Platelet adhesion, activation and fibrinogen-mediated aggregation are primary events in vascular thrombosis and occlusion. An injectable delivery system that can carry thrombolytics selectively to the sites of active platelet aggregation has immense potential in minimally invasive targeted therapy of vascular occlusion. To this end we are studying liposomes surface-modified by fibrinogen-mimetic RGD motifs that can selectively target and bind integrin GPIIb-IIIa on activated platelets. Here we report liposome surface-modification with a conformationally constrained high affinity cyclic RGD motif to modulate the GPIIb-IIIa-binding capability of the liposomes. Such affinity enhancement is important for practical in vivo applications to compete with native fibrinogen towards binding GPIIb-IIIa. The platelet-binding of RGD-modified liposomes was studied by fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy, and flow cytometry, in vitro. Binding of RGD-modified liposomes was also tested in vivo in a rat carotid injury model and analyzed ex vivo by fluorescence microscopy. The results from all experiments show that cyclic RGD-liposomes bind activated platelets significantly higher compared to linear RGD-liposomes. Hence, the results establish the feasibility of modulating the platelet-targeting and binding ability of vascularly targeted liposomes by manipulating the affinity of surface-modifying ligands.

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Cell-selective delivery using ligand-decorated nanoparticles is a promising modality for treating cancer and vascular diseases. We are developing liposome nanoparticles surface-modified by RGD peptide ligands having targeting specificity to integrin GPIIb-IIIa. This integrin is upregulated and stimulated into a ligand-binding conformation on the surface activated platelets. Activated platelet adhesion and aggregation are primary events in atherosclerosois, thrombosis and restenosis. Hence platelet-targeted nanoparticles hold the promise of vascular site-selective delivery of drugs and imaging probes. Here, we report in vitro and ex vivo microscopy studies of platelet-targeting by liposomes surface-modified with a cyclic RGD peptide. The peptide-modified liposomes were labeled either with a lipophilic fluorophore or with lipid-tethered Nanogold®. For in vitro tests, coverslip-adhered activated human platelets were incubated with probe-labeled liposomes, followed by analysis with fluorescence and phase contrast microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For in vivo tests, the liposomes were introduced within a catheterinjured carotid artery restenosis model in rats and post-euthanasia, the artery was imaged ex vivo by fluorescence microscopy and SEM. All microscopy results showed successful platelet-targeting by the peptide-modified liposomes. The in vitro SEM results also enabled visualization of nanoscopic liposomes attached to activated platelets. The results validate our nanoparticle design for site-selective vascular delivery.

The process of oligodendrocyte differentiation is a complex event that requires cell cycle withdrawal, followed by the activation of a specific transcriptional program responsible for the synthesis of myelin genes. Because growth arrest precedes differentiation, we sought to investigate the role of cell cycle molecules in the activation of myelin gene promoters. We hypothesized that the cell cycle inhibitor p27(Kip1), which is primarily responsible for arresting proliferating oligodendrocyte progenitors, may be involved in the transcriptional regulation of myelin genes. In agreement with this hypothesis, overexpression of p27(Kip1) in the CG4 cell line, but not in 3T3 fibroblasts, enhances the expression of luciferase driven by the myelin basic protein (MBP) promoter. Interestingly, this effect is specific for p27(Kip1); overexpression of other cell cycle inhibitors had no effect. Additionally, this effect is independent of halting the cell cycle; treatment with the cell cycle blocker roscovitine did not affect MBP promoter usage. We conclude that p27(Kip1) contributes to oligodendrocyte differentiation by regulating transcription of the MBP gene.

Overexpression of oncoproteins is a major cause of treatment failure using current chemotherapeutic drugs. Drug‐induced degradation of oncoproteins is feasible and can improve clinical outcomes in diverse types of cancers. Mortalin‐2 (mot‐2) is a dominant oncoprotein in several tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC). In addition to inactivating the p53 tumor suppressor protein, mot‐2 enhances tumor cell invasion and migration. Thus, mot‐2 is considered a potential therapeutic target in several cancer types. The current study investigated the biological role of a ubiquitin‐like protein called UBXN2A in the regulation of mot‐2 turnover. An orthogonal ubiquitin transfer technology followed by immunoprecipitation, in vitro ubiquitination, and Magnetic Beads TUBE2 pull‐down experiments revealed that UBXN2A promotes carboxyl terminus of the HSP70‐interacting protein (CHIP)‐dependent ubiquitination of mot‐2. We subsequently showed that UBXN2A increases proteasomal degradation of mot‐2. A subcellular compartmentalization experiment revealed that induced UBXN2A decreases the level of mot‐2 and its chaperone partner, HSP60. Pharmacological upregulation of UBXN2A using a small molecule, veratridine (VTD), decreases the level of mot‐2 in cancer cells. Consistent with the in vitro results, UBXN2A+/− mice exhibited selective elevation of mot‐2 in colon tissues. An in vitro Anti‐K48 TUBE isolation approach showed that recombinant UBXN2A enhances proteasomal degradation of mot‐2 in mouse colon tissues. Finally, we observed enhanced association of CHIP with the UBXN2A‐mot‐2 complex in tumors in an azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium‐induced mouse CRC model. The existence of a multiprotein complex containing UBXN2A, CHIP, and mot‐2 suggests a synergistic tumor suppressor activity of UBXN2A and CHIP in mot‐2‐enriched tumors. This finding validates the UBXN2A‐CHIP axis as a novel and potential therapeutic target in CRC.

