof. von Laer”
tested the infusion of T lymphocytes transduced with a retroviral vector (M87o) that expresses an
HIV entry inhibitory peptide (maC46). Gene-modified autologous T cells were infused into 10
HIV-infected patients with advanced disease and multidrug resistant virus during antiretroviral
combination therapy. T cell infusions were tolerated well with no severe side effects. A
significant increase of CD4 counts was observed post infusion. At the end of the one-year
follow-up, the CD4 counts of all patients were still around or above baseline. Gene-modified
cells could be detected in peripheral blood, lymph nodes and bone marrow throughout the oneyear
follow-up, whereby marking levels correlated with the cell dose. No significant changes of
viral load were observed during the first four months. Four of the seven patients that changed
their antiviral drug regimen thereafter responded with a significant decline in plasma viral load.
In conclusion, the transfer of gene-modified cells was safe, led to sustained levels of gene
marking and may improve immune competence in HIV-infected patients with advanced disease
and multidrug resistant virus. However, the low level of gene marking and the lack of substantial
long-term in vivo accumulation of gene-protected cells observed in this trial clearly demonstrate
the requirement for new vectors with new strategy.
In this thesis self‐inactivating lentiviral vectors harboring internal promoters and RNA elements
were therefore evaluated for their potential use in a clinical gene‐therapy trial. The results from
this work provide the basis for the selection of a suitable candidate vector for extensive
preclinical testing. Apart from being capable of transducing non‐dividing cells, lentiviral vectors
incorporate a number of additional features that are of potential value for gene therapeutic
applications. These include a larger packaging capacity, higher titers than γ‐retroviral vectors
and, most importantly, a reduced risk of deregulating cellular genes due to its natural integration
profile. The use of internal promoters to drive expression of the therapeutic transgene maC46
should further improve the safety profile of these new‐generation vectors, while an additional
artificial splice acceptor (SA) into the 5‟UTR of the transgene over all elevate transgene
expression. The rationale for this is that hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells will be
Summary
98
protected from enhancer‐mediated transactivation effects and also from potential side effects due
to the aberrant expression of maC46 while at the same time the full clinical benefit for the
patients is maintained.
In order to find a suitable candidate for preclinical studies, two candidate therapeutic vectors
harboring different regulatory elements were selected based on results from pilot experiments.
The internal promoters used to drive expression of codon optimized maC46 were the PGK
promoter and MPSV promoter. This work focuses on the transgene expression levels in
lymphoid cells and antiviral activity. The issues of long term expression, propensity to
methylation mediated silencing of the promoters, and genotoxicity were also touched. In a first
step the performance of different vectors was evaluated in the human T cell lines. Based on
promising data from ex vivo human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, the vector carrying the
MPSV promoter along with intron were selected for in vivo transplantation experiments.
In summary, the ex vivo data suggested the long term survival of lentiviral gene modified cells,
along with maintained expression of introduced genes. It was observed that the expression of
these constructs depends strongly on the activation and differentiation status of the targeted T
cells. This regulation was not linked to any specific promotor. In vivo study shows that maC46
can be introduced into murine multiple hematopoietic lineages via lentiviral vector and expressed
at high levels in their mulilineage progeny, without altering the hematopoiesis. There was no
sign of any kind of hematopoietic or lymphoid malignancies. Although gene-modified
lymphocytes persisted in-vivo, the downregulation of transgene expression was consistent with
the ex-vivo observation. In contrast to that the T cells transplanted group showed delayed
engraftment of donor cells and there was no expression of C46 in blood and lymphatic organs. .
In conclusion, when considering HIV gene therapy focusing CD4+ T cells, potential problems of
T cell activation status as related to the desired clinical effect must be addressed. These results
might open the way for a gene therapy targeting mainly or exclusively activated T cells and
could be exploited for immunostimulatory as well as suppressive approaches.
Gene therapy is a promising therapeutic strategy that emerged from the attractive idea of targeting therapy at the molecular level. For many patients who suffer from genetic and acquired diseases that cannot be effectively treated by conventional treatment approaches gene therapy remains a huge hope of cure in spite of the hurdles regarding efficacy and safety that need to be overcome. The development of efficient gene transfer vehicles, mainly retroviral vectors, led to the first successful gene therapy trial, to treat patients suffering from X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (X-SCID) using gene modified stem cells (Hacein-Bey-Abina, Le Deist et al. 2002). Despite the success of this trial, it revealed the danger of retroviral insertional mutagenesis as a major adverse event of gene therapy using gene-modified stem cells (Hacein-Bey-Abina, von Kalle et al. 2003). In contrast to stem cells, T cells are relatively resistant to insertional mutagenesis and transformation even after transduction with potent oncogenes using retroviral vectors (Newrzela, Cornils et al. 2008). However, mature T cells can self-renew, proliferate and survive for long periods. These criteria are supposed to render T cells prone to transformation. Therefore, the questions of mature T cells transformability and the control mechanism limiting their transformation are still elusive.
