,5,3Ј-Triiodo-L-thyronine (T3), but not L-thyroxine (T4), activated Src kinase and, downstream, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) by means of an ␣ v␤3 integrin receptor on human glioblastoma U-87 MG cells. Although both T 3 and T4 stimulated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, activated ERK1/2 did not contribute to T 3-induced Src kinase or PI3-kinase activation, and an inhibitor of PI3-kinase, LY-294002, did not block activation of ERK1/2 by physiological concentrations of T 3 and T4. Thus the PI3-kinase, Src kinase, and ERK1/2 signaling cascades are parallel pathways in T 3-treated U-87 MG cells. T3 and T4 both caused proliferation of U-87 MG cells; these effects were blocked by the ERK1/2 inhibitor PD-98059 but not by LY-294002. Smallinterfering RNA knockdown of PI3-kinase confirmed that PI3-kinase was not involved in the proliferative action of T 3 on U-87 MG cells. PI3-kinase-dependent actions of T 3 in these cells included shuttling of nuclear thyroid hormone receptor-␣ (TR␣) from cytoplasm to nucleus and accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1␣ mRNA; LY-294002 inhibited these actions. Results of studies involving ␣v␤3 receptor antagonists tetraiodothyroacetic acid (tetrac) and Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide, together with mathematical modeling of the kinetics of displacement of radiolabeled T3 from the integrin by unlabeled T3 and by unlabeled T4, are consistent with the presence of two iodothyronine receptor domains on the integrin. A model proposes that one site binds T3 exclusively, activates PI3-kinase via Src kinase, and stimulates TR␣ trafficking and HIF-1␣ gene expression. Tetrac and RGD peptide both inhibit T3 action at this site. The second site binds T4 and T3, and, via this receptor, the iodothyronines stimulate ERK1/2-dependent tumor cell proliferation. T3 action here is inhibited by tetrac alone, but the effect of T4 is blocked by both tetrac and the RGD peptide. thyroid hormone; phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2; integrin ␣v␤3; glioblastoma cells; Src kinase; mitogenactivated protein kinase; intracellular hormone receptor trafficking ACTIONS OF THYROID HORMONE [L-thyroxine (T 4 ); 3,5,3Ј-triiodo-L-thyronine (T 3 )] that are independent of ligand binding to nuclear thyroid hormone receptors are called nongenomic actions. Nongenomic effects of thyroid hormone are initiated outside the cell nucleus but may culminate in complex cellular events that are nucleus mediated (7, 8, 26 -29). Initiation of nongenomic actions includes a plasma membrane receptor for T 4 and T 3 on integrin ␣ v ␤ 3 that is linked to mitogen-activated protein kinase [extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2] for transduction of the hormone signal (3) and nuclear receptors residing in the cytosol of unstimulated cells, such as thyroid hormone receptor (TR) ␤1 (28).The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase)/protein kinase B (Akt) pathway is an important regulator of cellular growth, metabolism, and survival (13, 19). Studies of Storey et al. (38) indi...

Thyroid hormone induces tumor cell and blood vessel cell proliferation via a cell surface receptor on heterodimeric integrin αvβ3. We investigated the role of thyroid hormone-induced internalization of nuclear integrin αv monomer. Physiological concentration of thyroxine (free T4, 10(-10) M), but not 3,5,3'-triiodo-l-thyronine (T3), induced cellular internalization and nuclear translocation of integrin αv monomer in human non-small-cell lung cancer (H522) and ovarian carcinoma (OVCAR-3) cells. T4 did not complex with integrin αv monomer during its internalization. The αv monomer was phosphorylated by activated ERK1/2 when it heterodimerized with integrin β3 in vitro. Nuclear αv complexed with transcriptional coactivator proteins, p300 and STAT1, and with corepressor proteins, NCoR and SMRT. Nuclear αv monomer in T4-exposed cells, but not integrin β3, bound to promoters of specific genes that have important roles in cancer cells, including estrogen receptor-α, cyclooxygenase-2, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, and thyroid hormone receptor β1 in chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. In summary, monomeric αv is a novel coactivator regulated from the cell surface by thyroid hormone for the expression of genes involved in tumorigenesis and angiogenesis. This study also offers a mechanism for modulation of gene expression by thyroid hormone that is adjunctive to the nuclear hormone receptor (TR)-T3 pathway.

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring trihydroxyl-diphenylethylene compound that has been shown experimentally to have beneficial effects in the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Resveratrol induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) in these cells and activates important signal transducing proteins including extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) 1 and 2 in cancer cells. Resveratrol also causes nuclear accumulation of the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and of the oncogene suppressor protein, p53. We have studied the molecular basis of the anticancer actions of resveratrol using human ovarian carcinoma (OVCAR-3) cells. Our findings include the following: (i) nuclear accumulation of COX-2 in resveratrol-treated cells is blocked by the ERK1/2 inhibitor, PD98059; (ii) an inhibitor of COX-2 activity, NS398, prevents accumulation of ERK1/2, COX-2, activated p53 and small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO-1) in the nucleus; (iii) apoptosis, quantitated by nucleosome enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the nuclear abundance of the pro-apoptotic protein, BcL-xs, were inhibited by NS398. This finding implicates nuclear COX-2 in p53-mediated apoptosis induced by resveratrol. Sumoylation is important to stabilization of p53 and a COX-2-SUMO-1 interaction suggests sumoylation of COX-2 in resveratrol-treated cells and (iv) chromatin immunoprecipitation studies showed binding of induced nuclear COX-2 to the promoter region of PIG3 and Bax, pro-apoptotic gene targets of transcriptionally active p53. Nuclear accumulation of activated ERK1/2 and sumolyated COX-2 are essential to resveratrol-induced pSer-15-p53-mediated apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cells.

