Squamous Carcinoma Cells (squamous + carcinoma_cell)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


EGFR Regulates the Side Population in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 3 2006
Jocelyn S. Chen BS
Abstract Objective: To identify the presence of side population (SP) cells in established head and neck squamous carcinoma cell (HNSCC) lines and to determine the role of EGFR in the regulation of the side population of these cells. Methods: SP cells were identified using flow cytometry analysis by the ability of these cells to extrude the Hoechst 33342 dye via the drug transporter BCRP1/ABCG2. Effect of EGFR on the side population was determined also by difference in Hoechst extrusion and by immunofluorescence. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to show the presence of the BCRP1/ABCG2 transporter and the phosphorylated form of EGFR in HNSCC tissue. Results: SP cells are present in HNSCC cell lines. With the Hoechst 33342 extrusion assay, SP cells were found to comprise an average of 0.69% of the UMSCC10B cells and 0.91% of HN12 cells. Addition of the EGF ligand increased the SP population while inactivation of the EGFR kinase by Iressa significantly decreased SP. Conclusion: In established head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, SP cells were found using methods that determine expression and function of the drug transporter BCRP1/ABCG2. Activation of EGFR, a gene implicated in tumorigenesis in HNSCC leads to increased SP, and conversely, inhibition of EGFR leads to decrease in SP. This finding could help explain the role of EGFR in regulating cancer stem cells and thus tumorigenesis in HNSCC. [source]


Protein kinase C involvement in aloe-emodin- and emodin-induced apoptosis in lung carcinoma cell

BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 5 2001
Hong-Zin Lee
This study demonstrated aloe-emodin- and emodin-induced apoptosis in lung carcinoma cell lines CH27 (human lung squamous carcinoma cell) and H460 (human lung non-small cell carcinoma cell). Aloe-emodin- and emodin-induced apoptosis was characterized by nuclear morphological changes and DNA fragmentation. During apoptosis, an increase in cytochrome c of cytosolic fraction and activation of caspase-3, identified by the cleavage of its proform, were observed. To elucidate whether the expression of protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes are involved in aloe-emodin- and emodin-induced apoptosis, this study examined the changes of PKC isozymes by Western blotting techniques during aloe-emodin- and emodin-induced apoptosis. The expression of PKC isozymes involved in aloe-emodin- and emodin-induced apoptosis of CH27 and H460 cells. In this study, aloe-emodin and emodin induced the changes of each of PKC isozymes in CH27 and H460 cells. The decrease in the expression of PKC, and , may play a critical role in aloe-emodin- and emodin-induced apoptosis in CH27 and H460 cells. The present study also demonstrated that PKC stimulation occurs at a site downstream of caspase-3 in the emodin-mediated apoptotic pathway. British Journal of Pharmacology (2001) 134, 1093,1103; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0704342 [source]


Pyrazolo,pyrimidine-derived c-Src inhibitor reduces angiogenesis and survival of squamous carcinoma cells by suppressing vascular endothelial growth factor production and signaling

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 5 2007
Sandra Donnini
Abstract Src tyrosine kinase family cooperates with activated growth factor receptors to regulate growth, invasion and metastasis. The authors examined the influence of a novel c-Src inhibitor, 1l, derived from 4-amino-substituted-pyrazolo,pyrimidines, on tumor angiogenesis and on the angiogenic output of squamous carcinoma cells, A431 and SCC-4. The effect of 1l was assessed on growth and microvessel density in A431 tumors and its effect compared with the established c-Src inhibitor PP-1. The effects of c-Src inhibition were investigated on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and activity in tumor cells grown in vivo and in vitro, as well as on VEGF mediated signaling and on endothelial cell functions. Nanomolar concentrations of 1l decreased tumor volume promoted by A431 implanted in nude mice, without affecting in vitro cell tumor survival. This effect was related to 1l inhibition of VEGF production, and secondary to an effect on tumor microvessel density. The rabbit cornea assay confirmed that 1l markedly decreased neovessel growth induced by VEGF. In cultured endothelial cells, 1l inhibited the VEGF-induced phosphorylation on tyr416 of c-Src, resulting in a reduced cell proliferation and invasion. Consistently, 1l dowregulated endothelial nitric oxide synthase, MAPK-extracellular receptor kinase 1,2 (ERK1-2) activity and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2/MMP-9), while the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP2/TIMP-1) were upregulated. These results demonstrate that nM concentrations of c-Src kinase inhibitors (1l and PP-1), by reducing the production of VEGF released by tumor cell and its endothelial cell responses, have a highly selective antiangiogenesis effect, which might be useful in combination therapies. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Alteration of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region associated (Ag-NOR) proteins in apoptosis-induced human salivary gland cells and human oral squamous carcinoma cells