The NS5B protein of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, which is the key enzyme for viral replication. It is recognized as one of the promising targets for antiviral intervention within the new HCV treatment approach of direct-acting antivirals (DAA). However, several of the known non-nucleoside HCV polymerase inhibitors (NNIs) identified by screening approaches show limitations in the coverage of all six major HCV genotypes (GT). Genotypic profiling therefore has to be implemented early in the screening cascade to discover new broadly active NNIs. This implies knowledge of the specific individual biochemical properties of polymerases from all GTs which is to date limited to GT 1 only. The work submitted here gives a comprehensive overview of the biochemical properties of HCV polymerases derived from all major GTs 1 - 6. Biochemical analysis of polymerases from 38 individual sequences revealed that the optima for monovalent cations, pH and temperature were similar between the GTs, whereas significant differences concerning concentration of the preferred cofactor Mg2+ were identified. Implementing the optimal requirements for the polymerases from each individual GT led to significant improvements in their enzymatic activities. However, the specific activity was distributed unequally across the GTs and could be ranked in the following descending order: 1b, 6a > 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a > 1a. Furthermore, the optimized assay conditions for GT profiling were confirmed by testing the inhibitory activity of four known prototype NNIs, each addressing one of the four NNI binding sites. Additionally, a novel NNI chemotype - identified by screening - is described, the substituted N-phenyl-benzenesulphonamides (SPBS). This inhibitor class showed reversible inhibition of NS5B from HCV 1b Con1 with IC50 values up to 39 nM. Based on the decreased inhibitory activity against a recombinant NS5B protein carrying the mutation L419M, it was assumed that the SPBS inhibitors bound to the thumb site II as it has been described for the carboxy thiophene inhibitors. The postulated binding site was consequently confirmed by analysing a provided co-crystal structure of NS5B in complex with a SPBS analogue. Notably, the two SPBS analogues SPBS-1 and SPBS-2 reported here revealed significant differences in addressing the NH-group of the main chain Y477 by hydrogen-bonds, watermediated or directly, which provoked a shift of the carboxyphenyl group of the inhibitors towards the H475 position for the water-mediated binding mode. Interestingly, the differences observed in the binding mode led to a different cross resistance profile at positions M423 and I482. Using the previously optimized biochemical primer-dependent transcription assay, inhibitory activity of the SPBS could be demonstrated against polymerases from HCV GTs 1a and 1b whereas the inhibitor class failed to inhibit any of the non-GT 1 polymerases. Furthermore, initial antiviral activity for SPBS was demonstrated against the subgenomic replicons of HCV GTs 1a and 1b, respectively, and no considerable cytotoxic potential against a panel of ten different cell types. Finally, concerning a possible future treatment without PEG-IFN α or ribavirin, the SPBS analogues were found to display additive to synergistic effects in combination with the benzothiadiazine, the benzofuran and the indole - representative inhibitors for the binding sites palm I, palm II and thumb I, repectively - in the biochemical assay. Within the same binding site as the SPBS, the reference compound hydroxydihydropyranone displayed additive interactions only with the benzothiadiazine (palm I) in the biochemical assay as well as in cell culture. Hence it could be concluded that, having characterized one individual NNI, no universal predication is possible concerning the combinatory behaviour of NNIs binding to the same binding site. As synergistic, antagonistic or additive interactions are inhibitor-dependent (not binding sitedependent) each novel NNI has to be characterized individually in one-to-one combinations.
Decorin, a small leucine rich proteoglycan (SLRP) of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a biologically active molecule with signaling capabilities modulating diverse cellular functions 1. In this report, we explore the role of the matrix proteoglycan decorin in the regulation of inflammation and apoptosis and the resultant biological significance in cancer and diabetic nephropathy. The mechanisms linking immunity and inflammation with tumor development are not well defined. Here we report a novel finding that the soluble form of decorin could autonomously trigger the synthesis of TNFα and IL-12 in macrophages through TLR2 and TLR4 in a p44/42- and p38-dependent manner. In the presence of LPS, decorin enhanced the effects of LPS by signaling additionally via TLR2. Further, decorin could enhance PDCD4 protein expression with subsequent inhibition of LPS-mediated IL-10 protein synthesis by two mechanisms: i) by TLR2/TLR4-dependent stimulation of PDCD4 synthesis and ii) by inhibition of the TGFβ1-induced increase of miR-21, a posttranscriptional suppressor of PDCD4 protein synthesis. Enhanced PDCD4, a translational inhibitor of IL-10, downregulated this anti-inflammatory cytokine, thereby further driving the cytokine profile towards a proinflammatory phenotype.
