Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia), characterized by impaired glucose homeostasis and chronic risk of hepatocellular adenoma (HCA), is caused by a deficiency in glucose-6-phosphatase-α (G6Pase-α or G6PC) activity. In a previous 70-90 week-study, we showed that a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vector-mediated gene transfer that restores more than 3% of wild-type hepatic G6Pase-α activity in G6pc (-/-) mice corrects hepatic G6Pase-α deficiency with no evidence of HCA. We now examine the minimal hepatic G6Pase-α activity required to confer therapeutic efficacy. We show that rAAV-treated G6pc (-/-) mice expressing 0.2% of wild-type hepatic G6Pase-α activity suffered from frequent hypoglycemic seizures at age 63-65 weeks but mice expressing 0.5-1.3% of wild-type hepatic G6Pase-α activity (AAV-LL mice) sustain 4-6 h of fast and grow normally to age 75-90 weeks. Despite marked increases in hepatic glycogen accumulation, the AAV-LL mice display no evidence of hepatic abnormalities, hepatic steatosis, or HCA. Interprandial glucose homeostasis is maintained by the G6Pase-α/glucose-6-phosphate transporter (G6PT) complex, and G6PT-mediated microsomal G6P uptake is the rate-limiting step in endogenous glucose production. We show that hepatic G6PT activity is increased in AAV-LL mice. These findings are encouraging for clinical studies of G6Pase-α gene-based therapy for GSD-Ia.
To elucidate HtrA3's functional roles in the HtrA3 mediated cellular processes, it is necessary to investigate its biochemical characteristics. In the present study, we constructed the plasmids encoding putative mature HtrA3 proteins (M1-HtrA3 and M2-HtrA3) based on the putative maturation sites of highly homologous HtrA1 and mouse HtrA3. We used the pGEX bacterial expression system to develop a simple and rapid purification for the recombinant HtrA3 protein. Although yields of the mature HtrA3 proteins were slightly low as 10~50 /L, the amounts and purity of M1- and M2-HtrA3 were enough to investigate their proteolytic activities. The putative mature HtrA3 proteins have proteolytic activity which could cleave -casein as an exogenous substrate. We compared the proteolytic activity between the HtrA family, HtrA1, HtrA2, and HtrA3. The cleavage activity of HtrA3 and HtrA2 were 2 folds higher than that of HtrA1, respectively. Our study provides a method for generating useful reagents to identify natural substrates of HtrA3 in the further studies.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease that induces pain, cartilage deformation, and joint inflammation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are potential therapeutic agents for treatment of OA. However, MSC therapy can cause excessive inflammation. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) modulates secretion of many proinflammatory cytokines. Experimental OA was induced by intra-articular (IA) injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) to the right knee of rats. MSCs from OA patients (OA-MSCs) were treated with STA21, a small molecule that blocks STAT3 signaling, by IA or intravenous (IV) injection after MIA injection. Pain severity was quantified by assessment of secondary tactile allodynia using the von Frey assessment test. Cartilage degradation was measured by microcomputed tomography image analysis, histological analysis, and the Mankin score. Protein and gene expression was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunohistochemistry, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. MSCs increased production of proinflammatory cytokines under inflammatory conditions. STA21 significantly decreased expression of these proinflammatory molecules via inhibition of STAT3 activity but increased gene expression of molecules related to migration potential and immunomodulation in OA-MSCs. STAT3-inhibited OA-MSCs administrated by IV or IA injection decreased pain severity and cartilage damage in rats with MIA-induced OA rats by decreasing proinflammatory cytokines in the joints. Combined IA and IV-injected STAT3-inhibited OA-MSCs had a synergistic effect of pain relief in MIA-induced OA rats. STAT3 inhibition may optimize the therapeutic activities of MSCs for treating OA by attenuating pain and progression of MIA by inhibiting inflammation and cartilage damage.
