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MTT staining procedures have been used in chemosensitivity testing of established cell lines of human and other sources as well as of human leukaemias, but only limited information on its application in primary solid human tumors is presently available. We have evaluated MTT staining in primary human Renal Cell Carcinomas (RCCs), studied various factors interfering with the optimal use, and finally applied it in subsequent chemosensitivity testing. The method depends on the conversion of a water-soluble tetrazolium salt (MTT) to a purple colored formazan precipitate, a reaction effected by enzymes active only in living cells. Single cell suspensions of RCCs were obtained either by enzymatic dispersion or by mechanical dissagregation, filtered through gauze, and purified by Ficoll density centrifugation. Tests were carried out in 96-well microculture plates. 10(4) viable tumor cells per well at 4 h incubation time with 20 micrograms MTT/100 microliters total medium volume yielded best results. Formazan crystals were dissolved with DMSO, and the plates were immediately measured on a microculture plate reader at 540 nm. Under these criteria, linearity of the system could be demonstrated. For chemosensitivity testing, cells were continuously exposed to a number of drugs prior to the MTT staining procedure. Reproducibility of results was assessed and confirmed by culturing RCCs in flasks additionally, resubmitting them after 1, 2, and 4 weeks to the MTT assay. We conclude that the semiautomated MTT assay offers a valid, rapid, reliable and simple method to determine the degree of chemoresistance in primary human RCCs.

Human renal cell carcinomas show a high degree of intrinsic multidrug resistance. In experimental cell lines, the membrane bound P-170 glycoprotein and the glutathione redox cycle seem to contribute to this phenomenon. P-170 may be inactivated by calcium antagonists; the glutathione redox cycle by buthionine sulfoximine. We studied the resistance patterns of 35 human renal cell carcinomas against vinblastine, doxorubicin and carboplatinum in a tetrazolium-based microculture assay. Concomitantly, P-170 expression was traced immunohistochemically using moab C219 and the glutathione content was determined enzymatically. Reversal of multidrug resistance was examined by applying the R-stereoisomer of verapamil and/or by addition of buthionine sulfoximine. A high degree of chemoresistance was seen in 27 tumors against vinblastine, in 30 tumors against doxorubicin and in 31 tumors against carboplatinum. Chemoresponse was found in eight, five or four cases respectively. P-170 was detected in 70% of highly vinblastine resistant and in 63% of highly doxorubicin resistant tumors, but in none of the less resistant cases. Resistance against carboplatinum and doxorubicin was significantly associated with elevated glutathione levels as compared to less resistant renal cell carcinomas. R-verapamil lead to a strong reversal of vinblastine resistance and to a distinct circumvention of doxorubicin resistance, but revealed no effect in carboplatinum resistance. Buthionine sulfoximine overcame carboplatinum resistance and modified doxorubicin resistance, but had no influence on vinblastine resistance. The combined application of R-verapamil and buthionine sulfoximine reversed doxorubicin resistance but did not act synergistically in vinblastine or carboplatinum resistance. Both mechanisms, P-170 and glutathione, occurred independently of each other and may well explain multidrug resistance of human renal cell carcinomas.

LPS-induced maternal endotoxemia promotes IUFD, PTB, and fetal leukocyte recruitment depending on gestational age. Our proposed model may serve as a platform to test novel perinatal immune modulators.

BackgroundThe receptor for advanced glycation endproducts, RAGE, is involved in the pathogenesis of many inflammatory conditions, which is mostly related to its strong activation of NF-κB but also due to its function as ligand for the β2-integrin Mac-1. To further dissect the stimulus-dependent role of RAGE on leukocyte recruitment during inflammation, we investigated β2-integrin-dependent leukocyte adhesion in RAGE-/- and Icam1-/- mice in different cremaster muscle models of inflammation using intravital microscopy.ResultsWe demonstrate that RAGE, but not ICAM-1 substantially contributes to N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP)-induced leukocyte adhesion in TNF-α-pretreated cremaster muscle venules in a Mac-1-dependent manner. In contrast, fMLP-stimulated leukocyte adhesion in unstimulated cremaster muscle venules is independent of RAGE, but dependent on ICAM-1 and its interaction with LFA-1. Furthermore, chemokine CXCL1-stimulated leukocyte adhesion in surgically prepared cremaster muscle venules was independent of RAGE but strongly dependent on ICAM-1 and LFA-1 suggesting a differential and stimulus-dependent regulation of leukocyte adhesion during inflammation in vivo.ConclusionOur results demonstrate that RAGE and ICAM-1 differentially regulate leukocyte adhesion in vivo in a stimulus-dependent manner.

A recent report suggests that the KLF6 gene encoding the Krüppel-like factor 6 protein is a frequently mutated, putative tumour suppressor gene in prostate cancer. The aims of the present study were to confirm these initial findings by determining the frequency of exon2 KLF6 mutations in a cohort of European prostate cancer patients, and to investigate whether there was evidence for mutational inactivation of both the KLF6 and TP53 tumour suppressor loci in some tumours. We examined 32 primary prostate tumours and three prostate tumour cell lines for mutations by PCR amplification and direct dideoxy sequencing (KLF6), and by oligonucleotide microarray (p53GeneChipt) analysis and dideoxy sequencing (TP53). Whereas TP53 mutations typical of prostate cancer were found at a frequency consistent with the literature, no KLF6 mutations were found in any of the tumour samples nor in the three prostate cancer cell lines.

BackgroundInsufficient leukocyte recruitment may be one reason for the high incidence of life-threatening infections in preterm infants. Since the receptor of advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a known leukocyte adhesion molecule and highly expressed during early development, we asked whether RAGE plays a role for leukocyte recruitment in preterm and term infants.MethodsLeukocyte adhesion was analyzed in dynamic flow chamber experiments using isolated leukocytes of cord blood from extremely premature (<30 weeks of gestation), moderately premature (30–35 weeks of gestation) and mature neonates (>35 weeks of gestation) and compared to the results of adults. For fluorescent microscopy leukocytes were labeled with rhodamine 6G. In the respective age groups we also measured the plasma concentration of soluble RAGE (sRAGE) by ELISA and Mac-1 and LFA-1 expression on neutrophils by flow cytometry.ResultsThe adhesive functions of fetal leukocytes significantly increase with gestational age. In all age groups, leukocyte adhesion was crucially dependent on RAGE. In particular, RAGE was equally effective to mediate leukocyte adhesion when compared to ICAM-1. The plasma levels of sRAGE were high in extremely premature infants and decreased with increasing gestational age. In contrast, expression of β2-Integrins Mac-1 and LFA-1 which are known ligands for RAGE and ICAM-1 did not change during fetal development.ConclusionWe conclude that RAGE is a crucial leukocyte adhesion molecule in both preterm and term infants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12865-014-0053-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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