Chemotherapy is currently one of the most effective ways to treat metastatic cancers. However, of the various mechanisms that are involved in conferring resistance, upregulation of drug efflux ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, such as P-glycoprotein (ABCB1), multidrug resistance protein 1 (ABCC1) and ABCG2, has become a major obstacle to cancer chemotherapy and seriously affects the clinical outcome. To date, at least 15 ABC drug transporters have been identified and characterized to transport and confer resistance to practically the entire spectrum of cancer drugs, causing multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancers. Unfortunately, despite decades of research, there is still no real solution to MDR. This review highlights some of the major findings, the roles and problems associated with MDR-linked ABC drug transporters in metastatic cancers and solid tumors, and the current strategies to improve the clinical outcome in cancer chemotherapy.

Incompletion of the autophagic process may contribute to sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction. Treatment with rapamycin may serve a cardioprotective role in sepsis, possibly through the effect of complete induction of autophagy.

Checkpoint immunotherapy that inhibits tumour immune evasion has demonstrated significant clinical success. However, the therapeutic response is limited to certain patient populations, and immunotoxicity as well as autoimmunity have compromised the therapeutic benefits. Here, we report on an inherently therapeutic fucoidan-dextran-based magnetic nanomedicine (IO@FuDex) conjugated with a checkpoint inhibitor (anti-PD-L1) and T-cell activators (anti-CD3 and anti-CD28). IO@FuDex can repair the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment by reinvigorating tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes, while targeting the nanomedicine via magnetic navigation to the tumour to minimize off-target effects. Treatment that combines IO@FuDex and magnetic navigation reduces the occurrence of adverse events and extends the median survival from 32 to 63 days with less than 1 per cent dose compared with soluble anti-PD-L1. Thus, we demonstrate the potential of integrating anti-PD-L1 and T-cell activators as a form of inherently therapeutic nanomedicine to augment the therapeutic index of combination checkpoint immunotherapy.

BackgroundCycling and chronic tumor hypoxia are involved in tumor development and growth. However, the impact of cycling hypoxia and its molecular mechanism on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) progression remain unclear.MethodologyGlioblastoma cell lines, GBM8401 and U87, and their xenografts were exposed to cycling hypoxic stress in vitro and in vivo. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in glioblastoma cells and xenografts was assayed by in vitro ROS analysis and in vivo molecular imaging studies. NADPH oxidase subunit 4 (Nox4) RNAi-knockdown technology was utilized to study the role of Nox4 in cycling hypoxia-mediated ROS production and tumor progression. Furthermore, glioblastoma cells were stably transfected with a retroviral vector bearing a dual reporter gene cassette that allowed for dynamic monitoring of HIF-1 signal transduction and tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo, using optical and nuclear imaging. Tempol, an antioxidant compound, was used to investigate the impact of ROS on cycling hypoxia-mediated HIF-1 activation and tumor progression.Principal FindingsGlioblastoma cells and xenografts were compared under cycling hypoxic and normoxic conditions; upregulation of NOX4 expression and ROS levels were observed under cycling hypoxia in glioblastoma cells and xenografts, concomitant with increased tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. However, knockdown of Nox4 inhibited these effects. Moreover, in vivo molecular imaging studies demonstrated that Tempol is a good antioxidant compound for inhibiting cycling hypoxia-mediated ROS production, HIF-1 activation, and tumor growth. Immunofluorescence imaging and flow cytometric analysis for NOX4, HIF-1 activation, and Hoechst 3342 in glioblastoma also revealed high localized NOX4 expression predominantly in potentially cycling hypoxic areas with HIF-1 activation and blood perfusion within the endogenous solid tumor microenvironment.ConclusionsCycling hypoxia-induced ROS via Nox4 is a critical aspect of cancer biology to consider for therapeutic targeting of cycling hypoxia-promoted HIF-1 activation and tumor progression in GBM.

Abstract. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors are the most common type of brain tumors and resistance to radiotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the differential effect and mechanism of tumor microenvironments, cycling hypoxia and non-interrupted hypoxia, on tumor cell radiosensitivity in the human U87 glioblastoma tumor model. We exposed U87 cells and mice bearing U87 glioma to experimentally imposed cycling or non-interrupted hypoxic stress in vitro and in vivo prior to treatment with ionizing irradiation. Clonogenic survival assay and tumor growth measurements were performed to determine tumor radiosensitivity. The differential regulation of non-interrupted vs. cycling hypoxia by hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) and the impact of HIF-1· on hypoxia-induced radioresistance were assessed by molecular assay and RNAiknockdown technology. Our results demonstrated that cycling hypoxia induced higher and longer term HIF-1 signal transduction activity via reactive oxygen species (ROS) in U87 cells compared with non-interrupted hypoxia. Cycling hypoxiainduced HIF-1· activation reflected ROS mediated HIF-1· synthesis and stabilization, whereas non-interrupted hypoxiainduced HIF-1· activation was due to decreased HIF-1· degradation resulting from decreased prolyl hydroxylation. With regard to tumor radiosensitivity, cycling hypoxia induced more tumor cell radioresistance and a decreased response to radiotherapy in U87 cells compared with non-interrupted hypoxia. HIF-1 knockdown during in vitro and in vivo hypoxic stresses combined with radiotherapy suppressed cycling and non-interrupted hypoxia-induced radioresistance while increasing overall tumor radiosensitivity. Our results suggest that cycling hypoxia induces more radioresistance than non-interrupted hypoxia in U87 gliomas, and ROS mediated HIF-1· activation is a crucial mechanism involved in hypoxia-induced differential radioresistant in U87 gliomas.

