The effect of lung cancer on cytokine expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate cytokine expression by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from stage I lung cancer patients and to confirm these expression patterns by exposing PBMCs to lung cancer cells in vitro. Five altered cytokines in stage I lung cancer patients (CCL3, IL8, IL1β, CXCL10, sIL2Rα) were identified in plasma from subjects (n = 15) before and after resection using a 30-plex panel protein assay. Gene expression studies using quantitative RT-qPCR were performed on PBMCs from stage I lung cancer patients (n = 62) before and after resection, and compared to non-cancer patients (n = 32) before and after surgery for benign disease.

Intrinsic mitochondrial membrane potential and associated tumor phenotype are independent of MUC1 over-expression.

We have established previously that minor subpopulations of cells with stable differences in their intrinsic mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) exist within populations of mammary and colonic carcinoma cells and that these differences in Δψm are linked to tumorigenic phenotypes consistent with increased probability of participating in tumor progression. However, the mechanism(s) involved in generating and maintaining stable differences in intrinsic Δψm and how they are linked to phenotype are unclear. Because the mucin 1 (MUC1) oncoprotein is over-expressed in many cancers, with the cytoplasmic C-terminal fragment (MUC1 C-ter) and its integration into the outer mitochondrial membrane linked to tumorigenic phenotypes similar to those of cells with elevated intrinsic Δψm, we investigated whether endogenous differences in MUC1 levels were linked to stable differences in intrinsic Δψm and/or to the tumor phenotypes associated with the intrinsic Δψm.

Stable differences in intrinsic mitochondrial membrane potential of tumor cell subpopulations reflect phenotypic heterogeneity.

Heterogeneity among cells that constitute a solid tumor is important in determining disease progression. Our previous work established that, within a population of metastatic colonic tumor cells, there are minor subpopulations of cells with stable differences in their intrinsic mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), and that these differences in ΔΨm are linked to tumorigenic phenotype. Here we expanded this work to investigate primary mammary, as well as colonic, tumor cell lines.

Apoptotic sensitivity of colon cancer cells to histone deacetylase inhibitors is mediated by an Sp1/Sp3-activated transcriptional program involving immediate-early gene induction.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) induce growth arrest and apoptosis in colon cancer cells and are being considered for colon cancer therapy. The underlying mechanism of action of these effects is poorly defined with both transcription-dependent and -independent mechanisms implicated. We screened a panel of 30 colon cancer cell lines for sensitivity to HDACi-induced apoptosis and correlated the differences with gene expression patterns induced by HDACi in the five most sensitive and resistant lines.

Proteomic changes during intestinal cell maturation in vivo.

Intestinal epithelial cells undergo progressive cell maturation as they migrate along the crypt-villus axis. To determine molecular signatures that define this process, proteins differentially expressed between the crypt and villus were identified by 2D-DIGE and MALDI-MS. Forty-six differentially expressed proteins were identified, several of which were validated by immunohistochemistry.

Growth properties of colonic tumor cells are a function of the intrinsic mitochondrial membrane potential.

Development of malignant transformation in the colonic mucosa includes disruption in the equilibrium between proliferation and apoptosis, decreased expression and deletions of the mitochondrial genome, alterations in mitochondrial enzymatic activity, and elevations in the mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsim). Focusing on the role of the Deltapsim in tumor development and progression, we generated novel isogenic colonic carcinoma cell lines that exhibit highly significant, stable differences in their intrinsic Deltapsim. Using these cell lines, we have recently shown that the intrinsic Deltapsim has a significant influence on steady state mitochondrial activity and the extent to which cells enter butyrate-mediated growth arrest and apoptotic cascades.

The intrinsic mitochondrial membrane potential of colonic carcinoma cells is linked to the probability of tumor progression.

We subcloned cell lines from SW620 cells establishing that, despite the dynamic nature of the mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsim), there are significant and stable differences in the intrinsic Deltapsim among cells within an in vitro population of human colonic carcinoma cells. Whereas more dramatic differences in Deltapsim would likely perturb essential mitochondrial functions, the differences in Deltapsim of the subclones did not affect steady-state reactive oxygen species levels, electron transport activity, or cellular viability and growth rates. However, the differences in intrinsic Deltapsim had a significant effect on the tumorigenic behavior of the cells.

Gene expression profiling of intestinal epithelial cell maturation along the crypt-villus axis.

Background & Aims: To define the genetic reprogramming that drives intestinal epithelial cell maturation along the crypt-villus axis, enterocytes were sequentially isolated from the villus tip to the crypts of mouse small intestine.