Importantly, these mechanisms appear to operate in a broad biological context linking pathogen-mediated with sterile inflammation as shown here for sepsis and growth retardation of established tumor xenografts. In sepsis, decorin is an early response gene evoked by inflammation and is markedly elevated in plasma of septic human patients and in plasma and tissues of septic mice. Our findings suggested that in vivo decorin alone mimics the effects of LPS by enhancing the plasma and tissue levels of pro-inflammatory TNFα, IL-12 and PDCD4 but when administered together with LPS, it potentiated the proinflammatory response of this PAMP by inhibiting active TGFβ1, miR-21 and hence the LPS mediated IL-10 production. In vivo, overexpression of decorin in tumor xenografts resulted in decorin/TLR2/4-driven synthesis of PDCD4, TNFα, IL-12 and decorin/TGFβ1/miR-21-mediated inhibition of PDCD4 suppression shifting the immune response to a pro-apoptotic and proinflammatory axis with strong anti-tumorigenic effects resulting in increased apoptosis and growth retardation of solid tumor. Thus, decorin signaling boosts inflammatory activity in sepsis and tumor. In contrast to the proinflammatory and proapoptotic role of decorin in tumor, decorin deficiency in diabetic kidneys led to enhanced apoptosis and increased mononuclear cell infiltration indicating that decorin might give rise to distinct biological outcomes depending on the cell type and biological context. Accordingly, in this study, we used a model of streptozotocin-induced diabetes type 1 in wild-type (Dcn+/+) and decorin-deficient- (Dcn-/-) mice to further elucidate the role of decorin in diabetic nephropathy. In this model, decorin was overexpressed in the mesangial matrix of the glomerulus and in the tubulointerstitium both at the mRNA and protein level in early stages of diabetic nephropathy which declined as the disease further progressed supporting the concept that decorin might act as a part of a natural response to hyperglycemia and to damage caused there from. These observations correlate with the data obtained in renal biopsies from patients at various stages of diabetic nephropathy 15, suggesting clinical relevance of our findings for the human disease. In the diabetic kidney, decorin deficiency was associated with: i) glomerular and tubular overexpression of p27Kip1 and enhanced proteinuria, ii) enhanced expression of TGFβ1 and CTGF resulting in increased accumulation of ECM, iii) overexpression of biglycan and elevated infiltration of mononuclear cells, iv) enhanced apoptosis of tubular epithelial cells despite overexpression of tubular IGF-IR. We further discovered that decorin binds to the IGF-IR in tubular epithelial cells and conveys protection against high glucose-mediated apoptosis providing evidence for a protective role of decorin during diabetic nephropathy development.
Thus, future therapeutic approaches that would either enhance the endogenous production of decorin or deliver exogenous decorin to the diseased solid tumors and/or diabetic kidney might improve the prognosis of these chronic diseases.
In the past, the genetically diabetic-obese diabetes/diabetes (db/db) and obese/obese (ob/ob) mouse strains were used to investigate mechanisms of diabetes-impaired wound healing. Here we determined patterns of skin repair in genetically normal C57Bl/6J mice that were fed using a high fat diet (HFD) to induce a diabetes-obesity syndrome. Wound closure was markedly delayed in HFD-fed mice compared to mice which had received a standard chow diet (CD). Impaired wound tissue of HFD mice showed a marked prolongation of wound inflammation. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was delayed and associated with the disturbed formation of wound margin epithelia and an impaired angiogenesis in the reduced granulation tissue. Normal wound contraction was retarded and disordered. Wound disorders in obese C57Bl/6J mice were paralleled by a prominent degradation of the inhibitor of NFκB (IκB-α) in the absence of an Akt activation. By contrast to impaired wound conditions in ob/ob mice, late wounds of HFD mice did not develop a chronic inflammatory state and were epithelialized after 11 days of repair. Thus, only genetically obese and diabetic ob/ob mice finally developed chronic wounds and therefore represent a better suited experimental model to investigate diabetes-induced wound healing disorders.
