Lymphatic complications are common side effects of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor-based immunosuppression in kidney transplantation. Therefore, we investigated whether the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin, besides its known antihemangiogenic effect, also impedes regenerative lymphangiogenesis. In a murine skin flap model, rapamycin impaired recovery of lymphatic flow across surgical incisions resulting in prolonged wound edema in these animals. Importantly, the antilymphangiogenic effect of rapamycin was not related to a general inhibition of wound healing as demonstrated an in vivo Matrigeltrade mark lymphangiogenesis assay and a model of lymphangioma. Rapamycin concentrations as low as 1 ng/ml potently inhibited vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C driven proliferation and migration, respectively, of isolated human lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) in vitro. Mechanistically, mTOR inhibition impairs downstream signaling of VEGF-A as well as VEGF-C via mTOR to the p70S6 kinase in LECs. In conclusion, we provide extensive experimental evidence for an antilymphangiogenic activity of mTOR inhibition suggesting that the early use of mTOR inhibitor following tissue injury should be avoided. Conversely, the antilymphangiogenic properties of rapamycin and its derivates may provide therapeutic value for the prevention and treatment of malignancies, respectively.

Therapeutic strategies that target and disrupt the already-formed vessel networks of growing tumors are actively pursued. The goal of these approaches is to induce a rapid shutdown of the vascular function of the tumor so that blood flow is arrested and tumor cell death occurs. Here we show that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor rapamycin, when administered to tumor-bearing mice, selectively induced extensive local microthrombosis of the tumor microvasculature. Importantly, rapamycin administration had no detectable effect on the peritumoral or normal tissue. Intravital microscopy analysis of tumors implanted into skinfold chambers revealed that rapamycin led to a specific shutdown of initially patent tumor vessels. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced tissue factor expression was strongly enhanced by rapamycin. We further show by Western blot analysis that rapamycin interferes with a negative feedback mechanism controlling this pathologic VEGF-mediated tissue factor expression. This thrombogenic alteration of the endothelial cells was confirmed in a one-step coagulation assay. The circumstance that VEGF is up-regulated in most tumors may explain the remarkable selectivity of tumor vessel thrombosis under rapamycin therapy. Taken together, these data suggest that rapamycin, besides its known antiangiogenic properties, has a strong tumor-specific, antivascular effect in tumors. IntroductionVascular endothelium normally provides a nonadhesive, nonthrombogenic surface for blood constituents. However, in response to inflammatory stimuli from cytokines and bacterial products, induction of adhesion molecules and the expression of endothelial cell surface procoagulant proteins can occur. Central to the conversion of normal endothelium to a procoagulant surface is the induction of tissue factor (TF) on endothelial cells. 1 TF is a transmembrane protein that functions as a high-affinity receptor for factor VIIa. Formation of complexes between TF and factor VIIa initiates the extrinsic blood coagulation cascade by activation of factors IX and X. 2 Consistent with a protective role of TF in the hemostatic response, it is constitutively expressed in several extravascular cell types surrounding blood vessels (eg, smooth muscle cells, monocytes) and on organ surfaces. 3 Under normal circumstances TF is not expressed on endothelial cells but is rapidly induced in response to inflammatory stimuli including tumor necrosis factor ␣ (TNF-␣), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin-1␤, lipopolysaccharide, and thrombin, rendering the endothelial cell surface of blood vessels thrombogenic. 4 Cell surface expression of TF has long been implicated in many clinical scenarios such as inflammatory or infectious diseases (sepsis), reperfusion injury, and transplant graft rejection. 5 The up-regulation of TF under these pathophysiologic conditions may be responsible for thrombotic complications. In addition, alterations in TF expression on endothelial ce...

Transforming growth factor ␤ (TGF-␤) is thought to play an important role in bone metabolism, but its relationship to human bone turnover and bone mass has not been examined yet. In this study, we measured the concentration of TGF-␤ in 811 samples of male and female bone from four representative sites of the human skeleton and in the supernatants of 72 short-term human bone marrow cultures from the iliac crest. The concentrations of TGF-␤1 and TGF-␤2 in the bone matrix were positively correlated with histomorphometric indices of bone resorption and bone formation and with serum levels of osteocalcin and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase. We also observed a positive association between the release of TGF-␤ in the bone marrow cultures and serum osteocalcin. Changes in the rate of cancellous or cortical bone remodeling with age or menopause were accompanied by corresponding changes in skeletal TGF-␤. In contrast, there was no significant relationship between the concentration of TGF-␤ and bone volume at any skeletal site. In conclusion, our study supports the hypothesis that TGF-␤ plays an important role in human bone remodeling, but fails to demonstrate an association between the skeletal concentration of TGF-␤ and human bone mass. (J Bone Miner Res 1998;13:716-730)

