While the rationale exists for the use of somatostatin analogs as antitumor agents, studies are ongoing to identify analogs with activity across the range of receptor subtypes to maximize the potential of such treatment.

Effects of the stable somatostatin analogue RC-160 on cell proliferation, tyrosine phosphatase activity, and intracellular calcium concentration were investigated in CHO cells expressing the five somatostatin receptor subtypes SSTR1 to -5. Binding experiments were performed on crude membranes by using [12-5-labeled Tyr"]Jsomatostatin-14; RC-160 exhibited moderate-to-high affinities for SSTR2, -3, and -5 (ICs0, 0.17, 0.1, and 21 nM, respectively) and low affinity for SSTR1 and -4 (ICso, 200 and 620 nM, respectively). Cell proliferation was induced in CHO cells by 10%o (vol/vol) fetal calf serum, 1 ,uM insulin, or 0.1 ,uM cholecystokinin (CCK)-8; RC-160 inhibited serum-induced proliferation of CHO cells expressing SSTR2 and SSTR5 (EC50, 53 and 150 pM, respectively) but had no effect on growth of cells expressing SSTR1, -3, or -4. In SSTR2-expressing cells, orthovanadate suppressed the growth inhibitory effect of RC-160. This analogue inhibited insulin-induced proliferation and rapidly stimulated the activity of a tyrosine phosphatase in only this cellular clone. This latter effect was observed at doses ofRC-160 (ECsD, 4.6 pM) similar to those required to inhibit growth (EC50, 53 pM) and binding to the receptor (IC50, 170 pM), implicating tyrosine phosphatase as a transducer of the growth inhibition signal in SSTR2-expressing cells. In SSTR5-expressing cells, the phosphatase pathway was not involved in the inhibitory effect of RC-160 on cell growth, since this action was not influenced by tyrosine and serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitors. In addition, in SSTR5-expressing cells, RC-160 inhibited CCK-stimulated intracellular calcium mobilization at doses (EC50, 0.35 nM) similar to those necessary to inhibit somatostatin-14 binding (IC50, 21 nM) and CCK-induced cell proliferation (EC50, 1.1 nM). This suggests that the inositol phospholipid/calcium pathway could be involved in the antiproliferative effect of RC-160 mediated by SSTR5 in these cells. RC-160 had no effect on the basal or carbacholstimulated calcium concentration in cells expressing SSTR1 to -4. Thus, we conclude that SSTR2 and SSTR5 bind RC-160 with high affinity and mediate the RC-160-induced inhibition of cell growth by distinct mechanisms.Somatostatin is a tetradecapeptide with diverse biological effects on cellular function, including inhibition of secretory and proliferative processes (1, 2). These effects are mediated by specific receptors that belong to the guanine nucleotide binding protein (G-protein)-linked receptor family (3-7).Five somatostatin receptor subtypes SSTR1 to -5 and one splice variant have been cloned from human (h), murine (m), and rat (r) sources (3-7). After expression of SSTR gene clones in mammalian cell lines, distinct profiles for binding soma-The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.tostatin analogues and functional coupling to adenylate cyclase v...

Angiotensin II type 2 (AT2) receptors are involved in the inhibition of cell proliferation as well as in apoptosis and neuronal differentiation, through intracellular signalling pathways that remain poorly defined. The present study examines the effect of AT2-receptor stimulation on growth-factor-induced pathways leading to the activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases. In N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells, AT2 receptors inhibit the activity of MAP kinases induced by serum as well as by epidermal growth factor. The inhibitory effect of angiotensin II (Ang II) is rapid and transient, and affects both ERK1 and ERK2 (extracellular signal-related protein kinase) isoforms of the enzyme. AT2-mediated MAP kinase inactivation is not sensitive to pertussis toxin or okadaic acid, but involves a vanadate-sensitive protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP). Expression of MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) is not significantly modified upon AT2-receptor activation, and insensitivity to actinomycin D also rules out transcriptional induction of other MKPs as a possible mechanism for AT2-mediated inactivation of MAP kinases. In addition, we report here that both in N1E-115 cells and in Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing recombinant human AT2 receptors, Ang II rapidly stimulates the catalytic activity of SHP-1, a soluble PTP that has been implicated in termination of signalling by cytokine and growth-factor receptors. These findings thus demonstrate functional negative cross-talk between heptahelical AT2 receptors and receptor tyrosine kinases, and suggest that SHP-1 tyrosine phosphatase is an early transducer of the AT2 receptor signalling pathway.

