Targeted Wolfram-Doped Polypyrrole for Photonic Hyperthermia-Synergized Radiotherapy

Single ionizing radiation at a tolerable dose is ineffectual in eliminating malignancies but readily generates harmful effects on surrounding normal tissues. Herein, we intelligently fabricated novel wolfram-doped polypyrrole (WPPy) through a simple oxidative polymerization method with WCl₆ as an oxidizing catalyst, which possessed good biocompatibility, high photothermal conversion, and intensive radiosensitivity capacities to concurrently serve as a photothermal reagent and a radiosensitizer for hyperthermia-synergized radiotherapy (RT) against a malignant tumor. In comparison with traditional polypyrrole without noble metal doping, the innovative introduction of WCl₆ not only successfully launched the polymerization of a pyrrole monomer but also endowed WPPy with additional radiosensitization. More importantly, after further decoration with an active targeted component (SP94 polypeptide), the obtained WPPy@SP94 significantly increased tumor internalization and accumulation in vitro and in vivo and induced obvious DNA damage as well as robust ROS generation under X-ray irradiation, which meanwhile synergized with strong photonic hyperthermia to effectively inhibit tumor growth by single drug injection. Moreover, such biocompatible WPPy@SP94 showed negligible adverse effects on normal cells and tissues. WPPy@SP94 developed in this study not only expands the category of polypyrrole chemical syntheses but also sheds light on WPPy@SP94-based radiosensitizers for cancer RT.

Maternal exposure to dioxin reduces hypothalamic but not pituitary metabolome in fetal rats: a possible mechanism for a fetus-specific reduction in steroidogenesis

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) reduces the synthesis of pituitary gonadotropins in a fetal age-specific manner. The pituitary synthesis of gonadotropins is regulated by the hypothalamus and, thus, needs the differentiation and development of the hypothalamus requiring a number of factors including energy supply and neurotransmitters. To investigate the mechanism whereby TCDD reduces fetal gonadotropins, we carried out a comparative study on the metabolomes of the hypothalamus and pituitary using fetal and mature Wistar rats. Male fetuses at gestational day (GD)20 were removed from dams treated orally with TCDD (1 microg/kg) at GD15, and the metabolome profiles were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The principal component analysis of GC-MS data revealed that TCDD caused a change in the profile of fetal metabolome more markedly in the hypothalamus than in the pituitary. In sharp contrast, TCDD did not cause any marked alteration in hypothalamic as well as pituitary metabolomes in male rats born of untreated dams and treated with TCDD at postnatal day 49. It was also demonstrated that a number of fetal hypothalamic components, including glutamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid, are reduced by TCDD. These results demonstrate a possibility that TCDD may reduce the metabolic activity of the hypothalamus in a fetus-specific fashion, resulting in the reduced synthesis of gonadotropins.

Suppression of carbonic anhydrase III mRNA level by an aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligand in primary cultured hepatocytes of rat

The effect of an aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligand on the carbonic anhydrase III (CAIII) mRNA level was studied using primary cultured hepatocytes of rats. CAIII gene which is highly suppressible by dioxins in vivo, was also suppressible in primary cultured hepatocytes of rats by an AhR ligand, 3-methylchlanthrene (3MC). The suppression of CAIII by 3MC was observed in a dose-dependent fashion. The suppression was marked at 10 microM MC. It is likely that AhR is involved in the suppression of the CAIII gene. The transcriptional regulation region of rat CAIII gene was cloned by polymerase chain reaction on the basis of the similarity to the mouse and human CAIII genes. A 1.5 kb section upstream of rat CAIII was sequenced and the transcription initiation site of this gene was mapped to 58 bases upstream of the initiation codon. A xenobiotic responsive element (XRE)-like sequence was found at -555 to -549 bp of the transcription initiation site. The location of XRE-like element was conserved between rats and mice those CAIIIs in liver were shown as dioxins-suppressible. Although the roles of the XRE have not been clarified, these results suggest that the AhR ligands could elicit the suppressive effect on hepatic CAIII and the effect on the factors from extrahepatic tissues is not required for the suppression.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin-induced change in intestinal function and pathology: evidence for the involvement of arylhydrocarbon receptor-mediated alteration of glucose transportation

Although numerous studies have been performed to clarify the mechanism(s) underlying the toxicological responses induced by dioxins, their effect on the intestine is less well understood. To address this issue, we examined the effect of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on the pathology and function of the intestine in arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-sensitive (C57BL/6J) and -less-sensitive (DBA/2J) mice. A single oral administration of TCDD (100 mug/kg) to C57BL/6J mice produced changes in villous structure and nuclear/cytoplasm ratio in the epithelial cells of the intestine. Furthermore, in an oral glucose tolerance test, the serum glucose level was significantly increased in the C57BL/6J mouse but not in the DBA/2J mouse by TCDD treatment. In agreement with this, the expression of intestinal mRNAs coding sodium-glucose co-transporter 1 (SGLT1) and glucose transporter type 2 were increased only in C57BL/6J mice by TCDD. The increase in the former transporter was also confirmed from its protein level. The glucose level in the intestinal contents is thought to be one of the factors contributing to SGLT1 induction. Concerning with this, the intestinal activity of sucrase and lactase was significantly increased only in C57BL/6J mice by TCDD. These results suggest that while TCDD produces initial damage to the intestinal epithelium, the tissues induce SGLT1 to facilitate the absorption of glucose, which is expected, at least partially, to combat the wasting syndrome induced by TCDD. The data provided here also suggest that AhR is involved in the mechanism of SGLT1 induction.