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V C Broaddus

Publications and source records attributed to V C Broaddus.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand and chemotherapy cooperate to induce apoptosis in mesothelioma cell lines.

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) can induce apoptosis in certain tumor cells. In addition, TRAIL and chemotherapy can act cooperatively, possibly as a result of chemotherapy-induced increases in expression of a TRAIL receptor, DR5. We used cell lines derived from a highly chemoresistant tumor, malignant mesothelioma, to learn whether TRAIL was effective alone or together with chemotherapy and whether cooperativity depended on increases in DR5 expression. TRAIL (codons 95-285) was expressed in a bacterial expression vector and purified by nickel affinity chromatography. TRAIL alone (25 to 500 ng/ml) had little effect on mesothelioma cells. TRAIL plus chemotherapy (doxorubicin, cis-platinum, etoposide, or gemcitabine) acted cooperatively to induce apoptosis in mesothelioma cells (M28, REN, VAMT, and MS-1). For example, in M28 cells treated for 18 h, apoptosis from TRAIL (100 ng/ml) plus doxorubicin (0.6 microg/ml; 71 +/- 11%) greatly exceeded that from TRAIL alone (21 +/- 8%) or from doxorubicin alone (6 +/- 2%) (means +/- standard deviation; P < 0.03). Mesothelioma cells treated with chemotherapy showed no change in DR5 protein by Western analysis or by immunocytochemistry. TRAIL plus chemotherapy was associated with an increase in mitochondrial cytochrome c release and mitochondrial depolarization. We conclude that TRAIL and chemotherapy act cooperatively to kill mesothelioma cell lines, not by increases in DR5 receptor but in association with mitochondrial amplification of apoptotic signals.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

A role for the integrin alphavbeta8 in the negative regulation of epithelial cell growth.

The control of cell growth is regulated through coordinated responses to growth factors and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions. Integrins, the major family of cell-ECM receptors, are vital to these coordinated responses. Although much is known of the role of integrins in growth promotion, specific examples of integrin-mediated cell growth inhibition are few. On the basis of our findings that the integrin beta8 subunit is expressed in airway epithelial cells and is absent in lung cancers, we investigated the role and mechanism of the integrin alphavbeta8 in mediating growth inhibition. When introduced into either a lung or colon carcinoma cell line, beta8 inhibited cell growth without inducing apoptosis. Ligation of alphavbeta8 also induced cell rounding, inhibited focal contact formation, and initiated an inhibitory signaling pathway as demonstrated by increased expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21Cip1. The cytoplasmic domain of beta8 was capable of both growth inhibition and causing cell shape changes as shown by the use of a chimeric integrin construct consisting of the beta8-cytoplasmic domain coupled to the beta6-extracellular domain. Finally, when tested in vivo, beta8 potently inhibited tumor growth in nude mice. Together, these results implicate alphavbeta8 as a novel growth-regulatory molecule of epithelial cells.

Actins↗

DNA breakage in asbestos-treated normal and transformed (TSV40) rat pleural mesothelial cells.

Asbestos has been shown to induce cell cycle arrest, DNA repair and some abnormalities consistent with DNA damage but not DNA breakage. The purpose of the study was to investigate DNA breakage in asbestos-exposed rat pleural mesothelial cells (RPMC). RPMC were compared with their transformed counterparts, RPMC-TSV40 (i.e. p53-inactivated by infection with a retroviral recombinant encoding the SV40 large T antigen), as in the latter cells the cell cycle does not arrest and DNA repair is deficient due to ineffective p53-dependent cell cycle control. RPMC and RPMC-TSV40 were exposed to chrysotile and crocidolite asbestos and also to camptothecin for comparison. The presence of DNA breakage was determined using the single cell gel (Comet) assay with alkaline electrophoresis and quantified by measuring comet tail length (TL) and the percentage of total DNA in the tail and calculating tail moment (TM). We found that comets were generated by both types of asbestos in RPMC and in RPMC-TSV40 as well as by camptothecin in RPMC. On a per weight basis, chrysotile induced more abnormalities in comet parameters than did crocidolite. The comet TL and TM increased with fibre concentration, although less so with crocidolite than with chrysotile. When exposed to chrysotile at similar concentrations, RPMC consistently showed more abnormal comet parameters than did RPMC-TSV40. We concluded that asbestos causes DNA breakage and suggest that some of the DNA breakage measured was due to repair mechanisms in the normal RPMC.

Animals↗

Mesothelial cell apoptosis is confirmed in vivo by morphological change in cytokeratin distribution.