TRPC channels are a family of nonselective cation channels that regulate ion homeostasis and intracellular Ca2+ signaling in numerous cell types. Important physiological functions such as vasoregulation, neuronal growth, and pheromone recognition have been assigned to this class of ion channels. Despite their physiological relevance, few selective pharmacological tools are available to study TRPC channel function. We, therefore, screened a selection of pharmacologically active compounds for TRPC modulating activity. We found that the synthetic gestagen norgestimate inhibited diacylglycerol-sensitive TRPC3 and TRPC6 with IC50s of 3–5 µM, while half-maximal inhibition of TRPC5 required significantly higher compound concentrations (>10 µM). Norgestimate blocked TRPC-mediated vasopressin-induced cation currents in A7r5 smooth muscle cells and caused vasorelaxation of isolated rat aorta, indicating that norgestimate could be an interesting tool for the investigation of TRP channel function in native cells and tissues. The steroid hormone progesterone, which is structurally related to norgestimate, also inhibited TRPC channel activity with IC50s ranging from 6 to 18 µM but showed little subtype selectivity. Thus, TRPC channel inhibition by high gestational levels of progesterone may contribute to the physiological decrease of uterine contractility and immunosuppression during pregnancy.
Background: After focal neuronal injury the endocannabinioid system becomes activated and protects or harms neurons depending on cannabinoid derivates and receptor subtypes. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) play a central role in controlling local responses and influencing neural plasticity and survival. However, little is known about the functional relevance of eCBs in long-range projection damage as observed in stroke or spinal cord injury (SCI).
Methods: In rat organotypic entorhino-hippocampal slice cultures (OHSC) as a relevant and suitable model for investigating projection fibers in the CNS we performed perforant pathway transection (PPT) and subsequently analyzed the spatial and temporal dynamics of eCB levels. This approach allows proper distinction of responses in originating neurons (entorhinal cortex), areas of deafferentiation/anterograde axonal degeneration (dentate gyrus) and putative changes in more distant but synaptically connected subfields (cornu ammonis (CA) 1 region).
Results: Using LC-MS/MS, we measured a strong increase in arachidonoylethanolamide (AEA), oleoylethanolamide (OEA) and palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) levels in the denervation zone (dentate gyrus) 24 hours post lesion (hpl), whereas entorhinal cortex and CA1 region exhibited little if any changes. NAPE-PLD, responsible for biosynthesis of eCBs, was increased early, whereas FAAH, a catabolizing enzyme, was up-regulated 48hpl.
Conclusion: Neuronal damage as assessed by transection of long-range projections apparently provides a strong time-dependent and area-confined signal for de novo synthesis of eCB, presumably to restrict neuronal damage. The present data underlines the importance of activation of the eCB system in CNS pathologies and identifies a novel site-specific intrinsic regulation of eCBs after long-range projection damage.
We present a computational method for the reaction-based de novo design of drug-like molecules. The software DOGS (Design of Genuine Structures) features a ligand-based strategy for automated ‘in silico’ assembly of potentially novel bioactive compounds. The quality of the designed compounds is assessed by a graph kernel method measuring their similarity to known bioactive reference ligands in terms of structural and pharmacophoric features. We implemented a deterministic compound construction procedure that explicitly considers compound synthesizability, based on a compilation of 25'144 readily available synthetic building blocks and 58 established reaction principles. This enables the software to suggest a synthesis route for each designed compound. Two prospective case studies are presented together with details on the algorithm and its implementation. De novo designed ligand candidates for the human histamine H4 receptor and γ-secretase were synthesized as suggested by the software. The computational approach proved to be suitable for scaffold-hopping from known ligands to novel chemotypes, and for generating bioactive molecules with drug-like properties.
Introduction: Despite the excellent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive action of glucocorticoids (GCs), their use for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) still carries significant risks in terms of frequently occurring severe side effects, such as the impairment of intestinal tissue repair. The recently-introduced selective glucocorticoid receptor (GR) agonists (SEGRAs) offer anti-inflammatory action comparable to that of common GCs, but with a reduced side effect profile.
Methods: The in vitro effects of the non-steroidal SEGRAs Compound A (CpdA) and ZK216348, were investigated in intestinal epithelial cells and compared to those of Dexamethasone (Dex). GR translocation was shown by immunfluorescence and Western blot analysis. Trans-repressive effects were studied by means of NF-κB/p65 activity and IL-8 levels, trans-activation potency by reporter gene assay. Flow cytometry was used to assess apoptosis of cells exposed to SEGRAs. The effects on IEC-6 and HaCaT cell restitution were determined using an in vitro wound healing model, cell proliferation by BrdU assay. In addition, influences on the TGF-β- or EGF/ERK1/2/MAPK-pathway were evaluated by reporter gene assay, Western blot and qPCR analysis.