Activation of the somatostatin receptor sst2, a member of the G i protein-coupled receptor family, results in the stimulation of a protein-tyrosine phosphatase activity involved in the sst2-mediated growth inhibitory signal. Here, we report that SHP-1, a cytoplasmic proteintyrosine phosphatase containing two Src homology 2 domains constitutively associated with sst2 as evidence by coprecipitation of SHP-1 protein with sst2, in Chinese hamster ovary cells coexpressing sst2 and SHP-1. Activation of sst2 by somatostatin resulted in a rapid dissociation of SHP-1 from sst2 accompanied by an increase of SHP-1 activity. SHP-1 was phosphorylated on tyrosine in control cells and somatostatin induced a rapid and transient dephosphorylation on tyrosine residues of the enzyme. Stimulation of SHP-1 activity by somatostatin was abolished by pertussis toxin pretreatment of cells. G i␣3 was specifically immunoprecipitated by anti-sst2 and anti-SHP-1 antibodies, and somatostatin induced a rapid dissociation of G i␣3 from sst2, suggesting that G i␣3 may be involved in the sst2⅐SHP-1 complexes. Finally, somatostatin inhibited the proliferation of cells coexpressing sst2 and SHP-1, and this effect was suppressed in cells coexpressing sst2 and the catalytic inactive SHP-1 (C453S mutant). Our data identify SHP-1 as the tyrosine phosphatase associated with sst2 and demonstrate that this enzyme may be an initial key transducer of the antimitogenic signaling mediated by sst2.

Objective: We studied the efficacy of octreotide treatment on hypoglycaemia in patients with insulinoma and its relationships with Octreoscan scintigraphy and the presence of tumoral somatostatin receptors sst2A and sst5. Design and methods: 17 patients with insulinoma were evaluated using (i) evaluation of blood glucose, insulin and C-peptide during a short 100 mg octreotide test in fasting patients and/or treatment over 8 days-8 months with octreotide, (ii) Octreoscan scintigraphy and (iii) immunostaining of the tumor with anti-sst2A and anti-sst5. Results: Octreotide was effective on hypoglycaemia in 10/17 patients. Octreoscan scintigraphy detected 4/17 insulinomas. sst2A receptor was detected in 7/17 insulinomas and sst5 in 15/17 insulinomas. Octreotide was effective on hypoglycaemia in those seven patients with sst2A receptorexpressing insulinoma, and in three patients with undetectable sst2A receptor and detectable sst5; it was ineffective in six patients whose tumor expressed the sst5 receptor with undetectable sst2A and in one patient with undetectable sst2A and sst5 receptor. Conclusions: Octreotide is an effective treatment of hypoglycaemia in more than 50% of patients with insulinoma. Detection of responsive patients was better based on a positive short test with subcutaneous octreotide than on the results of Octreoscan scintigraphy. Positive anti-sst2 receptor immunostaining is associated with efficacy of octreotide treatment, but does not account for all cases of responsiveness to octreotide. Expression of sst5 receptor does not appear to explain per se the efficacy of octreotide on sst2A-negative insulinomas.European Journal of Endocrinology 152 757-767

SummarySince its discovery three decades ago as an inhibitor of GH release from the pituitary gland, somatostatin has attracted much attention because of its functional role in the regulation of a wide variety of physiological functions in the brain, pituitary, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, adrenals, thyroid, kidney and immune system. In addition to its negative role in the control of endocrine and exocrine secretions, somatostatin and analogs also exert inhibitory effects on the proliferation and survival of normal and tumor cells. Over the past 15 years, studies have begun to reveal some of the molecular mechanisms underlying the antitumor activity of somatostatin. This review covers the present knowledge in the antitumor effect of somatostatin and analogs and discusses the perspectives of novel clinical strategies based on somatostatin receptor sst2 gene transfer therapy.

