236 Background: A cytostatic polybisphosphonate was developed for Tx of mCRPC. It has a) anti-res... more 236 Background: A cytostatic polybisphosphonate was developed for Tx of mCRPC. It has a) anti-resorptive effects, osteoclast inhib., b) tum. cell spec./tox, confirmed in in-vivo models. Tox. study shows high tolerability. Animal PK study has shown T½ < 3 hrs; principal accumulation in liver, spleen, kidneys. Methods: Clin phase I/IIa (clinicaltrials.gov NCT01595087): Prim obj: to define MTD of ODX given every 3rd week. Sec. obj: OS, bone metab. and resp. markers, PSA, QoL and PK. Explorative in vitrostudies (basis for rand. phase IIb trial in pts. with docetax-res. mCRPC). A docetax-resist. cell-line was developed from DU145 in escalating conc. of docetax, then continuous growth in docetax 500 µg/ml. Cells subj. to cytotox. exp. with ODX (iCELLigence system and fluorom microculture cytotox assay). Results: Clin Phase I/IIa first-in-man trial (clinicaltrials.gov NCT01595087): 17/28 patients rec. 4-7 doses every 3rd week. No DLTs; max dose adm.: 3.0 mg/kg: no drug-related SAEs. Tx ...
This study evaluated the potential antimicrobial properties of a polyguanidine (CatDex) on two or... more This study evaluated the potential antimicrobial properties of a polyguanidine (CatDex) on two oral bacteria. Chlorhexidine gluconate 1340 μmoL L−1(CHX 0.12%) was used as control.Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans)andPorphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis)were grown in BHI media. Bacterial sensitivity and antimicrobial activity were determined by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Kirby-Bauer methods. To study side effects, that is, toxicity, dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) were used. Fluorometric cytotoxicity and confocal microscopy assays were used in order to test cell viability. CatDex inhibited growth ofS. mutansat all concentrations and growth ofP. gingivalisat all concentrations except 25 μmoL L−1. The MIC of CatDex was 50 μmoL L−1for bothS. mutansandP. gingivalis. The inhibition of bacteria exposed for 8 h at 50 μmoL L−1of CatDex exhibited increased antimicrobial activity over time, with 91% inhibition in both bacteria. The antimicrobial activities of CatDex and CHX...
Osteodex (ODX) is a cytotoxic bone-targeting polybisphosphonate, intended for treatment of bone m... more Osteodex (ODX) is a cytotoxic bone-targeting polybisphosphonate, intended for treatment of bone metastasis from castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The primary objective of this study was to describe the tolerability and toxicity of such treatment by defining its maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT). Twenty-eight patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and confirmed bone metastasis were assigned to seven infusions of ODX every third week, divided in seven ascending dose cohorts. No DLT's were observed and as pre-specified, the highest dose administered was defined as MTD. In total, 206 adverse events (AE) were recorded and 13,6% were classified as treatment-related, while none were serious or severe (SAE). No cumulative toxicity and no renal toxicity were recorded. ODX was well tolerated, with few and mild side-effects and with apparent treatment efficacy in the highest dose cohort. Further clinical development is currently in progress.
Bone-Scan Underestimate Osseus Metastases Compared with Granulocyt Scintigraphy in Patients with ... more Bone-Scan Underestimate Osseus Metastases Compared with Granulocyt Scintigraphy in Patients with Prostate Carcinoma.
A descriptive study was developed in an entire Argentine rural community considering breast cance... more A descriptive study was developed in an entire Argentine rural community considering breast cancer risk factors, preventive strategies and breast cancer incidence. the study comprised of 83 women. A questionnaire of 34 items was employed; a mammogram and a breast ultrasound were performed. ANOVA and Pearson correlation were employed. Mean age was 54.5 years; 69% of women were postmenopausal; 96% had children; breastfeeding was X=10 months/child; Body Mass Index (BMI) was X=27.8 kg/m(2); 13% had first-degree relatives with breast cancer; 90% of women considered mammographic screening a necessary study. One woman had presented breast cancer. Argentine screening guidelines were not followed and an inverse relationship between education level and age of first mammogram was found (p<0.05). Mammographic and ultrasound studies did not reveal potential abnormalities. Peculiar social and cultural characteristics may be relevant to evaluate breast cancer risk factors in Argentina.
In a previous study we reported on a new approach describing intravesical instillation of charged... more In a previous study we reported on a new approach describing intravesical instillation of charged dextran in patients with superficial bladder carcinoma. The cationic derivative showed a strong tumor-selective accumulation. To develop this approach, the present study investigates the cytotoxic effect of cationic dextran derivatives on two urinary bladder cancer cell lines (J82 and 5637). The dextran conjugates were prepared by periodate activation and subsequent coupling by reductive amination. A fluorimetric cytotoxicity assay (FMCA) was used for the cytotoxicity assay. The tumor cells were seeded into 96-well microtiter plates and different cationic dextran derivatives were added and incubated for 72 hours. The results showed that cationic epirubicin-dextran had a clear inhibitory effect on the growth in both cell lines (40-95% growth inhibition). The corresponding values for epirubicin (the reference) was 90-100% inhibition. Interestingly, cationic dextran had, by itself, a growt...
The aim of this study was to investigate the role of 70 Gy salvage radiotherapy (SRT) combined wi... more The aim of this study was to investigate the role of 70 Gy salvage radiotherapy (SRT) combined with short-term neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT) in the treatment of recurrent disease after radical prostatectomy (RP), and to consider quality of life (QoL), survival outcomes and impact of co-morbidities on treatment-related rectal-genitourinary toxicity. Electronic records of 184 SRT patients treated consecutively between October 2001 and February 2007 were analyzed. Median age was 64 years (median follow-up 48 months). NHT was given to 165 patients (median 3 months). Pre-RP and pre-SRT PSA, PSA doubling time, Gleason score (GS), seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) and detectable post-SRT PSA were recorded. Any detectable PSA or PSA >0.1 ng/ml + nadir was considered biochemical failure (BcF). The Charlson co-morbidity index was used to correlate co-morbidities and rectal-genitourinary toxicity. Scores from the health-related QoL EORTC QLQ-C30 and PR-25 questionnaires were also evaluate...
Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods, 1992
Norwegian lobster carboxypeptidase B (CPB) was purified in one step using immobilized metal chela... more Norwegian lobster carboxypeptidase B (CPB) was purified in one step using immobilized metal chelate affinity chromatography (IMAC). The separation is based on the property that CPB has a high affinity for metal ions such as Cu2+. The CPB was purified from an hepatopancreas extract containing several endo- and exo-proteolytic activities. Its homogeneity was demonstrated by SDS-electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients. The implication of hydrophobic interaction between this enzyme and the IDA-Cu2+ gel is postulated.
SummaryMedulloblastoma (MB) is the most common pediatric brain tumor. The therapy frequently caus... more SummaryMedulloblastoma (MB) is the most common pediatric brain tumor. The therapy frequently causes serious side effects, and new selective therapies are needed. MB expresses hyper sialylation, a possible target for selective therapy. The cytotoxic efficacy of a poly guanidine conjugate (GuaDex) incubated with medulloblastoma cell cultures (DAOY and MB-LU-181) was investigated. The cells were incubated with 0.05–8 µM GuaDex from 15 min to 72 h. A fluorometric cytotoxicity assay (FMCA) measured the cytotoxicity. Labeled GuaDex was used to study tumor cell interaction. FITC-label Sambucus nigra confirmed high expression of sialic acid (Sia). Immunofluorescence microscopy was used to visualize the cell F-actin and microtubules. The cell interactions were studied by confocal and fluorescence microscopy. Annexin-V assay was used to detect apoptosis. Cell cycle analysis was done by DNA content determination. A wound-healing migration assay determined the effects on the migratory ability o...
BackgroundAttendance to mammography screening is low in Mexico with late breast cancer (BCa) inte... more BackgroundAttendance to mammography screening is low in Mexico with late breast cancer (BCa) intervention. This study investigates reasons for low attendance in screening programs. Socioeconomic and cultural factors were investigated. The present national BCa screening programs are discussed. MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study involving 1066 women in the Monterrey Metropolitan area. Women aged 40-79 years old with low-income/middle-income completed a questionnaire on socioeconomic and cultural factors. A descriptive and multivariate analysis was done.ResultsIn total, 27 percent had never attended mammography and about 61 percent had only done a mammography during the last 2 years. Sixty-seven percent of the women went to the doctor only when they "felt sick". The two principal reasons for not attending were financial (38%) and fatalism related to religious faith (80%). ConclusionsThis study, is the first to quantify both the socioeconomic and cultural factors in women ...
Osteodex is a novel bi-functional macromolecular polybisphosphonate developed for treatment of bo... more Osteodex is a novel bi-functional macromolecular polybisphosphonate developed for treatment of bone metastases in prostate and breast cancer. High efficacy of osteodex has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. The present study investigates whether osteodex is also efficacious on soft tissue tumor lesions. Twelve female nude mice were injected with MDA-MB-231 cells orthotopically. Osteodex was administered i.v. at 2.5 mg/kg, once per week for five weeks. Tumor volumes were measured during the treatment period, the animals were sacrificed, and samples collected for proteomic analysis. The non-treated mice developed multiple tumors greater than 4 cm with pronounced ulceration, while the treated mice had tumors smaller than 1 cm, without ulceration. While general condition of treated mice was good, non-treated animals were in poor condition. Sixteen out of 300 identified proteins were differentially expressed, with statistically significant expression changes of more than two-fo...
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a malignant CNS tumor with a poor prognosis. GBM shows aberrant ... more Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a malignant CNS tumor with a poor prognosis. GBM shows aberrant glycosylation with hypersialylation. This property is a potential target for therapy. This study investigates the growth inhibitory efficacy of poly-guanidine (GuaDex), with an affinity for sialic acid (Sia). Glioma cell cultures and patient-derived glioma cell lines (PDGCLs) expressing Prominin-1 (CD133) were used. Human fibroblasts and astrocyte-derived cells were used as controls. Temozolomide (standard GBM drug, TMZ) and DMSO were used as a comparison. GuaDex at 1–10 µM concentrations, were incubated for 3.5–72 h and with PDGCLs cells for 6–24 h. The cytotoxicity was estimated with a fluorometric cytotoxicity assay (FMCA). Fluorescence-labelled GuaDex was used to study the cell interactions. Sia expression was confirmed with a fluorescence labelled Sia binding lectin. Expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein was determined. GuaDex induction of growth inhibition was fast, showing...
Somatostatin receptors (SRS, five subtypes) are expressed in a variety of human tumors, including... more Somatostatin receptors (SRS, five subtypes) are expressed in a variety of human tumors, including most tumors of neuroendocrine origin, breast tumors, certain brain tumors, renal cell tumors, lymphomas, and prostate cancer. Somatostatin (SMS) triggers cytostatic and cytotoxic effects and has a general inhibitory effect on secretion mediated through its interaction with SRS. That is the basis for its use in the treatment of SRS-positive tumors. Radiolabeled SMS analogs can also be used for systemic radiotherapy and for diagnostic investigations. Sms-14 was conjugated to a periodate-activated dextran70 (mean molecular weight, 70 kD) by reductive amination. The human tumor cell line LCC-18, from a neuroendocrine colonic tumor, was used for stable transfection with each SRS gene separately; transfection was achieved with the expression system TETon (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA). Clones were selected by culturing with G418 and hygromycin B, and positive clones were identified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and binding of iodine-125-labeled SMS-14. The binding affinity for each SRS subtype was then determined for the SMS-dextran conjugate (with SMS-14 used as a positive control). Sms-dextran70 showed high affinity binding to all five receptor subtypes. The IC50 values were between 3 and 80 nM. This conjugate has a long circulation half-life (i.e., approximately 27 hours after subcutaneous administration in mice) and, with high SRS pan-affinity demonstrated in this study, it has potential in the therapy of SRS-positive tumors. Currently, the clinical significance of SMS-dextran70 is being explored in a clinical Phase I-II study of patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer. The outcome of this study will be reported when it is available.
Women from ethnic minority groups, including immigrants and refugees are reported to have low bre... more Women from ethnic minority groups, including immigrants and refugees are reported to have low breast cancer (BC) screening rates. Active, culturally-sensitive outreach is vital for increasing participation of these women in BC screening programs. Women at high BC risk and who belong to an ethnic minority group are of special concern. Such women could benefit from ongoing trials aimed at optimizing screening strategies for early BC detection among those at increased BC risk. Considering the marked disparities in BC survival in Europe and its enormous and dynamic ethnic diversity, these issues are extremely timely for Europe. We systematically reviewed the literature concerning European surveillance studies that had imaging in the protocol and that targeted women at high BC risk. The aim of the present review was thereby to assess the likelihood that women at high BC risk from minority ethnic groups were adequately included in these surveillance programs. Twenty-seven research groups ...
The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, 2013
Loss of skeletal muscle is a serious consequence of cancer as it leads to weakness and increased ... more Loss of skeletal muscle is a serious consequence of cancer as it leads to weakness and increased risk of death. To better understand the interplay between urothelial carcinoma and skeletal muscle wasting, cancer-induced catabolic profile and its relationship with muscle mitochondria dynamics were evaluated using a rat model of chemically induced urothelial carcinogenesis by the administration of N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)-nitrosamine (BBN). The histologic signs of non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors observed in BBN animals were related to 17% loss of body weight and high serum levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, TWEAK, C-reactive protein, myostatin and lactate and high urinary MMPs activities, suggesting a catabolic phenotype underlying urothelial carcinoma. The 12% loss of gastrocnemius mass was related to mitochondrial dysfunction, manifested by decreased activity of respiratory chain complexes due to, at least partially, the impairment of protein quality control (PQC) systems involving the mitochondrial proteases paraplegin and Lon. This was paralleled by the accumulation of oxidatively modified mitochondrial proteins. In overall, our data emphasize the relevance of studying the regulation of PQC systems in cancer cachexia aiming to identify therapeutic targets to counteract muscle wasting.
236 Background: A cytostatic polybisphosphonate was developed for Tx of mCRPC. It has a) anti-res... more 236 Background: A cytostatic polybisphosphonate was developed for Tx of mCRPC. It has a) anti-resorptive effects, osteoclast inhib., b) tum. cell spec./tox, confirmed in in-vivo models. Tox. study shows high tolerability. Animal PK study has shown T½ < 3 hrs; principal accumulation in liver, spleen, kidneys. Methods: Clin phase I/IIa (clinicaltrials.gov NCT01595087): Prim obj: to define MTD of ODX given every 3rd week. Sec. obj: OS, bone metab. and resp. markers, PSA, QoL and PK. Explorative in vitrostudies (basis for rand. phase IIb trial in pts. with docetax-res. mCRPC). A docetax-resist. cell-line was developed from DU145 in escalating conc. of docetax, then continuous growth in docetax 500 µg/ml. Cells subj. to cytotox. exp. with ODX (iCELLigence system and fluorom microculture cytotox assay). Results: Clin Phase I/IIa first-in-man trial (clinicaltrials.gov NCT01595087): 17/28 patients rec. 4-7 doses every 3rd week. No DLTs; max dose adm.: 3.0 mg/kg: no drug-related SAEs. Tx ...
This study evaluated the potential antimicrobial properties of a polyguanidine (CatDex) on two or... more This study evaluated the potential antimicrobial properties of a polyguanidine (CatDex) on two oral bacteria. Chlorhexidine gluconate 1340 μmoL L−1(CHX 0.12%) was used as control.Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans)andPorphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis)were grown in BHI media. Bacterial sensitivity and antimicrobial activity were determined by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Kirby-Bauer methods. To study side effects, that is, toxicity, dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) were used. Fluorometric cytotoxicity and confocal microscopy assays were used in order to test cell viability. CatDex inhibited growth ofS. mutansat all concentrations and growth ofP. gingivalisat all concentrations except 25 μmoL L−1. The MIC of CatDex was 50 μmoL L−1for bothS. mutansandP. gingivalis. The inhibition of bacteria exposed for 8 h at 50 μmoL L−1of CatDex exhibited increased antimicrobial activity over time, with 91% inhibition in both bacteria. The antimicrobial activities of CatDex and CHX...
Osteodex (ODX) is a cytotoxic bone-targeting polybisphosphonate, intended for treatment of bone m... more Osteodex (ODX) is a cytotoxic bone-targeting polybisphosphonate, intended for treatment of bone metastasis from castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The primary objective of this study was to describe the tolerability and toxicity of such treatment by defining its maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT). Twenty-eight patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and confirmed bone metastasis were assigned to seven infusions of ODX every third week, divided in seven ascending dose cohorts. No DLT's were observed and as pre-specified, the highest dose administered was defined as MTD. In total, 206 adverse events (AE) were recorded and 13,6% were classified as treatment-related, while none were serious or severe (SAE). No cumulative toxicity and no renal toxicity were recorded. ODX was well tolerated, with few and mild side-effects and with apparent treatment efficacy in the highest dose cohort. Further clinical development is currently in progress.
Bone-Scan Underestimate Osseus Metastases Compared with Granulocyt Scintigraphy in Patients with ... more Bone-Scan Underestimate Osseus Metastases Compared with Granulocyt Scintigraphy in Patients with Prostate Carcinoma.
A descriptive study was developed in an entire Argentine rural community considering breast cance... more A descriptive study was developed in an entire Argentine rural community considering breast cancer risk factors, preventive strategies and breast cancer incidence. the study comprised of 83 women. A questionnaire of 34 items was employed; a mammogram and a breast ultrasound were performed. ANOVA and Pearson correlation were employed. Mean age was 54.5 years; 69% of women were postmenopausal; 96% had children; breastfeeding was X=10 months/child; Body Mass Index (BMI) was X=27.8 kg/m(2); 13% had first-degree relatives with breast cancer; 90% of women considered mammographic screening a necessary study. One woman had presented breast cancer. Argentine screening guidelines were not followed and an inverse relationship between education level and age of first mammogram was found (p<0.05). Mammographic and ultrasound studies did not reveal potential abnormalities. Peculiar social and cultural characteristics may be relevant to evaluate breast cancer risk factors in Argentina.
In a previous study we reported on a new approach describing intravesical instillation of charged... more In a previous study we reported on a new approach describing intravesical instillation of charged dextran in patients with superficial bladder carcinoma. The cationic derivative showed a strong tumor-selective accumulation. To develop this approach, the present study investigates the cytotoxic effect of cationic dextran derivatives on two urinary bladder cancer cell lines (J82 and 5637). The dextran conjugates were prepared by periodate activation and subsequent coupling by reductive amination. A fluorimetric cytotoxicity assay (FMCA) was used for the cytotoxicity assay. The tumor cells were seeded into 96-well microtiter plates and different cationic dextran derivatives were added and incubated for 72 hours. The results showed that cationic epirubicin-dextran had a clear inhibitory effect on the growth in both cell lines (40-95% growth inhibition). The corresponding values for epirubicin (the reference) was 90-100% inhibition. Interestingly, cationic dextran had, by itself, a growt...
The aim of this study was to investigate the role of 70 Gy salvage radiotherapy (SRT) combined wi... more The aim of this study was to investigate the role of 70 Gy salvage radiotherapy (SRT) combined with short-term neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT) in the treatment of recurrent disease after radical prostatectomy (RP), and to consider quality of life (QoL), survival outcomes and impact of co-morbidities on treatment-related rectal-genitourinary toxicity. Electronic records of 184 SRT patients treated consecutively between October 2001 and February 2007 were analyzed. Median age was 64 years (median follow-up 48 months). NHT was given to 165 patients (median 3 months). Pre-RP and pre-SRT PSA, PSA doubling time, Gleason score (GS), seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) and detectable post-SRT PSA were recorded. Any detectable PSA or PSA >0.1 ng/ml + nadir was considered biochemical failure (BcF). The Charlson co-morbidity index was used to correlate co-morbidities and rectal-genitourinary toxicity. Scores from the health-related QoL EORTC QLQ-C30 and PR-25 questionnaires were also evaluate...
Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods, 1992
Norwegian lobster carboxypeptidase B (CPB) was purified in one step using immobilized metal chela... more Norwegian lobster carboxypeptidase B (CPB) was purified in one step using immobilized metal chelate affinity chromatography (IMAC). The separation is based on the property that CPB has a high affinity for metal ions such as Cu2+. The CPB was purified from an hepatopancreas extract containing several endo- and exo-proteolytic activities. Its homogeneity was demonstrated by SDS-electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients. The implication of hydrophobic interaction between this enzyme and the IDA-Cu2+ gel is postulated.
SummaryMedulloblastoma (MB) is the most common pediatric brain tumor. The therapy frequently caus... more SummaryMedulloblastoma (MB) is the most common pediatric brain tumor. The therapy frequently causes serious side effects, and new selective therapies are needed. MB expresses hyper sialylation, a possible target for selective therapy. The cytotoxic efficacy of a poly guanidine conjugate (GuaDex) incubated with medulloblastoma cell cultures (DAOY and MB-LU-181) was investigated. The cells were incubated with 0.05–8 µM GuaDex from 15 min to 72 h. A fluorometric cytotoxicity assay (FMCA) measured the cytotoxicity. Labeled GuaDex was used to study tumor cell interaction. FITC-label Sambucus nigra confirmed high expression of sialic acid (Sia). Immunofluorescence microscopy was used to visualize the cell F-actin and microtubules. The cell interactions were studied by confocal and fluorescence microscopy. Annexin-V assay was used to detect apoptosis. Cell cycle analysis was done by DNA content determination. A wound-healing migration assay determined the effects on the migratory ability o...
BackgroundAttendance to mammography screening is low in Mexico with late breast cancer (BCa) inte... more BackgroundAttendance to mammography screening is low in Mexico with late breast cancer (BCa) intervention. This study investigates reasons for low attendance in screening programs. Socioeconomic and cultural factors were investigated. The present national BCa screening programs are discussed. MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study involving 1066 women in the Monterrey Metropolitan area. Women aged 40-79 years old with low-income/middle-income completed a questionnaire on socioeconomic and cultural factors. A descriptive and multivariate analysis was done.ResultsIn total, 27 percent had never attended mammography and about 61 percent had only done a mammography during the last 2 years. Sixty-seven percent of the women went to the doctor only when they "felt sick". The two principal reasons for not attending were financial (38%) and fatalism related to religious faith (80%). ConclusionsThis study, is the first to quantify both the socioeconomic and cultural factors in women ...
Osteodex is a novel bi-functional macromolecular polybisphosphonate developed for treatment of bo... more Osteodex is a novel bi-functional macromolecular polybisphosphonate developed for treatment of bone metastases in prostate and breast cancer. High efficacy of osteodex has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. The present study investigates whether osteodex is also efficacious on soft tissue tumor lesions. Twelve female nude mice were injected with MDA-MB-231 cells orthotopically. Osteodex was administered i.v. at 2.5 mg/kg, once per week for five weeks. Tumor volumes were measured during the treatment period, the animals were sacrificed, and samples collected for proteomic analysis. The non-treated mice developed multiple tumors greater than 4 cm with pronounced ulceration, while the treated mice had tumors smaller than 1 cm, without ulceration. While general condition of treated mice was good, non-treated animals were in poor condition. Sixteen out of 300 identified proteins were differentially expressed, with statistically significant expression changes of more than two-fo...
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a malignant CNS tumor with a poor prognosis. GBM shows aberrant ... more Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a malignant CNS tumor with a poor prognosis. GBM shows aberrant glycosylation with hypersialylation. This property is a potential target for therapy. This study investigates the growth inhibitory efficacy of poly-guanidine (GuaDex), with an affinity for sialic acid (Sia). Glioma cell cultures and patient-derived glioma cell lines (PDGCLs) expressing Prominin-1 (CD133) were used. Human fibroblasts and astrocyte-derived cells were used as controls. Temozolomide (standard GBM drug, TMZ) and DMSO were used as a comparison. GuaDex at 1–10 µM concentrations, were incubated for 3.5–72 h and with PDGCLs cells for 6–24 h. The cytotoxicity was estimated with a fluorometric cytotoxicity assay (FMCA). Fluorescence-labelled GuaDex was used to study the cell interactions. Sia expression was confirmed with a fluorescence labelled Sia binding lectin. Expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein was determined. GuaDex induction of growth inhibition was fast, showing...
Somatostatin receptors (SRS, five subtypes) are expressed in a variety of human tumors, including... more Somatostatin receptors (SRS, five subtypes) are expressed in a variety of human tumors, including most tumors of neuroendocrine origin, breast tumors, certain brain tumors, renal cell tumors, lymphomas, and prostate cancer. Somatostatin (SMS) triggers cytostatic and cytotoxic effects and has a general inhibitory effect on secretion mediated through its interaction with SRS. That is the basis for its use in the treatment of SRS-positive tumors. Radiolabeled SMS analogs can also be used for systemic radiotherapy and for diagnostic investigations. Sms-14 was conjugated to a periodate-activated dextran70 (mean molecular weight, 70 kD) by reductive amination. The human tumor cell line LCC-18, from a neuroendocrine colonic tumor, was used for stable transfection with each SRS gene separately; transfection was achieved with the expression system TETon (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA). Clones were selected by culturing with G418 and hygromycin B, and positive clones were identified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and binding of iodine-125-labeled SMS-14. The binding affinity for each SRS subtype was then determined for the SMS-dextran conjugate (with SMS-14 used as a positive control). Sms-dextran70 showed high affinity binding to all five receptor subtypes. The IC50 values were between 3 and 80 nM. This conjugate has a long circulation half-life (i.e., approximately 27 hours after subcutaneous administration in mice) and, with high SRS pan-affinity demonstrated in this study, it has potential in the therapy of SRS-positive tumors. Currently, the clinical significance of SMS-dextran70 is being explored in a clinical Phase I-II study of patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer. The outcome of this study will be reported when it is available.
Women from ethnic minority groups, including immigrants and refugees are reported to have low bre... more Women from ethnic minority groups, including immigrants and refugees are reported to have low breast cancer (BC) screening rates. Active, culturally-sensitive outreach is vital for increasing participation of these women in BC screening programs. Women at high BC risk and who belong to an ethnic minority group are of special concern. Such women could benefit from ongoing trials aimed at optimizing screening strategies for early BC detection among those at increased BC risk. Considering the marked disparities in BC survival in Europe and its enormous and dynamic ethnic diversity, these issues are extremely timely for Europe. We systematically reviewed the literature concerning European surveillance studies that had imaging in the protocol and that targeted women at high BC risk. The aim of the present review was thereby to assess the likelihood that women at high BC risk from minority ethnic groups were adequately included in these surveillance programs. Twenty-seven research groups ...
The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, 2013
Loss of skeletal muscle is a serious consequence of cancer as it leads to weakness and increased ... more Loss of skeletal muscle is a serious consequence of cancer as it leads to weakness and increased risk of death. To better understand the interplay between urothelial carcinoma and skeletal muscle wasting, cancer-induced catabolic profile and its relationship with muscle mitochondria dynamics were evaluated using a rat model of chemically induced urothelial carcinogenesis by the administration of N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)-nitrosamine (BBN). The histologic signs of non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors observed in BBN animals were related to 17% loss of body weight and high serum levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, TWEAK, C-reactive protein, myostatin and lactate and high urinary MMPs activities, suggesting a catabolic phenotype underlying urothelial carcinoma. The 12% loss of gastrocnemius mass was related to mitochondrial dysfunction, manifested by decreased activity of respiratory chain complexes due to, at least partially, the impairment of protein quality control (PQC) systems involving the mitochondrial proteases paraplegin and Lon. This was paralleled by the accumulation of oxidatively modified mitochondrial proteins. In overall, our data emphasize the relevance of studying the regulation of PQC systems in cancer cachexia aiming to identify therapeutic targets to counteract muscle wasting.
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Papers by marcela holmberg