Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.23 (beta-galactosidase)
 14,648 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability during sepsis with Escherichia coli or Streptococcus pneumoniae was examined in a mouse model and measured by a circulating beta-galactosidase tracer. The leakage of brain microvascular vessels during sepsis was confirmed by transmission electron microscopic examination of brain tissues stained with horseradish peroxidase. The increase of BBB permeability induced by E. coli and S. pneumoniae, which was maximal at 3 h and 12 h after injection, respectively, was transient because of rapid clearance of the bacteria from the blood. Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was stained on microvascular vessels of the brain during sepsis and intravenous injection of recombinant TNF-alpha also increased the BBB permeability. The increase in BBB permeability induced by either E. coli or S. pneumoniae could be inhibited by anti-TNF-alpha antibody. It was concluded that circulating TNF-alpha generated during sepsis induced the increase in BBB permeability.
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PMID:Tumour necrosis factor-alpha causes an increase in blood-brain barrier permeability during sepsis. 1154 83

The use of adenoviruses for gene transfer and as oncolytic agents is currently receiving widespread attention. As specific constraints to adenovirus distribution and spread cannot be studied in cell cultures, there is a need for an in vitro three-dimensional (3D) model mimicking the in vivo biology of tumors. We studied the interactions between tumor and adenoviruses using multicellular spheroids grown from primary brain tumor material. Using beta-galactosidase and luciferase reporter genes expressed by replication-defective adenoviruses, we showed that infection was restricted to the first layer of cells. Using a replication-competent adenovirus expressing the luciferase gene, we showed that transgene expression in the spheroid was considerably enhanced and that viral spreading deep into the 3D structure took place. In addition, a tetrazolium salt-based metabolic assay could be used to compare the oncolytic activity of different concentrations of replication-competent adenoviruses. We can conclude that organotypic spheroids offer a versatile in vitro system for studying distribution, spread, and oncolysis by adenoviruses in a clinically relevant model.
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PMID:The organotypic multicellular spheroid is a relevant three-dimensional model to study adenovirus replication and penetration in human tumors in vitro. 1240 59

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a lethal malignancy with poor prognosis and few effective treatments, as well as ever-increasing frequencies in the Western world. Viruses that replicate selectively in cancer cells hold considerable promise as novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of malignancy. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a negative-strand RNA virus with intrinsic oncolytic specificity due to significantly attenuated antiviral responses in many tumor cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of VSV, administered via the hepatic artery, as an effective and safe therapeutic agent for treating "multifocal" HCC in the rat liver. Recombinant VSV vector expressing beta-galactosidase (rVSV-beta-gal) was generated by reverse genetics and infused into the hepatic artery of Buffalo rats bearing orthotopically implanted multifocal HCC. Access by the virus to multifocal HCC lesions in the liver, as well as the kinetic profiles of intratumoral viral replication and spread, was established by X-gal staining of liver and tumor sections. Plaque assays were also performed to determine the infectious viral yields in tumor and normal liver tissues. Pharmacotoxicology studies, including serum chemistries and proinflammatory cytokine production, as well as organ histopathology, were performed. Buffer- or vector-treated tumor-bearing rats were followed for survival and the results were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Hepatic arterial infusion of rVSV-beta-gal at the maximum tolerated dose in tumor-bearing rats resulted in efficient viral transduction of multifocal HCC lesions in their livers, tumor-selective viral replication, and extensive oncolysis. Importantly, no significant vector-associated toxicities were noted and, in particular, no damage to the hepatic parenchyma was seen. Finally, survival of vector-treated rats was substantially prolonged over that of animals in the control treatment group (p < 0.028). Thus, hepatic arterial administration of VSV is both effective and safe in an orthotopic animal model of multifocal HCC. The results suggest that oncolytic VSV can be developed into an effective and safe therapeutic modality for patients with multifocal HCC in the future.
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PMID:Oncolysis of multifocal hepatocellular carcinoma in the rat liver by hepatic artery infusion of vesicular stomatitis virus. 1500 3

Replication-competent oncolytic viruses are being developed for human cancer therapy. We previously reported that an attenuated adenovirus OBP-301 (Telomelysin), in which the human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter element drives expression of E1A and E1B genes linked with an internal ribosome entry site, could replicate in and causes selective lysis of human cancer cells. Infection efficiency in target cancer cells is the most important factor that predicts the antitumor effects of OBP-301. The objectives of this study are to examine the effects of the histone deacetylase inhibitor FR901228 on the level of coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) expression and OBP-301-mediated oncolysis in human non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Flow cytometric analysis revealed up-regulated CAR expression in A549 and H460 cells following treatment with 1 ng/ml of FR901228, which was associated with increased infection efficiency as confirmed by replication-deficient beta-galactosidase-expressing adenovirus vector. In contrast, neither CAR expression nor infection efficiency was affected by FR901228 in H1299 cells. To visualize and quantify viral replication in the presence of FR901228, we used OBP-401 (Telomelysin-GFP) that expresses the green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter in the E3 region. Fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry showed that FR901228 increased GFP expression in A549 and H460 cells following OBP-401 infection in a dose-dependent manner, but this effect did not occur in H1299 cells. In addition, OBP-301 and FR901228 demonstrated a synergistic antitumor effect in A549 cells in vitro, as confirmed by isobologram analysis. Our data indicate that FR901228 preferentially increases adenovirus infectivity via up-regulation of CAR expression, leading to a profound oncolytic effect, which may have a significant impact on the outcome of adenovirus-based oncolytic virotherapy.
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PMID:Histone deacetylase inhibitor FR901228 enhances the antitumor effect of telomerase-specific replication-selective adenoviral agent OBP-301 in human lung cancer cells. 1635 94

Previously, we reported that a recombinant vaccinia virus (VACV) carrying a light-emitting fusion gene enters, replicates in, and reveals the locations of tumors in mice. A new recombinant VACV, GLV-1h68, as a simultaneous diagnostic and therapeutic agent, was constructed by inserting three expression cassettes (encoding Renilla luciferase-Aequorea green fluorescent protein fusion, beta-galactosidase, and beta-glucuronidase) into the F14.5L, J2R (encoding thymidine kinase) and A56R (encoding hemagglutinin) loci of the viral genome, respectively. I.v. injections of GLV-1h68 (1x10(7) plaque-forming unit per mouse) into nude mice with established (approximately 300-500 mm3) s.c. GI-101A human breast tumors were used to evaluate its toxicity, tumor targeting specificity, and oncolytic efficacy. GLV-1h68 showed an enhanced tumor targeting specificity and much reduced toxicity compared with its parental LIVP strains. The tumors colonized by GLV-1h68 exhibited growth, inhibition, and regression phases followed by tumor eradication within 130 days in 95% of the mice tested. Tumor regression in live animals was monitored in real time based on decreasing light emission, hence demonstrating the concept of a combined oncolytic virus-mediated tumor diagnosis and therapy system. Transcriptional profiling of regressing tumors based on a mouse-specific platform revealed gene expression signatures consistent with immune defense activation, inclusive of IFN-stimulated genes (STAT-1 and IRF-7), cytokines, chemokines, and innate immune effector function. These findings suggest that immune activation may combine with viral oncolysis to induce tumor eradication in this model, providing a novel perspective for the design of oncolytic viral therapies for human cancers.
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PMID:Eradication of solid human breast tumors in nude mice with an intravenously injected light-emitting oncolytic vaccinia virus. 1794 38