Unmodified or as a poly[lactide-co-glycolide] nanoparticle, tetraiodothyroacetic acid (tetrac) acts at the integrin αvβ3 receptor on human cancer cells to inhibit tumor cell proliferation and xenograft growth. To study in vitro the pharmacodynamics of tetrac formulations in the absence of and in conjunction with other chemotherapeutic agents, we developed a perfusion bellows cell culture system. Cells were grown on polymer flakes and exposed to various concentrations of tetrac, nano-tetrac, resveratrol, cetuximab, or a combination for up to 18 days. Cells were harvested and counted every one or two days. Both NONMEM VI and the exact Monte Carlo parametric expectation maximization algorithm in S-ADAPT were utilized for mathematical modeling. Unmodified tetrac inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells and did so with differing potency in different cell lines. The developed mechanism-based model included two effects of tetrac on different parts of the cell cycle which could be distinguished. For human breast cancer cells, modeling suggested a higher sensitivity (lower IC50) to the effect on success rate of replication than the effect on rate of growth, whereas the capacity (Imax) was larger for the effect on growth rate. Nanoparticulate tetrac (nano-tetrac), which does not enter into cells, had a higher potency and a larger anti-proliferative effect than unmodified tetrac. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis of harvested cells revealed tetrac and nano-tetrac induced concentration-dependent apoptosis that was correlated with expression of pro-apoptotic proteins, such as p53, p21, PIG3 and BAD for nano-tetrac, while unmodified tetrac showed a different profile. Approximately additive anti-proliferative effects were found for the combinations of tetrac and resveratrol, tetrac and cetuximab (Erbitux), and nano-tetrac and cetuximab. Our in vitro perfusion cancer cell system together with mathematical modeling successfully described the anti-proliferative effects over time of tetrac and nano-tetrac and may be useful for dose-finding and studying the pharmacodynamics of other chemotherapeutic agents or their combinations.

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The in vitro inhibition of wild-type human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by combinations of lopinavir and six other protease inhibitors over a range of two-drug combination ratios was evaluated. Combinations of lopinavir with indinavir, nelfinavir, amprenavir, tipranavir, and BMS-232632 generally displayed an additive relationship. In contrast, a consistent, statistically significant synergistic inhibition of HIV type 1 replication with combinations of lopinavir and saquinavir was observed. Analysis of the combination indices indicated that lopinavir with saquinavir was synergistic over the entire range of drug combination ratios tested and at all levels of inhibition in excess of 40%. Cellular toxicity was not observed at the highest drug concentrations tested. These results suggest that administration of combinations of the appropriate dose of lopinavir with other protease inhibitors in vivo may result in enhanced antiviral activity with no associated increase in cellular cytotoxicity. More importantly, the observed in vitro synergy between lopinavir and saquinavir provides a theoretical basis for the clinical exploration of a novel regimen of lopinavir-ritonavir and saquinavir.Combination therapy using two protease inhibitors (PIs), either with or without accompanying therapy with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), has been utilized in both therapy-naïve (2, 7, 17) and therapy-experienced patients. The rationale for dual PI therapy includes both the nonoverlapping resistance profiles of some PIs and, in particular, the pharmacokinetic enhancement of most PIs by coadministration with ritonavir (RTV) (10). Unlike combination regimens containing agents that act by inhibition of different viral enzymes, mechanism-based synergy of PI combinations is unlikely, based on the competitive nature of inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease. Thus, the in vitro antiviral interactions of PIs have generally been found to be additive (3,6,14). However, pharmacologic mechanisms possibly leading to either synergy or antagonism between PIs theoretically exist (e.g., competitive absorption and/or egress from cells, competitive binding to serum proteins). For example, in one study, the in vitro interactions between indinavir (IDV) and saquinavir (SQV) and between IDV and nelfinavir (NFV) were found to be antagonistic (14, 16; D. J. Manion, D. P. Merrill, T. C. Chou, and M. S. Hirsch, Abstr. 36th Intersci. Conf. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., abstr. 11, p. 186, 1996). In contrast, antiviral synergy was observed between RTV and SQV and between RTV and tipranavir (TPV) in the presence or absence of human serum (3; A. Molla, S. Vasavanonda, T. Chernyavskiy, J. Praestgaard, A. Hsu, T. Lin, E. Sun, W. Kohlbrenner, and D. Kempf, Program Abstr. 2nd Int. Workshop HIV Drug Resist. Treat. Strategies, abstr. 39, p. 27, 1998).Lopinavir (LPV; ABT-378) is a novel peptidomimetic HIV protease inhibitor with approximately 10-fold greater in vitro potency than RTV in the presence of human serum (15). Pharmacokineti...

A small increase in corneal hydration and thickness may cause a clinically significant overestimation of IOP when measured using Goldmann applanation tonometry.

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