Apoptosis of mesothelial cells has been demonstrated in vitro but not in vivo. To identify apoptotic pleural cells as mesothelial, we used cytokeratin as a marker and found a striking spheroid, aggregated appearance of cytokeratin in apparently apoptotic mesothelial cells. In in vitro studies, we found that the aggregated cytokeratin pattern correlated with apoptosis in primary mesothelial cells from mice, rabbits, and humans and was not seen with necrosis. In in vivo studies in mice, we then used this cytokeratin pattern to identify and quantitate apoptotic mesothelial cells. Apoptotic mesothelial cells were best harvested by pleural lavage, indicating that they were loosely adherent or nonadherent. Instillation of RPMI 1640 medium or wollastonite for 24 h induced apoptosis in 0.1 +/- 0. 1 (SE) and 1.0 +/- 0.7%, respectively, of all mesothelial cells recovered, whereas instillation of known apoptotic stimuli, crocidolite asbestos (25 microg) for 24 h or actinomycin D plus murine tumor necrosis factor-alpha for 12 h, induced apoptosis in 5. 1 +/- 0.5 and 22.4 +/- 4.5%, respectively (significantly greater than in control experiments, P < 0.05). By analysis of cytokeratin staining, mesothelial cell apoptosis has been confirmed in vivo.

Animals↗

Vitronectin adsorption to chrysotile asbestos increases fiber phagocytosis and toxicity for mesothelial cells.

Biological modification of asbestos fibers can alter their interaction with target cells. We have shown that vitronectin (VN), a major adhesive protein in serum, adsorbs to crocidolite asbestos and increases fiber phagocytosis by mesothelial cells via integrins. Because chrysotile asbestos differs significantly from crocidolite in charge and shape, we asked whether VN would also adsorb to chrysotile asbestos and increase its toxicity for mesothelial cells. We found that VN, either from purified solutions or from serum, adsorbed to chrysotile but at a lower amount per surface area than to crocidolite. Nevertheless, VN coating increased the phagocytosis of chrysotile as well as of crocidolite asbestos. VN coating of both chrysotile and crocidolite, but not of glass beads, increased intracellular oxidation and apoptosis of mesothelial cells. The additional apoptosis could be blocked by integrin-ligand blockade with arginine-glycine-aspartic acid peptides, confirming a role for integrins in the fiber-induced toxicity. We conclude that VN increases the phagocytosis of chrysotile as well as of crocidolite asbestos and that phagocytosis is important in fiber-induced toxicity for mesothelial cells.

Adsorption↗

Phagocytosis of crocidolite asbestos induces oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis in mesothelial cells.

Phagocytosis of asbestos fibers may be a necessary step for asbestos-induced injury to mesothelial cells, but this has not been established because quantification of fiber uptake is difficult and ways to increase fiber phagocytosis without also increasing total dose were not available. We quantified phagocytosis by counting intracellular fibers after removing adherent fibers with trypsin; we selectively increased fiber phagocytosis by coating crocidolite asbestos fibers with the adhesive serum protein vitronectin (VN), which we have shown increases fiber uptake via integrins. We measured various aspects of asbestos-induced cytotoxicity: intracellular oxidation by the shift of fluorescence of cells loaded with an oxidative probe, DNA strand breakage by the alkaline unwinding ethidium bromide fluorometric assay, apoptosis by annexin V binding and by nuclear morphology, and cell-cycle progression. We found that, compared with control fibers or particles, asbestos increased intracellular oxidation, DNA strand breakage, and apoptosis. Selective increases in fiber uptake by VN-coating of the fibers further increased the oxidation, DNA strand breakage, and apoptosis, and induced a cell-cycle arrest in G2/M. Selective decreases in fiber uptake by cytochalasin or by integrin blockade with RGD peptides inhibited several of these measures of injury. We conclude that phagocytosis is important and perhaps necessary for asbestos-induced injury to mesothelial cells.

Animals↗

The effects of two antiinflammatory pretreatments on bacterial-induced lung injury.

