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Inubushi M, Takeuchi Y, Murai C, Kitagawa Y. A Luciferase Reporter Assay to Detect Cellular Hypoxia In Vitro. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2755:77-89. [PMID: 38319570 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3633-6_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Hypoxia is a hallmark of ischemic cardiovascular diseases and solid malignant tumors. Cellular hypoxia induces numerous physiological and pathological processes, including hematopoiesis, angiogenesis, metabolic changes, cell growth, and apoptosis. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) binds to hypoxia response elements (HREs) to selectively induce the expression of various genes in response to hypoxia. Therefore, HREs have been used to develop hypoxia-targeted gene therapy.More than 70 pairs of HREs and hypoxia-inducible genes have been identified. The hypoxia-induced gene expression levels vary among HRE sequences depending on the number of HRE copies and oxygen levels. Most known HREs have not yet been thoroughly studied. Recent studies have revealed that the HRE-mediated effects of hypoxia are cell line-dependent. Herein we describe an in vitro method to investigate gene activation levels and characteristics based on varying the copy number of HREs in response to cellular hypoxia. We explain how to clone HREs into luciferase reporter constructs in the sense, antisense, and dual directions to measure luciferase expression for functional analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masayuki Inubushi
- Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan.
| | - Yasuto Takeuchi
- Division of Cancer Cell Biology, Innovative Cancer Model Research Center, Cancer Research Institute of Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
| | - Chika Murai
- Oral Diagnosis and Oral Medicine, Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Yoshimasa Kitagawa
- Oral Diagnosis and Oral Medicine, Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
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Inubushi M, Takeuchi Y, Kitagawa Y. Radionuclide Reporter Imaging to Visualize Tumor Hypoxia Ex Vivo and In Vivo. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2755:107-123. [PMID: 38319572 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3633-6_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
In vitro studies using cell culture, including three-dimensional cultures without the involvement of tumor vessels, have limitations in simulating complex intratumoral hypoxic conditions in live subjects. To generate experimental hypoxic conditions closer to those observed in humans in clinical settings, in vivo studies are necessary. In addition, visible light generated via bioluminescence and fluorescence is generally unsuitable for in vivo experiments because of low tissue penetration. Furthermore, near-infrared light (NIR), which has the highest tissue penetration among lights of different wavelengths, cannot be assessed precisely in vivo because of the difficulty in correcting tissue absorption and scatter. For in vivo quantitative analyses, imaging modalities that use high tissue-penetrating signals, such as computed tomography (CT) using X-rays, radionuclide imaging using γ-rays, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using electromagnetic waves, are ideal.Therefore, as an advanced protocol for this research purpose, we provide ex vivo and in vivo methods to investigate the genetic response of multiple copies of hypoxia response elements (HREs) to tumor hypoxia in terms of intensity and intratumoral distribution using a human sodium/iodide symporter (hNIS) reporter gene and radionuclide reporter probes (radioiodine and its chemical analog Tc-99m) based on our previous research. This protocol includes cloning an hNIS reporter construct with multiple copies of HREs, establishing stable cell lines of the reporter construct, preparing a mouse subcutaneous xenograft model, and evaluating the genetic response of multiple HREs to tumor hypoxia using digital autoradiography (ARG) ex vivo and using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masayuki Inubushi
- Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan.
| | - Yasuto Takeuchi
- Division of Cancer Cell Biology, Innovative Cancer Model Research Center, Cancer Research Institute of Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
| | - Yoshimasa Kitagawa
- Oral Diagnosis and Medicine, Department of Oral Pathobiological Science, Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
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Kostyuk AI, Kokova AD, Podgorny OV, Kelmanson IV, Fetisova ES, Belousov VV, Bilan DS. Genetically Encoded Tools for Research of Cell Signaling and Metabolism under Brain Hypoxia. Antioxidants (Basel) 2020; 9:E516. [PMID: 32545356 PMCID: PMC7346190 DOI: 10.3390/antiox9060516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/06/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Hypoxia is characterized by low oxygen content in the tissues. The central nervous system (CNS) is highly vulnerable to a lack of oxygen. Prolonged hypoxia leads to the death of brain cells, which underlies the development of many pathological conditions. Despite the relevance of the topic, different approaches used to study the molecular mechanisms of hypoxia have many limitations. One promising lead is the use of various genetically encoded tools that allow for the observation of intracellular parameters in living systems. In the first part of this review, we provide the classification of oxygen/hypoxia reporters as well as describe other genetically encoded reporters for various metabolic and redox parameters that could be implemented in hypoxia studies. In the second part, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the primary hypoxia model systems and highlight inspiring examples of research in which these experimental settings were combined with genetically encoded reporters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander I. Kostyuk
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (A.I.K.); (A.D.K.); (O.V.P.); (I.V.K.); (E.S.F.); (V.V.B.)
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Aleksandra D. Kokova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (A.I.K.); (A.D.K.); (O.V.P.); (I.V.K.); (E.S.F.); (V.V.B.)
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Oleg V. Podgorny
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (A.I.K.); (A.D.K.); (O.V.P.); (I.V.K.); (E.S.F.); (V.V.B.)
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia
- Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, 119334 Moscow, Russia
| | - Ilya V. Kelmanson
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (A.I.K.); (A.D.K.); (O.V.P.); (I.V.K.); (E.S.F.); (V.V.B.)
