Project description:We previously identified the induction of growth arrest with phenotypic characteristics of senescence in melanoma cell lines sensitive to diterpene esters, indicating a therapeutic potential. Here we compared the cytostatic effects of two diterpene esters namely TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate) and PEP008 (20-O-acetyl-ingenol-3-angelate) in sensitive and resistant cell lines derived from melanoma, breast cancer and colon cancer. We showed the diterpene esters to induce senescence-like growth arrest in the sensitive cells at 100-1000 ng/ml. Use of the pan-PKC inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide-l demonstrated that activation of PKC was required for growth arrest. Full genome expression profiling revealed that pivotal genes involved in DNA synthesis and cell cycle control were down-regulated by treatment in all three sensitive solid tumor models. At the protein level, prolonged down-regulation of E2F-1 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), sustained expression of p21WAF1/CIP1 and dephosphorylation of retinoblastoma (Rb) occurred in the sensitive cells. Although activation of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) 1/2 by the diterpene esters occurred in both sensitive and resistant cell lines, the HRASLS3 type II tumor suppressor, which appears to have a role in MAPK pathway suppression, was constitutively elevated in the resistant cell lines compared to their sensitive counterparts. Together, these results demonstrate the ability of the PKC activating drugs TPA and PEP008 to induce growth arrest with characteristics of senescence in solid tumor cell lines derived from a variety of tissue types through a similar mechanism. PKC-activating diterpene esters may therefore have therapeutic potential in a range of solid tumors. Experiment Overall Design: We analyzed the transcriptional profiles of the diterpene ester sensitive cell lines MCF7, COLO-205 and SK-MEL-5 following treatment with PEP008 using full genome expression profiling (Affymetrix, U133 Plus 2.0). Cells were treated for 24 h and 24 h plus 72 h recovery with 1000 ng/ml of the drug, before harvesting RNA for analysis. From the cell growth assays, all three cell lines demonstrated permanent growth arrest with diterpene ester treatments at the 1000 ng/ml dose. Mock controls were treated with solvent alone for 24 h. SK-MEL-5 cells were also treated with 1000 ng/ml TPA for 24 h.

Project description:The diterpene ester PEP005 is a novel anticancer agent that activates PKC and cures subcutaneous murine melanoma by topical application. We now describe the in vitro cytostatic effects of PEP005 and the diterpene ester TPA, observed in 20% of human melanoma cell lines. Primary cultures of normal human neonatal fibroblasts were uniformly resistant to growth arrest, indicating a potential for tumor selectivity. Sensitive cells were induced to senesce and exhibited a G1 and G2/M arrest. There was sustained expression of p21WAF1/CIP1, irreversible dephosphorylation of the retinoblastoma gene product (Rb) and transcriptional silencing of E2F-responsive genes in sensitive cell lines. Activation of MEK1/2 by PKC was required for diterpene ester-induced senescence. Expression profiling revealed that the MAPK inhibitor HREV107 was expressed at a higher transcript level in resistant compared to sensitive cell lines. We propose that activation of PKC over-stimulates the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway, resulting in sustained induction of p21WAF1/CIP1, dephosphorylation of Rb and transcriptional silencing of E2F-responsive genes required for DNA synthesis and mitosis. To investigate the molecular changes associated with the senescent phenotype, we examined the unique transcriptional changes occurring in sensitive melanoma cell lines treated with TPA or PEP005. Initially a time-course cDNA microarray analysis was conducted on one sensitive and one resistant cell line treated with 1 Âµg/ml of TPA for 6, 24 h and 24 h recovery following 24 h treatment, to determine the earliest time point at which the most significant changes in transcription occurred. The results provided support for conducting array experiments with 24 h treatment, in which three sensitive and four resistant melanoma cell lines were treated with 1 Âµg/ml of either diterpene ester. Our primary objective was to identify those genes which were uniquely up or down-regulated in sensitive or resistant cell lines in response to treatment, which could reflect the phenotypic outcome. Through applying a series of stringent selective criteria (see Material and Methods) we found that the most significant changes occurred in the transcriptional repression of genes required for DNA synthesis and mitosis in cell lines sensitive to treatment (Table 1). To confirm that these changes were reflected at the protein level, western blot analysis was conducted on three sensitive and three resistant cell lines following 6 and 24 h treatment with TPA or PEP005. We also included a 24 h recovery time point to determine the irreversibility of the change.

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