Aflatoxins and their animal biotransformation products were screened for carcinogenic potential using the Ames' in vitro microbial detection system for carcinogens as bacterial mutagens [B. N. Ames et aL (1973) Proc (1). The four naturally occurring AFs, aflatoxins B1 (AFB1), B2 (AFB2), G1 (AFG1), and G2 (AFG2), when administered as mixtures, were a potent class of animal hepatocarcinogens (2-6). They have been also associated with neoplastic formations in tissues and organs other than the liver (3,(6)(7)(8)(9).Tests with rats (10) and rainbow trout (11) have revealed that AFB1 is a potent hepatocarcinogen; AFG1 is also considerably carcinogenic, but AFB2 and AFG2 possess much lower activity. Recent studies on the metabolism of AFB1 have resulted in the isolation and identification of numerous metabolites, all of minor structural variations but significantly different biological activity relative to the parent compound (12).Among these metabolites, aflatoxins Q, (AFQ1), M1 (AFM1), Bk (AFBa), and P1 (AFP1), aflatoxicol (AFL), and aflatoxicol H1 (AFLH1) (Table 1) are the biotransformation products of AFB1 when the latter is incubated with liver preparations and a NADPH-generating system (13-17). Since evidence has indicated that AFB1 requires metabolic activation for its toxic, mutagenic, and/or carcinogenic activity (18)(19)(20)(21)(22), the toxicity of each metabolite has been of great interest in the search for the active molecular species. Attempts have been made to correlate the relative activity of the different metabolic pathways and the variations in the species susceptibility to aflatoxicosis (16,23 (24,25). The analysis of the known major AF metabolites in our study permits an observation of the structureactivity relationships as related to the carcinogenic potential of the AFs. MATERIALS AND METHODSChemicals are obtained as follows: AFBI, AFG1, AFB2, and AFG2 were purchased from Makor Chemicals, Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel. AFM1, AFQ1, and AFH1 were prepared by biotransformation of AFB1 using monkey liver homogenates (14, 17). AFL was prepared by a similar biotransformation method to be published elsewhere. AFB2k and AFGk were chemically synthesized from AFB1 with dilute acid (27). AFP1 was a chemically synthesized product kindly provided by G. N. Wogan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. The purity and identity of all AFs was checked by fluorodensitometric analysis of thin-layer chromatography plates and mass spectrometry. In addition, AFQ1, AFM1, AFH1, and AFB2k were checked by high-pressure liquid chromatography (28). All biochemicals, NADP+, glucose 6-phosphate, histidine, and biotin, were purchased from Sigma Chemicals, St. Louis, Mo.The bacterial tester strain, Salmonella typhimurium strain TA 98 (21), was the generous gift of B. N. Ames, University of California, Berkeley. The bacteria were stored and grown as outlined by McCann et al. (21). The hepatic S-9 enzyme preparation was prepared from Charles River male white rats (200-250 g) and utilized according to procedur...

Na(+)-K(+)-Cl(-) cotransporter (NKCC) activity in quiescent skeletal muscle is modest. However, ex vivo stimulation of muscle for as little as 18 contractions (1 min, 0.3 Hz) dramatically increased the activity of the cotransporter, measured as the bumetanide-sensitive (86)Rb influx, in both soleus and plantaris muscles. This activation of cotransporter activity remained relatively constant for up to 10-Hz stimulation for 1 min, falling off at higher frequencies (30-Hz stimulation for 1 min). Similarly, stimulation of skeletal muscle with adrenergic receptor agonists phenylephrine, isoproterenol, or epinephrine produced a dramatic stimulation of NKCC activity. It did not appear that stimulation of NKCC activity was a reflection of increased Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity because insulin treatment did not stimulate NKCC activity, despite insulin's well-known stimulation of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity. Stimulation of NKCC activity could be blocked by pretreatment with inhibitors of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) activity, indicating that activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) MAPKs may be required. These data indicate a regulated NKCC activity in skeletal muscle that may provide a significant pathway for potassium transport into skeletal muscle fibers.

Overexpression of the adverse prognostic marker ERBB2 occurs in 30% of breast cancers and is associated with aggressive disease and poor outcomes. Our recent findings have shown that NR1D1 and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ)-binding protein (PBP) act through a common pathway in upregulating several genes in the de novo fatty acid synthesis network, which is highly active in ERBB2-positive breast cancer cells. NR1D1 and PBP are functionally related to PPARγ, a well-established positive regulator of adipogenesis and lipid storage. Here, we report that inhibition of the PPARγ pathway reduces the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)-positive population in ERBB2-positive breast cancer cells. Results from in vitro tumorsphere formation assays demonstrate that the PPARγ antagonists GW9662 and T0070907 decrease tumorsphere formation in ERBB2-positive cells, but not other breast cells. We show that the mechanism by which GW9662 treatment causes a reduction in ALDH-positive population cells is partially due to ROS, as it can be rescued by treatment with N-acetyl-cysteine. Furthermore, global gene expression analyses show that GW9662 treatment suppresses the expression of several lipogenic genes, including ACLY, MIG12, FASN and NR1D1, and the stem-cell related genes KLF4 and ALDH in BT474 cells. Antagonist treatment also decreases the level of acetylation in histone 3 and histone 4 in BT474 cells, compared with MCF7 cells. In vivo, GW9662 pre-treatment inhibits the tumor-seeding ability of BT474 cells. Together, these results show that the PPARγ pathway is critical for the cancer stem cell properties of ERBB2-positive breast cancer cells.

We have reported that a novel isoform of BTK (BTK-C) expressed in breast cancer protects these cells from apoptosis. In this study, we show that recently developed inhibitors of BTK, such as ibrutinib (PCI-32765), AVL-292 and CGI-1746, reduce breast cancer cell survival and prevent drug resistant clones from arising. Ibrutinib treatment impacts HER2+ breast cancer cell viability at lower concentrations than the established breast cancer therapeutic lapatinib. In addition to inhibiting BTK, ibrutinib, but not AVL-292 and CGI-1746, efficiently blocks the activation of EGFR, HER2, ErbB3, and ErbB4. Consequently, the activation of AKT and ERK signaling pathways are also blocked leading to a G1/S cell cycle delay and increased apoptosis. Importantly, inhibition of BTK prevents activation of the AKT signaling pathway by NRG or EGF that has been shown to promote growth factor-driven lapatinib resistance in HER2+ breast cancer cells. HER2+ breast cancer cell proliferation is blocked by ibrutinib even in the presence of these factors. AVL-292, which has no effect on EGFR family activation, prevents NRG- and EGF-dependent growth factor-driven resistance to lapatinib in HER2+ breast cancer cells. In vivo, ibrutinib inhibits HER2+ xenograft tumor growth. Consistent with this, immunofluorescence analysis of xenograft tumors shows that ibrutinib reduces the phosphorylation of HER2, BTK, Akt and Erk and histone H3 and increases cleaved caspase-3 signals. Since BTK-C and HER2 are often co-expressed in human breast cancers, these observations indicate that BTK-C is a potential therapeutic target and that ibrutinib could be an effective drug especially for HER2+ breast cancer.