Despite the widespread clinical use of oxytocin (OT) as a potent and specific stimulant of labor, previous research data have not supported a role for OT in the physiology of normal human parturition. We have demonstrated synthesis of OT mRNA in amnion, chorion, and decidua using Northern blot analysis, ribonuclease protection assays, and in situ hybridization. Probes directed towards both the 3' and 5' ends of the gene have been used. Levels were highest in decidua with considerably less in chorion and amnion and very low levels in placenta. The transcript size in decidua appears to be 60-80 nucleotides smaller than the transcripts in amnion and chorion. OT gene expression in chorio-decidual tissues increased three-to fourfold around the time of labor onset. Estradiol stimulated synthesis of OT mRNA during in vitro incubation. These results support the hypothesis of a paracrine system involving OT and sex steroids within intrauterine tissues wherein significant changes could occur without being reflected in the maternal circulation. Such a paracrine system could rationalize a long-sought role for oxytocin in the physiology of human labor. These data may lead to novel approaches towards prevention or treatment of preterm labor. (J. Clin. Invest. 1993. 91:185-192.)

Exosomes (EXO) derived from tumour cells have been used to stimulate antitumour immune responses, but only resulting in prophylatic immunity. Tumour-derived heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) molecules are molecular chaperones with a broad repertoire of tumour antigen peptides capable of stimulating dendritic cell (DC) maturation and T-cell immune responses. To enhance EXO-based antitumour immunity, we generated an engineered myeloma cell line J558HSP expressing endogenous P1A tumour antigen and transgenic form of membrane-bound HSP70 and heat-shocked J558HS expressing cytoplasmic HSP70, and purified EXOHSP and EXOHS from J558HSP and J558HS tumour cell culture supernatants by ultracentrifugation. We found that EXOHSP were able to more efficiently stimulate maturation of DCs with up-regulation of Iab, CD40, CD80 and inflammatory cytokines than EXOHS after overnight incubation of immature bone-marrow-derived DCs (5 × 106 cells) with EXO (100 μg), respectively. We also i.v. immunized BALB/c mice with EXO (30 μg/mouse) and assessed P1A-specific T-cell responses after immunization. We demonstrate that EXOHSP are able to stimulate type 1 CD4+ helper T (Th1) cell responses, and more efficient P1A-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses and antitumour immunity than EXOHS. In addition, we further elucidate that EXOHSP-stimulated antitumour immunity is mediated by both P1A-specific CD8+ CTL and non-P1A-specific natural killer (NK) responses. Therefore, membrane-bound HSP70-expressing tumour cell-released EXO may represent a more effective EXO-based vaccine in induction of antitumour immunity.

Tamoxifen treatment substantially improves the 10-year survival of women with estrogen-receptor (ER)-apositive tumors. However, approximately one-third of all breast cancer patients with ER-a-positive tumors progress on antiestrogen therapy. The molecular mechanism(s) involved in antiestrogen-resistant phenotype of breast carcinoma is not completely understood. The PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome Ten) gene is a novel candidate tumor suppressor that plays an important role in cell cycle regulation and apoptosis by regulating Protein kinase-B/Akt activity. Previous studies have shown that PTEN downregulation in breast cancer is associated with high-grade tumor, distant metastases and poorer diseasefree survival. Decreased PTEN and/or increased protein kinase B/Akt activity in breast cancer cells has recently been associated with resistance to tamoxifen-induced apoptosis. In this study, we have evaluated PTEN expression by immunohistochemistry in 100 tamoxifen-treated ER-a-positive breast cancer patients. Reduced PTEN protein expression was associated with shorter relapse-free survival. When stage I patients were analyzed separately, reduced PTEN expression was a strong predictor of both, shorter relapse-free survival and shorter disease-specific survival. An association of reduced PTEN expression with shorter relapse-free survival and disease-specific survival in stage I patients was still observed after stratification by stage, axillary lymph node status, tumor size, grade, and expression of ER-a, progesterone receptor, and Her-2/neu. In summary, our results showed a strong association between downregulation of PTEN expression in ER-a-positive tumors and failure to tamoxifen treatment.

T cells secrete bioactive exosomes (EXO), but the potential immunoregulatory effect of T-cell EXO is largely unknown. In this study, we generated activated ovalbumin (OVA)-specific CD4 1 T cells in vitro via coculture of OVA-pulsed dendritic cells (DC OVA ) with naive CD4 1 T cells derived from OVA-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) transgenic OTII mice. CD4 1 T-cell EXO were then purified from the CD4 1 T-cell culture supernatants by differential ultracentrifugation. CD41 T-cell EXO exhibited the 'saucer' shape that is characteristic of EXO with a diameter between 50 and 100 nm, as assessed by electron microscopy, and contained the EXO-associated proteins LAMP-1, TCR and lymphocyte function associated antigen-1 (LFA-1), as determined by western blot. Flow cytometric analysis showed that CD4 1 T-cell EXO expressed CD41 T-cell markers (CD4, TCR, LFA-1, CD25 and Fas ligand), but to a lesser extent than CD4 1 T cells. We demonstrated that DC OVA took up CD4 1 T-cell EXO via peptide/major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) II/TCR and CD54/LFA-1 interactions. OVA-specific CD41 T-cell EXO from OTII mice, but not ConA-stimulated polyclonal CD4 1 T-cell EXO from wild-type C57BL/6 mice inhibited DC OVA -stimulated in vitro CD4 1 T-cell proliferation and in vivo CD8 1 cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses and antitumor immunity against OVA-expressing B16 melanoma BL6-10 OVA cells. In addition, EXO derived from a T-cell hybridoma cell line, MF72.2D9, expressing an OVA-specific CD4 1 TCR, had a similar inhibitory effect as OTII CD4 1 T-cell EXO on CTL-mediated antitumor immunity. Taken together, our data indicate that antigen-specific T-cell EXO may serve as a new type of immunosuppressive reagent for use in transplant rejection and treatment of autoimmune diseases.