Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been proposed as an alternative therapy to be applied into several pathologies of the nervous system. These cells can be obtained from adipose tissue, umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, among other tissues, and have remarkable therapeutic properties. MSCs can be isolated with high yield, which adds to their ability to differentiate into non-mesodermal cell types including neuronal lineage both in vivo and in vitro. They are able to restore damaged neural tissue, thus being suitable for the treatment of neural injuries, and possess immunosuppressive activity, which may be useful for the treatment of neurological disorders of inflammatory etiology. Although the long-term safety of MSC-based therapies remains unclear, a large amount of both pre-clinical and clinical trials have shown functional improvements in animal models of nervous system diseases following transplantation of MSCs. In fact, there are several ongoing clinical trials evaluating the possible benefits this cell-based therapy could provide to patients with neurological damage, as well as their clinical limitations. In this review we focus on the potential of MSCs as a therapeutic tool to treat neurological disorders, summarizing the state of the art of this topic and the most recent clinical studies.

: Temozolomide (TMZ), an oral alkylating prodrug which delivers a methyl group to purine bases of DNA (O6- guanine; N7-guanine and N3-adenine), is frequently used together with radiotherapy as part of the first-line treatment of high-grade gliomas. The main advantages are its high oral bioavailability (almost 100% although the concentration found in the cerebrospinal fluid was approximately 20% of the plasma concentration of TMZ), its lipophilic properties, and small size that confer the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Furthermore, this agent has demonstrated activity not only in brain tumors but also in a variety of solid tumors. However, conventional therapy using surgery, radiation, and TMZ in glioblastoma results in a median patient survival of 14.6 months. Treatment failure has been associated with the tumor drug resistance. This phenomenon has been linked to the expression of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, but the mismatch repair system and the presence of cancer stem-like cells in tumors have also been related to TMZ resistance. The understanding of these mechanisms is essential for the development of new therapeutic strategies in the clinical use of TMZ, including the use of nanomaterial delivery systems and the association with other chemotherapy agents. The aim of this review is to summarize the resistance mechanisms of TMZ and the current advances to improve its clinical use.

Summary The role of two common polymorphisms of enzymes involved in the metabolism of drugs and carcinogens was studied in relation to prostate cancer. The gene encoding one of these enzymes (NAT2) is located in an area where frequent allelic loss occurs in prostate cancer. Mutations at the genes CYP2D6 and NAT2 were analysed by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction and restriction mapping in DNA from 94 subjects with prostate cancer and 160 male healthy control subjects. Eleven prostate specimens were analysed for genotype and enzymatic activities NAT2, CYP2D6 and CYP3A by using the enzyme-specific substrates sulphamethazine and dextromethorphan. Enzyme activities with substrate specificities corresponding to NAT2, CYP2D6 and CYP3A are present in human prostate tissue, with mean ± s.d. activities of 4.8 ± 4.4 pmol min-' mg-' protein, 156 ± 91 and 112 ± 72 nmol min-' mg-' protein respectively. The Km, values for the prostate CYP2D6 and CYP3A enzyme activities corresponded to that of liver CYP2D6 and CYP3A activities, and the CYP2D6 enzyme activity is related to the CYP2D6 genotype. The N-acetyftransferase, in contrast, had a higher Km than NAT2 and was independent of the NAT2 genotype. The CYP2D6 and CYP3A enzymes, and an N-acetyttransferase activity that is independent of the regulation of the NAT2 gene. are expressed in human prostate tissue. The presence of carcinogen-metabolizing enzymes in human prostate with a high interindividual variability may be involved in the regulation of local levels of carcinogens and mutagens and may underie interindividual differences in cancer susceptibility. 1362 JAG Agundez et al due to a strong local effect on the actixation or deactivation of carcinogens in situ. For instance. it has been shovA-n that N-acetvltransferase polx morphism play s a relevant role in the formation of 2-aminofluorene-DNA adducts in tumour target organs (Feng et al. 1996). In an attempt to elucidate the events that occur as previous steps to prostate carcinogenesis. x e hax e studied A hether the poix-morphic enzymes CYP2D6 and NAT2 are actix ely expressed in human prostate tissue. as well as the impact of such genetic polx morphisms in prostate cancer susceptibility. In order to ex aluate w-hether allelic loss of these genes occurs in adenomatous prostate tissue. the occurrence of allelic losses at the CYP2D and .VA72 gene loci in prostate tissues was also studied. If the CYP2D6 enzyrme is functionally expressed in prostate. allelic loss of CYP2D6 could cause changes in local enzyme activity. modifving the local metabolism of carcinooens and mutarens. To our know-ledge. no studies involving allelic loss of the polymorphic gene CYP2D6 haxe been performed. This is also the first study inxolxing allelic loss of the NVA72 gene in prostate. Indeed only one study involvin2 allelic loss of NAT2 has been published. and it was performed in colon cancer (Hubbard et al. 1997). Keywords METHODS Patients and controlsAll the subjects included in this studx were unrelated v hite Spanish men. samples from t...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has one of the highest mortality rates among all cancer types. Its delayed diagnosis precludes curative resection, thus most of the current therapies against PDAC are based on chemo- and radiotherapy. Unfortunately, these strategies are insufficient to improve its poor prognosis. Despite the advances made in chemotherapy (e.g. nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine), many patients with PDAC are unable to benefit from them due to the rapid development of drug resistance. Currently, more than 165 genes have been found to be implicated in drug resistance of pancreatic tumors, including different integrins, mucins, NF-κB, RAS and CXCR4. Moreover, drug resistance in PDAC is thought to be mediated by the modulation of miRNAs (e.g. miRNA-21, miRNA-145 and miRNA-155), which regulate genes that participate in cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis. Finally, cancer stem cells are intimately related to drug resistance in PDAC due to their ability to overexpress ABC genes -involved in drug transport-, and enzymes such as aldehyde dehydrogenases -implicated in cellular drug metabolism- and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases -involved in drug-induced DNA damage repair. Understanding the mechanisms involved in drug resistance will contribute to the development of efficient therapeutic strategies and to improve the prognosis of patients with PDAC.