microtubule-plus-end-dynamics-visualization-huntington-s-disease

Microtubule Plus-End Dynamics Visualization in Huntington's Disease Model based on Human Primary Skin Fibroblasts

Transfection with a fluorescently labeled marker protein of interest in combination with time-lapse video microscopy is a classic method of studying the ...

Lomonosov Moscow State University

A novel approach to the synthesis of pH-sensitive prodrugs has been proposed: thiourea drug modification. Resulting prodrugs can release the cytotoxic agent and the biologically active 2-thiohydantoin in the acidic environment of tumor cells. The concept of acid-catalyzed cyclization of thioureas to 2-thiohydantoins has been proven using a FRET model. Dual prodrugs of model azidothymidine, cytotoxic doxorubicin, and 2-thiohydantoin albutoin were obtained, which release the corresponding drugs in the acidic environment. The resulting doxorubicin prodrug was tested on prostate cancer cells and showed that the thiourea-modified prodrug is less cytotoxic (average IC50 ranging from 0.5584 to 0.9885 μM) than doxorubicin (IC50 ranging from 0.01258 to 0.02559 μM) in neutral pH 7.6 and has similar toxicity (average IC50 ranging from 0.4970 to 0.7994 μM) to doxorubicin (IC50 ranging from 0.2303 to 0.8110 μM) under mildly acidic conditions of cancer cells. Cellular and nuclear accumulation in PC3 tumor cells of Dox prodrug is much higher than accumulation of free doxorubicin.

Thiourea Modified Doxorubicin: A Perspective pH-Sensitive Prodrug.

We have shown previously that two cytoplasmic actin isoforms play different roles in neoplastic cell transformation. Namely, β-cytoplasmic actin acts as a tumor suppressor, whereas γ-cytoplasmic actin enhances malignant features of tumor cells. The distinct participation of each cytoplasmic actin in the cell cycle driving was also observed. The goal of this study was to describe the diverse roles of cytoplasmic actins in the progression of chromosomal instability of MDA-MB-231 basal-like human carcinoma cell line. We performed traditional methods of chromosome visualization, as well as 3D-IF microscopy and western blotting for CENP-A detection/quantification, to investigate chromosome morphology. Downregulation of cytoplasmic actin isoforms alters the phenotype and karyotype of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Moreover, β-actin depletion leads to the progression of chromosomal instability with endoreduplication and aneuploidy increase. On the contrary, γ-actin downregulation results not only in reduced percentage of mitotic carcinoma cells, but leads to chromosome stability, reduced polyploidy, and aneuploidy.

Impaired Expression of Cytoplasmic Actins Leads to Chromosomal Instability of MDA-MB-231 Basal-Like Mammary Gland Cancer Cell Line.

One of the main factors associated with worse prognosis in oncology is metastasis, which is based on the ability of tumor cells to migrate from the primary source and to form secondary tumors. The search for new strategies to control migration of metastatic cells is one of the urgent issues in biomedicine. One of the strategies to stop spread of cancer cells could be regulation of the nuclear elasticity. Nucleus, as the biggest and stiffest cellular compartment, determines mechanical properties of the cell as a whole, and, hence, could prevent cell migration through the three-dimensional extracellular matrix. Nuclear rigidity is maintained by the nuclear lamina, two-dimensional network of intermediate filaments in the inner nuclear membrane (INM). Here we present the most significant factors defining nucleus rigidity, discuss the role of nuclear envelope composition in the cell migration, as well consider possible approaches to control lamina composition in order to change plasticity of the cell nucleus and ability of the tumor cells to metastasize.

Svetlana Lavrushkina

A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology,
Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Microtubule Plus-End Dynamics Visualization in Huntington's Disease Model based on Human Primary Skin Fibroblasts

Svetlana Lavrushkina

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology,Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Microtubule Plus-End Dynamics Visualization in Huntington's Disease Model based on Human Primary Skin Fibroblasts

A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology,
Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics