A Real-Time Non-invasive Auto-bioluminescent Urinary Bladder Cancer Xenograft Model

Compensatory combination of romidepsin with gemcitabine and cisplatin to effectively and safely control urothelial carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Human urothelial carcinoma (UC) has a high tendency to recur and progress to life-threatening advanced diseases. Advanced therapeutic regimens are needed to control UC development and recurrence.

METHODS

We pursued in vitro and in vivo studies to understand the ability of a triple combination of gemcitabine, romidepsin, and cisplatin (Gem+Rom+Cis) to modulate signalling pathways, cell death, drug resistance, and tumour development.

RESULTS

Our studies verified the ability of Gem+Rom+Cis to synergistically induce apoptotic cell death and reduce drug resistance in various UC cells. The ERK pathway and reactive oxygen species (ROS) played essential roles in mediating Gem+Rom+Cis-induced caspase activation, DNA oxidation and damage, glutathione reduction, and unfolded protein response. Gem+Rom+Cis preferentially induced death and reduced drug resistance in oncogenic H-Ras-expressing UC vs. counterpart cells that was associated with transcriptomic profiles related to ROS, cell death, and drug resistance. Our studies also verified the efficacy and safety of the Gem plus Rom+Cis regimen in controlling UC cell-derived xenograft tumour development and resistance.

CONCLUSIONS

More than 80% of UCs are associated with aberrant Ras-ERK pathway. Thus the compensatory combination of Rom with Gem and Cis should be seriously considered as an advanced regimen for treating advanced UCs, especially Ras-ERK-activated UCs.

Formulation of a triple combination gemcitabine plus romidepsin + cisplatin regimen to efficaciously and safely control triple-negative breast cancer tumor development

PURPOSE

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive, lethal, and heterogeneous subtype of breast cancers, tending to have lower 5-year survival rates than other BC subtypes in response to conventional chemotherapies. This study's aim was to identify advanced regimens to effectively control TNBC tumor development.

METHODS

We investigated the combination of the DNA synthesis inhibitor gemcitabine, the DNA-damaging agent cisplatin, and the histone deacetylase inhibitor romidepsin to control a variety of breast cells in vitro. We studied the toxicity of drug doses and administration schedules to determine tolerable combination regimens in immune-deficient nude and -competent BALB/c mice. We then studied the efficacy of tolerable regimens in controlling TNBC cell-derived xenograft development in nude mice. By reducing clinically equivalent doses of each agent in combination, we formulated tolerable regimens in animals. We verified that the tolerable triple combination gemcitabine plus romidepsin + cisplatin regimen more efficacious than double combination regimens in controlling xenograft tumor development in nude mice.

RESULTS

A triple combination of gemcitabine + romidepsin + cisplatin synergistically induced death of the TNBC M.D. Anderson-Metastatic Breast cancer (MDA-MB) 231 and MDA-MB468, as well as Michigan Cancer Foundation (MCF) 7, MCF10A, and MCF10A-Ras cells. Cell death induced by gemcitabine + romidepsin + cisplatin was in a reactive oxygen species-dependent manner.

CONCLUSION

Considering the high costs for developing a new anticancer agent, we used the FDA-approved drugs gemcitabine, romidepsin (is approved for T-cell lymphoma and is under clinical trial for TNBC), and cisplatin to economically formulate an efficacious and safe combination regimen. The highly efficacious gemcitabine plus romidepsin + cisplatin regimen should be poised for efficient translation into clinical trials, ultimately contributing to reduced mortality and improved quality of life for TNBC patients.

Development of a murine intravesical orthotopic human bladder cancer (mio-hBC) model

We have developed a murine intravesical orthotopic human bladder cancer (mio-hBC) model for the establishment of superficial urothelial cell carcinomas. In this model we catheterize female atyhmic nude mice and pre-treat the bladder with poly-L-lysine for 15 minutes, followed by intravesical instillation of luciferase-transfected human UM-UC-3 cells. Cancer cells are quantified by bioluminescent imaging which has been validated by small animal ultrasound. Poly-L-lysine pre-treatment increased engraftment rate (84.4%) and resulted in faster growing tumors than trypsin pre-treatment. In addition, tumors respond through a decrease in growth and increase in apoptosis to chemotherapy with mitomycin C. Previous intravesical models utilized KU7 cells which have been later determined to be of non-bladder origin. They display markers consistent with HeLa cells, requiring a need for a true intravesical bladder model. Efficient engraftment and rapid superficial growth patterning of the human bladder tumor differentiate this in vivo orthotopic model from previous bladder models.

Systematic Review: Characteristics and Preclinical Uses of Bladder Cancer Cell Lines

BACKGROUND

Bladder cancer (BC) cell lines are indispensable in basic and preclinical research. Currently, an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of available BC cell lines is not available.

OBJECTIVE

To provide an overview and resources on the origin, pathological and molecular characteristics of commonly used human, murine and canine BC cell lines.

METHODS

A PubMed search was performed for relevant articles published between 1980 and 2017 according to the following MeSH terms: cell line; cell line, tumor; urinary bladder neoplasms; carcinoma, transitional cell. The Cellosaurus database was searched, using the term "bladder" and/or "urothelial carcinoma". We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

RESULTS

We provide information on 157 human, murine and canine BC cell lines. 103 human BC cell lines have molecular data available, of which 69 have been profiled by at least one "omic" technology. We outline how these cell lines are currently being used for in vitro and in vivo experimental models. These results allow direct comparison of BC cell lines to patient samples, providing information needed to make informed decisions on the most genomically appropriate cell line to answer research questions. Furthermore, we show that cross-contamination remains an issue and describe guidelines for prevention.

CONCLUSIONS

In the BC field, multiple human, murine and canine BC cell lines have been developed and many have become indispensable for in vitro and in vivo research. High-throughput -omic technologies have dramatically increased the amount of molecular data on these cell lines. We synthesized a comprehensive overview of these data as a resource for the BC scientific community.

Co-Cultured Continuously Bioluminescent Human Cells as Bioreporters for the Detection of Prodrug Therapeutic Impact Pre- and Post-Metabolism

Modern drug discovery workflows require assay systems capable of replicating the complex interactions of multiple tissue types, but that can still function under high throughput conditions. In this work, we evaluate the use of substrate-free autobioluminescence in human cell lines to support the performance of these assays with reduced economical and logistical restrictions relative to substrate-requiring bioluminescent reporter systems. The use of autobioluminescence was found to support assay functionality similar to existing luciferase reporter targets. The autobioluminescent assay format was observed to correlate strongly with general metabolic activity markers such as ATP content and the presence of reactive oxygen species, but not with secondary markers such as glutathione depletion. At the transcriptional level, autobioluminescent dynamics were most closely associated with expression of the CYP1A1 phase I detoxification pathway. These results suggest constitutively autobioluminescent cells can function as general metabolic activity bioreporters, while pairing expression of the autobioluminescent phenotype to detoxification pathway specific promoters could create more specific sensor systems.