Prenatal stress enhances NNK-induced lung tumors in A/J mice

A Surgeon Involved in Basic Research - on the Occasion of Studying Abroad

I, the author, expressed gratitude for receiving the 45th Juntendo Medical School Alumni Association Academic Encouragement Award in May 2023. After completing medical school and surgical training at Juntendo University, I embarked on a new challenge by pursuing a Ph.D. in basic clinical research, with a focus on gastric cancer, the third leading cause of cancer related death in Japan. Collaborating with various experts, I obtained a Ph.D. in cancer research studies in 2014. Subsequently, I pursued further research opportunities in the United States, where I undertook multiple projects focusing on cancer and maternal stress. I would like to present several studies, ERC/mesothelin, fatty acid synthase, and maternal stress in this manuscript. On returning to clinical practice at Juntendo University Shizuoka Hospital in 2019, I developed an interest in various clinical issues and decided to address these through experiments. In collaborating with several researchers at the Shizuoka Medical Research Center for Disasters, our ongoing research aims to answer several clinical questions. Furthermore, I aspire to guide junior staff in the future and am grateful for the invaluable connections and opportunities provided by Juntendo University.

Regression of Lung Cancer in Mice by Intranasal Administration of SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1

This study underlines the importance of SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 in prompting death in cultured non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and in vivo in lung tumors in mice. Interestingly, we found that recombinant spike S1 treatment at very low doses led to death of human A549 NSCLC cells. On the other hand, boiled recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 remained unable to induce death, suggesting that the induction of cell death in A549 cells was due to native SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 protein. SARS-CoV-2 spike S1-induced A549 cell death was also inhibited by neutralizing antibodies against spike S1 and ACE2. Moreover, our newly designed wild type ACE2-interacting domain of SARS-CoV-2 (wtAIDS), but not mAIDS, peptide also attenuated SARS-CoV-2 spike S1-induced cell death, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 spike S1-induced death in A549 NSCLC cells depends on its interaction with ACE2 receptor. Similarly, recombinant spike S1 treatment also led to death of human H1299 and H358 NSCLC cells. Finally, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) intoxication led to the formation tumors in lungs of A/J mice and alternate day intranasal treatment with low dose of recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 from 22-weeks of NNK insult (late stage) induced apoptosis and tumor regression in the lungs. These studies indicate that SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 may have implications for lung cancer treatment.

Prenatal stress enhances atherosclerosis and telomere shortening in ApoE knockout mouse offspring

Children born to women who experience stress during pregnancy have an increased risk of atherosclerosis in later life, but few animal models have explored mechanisms. To study this phenomena, timed-bred ApoE knockout mice were determined pregnant with ultrasound and randomly assigned on gestation day 8.5 to either a control (no stress) or prenatal stress (PS) group using two hours of restraint for five consecutive days. PS significantly increased plasma corticosterone levels in pregnant mice. The litters from PS mice showed increased neonatal mortality within the first week of life. Body weights (at euthanasia) of adult offspring at 25 weeks from the PS group were significantly increased compared to weights of controls. Adult offspring from these pregnancies were serially imaged with ultrasound to measure plaque thickness and were compared with plaque macro- and microscopic pathology. PS groups had increased plaques thickness by ultrasound, gross, histological evaluation and increased aortic root and valve macrophage infiltration at 25 weeks. Five-week old mice from PS group had significant decrease in mean arterial pressure, yet blood pressure normalized by 10 weeks. Since prenatal stress induced increased atherosclerosis, and telomeres are susceptible to stress, aortas from 10 week old mice were compared for telomere lengths and were found to be significantly shorter in PS mice compared to control mice. These studies support future investigation of how stress impacts telomere shortening in animal models and human aortas. This model could be further utilized to investigate the role of prenatal stress, telomere biology and atherosclerosis pathogenesis in adults.