Abstract Neutrophils play an essential role in defense against intruding microorganisms. They are produced in great number in the bone marrow and circulate in blood where they are found in a quiescent state. In response to inflammatory stimuli, neutrophils take different steps-rolling, adhesion, and transmigration-to migrate towards inflammation sites. In this study, we investigated the underlying mechanisms of impaired neutrophil adhesion in glycogen storage disease type Ib (GSD-Ib) which is caused by a deficiency of the glucose-6-phosphate transporter (G6PT). GSD-Ib is characterized not only by disrupted glucose homeostasis but also by neutropenia and neutrophil dysfunction. GSD-Ib mice were infused with a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vector expressing human G6PT only in liver to increase their survival. Unlike control mice, GSD-Ib-rAAV mice manifested severe neutropenia in both blood and bone marrow and neutrophils of GSD-Ib-rAAV mice were defective in adhesion to tumor necrosis factor-a-treated epithelial cells and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and fibrinogen. The β2-integrins including CD11a/CD18 and CD11b/CD18 are recognized as vital players in neutrophil recruitment. Consistent with impaired neutrophil adhesion, the expression of CD11a and CD11b were found to be decreased in neutrophils of GSD-Ib-rAAV mice, compared with that of control mice. Particularly neutrophils of GSD-Ib-rAAV mice showed increased proteolytic degradation of CD11b. Given the central role of β2-integrins in neutrophil adhesion, this alternation of CD11a and CD11b molecules and their effect on neutrophil adhesion probably define a molecular mechanism to neutrophil dysfunction manifested in GSD-Ib.
Mitochondrial serine protease로 알려진 human HtrA2 (hHtrA2)는 apoptosis 유도 과정에서 중요한 역할을 담당하고 있을 뿐만 아니라 hHtrA2가 motor neuron degeneration과 관련이 있다는 최근 연구 결과가 있으나, hHtrA2의 생리적 기능은 아직 명확하게 밝혀져 있지 않다. 이와 같이 생체내에서 필수적인 업무를 담당하는 hHtrA2의 기능을 심도 있게 연구하기 위해서는 적절한 동물모델 시스템이 필요하나 이에 대한 연구도 미흡한 실정이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 hHtrA2의 기능 분석을 위한 기본적인 실험으로 zebrafish라는 동물모델을 선택하여 hHtrA2의 발현 시스템을 정립하였다. 먼저 zebrafish에 hHtrA2를 발현시키기 위하여 zebrafish에서 일반적으로 사용되는 발현 시스템인 pCS2+ vector에 hHtrA2와 GFP를 cloning하고 plasmid를 HEK293 cell에 transfection한 후, hHtrA2-GFP fusion 단백질의 발현을 immunoblot과 immunofluorescence staining assay로 확인한 바 약 64 kDa의 hHtrA2 단백질의 발현을 확인할 수 있었다. Zebrafish에서 hHtrA2-GFP fusion 단백질의 발현양상은 immunofluorescence microscope으로 확인하였다. hHtrA2-GFP DNA와 mRNA를 zebrafish embyro에 microinjection하여 두 가지 component의 발현을 비교 분석한 결과, DNA는 dot 형태로 mRNA는 몸 전체에 퍼져보이는 형태로 발현 양상의 차이는 있었으나 둘 다 zebrafish embryo에서 잘 발현되는 것을 알 수 있다. 다음 DNA를 주 component로 microinjection하여 zebrafish embryo에서 발현을 확인한 결과 hHtrA2는 72 hpf 까지 발현이 지속되는 것을 확인하였다. 본 연구에서 정립한 hHtrA2의 zebrafish 발현 조건은 앞으로 zebrafish에서 hHtrA2의 생리적 기능을 심도있고 정확하게 연구하는 데 있어 기본적인 자료로 활용 할 수 있을 것이다. HtrA2/Omi, a mitochondrial trypsin-like serine protease, is pivotal in regulating apoptotic cell death. Several lines of recent evidence suggest that HtrA2 is associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders; however, the physiological function of HtrA2 still remains elusive. For studying physiological function of HtrA2 in depth, it is necessary to develop a suitable expression system in the model animal. We therefore utilized the zebrafish as a model animal to establish expression of human HtrA2 (hHtrA2) in vivo. For expression of mature HtrA2 as GFP fusion in zebrafish embryos, the HtrA2 (WT) or (S306A) cDNAs with the C-terminal GFP tag were inserted into the pCS2+ plasmid. Expression patterns of HtrA2 in HEK293 cells were first monitored by immunofluorescence staining and immunoblot assays, showing approximately 64 kDa of the HtrA2-GFP fusion proteins. Subsequently, the hHtrA2 plasmid DNA or in vitro transcribed mRNA was microinjected into zebrafish embryos. The expression patterns of HtrA2 in Zebrafish embryos were monitored by GFP fluorescence in 24 hours-post-fertilization (hpf). Although expression patterns of HtrA2-GFP in developing embryos were different between the injected DNA and mRNA, both nucleic acids revealed good expression levels to further study the physiological role of HtrA2 in vivo. This study provides a suitable condition for expressing hHtrA2 in the zebrafish embryos as well as a method for generating useful system to investigate physiological properties of the specific human genes.
Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia) is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency in glucose-6-phosphatase-α (G6Pase-α or G6PC) that is expressed primarily in the liver, kidney, and intestine. G6Pase-α catalyzes the hydrolysis of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) to glucose and phosphate in the terminal step of gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis, and is a key enzyme for endogenous glucose production. The active site of G6Pase-α is inside the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen. For catalysis, the substrate G6P must be translocated from the cytoplasm into the ER lumen by a G6P transporter (G6PT). The functional coupling of G6Pase-α and G6PT maintains interprandial glucose homeostasis. Dietary therapies for GSD-Ia are available, but cannot prevent the long-term complication of hepatocellular adenoma that may undergo malignant transformation to hepatocellular carcinoma. Animal models of GSD-Ia are now available and are being exploited to both delineate the disease more precisely and develop new treatment approaches, including gene therapy.
NAD(P)H-quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is a cytosolic two-electron oxidoreductase overexpressed in many types of cancers, including breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, uterine cervical cancer, melanoma, and lung cancer.1Up-regulation of NQO1 protects cells from oxidative stress and various cytotoxic quinones and is associated with late clinical stage, poor prognosis and lymph node metastasis.2 3 NQO1 increases stability of HIF-1α protein, which has been implicated in survival, proliferation, and malignance of cancer.1 Therefore, accumulating evidences suggest NQO1 as a promising therapeutic target for cancer. Accordingly, we have characterized the effect of a novel synthetic NQO1 substrate SBSC-S3001, and demonstrated its selective cytotoxic effects in cancer cells with high expression of NQO1.
Methods
In vitro cytotoxicity was determined by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay in cancer cells with high NQO1 expression and CRISPR-mediated NQO1 knockout cells. The effect of SBSC-S3001 on the energy metabolism pathway was evaluated by western blot analysis of metabolism associated proteins from NQO1-overexpressed cancer cells treated with the compound for 24 hours. In vivo anti-tumor activity was evaluated in MC38 syngeneic and DLD-1 orthotopic mice models.
Results
SBSC-S3001 exhibited selective cytotoxicity in cancer cells with high expression of NQO1 in a dose-dependent manner. The cytotoxicity was observed in both normoxia and hypoxia conditions, correlating with the energy metabolism, mitochondrial biogenesis, and cancer proliferative pathways. Also, stronger cytotoxicity was observed in NQO1-overexpressed cancer cells treated with SBSC-S3001 compared to beta-lapachone and analogue treatment.4 When evaluated in vivo, SBSC-S3001 effectively inhibited the growth of syngeneic and orthotopic tumors when administered as a monotherapy. SBSC-S3001 treatment associated with reduction in key enzymes of the glycolytic pathway (LDHa and GAPDH) and HIF-1α and increase in levels of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complex.
Conclusions
Treatment of SBSC-S3001, a novel, NQO1-specific substrate reduces HIF-1α and key enzymes associated with glycolysis and suppresses the growth of tumors overexpressing NQO1. Further characterization of SBSC-S3001 as a novel metabolic anti-cancer agent for cancers with NQO1 overexpression is warranted.
Ethics Approval
The study was approved by Samyang Biopharmaceuticals Institution's Ethics Board, approval number SYAU2031.
References
Oh ET, Kim JW, Kim JMet. al., NQO1 inhibits proteasome-mediated degradation of HIF-1α. Nat Commun 2016; 14:13593. Ma, Y. et al. NQO1 overexpression is associated with poor prognosis in squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. BMC Cancer 2014;14: 414 Yang, Y. et al. Clinical implications of high NQO1 expression in breast cancers. J. Exp. Clin. Cancer Res 2014;33:144. Yang Y, Zhou X, Xu M, et al., β-lapachone suppresses tumour progression by inhibiting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in NQO1-positive breast cancers. Sci Rep 2017;7:2681.
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