Oxidized Proteins Differentially Affect Maturation and Activation of Human Monocyte-Derived Cells

In cancer, antigen-presenting cells (APC), including dendritic cells (DCs), take up and process proteins to mount adaptive antitumor immune responses. This often happens in the context of inflamed cancer, where reactive oxygen species (ROS) are ubiquitous to modify proteins. However, the inflammatory consequences of oxidized protein uptake in DCs are understudied. To this end, we investigated human monocyte-derived cell surface marker expression and cytokine release profiles when exposed to oxidized and native proteins. Seventeen proteins were analyzed, including viral proteins (e.g., CMV and HBV), inflammation-related proteins (e.g., HO1 and HMGB1), matrix proteins (e.g., Vim and Coll), and vastly in the laboratory used proteins (e.g., BSA and Ova). The multifaceted nature of inflammation-associated ROS was mimicked using gas plasma technology, generating reactive species cocktails for protein oxidation. Fourteen oxidized proteins led to elevated surface marker expression levels of CD25, CD40, CD80, CD86, and MHC-II as well as strongly modified release of IL6, IL8, IL10, IL12, IL23, MCP-1, and TNFα compared to their native counterparts. Especially IL8, heme oxygenase 2, and vimentin oxidation gave pronounced effects. Furthermore, protein kinase phospho-array studies in monocyte-derived cells pulsed with native vs. oxidized IL8 and insulin showed enhanced AKT and RSK2 phosphorylation. In summary, our data provide for the first time an overview of the functional consequences of oxidized protein uptake by human monocyte-derived cells and could therefore be a starting point for exploiting such principle in anticancer therapy in the future.

Gas Plasma Protein Oxidation Increases Immunogenicity and Human Antigen-Presenting Cell Maturation and Activation

Protein vaccines rely on eliciting immune responses. Inflammation is a prerequisite for immune responses to control infection and cancer but is also associated with disease onset. Reactive oxygen species (ROSs) are central during inflammation and are capable of inducing non-enzymatic oxidative protein modifications (oxMods) associated with chronic disease, which alter the functionality or immunogenicity of proteins that are relevant in cancer immunotherapy. Specifically, antigen-presenting cells (APCs) take up and degrade extracellular native and oxidized proteins to induce adaptive immune responses. However, it is less clear how oxMods alter the protein's immunogenicity, especially in inflammation-related short-lived reactive species. Gas plasma technology simultaneously generates a multitude of ROSs to modify protein antigens in a targeted and controlled manner to study the immunogenicity of oxMods. As model proteins relevant to chronic inflammation and cancer, we used gas plasma-treated insulin and CXCL8. We added those native or oxidized proteins to human THP-1 monocytes or primary monocyte-derived cells (moDCs). Both oxidized proteins caused concentration-independent maturation phenotype alterations in moDCs and THP-1 cells concerning surface marker expression and chemokine and cytokine secretion profiles. Interestingly, concentration-matched H2O2-treated proteins did not recapitulate the effects of gas plasma, suggesting sufficiently short diffusion distances for the short-lived reactive species to modify proteins. Our data provide evidence of dendric cell maturation and activation upon exposure to gas plasma- but not H2O2-modified model proteins. The biological consequences of these findings need to be elucidated in future inflammation and cancer disease models.

Argon Plasma Exposure Augments Costimulatory Ligands and Cytokine Release in Human Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells

Cold physical plasma is a partially ionized gas expelling many reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS). Several plasma devices have been licensed for medical use in dermatology, and recent experimental studies suggest their putative role in cancer treatment. In cancer therapies with an immunological dimension, successful antigen presentation and inflammation modulation is a key hallmark to elicit antitumor immunity. Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical for this task. However, the inflammatory consequences of DCs following plasma exposure are unknown. To this end, human monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs) were expanded from isolated human primary monocytes; exposed to plasma; and their metabolic activity, surface marker expression, and cytokine profiles were analyzed. As controls, hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorous acid, and peroxynitrite were used. Among all types of ROS/RNS-mediated treatments, plasma exposure exerted the most notable increase of activation markers at 24 h such as CD25, CD40, and CD83 known to be crucial for T cell costimulation. Moreover, the treatments increased interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-6, and IL-23. Altogether, this study suggests plasma treatment augmenting costimulatory ligand and cytokine expression in human moDCs, which might exert beneficial effects in the tumor microenvironment.

Caveolin-1 is down-regulated in human ovarian carcinoma and acts as a candidate tumor suppressor gene

To identify novel markers differentially expressed in ovarian cancer versus normal ovary, we hybridized microarrays with cDNAs derived from normal human ovaries and advanced stage ovarian carcinomas. This analysis revealed down-regulation of the caveolin-1 gene (CAV1) in ovarian carcinoma samples. Suppression of CAV1 in ovarian carcinomas was confirmed using a tumor tissue array consisting of 68 cDNA pools from different matched human tumor and normal tissues. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated expression of caveolin-1 in normal and benign ovarian epithelial cells, but loss of expression in serous ovarian carcinomas. In low-grade carcinomas, redistribution of caveolin-1 from a membrane-associated pattern observed in normal epithelium to a cytoplasmic localization pattern was observed. No expression of caveolin-1 was detectable in four of six ovarian carcinoma cell lines investigated. In SKOV-3 and ES-2 carcinoma cells, which express high levels of the caveolin-1 protein, phosphorylation of the 22-kd caveolin-1 isoform was detected. Inhibition of both DNA methylation and histone deacetylation using 5-aza-2'deoxycytidine and Trichostatin A, respectively, relieves down-regulation of caveolin-1 in OAW42 and OVCAR-3 cells which is in part mediated by direct regulation at the mRNA level. Expression of CAV1 in the ovarian carcinoma cell line OVCAR-3, resulted in suppression of tumor cell survival in vitro, suggesting that the CAV1 gene is likely to act as a tumor suppressor gene in human ovarian epithelium.