Results: Dex, CpdA and ZK216348 were found to be functional GR agonists. In terms of trans-repression, CpdA and ZK216348 effectively inhibited NF-κB activity and IL-8 secretion, but showed less trans-activation potency. Furthermore, unlike SEGRAs, Dex caused a dose-dependent inhibition of cell restitution with no effect on cell proliferation. These differences in epithelial restitution were TGF-β-independent but Dex inhibited the EGF/ERK1/2/MAPK-pathway important for intestinal epithelial wound healing by induction of MKP-1 and Annexin-1 which was not affected by CpdA or ZK216348.
Conclusion: Collectively, our results indicate that, while their anti-inflammatory activity is comparable to Dex, SEGRAs show fewer side effects with respect to wound healing. The fact that SEGRAs did not have a similar effect on cell restitution might be due to a different modulation of EGF/ERK1/2 MAPK signalling.
Synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) at spinal neurons directly communicating pain-specific inputs from the periphery to the brain has been proposed to serve as a trigger for pain hypersensitivity in pathological states. Previous studies have functionally implicated the NMDA receptor-NO pathway and the downstream second messenger, cGMP, in these processes. Because cGMP can broadly influence diverse ion-channels, kinases, and phosphodiesterases, pre- as well as post-synaptically, the precise identity of cGMP targets mediating spinal LTP, their mechanisms of action, and their locus in the spinal circuitry are still unclear. Here, we found that Protein Kinase G1 (PKG-I) localized presynaptically in nociceptor terminals plays an essential role in the expression of spinal LTP. Using the Cre-lox P system, we generated nociceptor-specific knockout mice lacking PKG-I specifically in presynaptic terminals of nociceptors in the spinal cord, but not in post-synaptic neurons or elsewhere (SNS-PKG-I−/− mice). Patch clamp recordings showed that activity-induced LTP at identified synapses between nociceptors and spinal neurons projecting to the periaqueductal grey (PAG) was completely abolished in SNS-PKG-I−/− mice, although basal synaptic transmission was not affected. Analyses of synaptic failure rates and paired-pulse ratios indicated a role for presynaptic PKG-I in regulating the probability of neurotransmitter release. Inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor 1 and myosin light chain kinase were recruited as key phosphorylation targets of presynaptic PKG-I in nociceptive neurons. Finally, behavioural analyses in vivo showed marked defects in SNS-PKG-I−/− mice in several models of activity-induced nociceptive hypersensitivity, and pharmacological studies identified a clear contribution of PKG-I expressed in spinal terminals of nociceptors. Our results thus indicate that presynaptic mechanisms involving an increase in release probability from nociceptors are operational in the expression of synaptic LTP on spinal-PAG projection neurons and that PKG-I localized in presynaptic nociceptor terminals plays an essential role in this process to regulate pain sensitivity.
In an ongoing clinical phase I/II study, 16 pediatric patients suffering from high risk leukemia/tumors received highly purified donor natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy (NK-DLI) at day (+3) +40 and +100 post haploidentical stem cell transplantation. However, literature about the influence of NK-DLI on recipient's immune system is scarce. Here we present concomitant results of a noninvasive in vivo monitoring approach of recipient's peripheral blood (PB) cells after transfer of either unstimulated (NK-DLI(unstim)) or IL-2 (1000 U/ml, 9–14 days) activated NK cells (NK-DLI(IL-2 stim)) along with their ex vivo secreted cytokine/chemokines. We performed phenotypical and functional characterizations of the NK-DLIs, detailed flow cytometric analyses of various PB cells and comprehensive cytokine/chemokine arrays before and after NK-DLI. Patients of both groups were comparable with regard to remission status, immune reconstitution, donor chimerism, KIR mismatching, stem cell and NK-DLI dose. Only after NK-DLI(IL-2 stim) was a rapid, almost complete loss of CD56(bright)CD16(dim/−) immune regulatory and CD56(dim)CD16(+) cytotoxic NK cells, monocytes, dendritic cells and eosinophils from PB circulation seen 10 min after infusion, while neutrophils significantly increased. The reduction of NK cells was due to both, a decrease in patients' own CD69(−) NCR(low)CD62L(+) NK cells as well as to a diminishing of the transferred cells from the NK-DLI(IL-2 stim) with the CD56(bright)CD16(+/−)CD69(+)NCR(high)CD62L(−) phenotype. All cell counts recovered within the next 24 h. Transfer of NK-DLI(IL-2 stim) translated into significantly increased levels of various cytokines/chemokines (i.e. IFN-γ, IL-6, MIP-1β) in patients' PB. Those remained stable for at least 1 h, presumably leading to endothelial activation, leukocyte adhesion and/or extravasation. In contrast, NK-DLI(unstim) did not cause any of the observed effects. In conclusion, we assume that the adoptive transfer of NK-DLI(IL-2 stim) under the influence of ex vivo and in vivo secreted cytokines/chemokines may promote NK cell trafficking and therefore might enhance efficacy of immunotherapy.