Methods: Changes in gene expression were assessed using 27,405-element complementary DNA microarrays (14,685 unique genes) and specific changes validated by Western blotting.

Results: A total of 1113 genes differentially expressed between the crypt and villus were identified.

The intrinsic mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsim) is associated with steady-state mitochondrial activity and the extent to which colonic epithelial cells undergo butyrate-mediated growth arrest and apoptosis.

Transformation of colonic epithelial cells is characterized by decreased mitochondrial activity, increased mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsi(m)), and disruptions in the equilibrium between cell proliferation and death by apoptosis. We have previously shown that an intact Deltapsi(m) is essential for growth arrest and apoptosis induced by butyrate, a physiological regulator of maturation in these cells, suggesting a role for the Deltapsi(m) in the initiation and integration of proliferation and apoptotic pathways. To extend this work, we have generated isogenic cell lines, from SW620 human colonic carcinoma cells, which exhibit significant differences in intrinsic Deltapsi(m).

TR3/Nur77 in colon cancer cell apoptosis.

The orphan nuclear receptor TR3/Nur77 has emerged as a viable candidate in the coordinate regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis, essential for maintaining normal architecture in rapidly renewing tissues such as the colonic mucosa. TR3 induces apoptosis in a number of cell lineages exposed to proapoptotic stimuli by directly targeting the mitochondria, inducing cytochrome c release. Here we report a distinctly different mechanism of TR3-mediated apoptosis in colon cancer cells.

Application of gene expression profiling to colon cell maturation, transformation and chemoprevention.

Methods for high-throughput analysis of profiles of gene expression that assay thousands of genes simultaneously are powerful approaches for understanding and classifying cell and tissue phenotype. This includes analysis of normal pathways of cell maturation and their perturbation in transformation, the sensitivity and mechanism of response of normal and tumor cells to physiological and pharmacological agents, and modulation of tumor risk and progression by nutritional factors. However, the complex data generated by such approaches raise difficulties in analysis.

Environment-gene interactions in intestinal cancer.

Only 5-10% of all colorectal cancer in the United States can be directly attributed to inheritance of genetic predisposition for tumor development. Thus, the vast majority of colorectal cancer is classified as sporadic, and in these patients environmental factors--particularly the diet--play a major role in determining the probability of tumor formation and its progression. Investigations of how dietary components interact with genetic factors in cancer development have been extremely productive in terms of understanding the subtle and complex mechanisms that maintain homeostasis of the intestinal mucosa, and how perturbations in these mechanisms cause disease.

Short chain fatty acids and colon cancer.

The development of intestinal cancer involves complex genetic and epigenetic alterations in the intestinal mucosa. The principal signaling pathway responsible for the initiation of tumor formation, the APC-beta-catenin-TCF4 pathway, regulates both cell proliferation and colonic cell differentiation, but many other intrinsic and extrinsic signals also modulate these cell maturation pathways. The challenge is to understand how signaling and cell maturation are also modulated by nutritional agents.

Dissociation of staurosporine-induced apoptosis from G2-M arrest in SW620 human colonic carcinoma cells: initiation of the apoptotic cascade is associated with elevation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (deltapsim).

We have identified an alternative apoptotic cascade induced in SW620 human colonic carcinoma cells by the protein kinase antagonist staurosporine (stsp). Consistent with its effect in other colonic epithelial cells, stsp induced G2-M arrest and apoptosis of SW620 cells. However, despite the paradigm that growth arrest triggers apoptotic cascades, apoptosis was detected before G2-M arrest.

Cellular mechanisms of risk and transformation.

Our early work using the first array and imaging methods for the quantitative analysis of the expression of 4000 cDNA sequences suggested that modulation of mitochondrial gene expression was a factor in determining whether colonic epithelial cells displayed a differentiated or transformed phenotype. We have since dissected a pathway in which mitochondrial function is a key element in determining the probability of cells undergoing cell-cycle arrest, lineage-specific differentiation, and cell death. Moreover, this pathway is linked to signaling through beta-catenin-Tcf, but in a manner that is independent of effects of the APC gene on beta-catenin-Tcf activity.

Short-chain fatty acid metabolism, apoptosis, and Apc-initiated tumorigenesis in the mouse gastrointestinal mucosa.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are physiological regulators of growth and differentiation in the gastrointestinal tract, and we have previously shown that apoptosis induced in colonic cell lines by these compounds is dependent on their metabolism by B-oxidation in the mitochondria (B. G. Heerdt et al.

Butyrate-induced apoptotic cascade in colonic carcinoma cells: modulation of the beta-catenin-Tcf pathway and concordance with effects of sulindac and trichostatin A but not curcumin.