BACKGROUND: Two antiinflammatory therapies that have been effective in preventing acid-induced lung injury were evaluated. Specifically, their effects on a subsequent bacterial-airspace challenge were compared. Bacteria were instilled 24 h after acid-induced lung injury. Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO-1 was used as the bacteria, because its effects in healthy lungs was documented previously. METHODS: New Zealand white rabbits were anesthetized and three pretreatments were administered: (1) pentoxifylline pretreatment (a 20-mg/kg bolus dose and then 6 mg x kg(-1) x h(-1) given intravenously), (2) 1 ml anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha antiserum given intravenously, or (3) normal saline given intravenously. The pretreatment doses were shown previously to prevent acid-induced lung injury. Then 1.2 ml/kg hydrochloric acid (HCl), pH 1.25, was instilled into the rabbits' right lungs. All the animals underwent mechanical ventilation for 8 h. Twenty-four hours after the acid instillation, the rabbits were anesthetized again and 2 ml/kg (10(9) colony forming units/ml) PAO-1 was instilled into their left lungs. The rabbits' breathing was aided by mechanical ventilation for another 8 h, and then they were killed and exsanguinated. RESULTS: Both pretreatments attenuated the acid-induced lung injury of the noninstilled left lungs. Arterial oxygen tension and the lung edema of pretreated, acid-exposed animals were significantly and almost equally improved (compared with no pretreatments) by either of the pretreatments. However, when the bacteria were instilled into the left lungs 24 h after the acid injury, the pentoxifylline pretreatment but not the anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha pretreatment prevented much of the bacteria-induced lung injury. Pentoxifylline pretreatment significantly improved the measurements of left lung edema and epithelial and endothelial permeability. There was also a trend for improved oxygenation in the pentoxifylline-pretreated and infected animals. In contrast, the anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha pretreatment did not prevent the bacteria-induced lung injury and increased some of the measurements of lung injury. CONCLUSIONS: Two antiinflammatory therapies that prevented acid-induced lung injury to the noninstilled left lungs had significantly different effects on a subsequent bacteria-induced lung injury to the left lungs. The therapies differed in their mechanism of tumor necrosis factor alpha blockade, and this may have affected the bacteria-induced injury to the lungs.

Animals↗

Asbestos upregulates expression of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor on mesothelial cells.

Inhalation of asbestos is associated with pathologic changes in the pleural space, including pleural thickening, pleural plaques, and mesothelioma. These processes are characterized by altered local proteolysis, cellular proliferation, and cell migration, suggesting that the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) could be involved in the pathogenesis of asbestos-induced pleural disease. We hypothesized that mesothelial cell uPAR expression is induced by exposure to asbestos. To test this hypothesis, we used complementary techniques in rabbit and human mesothelial cells to determine whether uPAR expression is altered by exposure to asbestos. uPAR expression was induced by chrysotile and crocidolite asbestos, but not by wollastonite, as indicated by binding of radiolabeled urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) to rabbit or human mesothelial cells. uPA was not induced by fiber exposure. Exposure to exogenous uPA increased uPA activity of cells exposed to wollastonite but not asbestos-treated MeT5A cells. uPAR expression increased further when asbestos was preincubated with vitronectin (VN) or serum. Increases in uPAR expression were confirmed by binding of uPA to uPAR in cell membrane preparations and immunofluorescent staining of uPAR at the cell surface, and were associated with increases in steady-state uPAR messenger RNA. Mesothelial cell uPAR expression was also induced by media from monocytes cultured with asbestos incubated with VN and serum. By antibody neutralization, the latter effect appeared to be in part mediated by transforming growth factor-beta. We found that asbestos increases uPAR at the surface of rabbit and human mesothelial cells, suggesting that altered expression of this receptor could be involved in asbestos-induced remodeling of the pleural mesothelium.

Animals↗

Preparation and characterization of an endogenously fluorescent annexin for detection of apoptotic cells.

Annexin proteins specifically bind anionic phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine, which are normally confined to the cytoplasmic leaflet of cellular membranes. During programmed cell death, or apoptosis, this phospholipid asymmetry is lost, and anionic phospholipids are exposed on the extracellular leaflet of the plasma membrane where they are accessible to exogenously added, labeled annexins. Chemically [e.g., fluoroscein isothiocyanate (FITC)]-modified annexin V has been widely used to detect and enumerate apoptotic cells by flow cytometry. We prepared chimeric proteins containing green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to annexin V. A chimera containing GFP fused to the C-terminus of annexin V was soluble and fluorescent, but was unable to bind phospholipids. In contrast, a chimera containing GFP fused to the N-terminus of annexin V specifically bound apoptotic cells. GFP-annexin V represents a sensitive and facile alternative to FITC-annexin V for studies of apoptosis.

Animals↗

Asbestos-induced pleural disease.

Asbestos-induced pleural disease has become the most common manifestation of asbestos exposure. Asbestos has an unusual affinity for the pleural space and leads to plaques, benign effusions, fibrosis, and malignant mesothelioma. The explanation for its affinity for the pleura may lie in part with new evidence showing that asbestos fibers can accumulate in certain regions of the parietal pleura at higher concentrations than in the lung. With the control of industrial exposures to asbestos, the incidence of this disease should decrease, with the incidence of mesothelioma peaking in the years 2000 to 2020. Nonetheless, the toxic features of asbestos including shape, chemical composition, and surface characteristics should be understood to avoid toxicity in fibers used to replace asbestos and to know the risks of low level exposures from asbestos currently in our environment.

Asbestos↗

Resistance of pleural mesothelioma cell lines to apoptosis: relation to expression of Bcl-2 and Bax.

