Proof of Concept of the Radiosensitizing Effect of Gadolinium Oxide Nanoparticles in Cell Spheroids and a Tumor-Implanted Murine Model of Chondrosarcoma

Purpose

Chondrosarcomas (CHSs), which represent 20% of primary bone tumors in adults, are mostly resistant to radio- and chemotherapy. It is therefore essential that new therapeutic approaches, targeted to the tumour, be developed to improve the prognosis of patients. The effectiveness, as a radiosensitizing agent, of gadolinium oxide nanoparticles (GdoNP, AGuIX^®) nanoparticles in CHS was evaluated in vitro, in spheroid CHS models allowing to reproduce cell-cell extracellular matrix interactions, and, in vivo, in a nude mouse model with heterotopic tumour xenograft.

Methods

Spheroids from SW1353 and HEMC-SS cells were characterized by confocal microscopy with or without GdoNP treatment. Real-time microscopy enabled quantification of cell viability, cell migration and invasion. In vivo, the efficacy of the association of GdoNP combined with a single (4Gy) or fractionated (4x1Gy) irradiation was evaluated in HEMC-SS tumor-bearing mice by monitoring tumor growth, mouse survival and gene expression profile.

Results

The expression of proteoglycans in the extra-cellular matrix (ECM) of spheroids demonstrated the relevance of the 3-D model. The combination of GdoNP with single or fractionated irradiation increased the lethal effects of irradiation on 2-D- and 3-D-cultured cells. In vivo, a single or a fractionated dose of 4 Gy associated with IT or IV injection of GdoNP decreased tumor growth significantly. Only IT injection increased mice survival. Unexpectedly, the radiosensitizing effect of GdoNP was associated, in vitro, with a significant decrease in invasion-migration capacities and, in vivo, with the decreased expression of PTX3, a protein involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition process, suggesting a potential impact of GdoNP on metastasis formation.

Conclusion

These results provide the first proof of concept of the radiosensitizing effect of GdoNP in CHSs and opened the way for a multicentre, randomized Phase 2 trial evaluating the association of GdoNP with radiotherapy for the therapeutic management of patients with symptomatic inoperable musculoskeletal tumor lesions.

A New Generation of Ultrasmall Nanoparticles Inducing Sensitization to Irradiation and Copper Depletion to Overcome Radioresistant and Invasive Cancers

An emerging target to overcome cancer resistance to treatments is copper, which is upregulated in a wide variety of tumors and may be associated with cancer progression and metastases. The aim of this study was to develop a multimodal ultrasmall nanoparticle, CuPRiX, based on the clinical AGuIX nanoparticle made of the polysiloxane matrix on which gadolinium chelates are grafted. Such hybrid nanoparticles allow: (i) a localized depletion of copper in tumors to prevent tumor cell dissemination and metastasis formation and (ii) an increased sensitivity of the tumor to radiotherapy (RT) due to the presence of high Z gadolinium (Gd) atoms. CuPRiX nanoparticles are obtained by controlled acidification of AGuIX nanoparticles. They were evaluated in vitro on two cancer cell lines (lung and head and neck) using the scratch-wound assay and clonogenic cell survival assay. They were able to reduce cell migration and invasion and displayed radiosensitizing properties.

Involvement of HIF-1α in the Detection, Signaling, and Repair of DNA Double-Strand Breaks after Photon and Carbon-Ion Irradiation

Simple Summary

Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α (HIF-1α), the main regulator of the oxygen homeostasis, promotes cancer cell survival through proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis and radioresistance. Previously, our group demonstrated that silencing HIF-1α under hypoxia leads to a substantial radiosensitization of Head-and-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) cells after both photons and carbon-ions, probably resulting from an accumulation of deleterious complex DNA damage. In this study, we aimed at determining the potential role of HIF-1α in the detection, signaling, and repair of DNA Double-Strand-Breaks (DSBs) in response to both irradiations, under hypoxia, in two HNSCC cell lines and their subpopulations of Cancer-Stem Cells (CSCs). Silencing HIF-1α under hypoxia led us to demonstrate the involvement of this transcriptional regulator in DSB repair in non-CSCS and CSC, thus highlighting its targeting together with radiation as a promising therapeutic strategy against radioresistant tumor cells in hypoxic niches.

Abstract

Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α (HIF-1α), which promotes cancer cell survival, is the main regulator of oxygen homeostasis. Hypoxia combined with photon and carbon ion irradiation (C-ions) stabilizes HIF-1α. Silencing HIF-1α under hypoxia leads to substantial radiosensitization of Head-and-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) cells after both photons and C-ions. Thus, this study aimed to clarify a potential involvement of HIF-1α in the detection, signaling, and repair of DNA Double-Strand-Breaks (DSBs) in response to both irradiations, in two HNSCC cell lines and their subpopulations of Cancer-Stem Cells (CSCs). After confirming the nucleoshuttling of HIF-1α in response to both exposure under hypoxia, we showed that silencing HIF-1α in non-CSCs and CSCs decreased the initiation of the DSB detection (P-ATM), and increased the residual phosphorylated H2AX (γH2AX) foci. While HIF-1α silencing did not modulate 53BP1 expression, P-DNA-PKcs (NHEJ-c) and RAD51 (HR) signals decreased. Altogether, our experiments demonstrate the involvement of HIF-1α in the detection and signaling of DSBs, but also in the main repair pathways (NHEJ-c and HR), without favoring one of them. Combining HIF-1α silencing with both types of radiation could therefore present a potential therapeutic benefit of targeting CSCs mostly present in tumor hypoxic niches.