Salinomycin increases chemosensitivity to the effects of doxorubicin in soft tissue sarcomas.

Background: Chemotherapy for soft tissue sarcomas remains unsatisfactory due to their low chemosensitivity. Even the first line chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin only yields a response rate of 18-29%. The antibiotic salinomycin, a potassium ionophore, has recently been shown to be a potent compound to deplete chemoresistant cells like cancer stem like cells (CSC) in adenocarcinomas.

MicroRNA-205, a novel regulator of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2, is downregulated in prostate cancer.

Decreased expression of the microRNA miR-205 has been observed in multiple tumour types due to its role in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition, which promotes metastasis. We determined the expression of miR-205 in 111 archival samples of prostate carcinoma and found it to be strongly reduced in most samples, with a median expression level of 16% in comparison to benign tissue from the same patient. Lower miR-205 expression correlated significantly with tumour size and miR-205 levels decreased with increasing Gleason score from 7a=3+4 to 8=4+4.

Growth rate of late passage sarcoma cells is independent of epigenetic events but dependent on the amount of chromosomal aberrations.

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are characterized by co-participation of several epigenetic and genetic events during tumorigenesis. Having bypassed cellular senescence barriers during oncogenic transformation, the factors further affecting growth rate of STS cells remain poorly understood. Therefore, we investigated the role of gene silencing (DNA promoter methylation of LINE-1, PTEN), genetic aberrations (karyotype, KRAS and BRAF mutations) as well as their contribution to the proliferation rate and migratory potential that underlies "initial" and "final" passage sarcoma cells.

Salinomycin induces autophagy in colon and breast cancer cells with concomitant generation of reactive oxygen species.

Background: Salinomycin is a polyether ionophore antibiotic that has recently been shown to induce cell death in human cancer cells displaying multiple mechanisms of drug resistance. The underlying mechanisms leading to cell death after salinomycin treatment have not been well characterized. We therefore investigated the role of salinomycin in caspase dependent and independent cell death in colon cancer (SW480, SW620, RKO) and breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, T47D, MDA-MB-453).

Site- and grade-specific diversity of LINE1 methylation pattern in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours.

Background: Recent data indicate that gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NETs) have a hypomethylated long interspersed element (LINE1) promoter. To answer the question, of whether LINE1 may be of value in assessing the malignant potential of GEP-NETs, we analysed LINE1 methylation in different organs.

Materials And Methods: A total of 58 GEP-NETs of gastric (n=14), pancreatic (n=15), small intestine (n=17), appendix (n=8), colorectal (n=4) and non-neoplastic tissues were analysed using DNA isolation, bisulphite-treatment and pyrosequencing.