In vivo 31P MRS demonstrates that human melanoma xenografts in immunosuppressed mice treated with lonidamine (LND, 100 mg/kg, i.p.) exhibit a decrease in intracellular pH (pHi) from 6.90 ± 0.05 to 6.33 ± 0.10 (p < 0.001), a slight decrease in extracellular pH (pHe) from 7.00 ± 0.04 to 6.80 ± 0.07 (p > 0.05), and a monotonic decline in bioenergetics (NTP/Pi) by 66.8 ± 5.7% (p < 0.001) relative to the baseline level. Both bioenergetics and pHi decreases were sustained for at least 3 hr following LND treatment. Liver exhibited a transient intracellular acidification by 0.2 ± 0.1 pH units (p > 0.05) at 20 min post-LND with no significant change in pHe and a small transient decrease in bioenergetics, 32.9 ± 10.6 % (p > 0.05), at 40 min post-LND. No changes in pHi or ATP/Pi were detected in the brain (pHi, bioenergetics; p > 0.1) or skeletal muscle (pHi, pHe, bioenergetics; p > 0.1) for at least 120 min post-LND. Steady-state tumor lactate monitored by 1H MRS with a selective multiquantum pulse sequence with Hadamard localization increased ~3-fold (p = 0.009). Treatment with LND increased systemic melanoma response to melphalan (LPAM; 7.5 mg/kg, i.v.) producing a growth delay of 19.9 ± 2.0 d (tumor doubling time = 6.15 ± 0.31d, log10 cell-kill = 0.975 ± 0.110, cell-kill = 89.4 ± 2.2%) compared to LND alone of 1.1 ± 0.1 d and LPAM alone of 4.0 ± 0.0 d. The study demonstrates that the effects of LND on tumor pHi and bioenergetics may sensitize melanoma to pH-dependent therapeutics such as chemotherapy with alkylating agents or hyperthermia.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the primary form of human adult liver malignancy, is a highly aggressive tumor with average survival rates that are currently less than a year following diagnosis. Most patients with HCC are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and no efficient marker exists for predicting prognosis and/or response(s) to therapy. We previously reported a high level of [1-13 C] alanine in an orthotopic HCC using single-voxel hyperpolarized [1-13 C] pyruvate magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). In the present study, we implemented a 3D-magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) sequence to investigate this potential hallmark of cellular metabolism in rat livers bearing HCC (N=7 buffalo rats). In addition, quantitative realtime PCR was used to determine the mRNA levels of lactate dehydrogenase A, NAD(P)H dehydrogenase quinone 1, and alanine transaminase. The enzymes levels were significantly higher in the tumor than the normal liver tissues within each rat, which is associated with the in vivo MRSI signal of [1-13 C]alanine and [1-13 C]lactate after a bolus intravenous injection of [1-13 C]pyruvate. Histopathological analysis of these tumors confirms successful growth of HCC as a nodule in buffalo rats' livers revealing malignancy and hyper-vascular architecture. More importantly, the results demonstrate that the metabolic fate of [1-13 C]pyruvate conversion to [1-13 C]alanine significantly supersedes that of [1-13 C]pyruvate conversion to [1-13 C]lactate potentially serving as a marker of HCC tumors.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the primary form of human adult liver malignancy, is a highly aggressive tumor with average survival rates that are currently less than a year following diagnosis. Although bioinformatic analyses have indicated differentially expressed genes and cancer-related mutations in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), integrated genetic and metabolic pathway analyses remain to be investigated. Herein, gene (i.e. mRNA) enrichment analysis was performed to delineate significant alterations of metabolic pathways in HCC. The objective of this study was to investigate the pathway of aspartate metabolism in HCC of humans. Coupled with transcriptomic (i.e. mRNA) and NMR-based metabolomics of human tissue extracts, we utilized liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based metabolomics analysis of stable [U-13C6]glucose metabolism or [U-13C5,15N2]glutamine metabolism of HCC cell culture. Our results indicated that aspartate metabolism is a significant and differentiable metabolic pathway of HCC compare to non-tumor liver (p-value < 0.0001). In addition, branched-chain amino acid metabolism (p-value< 0.0001) and tricarboxylic acid metabolism (p-value = < 0.0001) are significant and differentiable. Statistical analysis of measurable NMR metabolites indicated that at least two of the group means were significantly different for the metabolites alanine (p-value = 0.0013), succinate (p-value = 0.0001), lactate (p-value = 0.0114), glycerophosphoethanolamine (p-value = 0.015), and inorganic phosphate (p-value = 0.0001). However, 13C isotopic enrichment analysis of these metabolites revealed less than 50% isotopic enrichment with either stable [U-13C6]glucose metabolism or [U-13C5,15N2]glutamine. This may indicate the differential account of total metabolite pool versus de novo metabolites from a 13C labeled substrate. The ultimate translation of these findings will be to determine putative enzyme activity via 13C labeling, to investigate targeted therapeutics against these enzymes, and to optimize the in vivo performance of 13C magnetic resonance imaging techniques.
Purpose Most cancers exhibit high levels of aerobic glycolytic metabolism with diminished levels of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation even in the presence of normal or near-normal levels of oxygen (“Warburg effect”). However, technical challenges have limited the development of non-invasive in vivo imaging techniques for monitoring glycolytic metabolism of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and quantitatively evaluating the impact of this effect on the growth and therapy of this disease. Thus, there is a critical need to develop non-invasive techniques for longitudinal assessment of the metabolism and treatment response of patients with unresectable HCCs. Procedures This article discusses a novel method, “Hyperpolarized 13C MRS imaging”, for achieving this objective and thus improving the prognosis of HCC patients. The primary objective has been to characterize in vivo metabolic biomarkers as determinants of HCC metabolism and treatment response of unresectable HCC tumors or viable HCC cells. Results This innovative technique capitalizes on a new technology that increases the sensitivity of MRS detection of crucial metabolites in cancer cells. Conclusion It is anticipated that this innovative approach will lead to improved methods, both for the diagnosis and staging of HCCs and for the facilitation of the development of enzyme targeted therapies and other therapeutic interventions.
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