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Altanerova U, Jakubechova J, Benejova K, Priscakova P, Repiska V, Babelova A, Smolkova B, Altaner C. Intracellular prodrug gene therapy for cancer mediated by tumor cell suicide gene exosomes. Int J Cancer 2020; 148:128-139. [PMID: 32621791 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.33188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Revised: 06/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Recently, we reported about exosomes possessing messenger RNA (mRNA) of suicide gene secreted from mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) engineered to express the suicide gene-fused yeast cytosine deaminase::uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (yCD::UPRT). The yCD::UPRT-MSC exosomes are internalized by tumor cells and intracellularly convert prodrug 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) to cytotoxic drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Human tumor cells with the potential to metastasize release exosomes involved in the creation of a premetastatic niche at the predicted organs. We found that cancer cells stably transduced with yCD::UPRT gene by retrovirus infection released exosomes acting similarly like yCD::UPRT-MSC exosomes. Different types of tumor cells were transduced with the yCD::UPRT gene. The homogenous cell population of yCD::UPRT-transduced tumor cells expressed the yCD::UPRT suicide gene and secreted continuously exosomes with suicide gene mRNA in their cargo. All tumor cell suicide gene exosomes upon internalization into the recipient tumor cells induced the cell death by intracellular conversion of 5-FC to 5-FU and to 5-FUMP in a dose-dependent manner. Most of tumor cell-derived suicide gene exosomes were tumor tropic, in 5-FC presence they killed tumor cells but did not inhibit the growth of human skin fibroblast as well as DP-MSCs. Tumor cell-derived suicide gene exosomes home to their cells of origin and hold an exciting potential to become innovative specific therapy for tumors and potentially for metastases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ursula Altanerova
- Department of Stem Cell Preparation, St. Elisabeth Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Jana Jakubechova
- Department of Stem Cell Preparation, St. Elisabeth Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Katarina Benejova
- Department of Stem Cell Preparation, St. Elisabeth Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Petra Priscakova
- Institute of Medical Biology, Genetics and Clinical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Vanda Repiska
- Institute of Medical Biology, Genetics and Clinical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Andrea Babelova
- Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Bozena Smolkova
- Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Cestmir Altaner
- Department of Stem Cell Preparation, St. Elisabeth Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.,Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
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Dormant, quiescent, tolerant and persister cells: Four synonyms for the same target in cancer. Biochem Pharmacol 2019; 162:169-176. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2018.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Kucerova L, Durinikova E, Toro L, Cihova M, Miklikova S, Poturnajova M, Kozovska Z, Matuskova M. Targeted antitumor therapy mediated by prodrug-activating mesenchymal stromal cells. Cancer Lett 2017; 408:1-9. [PMID: 28838843 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2017.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2017] [Revised: 08/09/2017] [Accepted: 08/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were introduced as tumor-targeted vehicles suitable for delivery of the gene-directed enzyme/prodrug therapy more than 10 years ago. Over these years key properties of tumor cells and MSCs, which are crucial for the treatment efficiency, were examined; and there are some critical issues to be considered for the maximum antitumor effect. Moreover, engineered MSCs expressing enzymes capable of activating non-toxic prodrugs achieved long-term curative effect even in metastatic and hard-to-treat tumor types in pre-clinical scenario(s). These gene-modified MSCs are termed prodrug-activating MSCs throughout the text and represent promising approach for further clinical application. This review summarizes major determinants to be considered for the application of the prodrug-activating MSCs in antitumor therapy in order to maximize therapeutic efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Kucerova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia.
| | - Erika Durinikova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Lenka Toro
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Marina Cihova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Svetlana Miklikova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Martina Poturnajova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Zuzana Kozovska
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Miroslava Matuskova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
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Toro L, Bohovic R, Matuskova M, Smolkova B, Kucerova L. Metastatic Ovarian Cancer Can Be Efficiently Treated by Genetically Modified Mesenchymal Stromal Cells. Stem Cells Dev 2016; 25:1640-1651. [PMID: 27539058 DOI: 10.1089/scd.2016.0064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to late diagnosis, often recurrence, formation of metastases and resistance to commonly used chemotherapeutics human ovarian carcinoma represents a serious disease with high mortality. Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (AT-MSC) can serve as vehicles for therapeutic genes and we engineered AT-MSC to express either Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSVtk-MSC), which phosphorylates ganciclovir (GCV) to its toxic metabolites or yeast fused cytosine deaminase::uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (CD::UPRT-MSC), which converts 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) to highly toxic 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Here, we reported different responses of cytotoxicity mediated by CD::UPRT-MSC/5-FC treatment on human ovarian carcinoma cell lines-SKOV-3 and A2780 used in adherent or three-dimensional (3D) cell culture and we proved high potential of 3D model to predict results in our in vivo experiments. Both tumor cell lines showed similarly high chemosensitivity to the used treatment in adherent culture, but 3D model revealed severe discrepancy-only 36% of SKOV-3 cells but even 90% of A2780 cells were eliminated. This result served as a prognostic marker-we were able to achieve significantly decreased tumor volumes of subcutaneous xenografts of A2780 cells in nude mice and we prolonged tumor-free survival in 33% of animals bearing highly metastatic ovarian carcinoma after CD::UPRT-MSC/5-FC treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lenka Toro
- 1 Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute , Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Roman Bohovic
- 1 Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute , Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Miroslava Matuskova
- 1 Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute , Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Bozena Smolkova
- 2 Department of Genetics, Cancer Research Institute , Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Lucia Kucerova
- 1 Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute , Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
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Mitra A, Mishra L, Li S. EMT, CTCs and CSCs in tumor relapse and drug-resistance. Oncotarget 2016; 6:10697-711. [PMID: 25986923 PMCID: PMC4484413 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.4037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 363] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2015] [Accepted: 04/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor relapse and metastasis are the primary causes of poor survival rates in patients with advanced cancer despite successful resection or chemotherapeutic treatment. A primary cause of relapse and metastasis is the persistence of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are highly resistant to chemotherapy. Although highly efficacious drugs suppressing several subpopulations of CSCs in various tissue-specific cancers are available, recurrence is still common in patients. To find more suitable therapy for relapse, the mechanisms underlying metastasis and drug-resistance associated with relapse-initiating CSCs need to be identified. Recent studies in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) of some cancer patients manifest phenotypes of both CSCs and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). These patients are unresponsive to standard chemotherapies and have low progression free survival, suggesting that EMT-positive CTCs are related to co-occur with or transform into relapse-initiating CSCs. Furthermore, EMT programming in cancer cells enables in the remodeling of extracellular matrix to break the dormancy of relapse-initiating CSCs. In this review, we extensively discuss the association of the EMT program with CTCs and CSCs to characterize a subpopulation of patients prone to relapses. Identifying the mechanisms by which EMT-transformed CTCs and CSCs initiate relapse could facilitate the development of new or enhanced personalized therapeutic regimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhisek Mitra
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Lopa Mishra
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Shulin Li
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
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Wright RC, Khakhar A, Eshleman JR, Ostermeier M. Advancements in the development of HIF-1α-activated protein switches for use in enzyme prodrug therapy. PLoS One 2014; 9:e114032. [PMID: 25426963 PMCID: PMC4245239 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2014] [Accepted: 11/03/2014] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
While gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy has shown potential as a cancer therapeutic in animal and clinical trials, concerns over the efficacy, selectivity, and safety of gene delivery vehicles have restricted its advance. In an attempt to relieve some of the demands on targeted gene delivery vehicles and achieve the full potential of enzyme prodrug therapy, cancer-targeted activity can be engineered into the enzyme itself. We previously engineered a switchable prodrug-activating enzyme that selectively kills human cancer cells accumulating the cancer marker hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). This HIF-1α-activated protein switch (Haps59) is designed to increase its ability to convert the prodrug 5-fluorocytosine into the chemotherapeutic 5-fluorouracil in a HIF-1α-dependent manner. However, in cancer cell lines expressing Haps59 the 5FC sensitivity difference between the presence and absence of HIF-1α was not as large as desired. In this work, we aimed to improve the cancer specificity of this switch via a directed evolution approach utilizing random mutagenesis, linker mutagenesis, and random insertion and circular permutation. We identified improved HIF-1α-activated protein switches that confer E. coli with modest increases in HIF-1α-dependent 5FC toxicity. Additionally, the current bottleneck in the development of improved HIF-1α-activated protein switches is screening switch candidates in mammalian cells. To accommodate higher throughput and reduce experimental variability, we explored the use of Flp recombinase-mediated isogenic integration in 293 cells. These experiments raised the possibility that Haps59 can be activated by other interactors of the CH1 domain, and experiments in E. coli indicated that CITED2 can also activate Haps59. Although many CH1 binding partners are also oncogenes, CH1's promiscuous binding and subsequent off-target activation of Haps59 needs to be examined under normal physiological conditions to identify off-target activators. With aberrant activating molecules identified, further directed evolution can be performed to improve the cancer specificity of HIF-1α-activated protein switches.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. Clay Wright
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Arjun Khakhar
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - James R. Eshleman
- Departments of Pathology and Oncology, Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Marc Ostermeier
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Santangelo G, Del Giudice S, Gallucci F, Parmeggiani U, De Falco M. Cancer of the thyroid gland in geriatric age: A single center retrospective study with a 10-year post-operative follow-up. Int J Surg 2014; 12 Suppl 2:S103-S107. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2014.08.368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2014] [Accepted: 06/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Kucerova L, Feketeova L, Kozovska Z, Poturnajova M, Matuskova M, Nencka R, Babal P. In vivo 5FU-exposed human medullary thyroid carcinoma cells contain a chemoresistant CD133+ tumor-initiating cell subset. Thyroid 2014; 24:520-32. [PMID: 24073856 PMCID: PMC3949502 DOI: 10.1089/thy.2013.0277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The hierarchical model of solid tumor proposes the existence of rare tumor cell subpopulations with stem-cell properties. The glycoprotein prominin-1 (CD133) represents one of the cancer stem-cell markers in several tumor types. The CD133+ cell subpopulation was shown to be enriched for tumor-initiating and highly chemoresistant cells in human cancer(s). METHODS We investigated whether CD133+ cells derived from human medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) possess tumor-initiating properties in vivo and exhibit differential responses to chemotherapeutic agents. We demonstrated that separated CD133+ cells from the human MTC cell line TT are enriched for tumor-initiating cells as demonstrated by tumor formation in vivo. Nevertheless, TT CD133+ cells do not exhibit increased chemoresistance in comparison to parental cells. However, when MTC xenotransplants were treated with the chemotherapeutic drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU) in vivo, CD133 expression increased in MTC cells. RESULTS This cell line, designated FTTiv isolated from the drug-exposed xenotransplants, exhibits a significantly different response to 5FU associated with the substantial change in the expression profile of genes involved in 5FU metabolism and drug resistance. Moreover, the CD133+ tumor-initiating subpopulation derived from these drug-exposed FTTiv cells is significantly more resistant to 5FU and retains the chemoresistant properties upon FTTiv culture propagation. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that the chemoresistant phenotype and the CD133+ MTC subpopulation emerged in response to chemotherapy in vivo.
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MESH Headings
- AC133 Antigen
- Antigens, CD/genetics
- Antigens, CD/metabolism
- Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology
- Apoptosis/genetics
- Carcinoma, Medullary/genetics
- Carcinoma, Medullary/metabolism
- Carcinoma, Medullary/pathology
- Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Cell Transformation, Neoplastic/genetics
- Cell Transformation, Neoplastic/metabolism
- Cell Transformation, Neoplastic/pathology
- Drug Resistance, Neoplasm/genetics
- Fluorouracil/pharmacology
- Glycoproteins/genetics
- Glycoproteins/metabolism
- Humans
- Neoplastic Stem Cells/drug effects
- Neoplastic Stem Cells/metabolism
- Neoplastic Stem Cells/pathology
- Peptides/genetics
- Peptides/metabolism
- Thyroid Neoplasms/genetics
- Thyroid Neoplasms/metabolism
- Thyroid Neoplasms/pathology
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Kucerova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Lucia Feketeova
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Zuzana Kozovska
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Martina Poturnajova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Miroslava Matuskova
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Radim Nencka
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry AS CR, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Babal
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
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