Short-chain fatty acids play a critical role in colonic homeostasis because they stimulate pathways of growth arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis. These effects have been well characterized in colonic cell lines in vitro. We investigated the role of beta-catenin-Tcf signaling in these responses to butyrate and other well-characterized inducers of apoptosis of colonic epithelial cells.

Initiation of growth arrest and apoptosis of MCF-7 mammary carcinoma cells by tributyrin, a triglyceride analogue of the short-chain fatty acid butyrate, is associated with mitochondrial activity.

We investigated the effects of tributyrin, a triglyceride analogue of the short-chain fatty acid butyrate and an approved food additive, establishing induction of growth arrest and apoptosis of MCF-7 human mammary carcinoma cells. Transient increased mitochondria-associated bax, dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (delta(psi)m), and caspase-3-independent cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase are evident as early as 4 h after treatment of cells with tributyrin. These events are followed by the transient accumulation of mitochondrial cytochrome c in the cytosol and, finally, the generation and accumulation of cells with subdiploid DNA content.

Mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi(mt)) in the coordination of p53-independent proliferation and apoptosis pathways in human colonic carcinoma cells.

We have previously defined depressed mitochondrial function as a determinant in colon cancer risk and progression and established that metabolism of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid generated during the fermentation of fiber by endogenous intestinal bacteria, induces mitochondrial function-dependent growth arrest and apoptosis of colonic carcinoma cells in vitro. Here, we dissect the relationships among mitochondrial function, growth arrest, and apoptosis, reporting that initiation and maintenance of butyrate-mediated p53-independent p21WAF1/Cip1 induction and subsequent G0/G1 arrest require an intact mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi(mt)) and that the process of dissipation of the delta psi(mt) is then essential for initiation of a butyrate-induced apoptotic cascade. Thus, we hypothesize that mitochondria play a pivotal role in coordinating proliferation and apoptosis pathways, a coordination that must be tightly regulated in rapidly renewing tissues, such as the colonic mucosa.

Combination therapy with 5-fluorouracil and IFN-alpha2a induces a nonrandom increase in DNA fragments of less than 3 megabases in HT29 colon carcinoma cells.

We have used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to examine 5-fluorouracil (5FU)-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), both with and without modulation by IFN-alpha2a (IFNalpha), in HT29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells. Although 24-h treatment with either 10 microM 5FU or 500 units/ml IFNalpha did not result in significant DNA fragmentation, the combination of 5FU + IFNalpha resulted in a significant increase in DNA DSBs versus either drug alone (P < 0.05).

Short-chain fatty acid-initiated cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of colonic epithelial cells is linked to mitochondrial function.

Butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid produced during microbial fermentation of fiber, induces growth arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis of colonic epithelial cells in vitro, and our prior work has shown that this induction is tightly linked to mitochondrial activity. Here we demonstrate that 12 h following induction, SW620 human colonic carcinoma cells accumulate simultaneously in G0-G1 and G2-M of the cell cycle. Four h later, during this G0-G1 to G2-M arrest, cells begin to undergo apoptosis.

Low-level c-myc amplification in human colonic carcinoma cell lines and tumors: a frequent, p53-independent mutation associated with improved outcome in a randomized multi-institutional trial.

Human colonic cancer is associated with multiple genetic deletions, mutations, and alterations in gene expression; in contrast, gene amplification has not been recognized as a prominent characteristic of human colonic tumors. Although the c-myc gene is overexpressed in approximately 70% of human colonic cancers, previous studies have not detected frequent gene amplification or rearrangement of c-myc in these tumors, although such amplification has been reported in chemically induced rodent colon cancer and quantitative analysis of gene copy number has shown the gene to be amplified at a low level in mucinous and poorly differentiated human colon carcinomas. Using rigorously controlled blot methodology, we have established that the c-myc gene, located at 8q21, exhibited amplification of 87% to 35-fold in 7 of 10 human colonic carcinoma cell lines.

Steady-state levels of mitochondrial messenger RNA species characterize a predominant pathway culminating in apoptosis and shedding of HT29 human colonic carcinoma cells.

A differentiated human colonic epithelial cell has undergone relatively stable molecular, biochemical, and cellular alterations resulting in the acquisition of structures, activities, and functions that characterize it as one of at least three mature phenotypes: a columnar absorptive, secretory, or enteroendocrine cell. We have shown previously that induction of HT29 cells with the short-chain fatty acid sodium butyrate elevates alkaline phosphatase activity, a marker of the absorptive cell phenotype, and increases mitochondrial gene expression. Furthermore, this induction is accompanied by subsequent apoptosis and cell shedding.