The synthetic steroid mifepristone blocks the growth of ovarian cancer cells, yet the mechanism driving such effect is not entirely understood. Unbiased genomic and proteomic screenings using ovarian cancer cell lines of different genetic backgrounds and sensitivities to platinum led to the identification of two key genes upregulated by mifepristone and involved in the unfolded protein response (UPR): the master chaperone of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), glucose regulated protein (GRP) of 78 kDa, and the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein homologous transcription factor (CHOP). GRP78 and CHOP were upregulated by mifepristone in ovarian cancer cells regardless of p53 status and platinum sensitivity. Further studies revealed that the three UPR-associated pathways, PERK, IRE1α, and ATF6, were activated by mifepristone. Also, the synthetic steroid acutely increased mRNA translation rate, which, if prevented, abrogated the splicing of XBP1 mRNA, a non-translatable readout of IRE1α activation. Moreover, mifepristone increased LC3-II levels due to increased autophagic flux. When the autophagic-lysosomal pathway was inhibited with chloroquine, mifepristone was lethal to the cells. Lastly, doses of proteasome inhibitors that are inadequate to block the activity of the proteasomes, caused cell death when combined with mifepristone; this phenotype was accompanied by accumulation of poly-ubiquitinated proteins denoting proteasome inhibition. The stimulation by mifepristone of ER stress and autophagic flux offers a therapeutic opportunity for utilizing this compound to sensitize ovarian cancer cells to proteasome or lysosome inhibitors.

The process of oligodendrocyte differentiation is a complex event that requires cell cycle withdrawal, followed by the activation of a specific transcriptional program responsible for the synthesis of myelin genes. Because growth arrest precedes differentiation, we sought to investigate the role of cell cycle molecules in the activation of myelin gene promoters. We hypothesized that the cell cycle inhibitor p27(Kip1), which is primarily responsible for arresting proliferating oligodendrocyte progenitors, may be involved in the transcriptional regulation of myelin genes. In agreement with this hypothesis, overexpression of p27(Kip1) in the CG4 cell line, but not in 3T3 fibroblasts, enhances the expression of luciferase driven by the myelin basic protein (MBP) promoter. Interestingly, this effect is specific for p27(Kip1); overexpression of other cell cycle inhibitors had no effect. Additionally, this effect is independent of halting the cell cycle; treatment with the cell cycle blocker roscovitine did not affect MBP promoter usage. We conclude that p27(Kip1) contributes to oligodendrocyte differentiation by regulating transcription of the MBP gene.

Several recent publications have explored cap-independent translation through an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in the 5′-UTR of the mRNA encoding the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27. The major experimental tool used in these reports was the use of bicistronic reporter constructs in which the 5′-UTR was inserted between the upstream and downstream cistrons. None of these reports has completely ruled out the possibility that the 5′-UTR has either cryptic promoter activity or a cryptic splice acceptor site. Either of these possibilities could result in expression of a monocistronic mRNA encoding the downstream cistron and false identification of an IRES. Indeed, Liu et al. recently published data suggesting that the p27 5′-UTR harbors cryptic promoter activity which accounts for its putative IRES activity. In this report, we have explored this potential problem further using promoterless bicistronic constructs coupled with RNase protection assays, siRNA knockdown of individual cistrons, RT-PCR to detect mRNA encoded by the bicistronic reporter with high sensitivity, direct transfection of bicistronic mRNAs, and insertion of an iron response element into the bicistronic reporter. The results do not support the conclusion that the p27 5′-UTR has significant functional promoter activity or cryptic splice sites, but rather that it is able to support cap-independent initiation of translation.