We investigated cell proliferation modulated by cholecystokinin (CCK) and somatostatin analogue RC-160 in CHO cells bearing endogenous CCK A receptors and stably transfected by human subtype sst5 somatostatin receptor. CCK stimulated cell proliferation of CHO cells. This effect was suppressed by inhibitor of the soluble guanylate cyclase, LY 83583, the inhibitor of the cGMP dependent kinases, KT 5823, and the inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase, PD 98059. CCK treatment induced an increase of intracellular cGMP concentrations, but concomitant addition of LY 83583 virtually suppressed this increase. CCK also activated both phosphorylation and activity of p42-MAP kinase; these effects were inhibited by KT 5823. All the effects of CCK depended on a pertussis toxin-dependent G protein. Somatostatin analogue RC-160 inhibited CCK-induced stimulation of cell proliferation but it did not potentiate the suppressive effect of the inhibitors LY 83583 and KT 5823. RC-160 inhibited both CCK-induced intracellular cGMP formation as well as activation of p42-MAP kinase phosphorylation and activity. This inhibitory effect was observed at doses of RC-160 similar to those necessary to occupy the sst5 recombinant receptor and to inhibit CCK-induced cell proliferation. We conclude that, in CHO cells, the proliferation and the MAP kinase signaling cascade depend on a cGMPdependent pathway. These effects are positively regulated by CCK and negatively inf luenced by RC-160, interacting through CCK A and sst5 receptors, respectively. These studies provide a characterization of the antiproliferative signal mediated by sst5 receptor.Somatostatin and cholecystokinin are both regulatory hormones widely distributed in the body. Both these hormones participate in a variety of biological processes including neurotransmission and control of pancreatic secretion. They induce their biological effects by interacting with specific G protein-linked receptors (1, 2). The role of the two peptides in the regulation of cell growth also has been demonstrated in studies carried out both in vitro and in vivo (2-6).The effects of CCK and its related peptide, gastrin, are transduced through at least two distinct subtypes of specific cell-surface receptors, CCK A (alimentary) and CCK B (brain, also called CCK B ͞gastrin receptors), that have been cloned in human and rodents (1). CCK B ͞gastrin receptors bind CCK and gastrin with the same high affinity. In contrast, the CCK A receptors exhibit a 100-to 500-fold higher affinity for CCK than gastrin. Gastrin has trophic effects on normal digestive mucosa and stimulates the growth of colon, gastric, and pancreatic cancer cell lines in culture (7,8). This proliferative effect has been shown to be mediated by the gastrin͞CCK B receptors in different cell models (8, 9).In the rat exocrine pancreas that expresses CCK A type receptor, CCK is known to stimulate pancreatic growth both in vitro and in vivo (3-5). The CCK A receptor interacts with G proteins and thereby activates phospholipas...

Defeating pancreatic cancer resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine remains a challenge to treat this deadly cancer. Targeting the sphingolipid metabolism for improving tumor chemosensitivity has recently emerged as a promising strategy. The fine balance between intracellular levels of the prosurvival sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and the proapoptotic ceramide sphingolipids determines cell fate. Among enzymes that control this metabolism, sphingosine kinase-1 (SphK1), a tumor-associated protein overexpressed in many cancers, favors survival through S1P production, and inhibitors of SphK1 are used in ongoing clinical trials to sensitize epithelial ovarian and prostate cancer cells to various chemotherapeutic drugs. We here report that the cellular ceramide/S1P ratio is a critical biosensor for predicting pancreatic cancer cell sensitivity to gemcitabine. A low level of the ceramide/S1P ratio, associated with a high SphK1 activity, correlates with a robust intrinsic pancreatic cancer cell chemoresistance toward gemcitabine. Strikingly, increasing the ceramide/S1P ratio, by using pharmacologic (SphK1 inhibitor or ceramide analogue) or small interfering RNA-based approaches to up-regulate intracellular ceramide levels or reduce SphK1 activity, sensitized pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine. Conversely, decreasing the ceramide/ S1P ratio, by up-regulating SphK1 activity, promoted gemcitabine resistance in these cells. Development of novel pharmacologic strategies targeting the sphingolipid metabolism might therefore represent an interesting promising approach, when combined with gemcitabine, to defeat pancreatic cancer chemoresistance to this drug.