Background: Oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) with warfarin is the standard of stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. Approximately 30% of patients with cardioembolic strokes are on OAT at the time of symptom onset. We investigated whether warfarin exacerbates the risk of thrombolysis-associated hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in a mouse model of ischemic stroke.
Methods: 62 C57BL/6 mice were used for this study. To achieve effective anticoagulation, warfarin was administered orally. We performed right middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 3 h and assessed functional deficit and HT blood volume after 24 h.
Results: In non-anticoagulated mice, treatment with rt-PA (10 mg/kg i.v.) after 3 h MCAO led to a 5-fold higher degree of HT compared to vehicle-treated controls (4.0±0.5 µl vs. 0.8±0.1, p<0.001). Mice on warfarin revealed larger amounts of HT after rt-PA treatment in comparison to non-anticoagulated mice (9.2±3.2 µl vs. 2.8±1.0, p<0.05). The rapid reversal of anticoagulation by means of prothrombin complex concentrates (PCC, 100 IU/kg) at the end of the 3 h MCAO period, but prior to rt-PA administration, neutralized the exacerbated risk of HT as compared to sham-treated controls (3.8±0.7 µl vs. 15.0±3.8, p<0.001).
Conclusion: In view of the vastly increased risk of HT, it seems to be justified to withhold tPA therapy in effectively anticoagulated patients with acute ischemic stroke. The rapid reversal of anticoagulation with PCC prior to tPA application reduces the risk attributed to warfarin pretreatment and may constitute an interesting therapeutic option.
The present work comprises different projects within the scope of public health. In detail, they all aim at combating the high-burden diseases HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis more effectively. Since there was, and still is, no harmonization between the existing biowaiver guidelines, the biowaiver dissolution test conditions by WHO and FDA were compared against each other using drug products, which had already demonstrated BE to the comparator in vivo. Thereby it could be shown that the dissolution conditions proposed by the WHO are more appropriate for granting biowaivers than those of the FDA. Further, the applicability of the WHO dissolution test conditions was investigated using the APIs ethambutol, isoniazid and pyrazinamide (all BCS Class III) as model compounds. These investigations demonstrated that the concept of the biowaiver proved to work properly, i.e. leading to no false positive BE decision and an acceptable incidence of false negative BE decisions. In addition, four new biowaiver monographs were published addressing important APIs in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and malaria. Before these efforts, there were only a very few biowaiver monographs available for antiviral or antimalarial APIs, i.e. the database of biowaiver monographs has been clearly improved. The last part of the present work dealt with the extension of the biowaiver concept to related areas such as the WHO Prequalification of Medicines Programme. Investigations revealed that the biowaiver tools are generally eligible for prequalification of drug products containing ethambutol, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, or lamivudine to prove BE between an appropriate comparator and the test candidate. By contrast, some APIs are excluded from the biowaiver procedure. In conclusion, the implementation of the biowaiver tools for prequalification of biowaivable APIs is, along with BCS-based biowaiver approval of new generics, an important step towards making essential, high-quality drug products more cost-effective and, as a consequence, more accessible for a larger percentage of the population. In that way, the treatment conditions for those in need living in the developing countries can be improved enormously, so that those who are poor do not have to receive poor treatment. The quality standard of essential medicines will increase worldwide, thereby helping to combat the high-burden diseases better and, in turn, lead to an improvement of the global health status.