Background SARS-CoV-2 began spreading in December 2019 and has since become a pandemic that has impacted many aspects of human society. Several issues concerning the origin, time of introduction to humans, evolutionary patterns, and underlying force driving the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak remain unclear. Method Genetic variation in 137 SARS-CoV-2 genomes and related coronaviruses as of 2/23/2020 was analyzed. Result After correcting for mutational bias, the excess of low frequency mutations on both synonymous and nonsynonymous sites was revealed which is consistent with the recent outbreak of the virus. In contrast to adaptive evolution previously reported for SARS-CoV during its brief epidemic in 2003, our analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes shows signs of relaxation. The sequence similarity in the spike receptor binding domain between SARS-CoV-2 and a sequence from pangolin is probably due to an ancient intergenomic introgression that occurred approximately 40 years ago. The current outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 was estimated to have originated on 12/11/2019 (95% HPD 11/13/2019–12/23/2019). The effective population size of the virus showed an approximately 20-fold increase from the onset of the outbreak to the lockdown of Wuhan (1/23/2020) and ceased to increase afterwards, demonstrating the effectiveness of social distancing in preventing its spread. Two mutations, 84S in orf8 protein and 251 V in orf3 protein, occurred coincidentally with human intervention. The former first appeared on 1/5/2020 and plateaued around 1/23/2020. The latter rapidly increased in frequency after 1/23/2020. Thus, the roles of these mutations on infectivity need to be elucidated. Genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 collected from China is two times higher than those derived from the rest of the world. A network analysis found that haplotypes collected from Wuhan were interior and had more mutational connections, both of which are consistent with the observation that the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak originated in China. Conclusion SARS-CoV-2 might have cryptically circulated within humans for years before being discovered. Data from the early outbreak and hospital archives are needed to trace its evolutionary path and determine the critical steps required for effective spreading.

Tumor cycling hypoxia is now a well-recognized phenomenon in animal and human solid tumors. However, how tumor cycling hypoxia impacts chemotherapy is unclear. In the present study, we explored the impact and the mechanism of cycling hypoxia on tumor microenvironment-mediated chemoresistance. Hoechst 33342 staining and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) activation labeling together with immunofluorescence imaging and fluorescence-activated cell sorting were used to isolate hypoxic tumor subpopulations from human glioblastoma xenografts. ABCB1 expression, P-glycoprotein function, and chemosensitivity in tumor cells derived from human glioblastoma xenografts or in vitro cycling hypoxic stress-treated glioblastoma cells were determined using Western blot analysis, drug accumulation and efflux assays, and MTT assay, respectively. ABCB1 expression and P-glycoprotein function were upregulated under cycling hypoxia in glioblastoma cells concomitant with decreased responses to doxorubicin and BCNU. However, ABCB1 knockdown inhibited these effects. Moreover, immunofluorescence imaging and flow cytometric analysis for ABCB1, HIF-1 activation, and Hoechst 3342 in glioblastoma revealed highly localized ABCB1 expression predominantly in potentially cycling hypoxic areas with HIF-1 activation and blood perfusion in the solid tumor microenvironment. The cycling hypoxic tumor cells derived from glioblastoma xenografts exhibited higher ABCB1 expression, P-glycoprotein function, and chemoresistance, compared with chronic hypoxic and normoxic cells. Tumor-bearing mice that received YC-1, an HIF-1α inhibitor, exhibited suppressed tumor microenvironment-induced ABCB1 induction and enhanced survival rate in BCNU chemotherapy. Cycling hypoxia plays a vital role in tumor microenvironment-mediated chemoresistance through the HIF-1-dependent induction of ABCB1. HIF-1 blockade before and concurrent with chemotherapy could suppress cycling hypoxia-induced chemoresistance.

Silene vulgaris was introduced into North America sometime prior to 1800. In order to document the population structure that has developed since that time, collections were made from 56 local populations distributed among 9 geographical regions in eastern North America. Individual plants were characterized for chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) haplotype by restriction fragment size analysis of four noncoding regions of cpDNA amplified by polymerase chain reaction. A total of 19 cpDNA haplotypes were detected using this method. The overall gene diversity of 0.85 is quite similar to the diversity detected in these same regions of cpDNA in a previously published sample of S. vulgaris taken from across much of Europe. The spatial distribution of the North American cpDNA diversity was quantified by hierarchical F-statistics that partitioned the genetic variance into variation among local populations within regions, and variation among regions. The average FST among populations within regions was 0.66 and the FST among regions was 0.09. The among-region variation was due to both differences among regions in the frequency of two most common haplotypes, and to the presence of a number of region-specific haplotypes. In order to test for isolation by distance at the regional level, FST values were calculated for all possible pairs of regions, and regressed against the geographical distance between those regions. There was no evidence for isolation by distance. It is suggested that the local population structure is generated by recent extinction/colonization dynamics, and that the among-region structure reflects demographic events associated with range expansion following introduction to North America.