KiSS-1 may be a useful marker for distinguishing metastatic melanomas from nonmetastatic melanomas.

No abstract

Two new sesquiterpene esters, 1beta,8beta-diacetoxyl-6alpha,9alpha-difuroyloxydihydro-beta-agarofuran (1) and 1beta-acetoxyl-2beta,6alpha,9alpha-trifuroyloxydihydro-beta-agarofuran (2), together with four known sesquiterpene esters (3-6), celastrol (7), and celaphanol A (8) were isolated from the roots of Celastrus orbiculatus in a search for inhibitors of NF-kappaB activation and nitric oxide production. Compound 7 was the most active, while compounds 1, 2, 4, and 8 showed moderate inhibition in both NF-kappaB activation and nitric oxide production.

NK cells are a key component of innate immune systems, and their activity is regulated by cytokines and hormones. Adiponectin, which is secreted from white adipose tissues, plays important roles in various diseases, including hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory disorders, and cancer. In this study the effect of adiponectin on NK cell activity was investigated. Adiponectin was found to suppress the IL-2-enhanced cytotoxic activity of NK cells without affecting basal NK cell cytotoxicity and to inhibit IL-2-induced NF-κB activation via activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase, indicating that it suppresses IL-2-enhanced NK cell cytotoxicity through the AMP-activated protein kinase-mediated inhibition of NF-κB activation. IFN-γ enhances NK cell cytotoxicity by causing an increase in the levels of expression of TRAIL and Fas ligand. The production of IFN-γ, one of the NF-κB target genes in NK cells, was also found to be suppressed by adiponectin, accompanied by the subsequent down-regulation of IFN-γ-inducible TRAIL and Fas ligand expression. These results clearly demonstrate that adiponectin is a potent negative regulator of IL-2-induced NK cell activation and thus may act as an in vivo regulator of anti-inflammatory functions.

Structural modification of a compound discovered during screening using an HRE-dependent reporter assay has revealed a novel class of HIF-1 inhibitors, which potently inhibit the HIF-1alpha protein accumulation and its target gene expression under hypoxic conditions in human hepatocellular carcinoma Hep3B cells.

A methanolic extract of the whole plant of Isodon japonicus (Labiatae) showed potent inhibition on the LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in RAW264.7 cells. Four known kaurane diterpenes were isolated by activity-guided fractionation and their structures were identified as kamebanin (1), kamebacetal A (2), kamebakaurin (3), excisanin A (4). All compounds also inhibited the LPS-induced NF-kappaB activation as assessed by NF-kappaB reporter assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Compounds 2-4 showed comparable inhibitory effects on the LPS-induced production of NO and PGE2, and activation of NF-kappaB without affecting cell viability. These results suggest that kaurane diterpenes could exert their inhibitory effects on the production of NO and PGE2 through the suppression of NF-kappaB activation, and be partially responsible for the anti-inflammatory activities of the genus Isodon.

Progression of human melanoma toward increasing malignant behavior is associated with several nonrandom chromosomal aberrations, most commonly involving chromosomes 1, 6, 7, 9, and 10. We previously showed that introduction of human chromosome 6 into the highly metastatic human malignant melanoma cell line C8161 completely suppressed metastasis without altering tumorigenicity (Welch DR, Chen P, Miele ME, et al., Oncogene 9:255-262, 1994). Alterations of chromosome 1 are the most frequent chromosome abnormality observed in melanomas, and they frequently arise late in tumor progression. The purpose of the study presented here was to compare the effects of chromosomes 1 and 6 on malignant melanoma metastasis. By using microcell-mediated chromosome transfer, single copies of neo-tagged human chromosomes 1 or 6 were introduced into the human melanoma cell line MelJuSo. The presence of the added chromosome was verified by G banding of karyotypes, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and screening for polymorphic markers on each chromosome. The incidence and number of metastases per lung after intravenous or intradermal injection of parental MelJuSo cells was significantly (P<0.01) greater than those of hybrids containing either chromosome 1 or chromosome 6, although chromosome 1 was a less potent inhibitor of metastasis than chromosome 6. Cultures established from primary tumors and metastases remained neomycin resistant, suggesting that portions of the added chromosomes were retained. These results strengthen the evidence for the presence of a melanoma metastasis suppressor gene on chromosome 6. neo6/MelJuSo hybrids expressed 2.4- to 3.4-fold more of the melanoma differentiation-associated gene mda-6 (previously shown to be identical to WAF1/CIP1/Sdi1/CAP20) than parental metastatic cells. mda-6/WAF1 is among the candidate genes on chromosome 6. These results also demonstrate, for the first time, the existence of metastasis suppressor genes on human chromosome 1, although these genes appear to be less potent than the one encoded on chromosome 6.

No abstract