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena S. Fetisova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (A.I.K.); (A.D.K.); (O.V.P.); (I.V.K.); (E.S.F.); (V.V.B.)
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow, Russia
| | - Vsevolod V. Belousov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (A.I.K.); (A.D.K.); (O.V.P.); (I.V.K.); (E.S.F.); (V.V.B.)
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia
- Institute for Cardiovascular Physiology, Georg August University Göttingen, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany
- Federal Center for Cerebrovascular Pathology and Stroke, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitry S. Bilan
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (A.I.K.); (A.D.K.); (O.V.P.); (I.V.K.); (E.S.F.); (V.V.B.)
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia
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Javan B, Shahbazi M. Constructing a Novel Hypoxia-Inducible Bidirectional shRNA Expression Vector for Simultaneous Gene Silencing in Colorectal Cancer Gene Therapy. Cancer Biother Radiopharm 2018; 33:118-123. [PMID: 29641253 DOI: 10.1089/cbr.2017.2401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nonspecific siRNA expression limits its application in cancer gene therapy. Therefore, a tightly regulated and reversibly inducible RNAi system is required to conditionally control the gene expression. This investigation aims at constructing a hypoxia/colorectal tumor dual-specific bidirectional short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression vector. MATERIALS AND METHODS First, carcinoma embryonic antigen (CEA) promoter designed in two directions. Then, pRNA-bipHRE-CEA vector was constructed by insertion of the vascular endothelial growth factor enhancer between two promoters for hypoxic cancer-specific gene expression. To confirm the therapeutic effect of the dual-specific vector, two shRNA oligonucleotides were inserted in the downstream of each promoter. QRT-polymerase chain reaction and western blot assays were performed to estimate the mRNA and protein expression levels. RESULTS Both mRNA and protein levels were significantly reduced (50%-60%) in the hypoxic colorectal cancer-treated cells when compared with the controls. CONCLUSION The novel bidirectional hypoxia-inducible shRNA expression vector may be efficient in colorectal cancer-specific gene therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bita Javan
- 1 Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences , Gorgan, Iran .,2 Medical Cellular & Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences , Gorgan, Iran
| | - Majid Shahbazi
- 1 Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences , Gorgan, Iran .,2 Medical Cellular & Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences , Gorgan, Iran .,3 Arya Tina Gene (ATG), Biopharmaceutical Company , Gorgan, Iran
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Javan B, Shahbazi M. Hypoxia-inducible tumour-specific promoters as a dual-targeting transcriptional regulation system for cancer gene therapy. Ecancermedicalscience 2017; 11:751. [PMID: 28798809 PMCID: PMC5533602 DOI: 10.3332/ecancer.2017.751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional targeting is the best approach for specific gene therapy. Hypoxia is a common feature of the tumour microenvironment. Therefore, targeting gene expression in hypoxic cells by placing transgene under the control of a hypoxia-responsive promoter can be a good strategy for cancer-specific gene therapy. The hypoxia-inducible gene expression system has been investigated more in suicide gene therapy and it can also be of great help in knocking down cancer gene therapy with siRNAs. However, this system needs to be optimised to have maximum efficacy with minimum side effects in normal tissues. The combination of tissue-/tumour-specific promoters with HRE core sequences has been found to enhance the specificity and efficacy of this system. In this review, hypoxia-inducible gene expression system as well as gene therapy strategies targeting tumour hypoxia will be discussed. This review will also focus on hypoxia-inducible tumour-specific promoters as a dual-targeting transcriptional regulation systems developed for cancer-specific gene therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bita Javan
- Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan 4934174515, Iran
| | - Majid Shahbazi
- Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan 4934174515, Iran
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Lee YS, Choi JW, Oh JE, Yun CO, Kim SW. Human relaxin gene expression delivered by bioreducible dendrimer polymer for post-infarct cardiac remodeling in rats. Biomaterials 2016; 97:164-75. [PMID: 27174688 PMCID: PMC5448559 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2016.04.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2016] [Revised: 04/12/2016] [Accepted: 04/21/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
In consensus, myocardial infarction (MI) is defined as irreversible cell death secondary to prolonged ischemia in heart. The aim of our study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of anti-fibrotic human Relaxin-expressing plasmid DNA with hypoxia response element (HRE) 12 copies (HR1) delivered by a dendrimer type PAM-ABP polymer G0 (HR1/G0) after MI on functional, hemodynamic, geometric, and cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling in rats. HR1/G0 demonstrated significantly improved LV systolic function, hemodynamic parameters, and geometry on 1 wk and 4 wks after MI in rats, compared with I/R group. The resolution of regional wall motional abnormalities and the increased blood flow of infarct-related coronary artery supported functional improvements of HR1/G0. Furthermore, HR1/G0 polyplex showed favorable post-infarct cardiac ECM remodeling reflected on the favorable cardiac ECM compositions. Overall, this is the first study, which presented an advanced platform for the gene therapy that reverses adverse cardiac remodeling after MI with a HR1 gene delivered by a bioreducible dendrimer polymer in the cardiac ECM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Young Sook Lee
- Center for Controlled Chemical Delivery, Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
| | - Joung-Woo Choi
- Center for Controlled Chemical Delivery, Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
| | - Jung-Eun Oh
- Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791, Republic of Korea
| | - Chae-Ok Yun
- Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791, Republic of Korea.
| | - Sung Wan Kim
- Center for Controlled Chemical Delivery, Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA; Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791, Republic of Korea
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