Intratracheal versus intravenous liposomal delivery of siRNA, antisense oligonucleotides and anticancer drug.

Purpose: To compare systemic intravenous and local intratracheal delivery of doxorubicin (DOX), antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) and small interfering RNA (siRNA).

Methods: "Neutral" and cationic liposomes were used to deliver DOX, ASO, and siRNA. Liposomes were characterized by dynamic light scattering, zeta-potential, and atomic force microscopy.

Nonviral nanoscale-based delivery of antisense oligonucleotides targeted to hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy in drug-resistant tumor.

Purpose: To enhance the efficacy of cancer treatment, we propose a complex approach: simultaneous delivery to the tumor of a chemotherapeutic agent and a suppressor of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1A).

Experimental Design: The novel complex liposomal drug delivery system was developed and evaluated in vitro and in vivo on nude mice bearing xenografts of multidrug-resistant human ovarian carcinoma. The proposed novel complex drug delivery system consists of liposomes as a nanocarrier, a traditional anticancer drug (doxorubicin) as a cell death inducer, and antisense oligonucleotides targeted to HIF1A mRNA as a suppressor of cellular resistance and angiogenesis.

Targeted proapoptotic anticancer drug delivery system.

A novel targeted proapoptotic anticancer drug delivery system (DDS) was developed and evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. The system contains poly(ethylene glycol) polymer (PEG) as a carrier, camptothecin (CPT) as an anticancer drug/cell death inducer, a synthetic analogue of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) peptide as a targeting moiety/penetration enhancer, and a synthetic analogue of BCL2 homology 3 domain (BH3) peptide as a suppressor of cellular antiapoptotic defense. The design of the multicomponent DDS allowed for a conjugation of one or two copies of each active ingredient (CPT, LHRH, and BH3) to one molecule of PEG carrier.

End invasion of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) with mixed-base composition into linear DNA duplexes.

Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is a synthetic DNA mimic with valuable properties and a rapidly growing scope of applications. With the exception of recently introduced pseudocomplementary PNAs, binding of common PNA oligomers to target sites located inside linear double-stranded DNAs (dsDNAs) is essentially restricted to homopurine-homopyrimidine sequence motifs, which significantly hampers some of the PNA applications. Here, we suggest an approach to bypass this limitation of common PNAs.

Specific binding of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 to cruciform hairpins.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) participates in DNA cleavage and rejoining-dependent reactions, such as DNA replication, recombination and repair. PARP-1 is also important in transcriptional regulation, although the determinants for its binding to undamaged genomic DNA have not been defined. Previously, we have shown by low-resolution mapping that PARP-1 may bind to the cruciform-forming regions of its own promoter.

Regulation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 by DNA structure-specific binding.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is an intracellular sensor of DNA strand breaks and plays a critical role in cellular responses to DNA damage. In normally functioning cells, PARP-1 enzymatic activity has been linked to the alterations in chromatin structure associated with gene expression. However, the molecular determinants for PARP-1 recruitment to specific sites in chromatin in the absence of DNA strand breaks remain obscure.

Progressive loss of Syk and abnormal proliferation in breast cancer cells.

The tumor suppressor gene Syk tyrosine kinase is absent or reduced in invasive breast cancer tissues and cell lines; its loss in breast tissues is linked to poor prognosis and metastasis. Also, evidence shows that in vitro Syk is involved in regulating proliferation. Here, we show by in situ hybridization on breast tissue sections that the loss of Syk expression is progressive during tumor development.

Targeting Ku protein for sensitizing of breast cancer cells to DNA-damage.

Targeting molecular components that are critically involved in the maintenance of genome stability is a promising approach for overcoming intrinsic tumor cell resistance to DNA-damaging treatments. In mammalian cells, the Ku-dependent non-homologous end-joining repair pathway is the predominant process for the repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA. Previously, RNA aptamers were selected to efficiently block DNA-binding activity of the Ku protein in vitro.

Gene therapy for prostate cancer by targeting poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) has strong affinity for DNA strand breaks and cycles on and off the DNA ends to allow DNA repair. A DNA-binding domain of PARP (PARP-DBD) acts as a dominant-negative mutant by binding to DNA strand breaks irreversibly and sensitizing mammalian cells to DNA-damaging agents. Therefore, expression of PARP-DBD in prostate carcinoma cells offers a strategy to achieve sensitization to genotoxic treatments.

Tailoring the activity of restriction endonuclease PleI by PNA-induced DNA looping.

DNA looping is one of the key factors allowing proteins bound to different DNA sites to signal one another via direct contacts. We demonstrate that DNA looping can be generated in an arbitrary chosen site by sequence-directed targeting of double-stranded DNA with pseudocomplementary peptide-nucleic acids (pcPNAs). We designed pcPNAs to mask the DNA from cleavage by type IIs restriction enzyme PleI while not preventing the enzyme from binding to its primary DNA recognition site.

Differential regulation of the response to DNA damage in Ewing's sarcoma cells by ETS1 and EWS/FLI-1.

Ewing's sarcoma (EWS) cells contain levels of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) significantly higher than other eukaryotic cells. Previously, we cloned the PARP gene promoter region from EWS cells, showed that it contained multiple ETS-binding sites and demonstrated a positive regulation of PARP by ETS1. We now report that, contrary to ETS1, EWS/FLI-1, an aberrant ETS transcription factor present in most EWS cells, is a negative effector of PARP transcription.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase turnover alterations do not contribute to PARP overexpression in Ewing's sarcoma cells.

Ewing's sarcoma (EWS) cells contain significantly higher levels of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) mRNA, protein and enzymatic activities than any other eukaryotic cells. Evidence from our laboratory showed that increased transcription, rather than mRNA stability, contributes to the elevated PARP levels. It has been proposed that alterations in the normal turnover rate of PARP may also contribute to the total cellular PARP content as well as to the apoptotic response of Ewing's sarcoma cells to ionizing radiation.

Transcriptional repression by binding of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase to promoter sequences.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is a DNA-binding enzyme that plays roles in response to DNA damage, apoptosis, and genetic stability. Recent evidence has implicated PARP in transcription of eukaryotic genes. However, the existing paradigm tying PARP function to the presence of DNA strand breaks does not provide a mechanism by which it may be recruited to gene-regulating domains in the absence of DNA damage.