JOURNAL OF ORAL PATHOLOGY & MEDICINE, Issue 4 2001
Yasuhiro Morimoto
Abstract: The level of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) and AgNOR-associated proteins (Ag-NOR proteins) varies with cell activity, including ribosomal biogenesis occurring in proliferating cells. Proteins associated with some AgNORs are detected by a specific silver staining. To investigate a possible relationship between apoptosis and the AgNORs or Ag-NOR proteins, we examined the changes of AgNORs and Ag-NOR proteins during apoptosis in a human salivary gland cell line, HSG cells, and a human oral squamous carcinoma cell line, SCC-25 cells. Apoptosis was induced by treatment of HSG and SCC-25 cells with okadaic acid. Proteins prepared from HSG and SCC-25 cells treated with varying concentrations of okadaic acid (OA) were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) followed by transferring to transfer membranes and staining for Ag-NOR proteins by modified Western blot analysis. Four major bands (110 kDa, 43 kDa, 39kDa, and 37 kDa) were detected in the proteins obtained from the control cells. The level of the 110-kDa protein decreased in the proteins prepared from OA-induced apoptotic cells; however, the reaction intensity of the other three bands was changed in apoptotic cells. An additional band of an 80-kDa Ag-NOR protein appeared and increased in the apoptotic cells. Cellular fractionation of HSG cells and SCC-25 cells was done with or without apoptotic induction. An 80-kDa Ag-NOR protein was detected in the nuclear fraction prepared from the apoptotic cells, while the 110-kDa protein decreased in the nuclear fraction of these cells. The 110-kDa Ag-NOR protein may be nucleolin (C23) as deduced from its AgNOR staining features, including molecular weight. The 80-kDa protein may be the cleavage product of the 110-kDa protein. In the cell-free apoptotic system, in which intact nuclei of HSG cells were incubated with the cytosol fraction of apoptotic HSG and SCC-25 cells, the 80-kDa Ag-NOR protein was detected in nuclei incubated with the cytosol fraction of apoptotic cells, while the level of the 110-kDa protein decreased. The changes of Ag-NOR proteins in nuclei prepared from SCC-25 cells incubated with cytosol fractions prepared from HSG and SCC-25 cells were identical to those of the HSG cells. The alternation of AgNORs in apoptosis-induced HSG cells was also examined using double staining with Hoechst 33342 and silver nitrate. Hoechst staining revealed typical apoptotic nuclei, which exhibited highly fluorescent condensed chromatin in OA-treated HSG cells. Silver grains representing AgNORs were not detected in the cells undergoing apoptosis. The dual-imposition view confirmed that AgNORs, which are visible as dots in nucleoli in the control cells, disappeared from the apoptotic nuclei of HSG cells. Our results indicate that the 110-kDa nucleolar Ag-NOR protein is associated with apoptosis and is cleaved during apoptosis. [source]


Overexpression of cyclin D2 is associated with increased in vivo invasiveness of human squamous carcinoma cells

MOLECULAR CARCINOGENESIS, Issue 3 2002
Shao Chen Liu
Abstract Overexpression of cyclin D2 was studied in 10 human squamous cell carcinoma lines, to establish whether this gene plays a role in tumor progression. We found that those cell lines that overexpressed cyclin D2 (CCND2) had the most invasive in vivo behavior. The invasive ability of the cell lines was determined by evaluating the penetration of carcinoma cells into the tracheal wall in an in vivo assay with de-epithelialized tracheas transplanted into the subcutaneous tissue of nude mice. From five cell lines that exhibited low invasive ability, we selected two that had very little CCND2 expression (SCC9 and SCC15), to evaluate whether CCND2 gene transfer would increase the invasive behavior. After confirming the successful transfer of CCND2 by Northern, Western, and kinase-activity assays, we assessed the in vivo invasive behavior of the CCND2 -transfected cells and their respective vector alone,transfected controls. The cell lines containing the transferred CCND2 gene had a significantly higher invasive ability than respective controls. This was accompanied by a moderate increase in gelatinase activity. In addition, the in vitro proliferative abilities, under normal culture conditions, of the parental CCND2 - transfected and vector alone,transfected cells were found to be similar, as was the in vivo labeling index of Ki-67 in the tracheal transplants. These results indicated that the overexpression of CCND2 in squamous cell carcinoma lines modulates cell proliferation after induced quiescence and also has a powerful enhancing effect on in vivo aggressive growth behavior. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Effects of climacostol on normal and tumoral mammalian cell lines

THE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2005
FEDERICO BUONANNO
Climacostol, 1,3-dihydroxy-5-[(Z)-2,-nonenyl]benzene, is a natural toxin contained in the extrusomal cortical granules of the heterotrich ciliate Climacostomum virens. It is used for chemical defence against predators such as the raptorial ciliate Dileptus margaritifer and its cytotoxic activity has been assessed on several species of ciliates such as Didinium nasutum, Paramecium caudatum, and Blepharisma japonicum (Miyake et al. 2003, Europ. J. Protistol., 39:25,36). On the basis of its chemical structure, climacostol may be classified into the large group of natural compounds known as resorcinolic lipids, that show antimicrobial, antiparasitic, and antitumoral activities (Kozubek et al. 2003, Cell Moll. Biol. Lett., 6:351,355). To explore the possibility to use climacostol in medical applications, we examined the effects of chemically synthesized climacostol (Masaki et al. 2004, Tetrahedron, 60:7041,7048) on the growth and proliferation of tumoral and normal mammalian cell lines: (1) human promyelocytic leukaemia cells, HL60; (2) human squamous carcinoma cells, A431; and (3) non-tumoral cells derived from mice Leydig cells, TM3. It was observed that (1) a concentration of 10 ,g/ml of climacostol exerts a strong cytotoxic activity on all cell lines used; (2) at lower concentrations of 10 ng/ml and 1 ng/ml, the effect of climacostol is limited to the inhibition of the cell growth; and (3) the normal TM3 cells are more resistant to climacostol than the two tumoral HL60 and A431cell lines. The dose-dependent cytotoxic effects of climacostol encourage further investigation on the potential use of this ciliate toxin as an anti-cancer chemical. [source]