Amino acid analysis in five pooled single plant cell samples using capillary electrophoresis coupled to laser-induced fluorescence detection

In this study 21 amino acid standards, samples of pure phloem sap and samples of pooled mesophyll cells were derivatized with fluorescein isothiocyanate, separated by capillary electrophoresis and detected with laser-induced fluorescence at 488 nm. Two different background electrolytes, a sodium borate buffer containing sodium dodecyl sulfate and a sodium borate buffer containing alpha-cyclodextrin, were used for the separation. Using the sodium dodecyl sulfate buffer, 14 amino acid standards could be separated, spiking identified 12 amino acids in pure phloem sap and 13 amino acids in pooled mesophyll cells. With the alpha-cyclodextrin containing background electrolyte, a resolution of 20 amino acid standards could be attained, 17 amino acids in pure phloem sap and 10 amino acids in mesophyll cells could be assigned. Leucine and isoleucine comigrated in both buffer systems. All separations were performed with a voltage of +20 kV and completed within 30 min. The detection limits obtained were in the fmol range for the sodium dodecyl sulfate and in the pmol range for the alpha-cyclodextrin background electrolyte. Compared to the one published capillary electrophoresis-based method for the determination of amino acids from few plant cells, the procedure described here allows very high sensitivity due to the use of laser-induced fluorescence detection and opens the possibility to dilute and measure pl samples with an fully automated, commercially available CE system.

Down-regulation of caveolin-1, a candidate tumor suppressor gene, in sarcomas

Caveolae are plasma membrane microdomains that have been implicated in the regulation of several intracellular signaling pathways. Previous studies suggest that caveolin-1, the main structural protein of caveolae, could function as a tumor suppressor. Caveolin-1 is highly expressed in terminally differentiated mesenchymal cells including adipocytes, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells. To study whether caveolin-1 is a possible tumor suppressor in human mesenchymal tumors, we have analyzed the expression using immunohistochemistry in normal mesenchymal tissues, 22 benign and 79 malignant mesenchymal tumors. Caveolin-1 was found to be expressed in fibromatoses, leiomyomas, hemangiomas, and lipomas at high levels comparable to normal mesenchymal tissues. The expression of caveolin-1 was slightly reduced in four of six well-differentiated liposarcomas and strongly reduced or lost in three of three fibrosarcomas, 17 of 20 leiomyosarcomas, 16 of 16 myxoid/round cell/pleomorphic liposarcomas, five of eight angiosarcomas, 15 of 18 malignant fibrous histiocytomas, and eight of eight synovial sarcomas. The immunohistochemical findings were confirmed by Western blot analysis in a number of tumors. High levels of both the 24-kd [alpha]- and the 21-kd [beta]-isoform of caveolin-1 were detected in the nontumorigenic human fibroblast cell line IMR-90. In contrast, in HT-1080 human fibrosarcoma cells, caveolin-1 is strongly down-regulated. We show that the [alpha]-isoform of caveolin-1 is potently up-regulated in HT-1080 cells by inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase-signaling pathway with the specific inhibitor PD 98059, whereas the specific inhibitor of DNA methylation 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine only marginally up-regulates caveolin-1. In addition, re-expression of caveolin-1 in HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells potently inhibited colony formation. From these we conclude that caveolin-1 is likely to act as a tumor suppressor gene in human sarcomas.

Characterization of an extremely motile cellular network in the rotifer Asplanchna spp. Structure, kinetics, and the cytoskeleton

The pseudocoelomic body cavity of the rotifer Asplanchna spp. contains free cells that form a highly dynamic, three-dimensional polygonal network of filopodia. Using video-enhanced differential interference contrast microscopy, we have qualitatively and quantitatively characterized the motion types involved with network motility: (1) filopodial junctions are displaced laterally at 10.52 +/- 0.46 microns/s; (2) free-ending filopodia form and extend at rates of 8.77 +/- 0.40 microns/s, until they retract again at 7.23 +/- 0.87 microns/s; (3) filopodial strands fuse either laterally or tip to the lateral side. The combination of these motion types results in enlargements, diminutions, and extinctions of filopodial polygons, and in the formation of new polygons. Moreover, there is intense and fast (5.11 +/- 0.28 microns/s) particle transport within the filopodial strands. The organization of the cytoskeleton in filopodia was examined by electron microscopy and by labeling with fluorescent-tagged phalloidin. Filopodia contain several microtubules that are often organized in a bundle. Moreover, F-actin is present within the filopodia. To characterize which of these cytoskeletal systems is involved with cell and organelle motility, we have examined cell dynamics after incubations with colchicine or cytochalasin D. The results of these pharmacological experiments provide evidence that microtubules are required for both cell and organelle motility, but that actin filaments contribute to these phenomena and are required for the structural maintenance of slender filopodia.