A failure of normal apoptosis, often due to mutant p53, may contribute to the formation of a cancer and to its resistance to therapy. Mesothelioma, an asbestos-induced tumor, is highly resistant to therapy but generally expresses wild-type p53. We asked whether mesothelioma was resistant to apoptosis and whether resistance was associated with altered expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 or proapoptotic protein Bax. We found that three mesothelioma cell lines (1 with wild-type p53) were highly resistant to apoptosis induced by oxidant stimuli (asbestos, H2O2) or nonoxidant stimuli (calcium ionophore) compared with primary cultured mesothelial cells. By immunostaining, one of these three lines expressed Bcl-2 but only during mitosis. By immunoblotting, 3 of 14 additional mesothelioma lines (9 of 14 with wild type p53) expressed Bcl-2 but all 14 of 14 expressed the proapoptotic Bax, giving a low ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax. We conclude that mesothelioma cell lines are resistant to apoptosis and that the failure in apoptosis is not explained by Bcl-2 but by other mechanisms that counteract the proapoptotic effect of Bax.

Animals↗

Mechanisms of pleural liquid formation in pleural inflammation.

Inflammatory processes are a major cause of pleural effusion. Besides being important clinically for diagnosis and treatment of patients with pleural effusions, studies of inflammatory pleural effusions shed light on the mechanisms of pleural liquid formation and also on general mechanisms of inflammation. In this current review, we have chosen papers within the past year that highlight aspects of clinical and research interest concerning inflammation and inflammatory pleural effusions. In some studies, investigators have investigated basic mechanisms of the roles of cytokines and adhesion molecules in inflammatory cell recruitment and leakage of liquid. In other studies, clinicians have attempted to measure inflammatory markers as a means of diagnosis. In light of these studies, we discuss the current understanding of inflammatory pleural effusions and suggest future avenues for exploration.

Adenosine Deaminase↗

Crocidolite asbestos induces apoptosis of pleural mesothelial cells: role of reactive oxygen species and poly(ADP-ribosyl) polymerase.

Mesothelial cells, the progenitor cells of the asbestos-induced tumor mesothelioma, are particularly sensitive to the toxic effects of asbestos, although the molecular mechanisms by which asbestos induces injury in mesothelial cells are not known. We asked whether asbestos induced apoptosis in mesothelial cells and whether reactive oxygen species were important. Rabbit pleural mesothelial cells were exposed to crocidolite asbestos or control particles (1-10 micrograms/cm2) over 24 hr and evaluated for oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation, loss of membrane phospholipid asymmetry, and nuclear condensation. Asbestos fibers, not control particles, induced apoptosis in mesothelial cells by all assays. Induction of apoptosis was dose dependent; crocidolite (5 micrograms/cm2) induced apoptosis (15.0 +/- 1.1%, mean +/- SE; n = 12) versus control particles (< 4%), as measured by appearance of nuclear condensation. Apoptosis induced by asbestos, but not by actinomycin D, was inhibited by extracellular catalase, superoxide dismutase in the presence of catalase, hypoxia (8% oxygen), deferoxamine, and 3-aminobenzamide (an inhibitor of the nuclear enzyme, poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribosyl) polymerase). We conclude that asbestos induces apoptosis in mesothelial cells via reactive oxygen species. We speculate that escape from this pathway could allow the abnormal survival of mesothelial cells with asbestos-induced mutations.

Animals↗

Asbestos induces apoptosis of human and rabbit pleural mesothelial cells via reactive oxygen species.

Mesothelial cells, the progenitor cell of the asbestos-induced tumor mesothelioma, are particularly sensitive to the toxic effects of asbestos, although the molecular mechanisms by which asbestos induces injury in mesothelial cells are not known. We asked whether asbestos induced apoptosis in mesothelial cells and whether reactive oxygen species were important. Pleural mesothelial cells (rabbit or human) were exposed to asbestos (crocidolite, amosite, or chrysotile) or control particles at moderate doses (1-10 microg/cm2) over 24 h and evaluated for oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation, loss of membrane phospholipid asymmetry, and nuclear condensation. Asbestos fibers, not control particles, induced apoptosis in mesothelial cells by all assays and induction of apoptosis was dose dependent for all types of asbestos, with crocidolite (5 microg/cm2) inducing 15.0+/-1.1% (mean+/-SE; n = 12) apoptosis versus control particles < 4%. Apoptosis induced by asbestos, but not by actinomycin D, was inhibited by extracellular catalase, superoxide dismutase in the presence of catalase, hypoxia (8% oxygen), deferoxamine, 3-aminobenzamide [an inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribosyl) polymerase], and cytochalasin B. Only catalase and cytochalasin B decreased fiber uptake. We conclude that asbestos induces apoptosis in mesothelial cells via reactive oxygen species. Escape from this pathway could allow the abnormal survival of mesothelial cells with asbestos-induced mutations.

Animals↗