In this article, we introduce our recent clinical trials of PDT for lung cancers (both central and peripheral), and new techniques of PDD in sentinel node navigation biopsy for breast cancers. Moreover, we introduce basic research on cancers and infectious diseases in order to expand the clinical applications of PDT.

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Abstract. ATX-s10 is a novel and second-generation photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT). In order to conduct clinical trials of ATX-s10-PDT and/or extend its clinical applications, it is very important to elucidate the mechanisms of the action of ATX-s10-PDT. We examined the apoptic response against ATX-s10-PDT using a Bcl-2 or Bcl-2 mutant overexpressing cells. Using fluorescent microscopy, ATX-s10 localized not only to mitochondria but also to lysosomes and possibly other intracellular organelles, but not to the plasma membrane or the nucleus. These results suggest that ATXs10-PDT can damage mitochondria and lysosomes. By Western blot analysis, ATX-s10-PDT damaged Bcl-2, which localized preferentially at mitochondrial membranes, and caused Bcl-2 to cross-link immediately after laser irradiation. However, ATX-s10-PDT was not able to rapidly induce morphologically typical apoptosis (i.e. chromatin condensation and fragmentation) as PDT using mitochondria targeted photosensitizers, such as phthalocyanine 4 (Pc 4). Pharmacological inhibitions of lysosomal cytokine protease cathepsins, such as cathepsin B and D, protected MCF-7c3 cells (human breast cancer cells expressing stably transfected procaspase-3) from apoptosis caused by ATX-s10-PDT. Overexpression of wildtype Bcl-2 or Bcl-2Δ33-54 resulted in relative resistance of cells to ATX-s10-PDT, as assessed by the degree of morphological apoptosis or loss of clonogenicity. We conclude that lysosomal damage by ATX-s10-PDT can initiate apoptotic response and this apoptotic pathway can be regulated by photodamage to Bcl-2 via mitochondrial damage.

IntroductionProstate cancer bone metastasis occurs in 50-90% of men with advanced disease for which there is no cure. Bone metastasis leads to debilitating fractures and severe bone pain. It is associated with therapy resistance and rapid decline. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is standard of care for advanced prostate cancer, however, bone metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) often becomes resistant to ADT. There are few pre-clinical models to understand the interaction between the bone microenvironment and prostate cancer. Here we report the castrate resistant growth in the bone niche of PCSD1, a patient-derived intra-femoral xenograft model of prostate bone metastatic cancer treated with the anti-androgen, bicalutamide.MethodsPCSD1 bone-niche model was derived from a human prostate cancer femoral metastasis resected during hemiarthroplasty and serially transplanted into Rag2−/−;γc−/− mice intra-femorally (IF) or sub-cutaneously (SC). At 5 weeks post-transplantation mice received bicalutamide or vehicle control for 18 days. Tumor growth of PCSD1 was measured with calipers. PSA expression in PCSD1 xenograft tumors was determined using quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Expression of AR and PSMA, were also determined with qPCR.ResultsPCSD1 xenograft tumor growth capacity was 24 fold greater in the bone (intra-femoral, IF) than in the soft tissue (sub-cutaneous, SC) microenvironment. Treatment with the anti-androgen, bicalutamide, inhibited tumor growth in the sub-cutaneous transplantation site. However, bicalutamide was ineffective in suppressing PCSD1 tumor growth in the bone-niche. Nevertheless, bicalutamide treatment of intra-femoral tumors significantly reduced PSA expression (p < =0.008) and increased AR (p < =0.032) relative to control.ConclusionsPCSD1 tumors were castrate resistant when growing in the bone-niche compared to soft tissue. Bicalutamide had little effect on reducing tumor burden in the bone yet still decreased tumor PSA expression and increased AR expression, thus, this model closely recapitulated castrate-resistant, human prostate cancer bone metastatic disease. PCSD1 is a new primary prostate cancer bone metastasis-derived xenograft model to study bone metastatic disease and for pre-clinical drug development of novel therapies for inhibiting therapy resistant prostate cancer growth in the bone-niche.

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Abstract. Bladder cancer is one of the most common urogenital malignancies. The intravesical instillation of anticancer agents is an attractive strategy to treat a superficial lesion or floating/disseminated cancer cells after transurethral operation.

Dihydride silyl complexes Cp*(CO) 2 W(H) 2 (SiHPhR) (R ) Ph, 7; H, 8) were synthesized by treating the donor-stabilized silylene complexes cis-Cp*(CO) 2 (H)WdSiRPh‚Do (R ) Ph, H; Do ) Py, THF) with LiAlH 4 to give Li[Cp*(CO) 2 W(H)(SiHPhR)] (R ) Ph, 5; H, 6) followed by protonation using CF 3 -COOH. X-ray analyses of the crystals of 7 and 8 revealed that the former adopts a distorted pseudooctahedral structure (7a), while the latter possesses a pseudo-trigonal-prismatic structure (8b). In solution, both complexes exist as equilibrium mixtures of these two structural isomers: the distorted pseudooctahedral isomer (7a/8a) and the pseudo-trigonal-prismatic isomer (7b/8b). In addition to this interconversion process, two dynamic processes involving site exchanges of hydride and silyl ligands in the pseudo-trigonal-prismatic isomer were shown for 8b by detailed NMR studies. The addition of HCl to cis-Cp*(CO) 2 (H)WdSiHPh‚THF afforded Cp*(CO) 2 W(H) 2 (SiHPhCl) (9), which also gave an equilibrium mixture of the distorted pseudo-octahedral isomer (9a) and the pseudo-trigonal-prismatic isomer (9b). The presence of an additional dynamic process, hydride site exchange in the distorted pseudooctahedral isomer, was revealed for 9a due to its chiral silicon center.

Running title: REIC/Dkk-3 interacts with Tctex-1. The link between REIC/Dkk-3 and Tctex-1 may be of significance for understanding the molecular functions of the proteins in ER stress signaling and intracellular dynein motor dynamics, respectively.