Background/AimElevated microsatellite instability at selected tetranucleotide repeats (EMAST) is a genetic signature in certain cases of sporadic colorectal cancer and has been linked to MSH3-deficiency. It is currently controversial whether EMAST is associated with oncogenic properties in humans, specifically as cancer development in Msh3-deficient mice is not enhanced. However, a mutator phenotype is different between species as the genetic positions of repetitive sequences are not conserved. Here we studied the molecular effects of human MSH3-deficiency.MethodsHCT116 and HCT116+chr3 (both MSH3-deficient) and primary human colon epithelial cells (HCEC, MSH3-wildtype) were stably transfected with an EGFP-based reporter plasmid for the detection of frameshift mutations within an [AAAG]17 repeat. MSH3 was silenced by shRNA and changes in protein expression were analyzed by shotgun proteomics. Colony forming assay was used to determine oncogenic transformation and double strand breaks (DSBs) were assessed by Comet assay.ResultsDespite differential MLH1 expression, both HCT116 and HCT116+chr3 cells displayed comparable high mutation rates (about 4×10−4) at [AAAG]17 repeats. Silencing of MSH3 in HCECs leads to a remarkable increased frameshift mutations in [AAAG]17 repeats whereas [CA]13 repeats were less affected. Upon MSH3-silencing, significant changes in the expression of 202 proteins were detected. Pathway analysis revealed overexpression of proteins involved in double strand break repair (MRE11 and RAD50), apoptosis, L1 recycling, and repression of proteins involved in metabolism, tRNA aminoacylation, and gene expression. MSH3-silencing did not induce oncogenic transformation and DSBs increased 2-fold.ConclusionsMSH3-deficiency in human colon epithelial cells results in EMAST, formation of DSBs and significant changes of the proteome but lacks oncogenic transformation. Thus, MSH3-deficiency alone is unlikely to drive human colon carcinogenesis.

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FTY720, a sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) analog, acts as an immunosuppressant through trapping of T cells in secondary lymphoid tissues. FTY720 was also shown to prevent tumor growth and to inhibit vascular permeability. The MTT proliferation assay illustrated that endothelial cells are more susceptible to the anti-proliferative effect of FTY720 than Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC1) cells. In a spheroid angiogenesis model, FTY720 potently inhibited the sprouting activity of VEGF-A-stimulated endothelial cells even at concentrations that apparently had no anti-proliferative effect. Mechanistically, the anti-angiogenic effect of the general S1P receptor agonist FTY720 was mimicked by the specific S1P1 receptor agonist SEW2871. Moreover, the anti-angiogenic effect of FTY720 was abrogated in the presence of CXCR4-neutralizing antibodies. This indicates that the effect was at least in part mediated by the S1P1 receptor and involved transactivation of the CXCR4 chemokine receptor. Additionally, we could illustrate in a coculture spheroid model, employing endothelial and smooth muscle cells (SMCs), that the latter confer a strong protective effect regarding the action of FTY720 upon the endothelial cells. In a subcutaneous LLC1 tumor model, the anti-angiogenic capacity translated into a reduced tumor size in syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. Consistently, in the Matrigel plug in vivo assay, 10 mg/kg/d FTY720 resulted in a strong inhibition of angiogenesis as demonstrated by a reduced capillary density. Thus, in organ transplant patients, FTY720 may prove efficacious in preventing graft rejection as well as tumor development.

We have previously reported that in cells ectopically expressing temperature-sensitive p53(135val) mutant, p53 formed tight complexes with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). At elevated temperatures, p53(135val) protein, adopting the mutant phenotype, was localized in the cytoplasm and sequestered the endogenous PARP. To prove whether an excess of p53(135val) protein led to this unusual intracellular distribution of PARP, we have established cell lines overexpressing p53(135val) + c-Ha-ras alone or in combination with PARP. Interestingly, immunostaining revealed that PARP is sequestered in the cytoplasm by mutant p53 in cells overexpressing both proteins. Simultaneous overexpression of PARP had no effect on temperature-dependent cell proliferation and only negligibly affected the kinetics of p53-mediated G(1) arrest. However, if the cells were completely growth arrested at 32 degrees C and then shifted up to 37 degrees C, coexpressed PARP dramatically delayed the reentry of transformed cells into the cell cycle. Even after 72 h at 37 degrees C the proportion of S-phase cells was reduced to 20% compared to those expressing only p53(135val) + c-Ha-ras. The coexpressed PARP stabilized wt p53 protein and its enzymatic activity was necessary for stabilization.

The inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) represents a novel approach to the therapy of human malignancies. Already in clinical trials, recently developed CDK inhibitors very efficiently target the rapidly proliferating cancer cells and inhibit their cell-cycle progression. Interestingly, some CDK inhibitors additionally affect the stability and activity of the tumour-suppressor protein p53, thereby enhancing their antiproliferative action towards cancer cells. Considering the fact that the p53 protein is mutated or inactivated in approximately 50% of all human cancers, the efficacy of CDK inhibitor therapy could differ between cancer cells depending on their p53 status. Moreover, recent reports demonstrating that some cancer cells can proliferate despite CDK2 inhibition questioned the central role of CDK2 in the cell-cycle control and suitability of CDK2 as a therapeutic target; however, the p53 activation that is mediated by CDK inhibitors could be essential for the efficacy of CDK inhibitors in therapy of CDK2-independent cancers. Furthermore, there is also reason to believe that CDK2 inhibitors could be used for another purpose, to protect normal cells from the effects of chemotherapy.