Background: Threonine Aspartase 1 (Taspase1) mediates cleavage of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) protein and leukemia provoking MLL-fusions. In contrast to other proteases, the understanding of Taspase1's (patho)biological relevance and function is limited, since neither small molecule inhibitors nor cell based functional assays for Taspase1 are currently available. Methodology/Findings: Efficient cell-based assays to probe Taspase1 function in vivo are presented here. These are composed of glutathione S-transferase, autofluorescent protein variants, Taspase1 cleavage sites and rational combinations of nuclear import and export signals. The biosensors localize predominantly to the cytoplasm, whereas expression of biologically active Taspase1 but not of inactive Taspase1 mutants or of the protease Caspase3 triggers their proteolytic cleavage and nuclear accumulation. Compared to in vitro assays using recombinant components the in vivo assay was highly efficient. Employing an optimized nuclear translocation algorithm, the triple-color assay could be adapted to a high-throughput microscopy platform (Z'factor = 0.63). Automated high-content data analysis was used to screen a focused compound library, selected by an in silico pharmacophor screening approach, as well as a collection of fungal extracts. Screening identified two compounds, N-[2-[(4-amino-6-oxo-3H-pyrimidin-2-yl)sulfanyl]ethyl]benzenesulfonamideand 2-benzyltriazole-4,5-dicarboxylic acid, which partially inhibited Taspase1 cleavage in living cells. Additionally, the assay was exploited to probe endogenous Taspase1 in solid tumor cell models and to identify an improved consensus sequence for efficient Taspase1 cleavage. This allowed the in silico identification of novel putative Taspase1 targets. Those include the FERM Domain-Containing Protein 4B, the Tyrosine-Protein Phosphatase Zeta, and DNA Polymerase Zeta. Cleavage site recognition and proteolytic processing of these substrates were verified in the context of the biosensor. Conclusions: The assay not only allows to genetically probe Taspase1 structure function in vivo, but is also applicable for high-content screening to identify Taspase1 inhibitors. Such tools will provide novel insights into Taspase1's function and its potential therapeutic relevance.
Spherical harmonics coeffcients for ligand-based virtual screening of cyclooxygenase inhibitors
(2011)
Background: Molecular descriptors are essential for many applications in computational chemistry, such as ligand-based similarity searching. Spherical harmonics have previously been suggested as comprehensive descriptors of molecular structure and properties. We investigate a spherical harmonics descriptor for shape-based virtual screening. Methodology/Principal Findings: We introduce and validate a partially rotation-invariant three-dimensional molecular shape descriptor based on the norm of spherical harmonics expansion coefficients. Using this molecular representation, we parameterize molecular surfaces, i.e., isosurfaces of spatial molecular property distributions. We validate the shape descriptor in a comprehensive retrospective virtual screening experiment. In a prospective study, we virtually screen a large compound library for cyclooxygenase inhibitors, using a self-organizing map as a pre-filter and the shape descriptor for candidate prioritization. Conclusions/Significance: 12 compounds were tested in vitro for direct enzyme inhibition and in a whole blood assay. Active compounds containing a triazole scaffold were identified as direct cyclooxygenase-1 inhibitors. This outcome corroborates the usefulness of spherical harmonics for representation of molecular shape in virtual screening of large compound collections. The combination of pharmacophore and shape-based filtering of screening candidates proved to be a straightforward approach to finding novel bioactive chemotypes with minimal experimental effort.
Background: One virulence property of Borrelia burgdorferi is its resistance to innate immunity, in particular to complement-mediated killing. Serum-resistant B. burgdorferi express up to five distinct complement regulator-acquiring surface proteins (CRASP) which interact with complement regulator factor H (CFH) and factor H-like protein 1 (FHL1) or factor H-related protein 1 (CFHR1). In the present study we elucidate the role of the infection-associated CRASP-3 and CRASP-5 protein to serve as ligands for additional complement regulatory proteins as well as for complement resistance of B. burgdorferi. Methodology/Principal Findings: To elucidate whether CRASP-5 and CRASP-3 interact with various human proteins, both borrelial proteins were immobilized on magnetic beads. Following incubation with human serum, bound proteins were eluted and separated by Glycine-SDS-PAGE. In addition to CFH and CFHR1, complement regulators CFHR2 and CFHR5 were identified as novel ligands for both borrelial proteins by employing MALDI-TOF. To further assess the contributions of CRASP-3 and CRASP-5 to complement resistance, a serum-sensitive B. garinii strain G1 which lacks all CFH-binding proteins was used as a valuable model for functional analyses. Both CRASPs expressed on the B. garinii outer surface bound CFH as well as CFHR1 and CFHR2 in ELISA. In contrast, live B. garinii bound CFHR1, CFHR2, and CFHR5 and only miniscute amounts of CFH as demonstrated by serum adsorption assays and FACS analyses. Further functional analysis revealed that upon NHS incubation, CRASP-3 or CRASP-5 expressing borreliae were killed by complement. Conclusions/Significance: In the absence of CFH and the presence of CFHR1, CFHR2 and CFHR5, assembly and integration of the membrane attack complex was not efficiently inhibited indicating that CFH in co-operation with CFHR1, CFHR2 and CFHR5 supports complement evasion of B. burgdorferi.
Psoriasis is a characteristic inflammatory and scaly skin condition with typical histopathological features including increased proliferation and hampered differentiation of keratinocytes. The activation of innate and adaptive inflammatory cellular immune responses is considered to be the main trigger factor of the epidermal changes in psoriatic skin. However, the molecular players that are involved in enhanced proliferation and impaired differentiation of psoriatic keratinocytes are only partly understood. One important factor that regulates differentiation on the cellular level is Ca2+. In normal epidermis, a Ca2+ gradient exists that is disturbed in psoriatic plaques, favoring impaired keratinocyte proliferation. Several TRPC channels such as TRPC1, TRPC4, or TRPC6 are key proteins in the regulation of high [Ca2+]ex induced differentiation. Here, we investigated if TRPC channel function is impaired in psoriasis using calcium imaging, RT-PCR, western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining of skin biopsies. We demonstrated substantial defects in Ca2+ influx in psoriatic keratinocytes in response to high extracellular Ca2+ levels, associated with a downregulation of all TRPC channels investigated, including TRPC6 channels. As TRPC6 channel activation can partially overcome this Ca2+ entry defect, specific TRPC channel activators may be potential new drug candidates for the topical treatment of psoriasis.
Chromosomal translocations can lead to the formation of chimeric genes encoding fusion proteins such as PML/RARalpha, PLZF/RARalpha, and AML-1/ETO, which are able to induce and maintain acute myeloid leukemia (AML). One key mechanism in leukemogenesis is increased self renewal of leukemic stem cells via aberrant activation of the Wnt signaling pathway. Either X-RAR, PML/RARalpha and PLZF/RARalpha or AML-1/ETO activate Wnt signaling by upregulating gamma-catenin and beta-catenin. In a prospective study, a lower risk of leukemia was observed with aspirin use, which is consistent with numerous studies reporting an inverse association of aspirin with other cancers. Furthermore, a reduction in leukemia risk was associated with use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), where the effects on AML risk was FAB subtype-specific. To better investigate whether NSAID treatment is effective, we used Sulindac Sulfide in X-RARalpha-positive progenitor cell models. Sulindac Sulfide (SSi) is a derivative of Sulindac, a NSAID known to inactivate Wnt signaling. We found that SSi downregulated both beta-catenin and gamma-catenin in X-RARalpha-expressing cells and reversed the leukemic phenotype by reducing stem cell capacity and increasing differentiation potential in X-RARalpha-positive HSCs. The data presented herein show that SSi inhibits the leukemic cell growth as well as hematopoietic progenitors cells (HPCs) expressing PML/RARalpha, and it indicates that Sulindac is a valid molecular therapeutic approach that should be further validated using in vivo leukemia models and in clinical settings.
Background: A delta and C fibers are the major pain-conducting nerve fibers, activate only partly the same brain areas, and are differently involved in pain syndromes. Whether a stimulus excites predominantly A delta or C fibers is a commonly asked question in basic pain research but a quick test was lacking so far. Methodology/Principal Findings: Of 77 verbal descriptors of pain sensations, "pricking", "dull" and "pressing" distinguished best (95% cases correctly) between A delta fiber mediated (punctate pressure produced by means of von Frey hairs) and C fiber mediated (blunt pressure) pain, applied to healthy volunteers in experiment 1. The sensation was assigned to A delta fibers when "pricking" but neither "dull" nor "pressing" were chosen, and to C fibers when the sum of the selections of "dull" or "pressing" was greater than that of the selection of "pricking". In experiment 2, with an independent cohort, the three-descriptor questionnaire achieved sensitivity and specificity above 0.95 for distinguishing fiber preferential non-mechanical induced pain (laser heat, exciting A delta fibers, and 5-Hz electric stimulation, exciting C fibers). Conclusion: A three-item verbal rating test using the words "pricking", "dull", and "pressing" may provide sufficient information to characterize a pain sensation evoked by a physical stimulus as transmitted via A delta or via C fibers. It meets the criteria of a screening test by being easy to administer, taking little time, being comfortable in handling, and inexpensive while providing high specificity for relevant information.