Name: evaluating the role of mitochondrial function in cancer-related fatigue
Uploaded: 2018-05-17T12:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Evaluating the Role of Mitochondrial Function in Cancer-related Fatigue at JoVE.com

This study is fully supported by the Division of Intramural Research of the National Institute of Nursing Research of the NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.

The current study (NCT00852111) was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland. Participants enrolled in this study were euthymic men, 18 years of age or older, who were diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer with or without prior prostatectomy and were scheduled to receive external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Potential participants were excluded if they had a progressive disease that could cause significant fatigue, had psychiatric disease wi...

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Fatigue in cancer patients is a debilitating condition that is not well defined or characterized1. Diagnosis of fatigue entirely relies on subjective reporting and there is no current diagnostic standard or treatment for this condition, largely due to a lack of understanding in its pathobiology2. Of the proposed mechanisms underlying fatigue in cancer patients, impairment in mitochondrial function is one of the most therapeutically targetable pathways. Therefore, we develop...

Fatigue is a prevalent and distressing condition that has a negative impact on the quality of life of cancer patients1. To this date, cancer fatigue remains poorly defined and relies only on subjective reporting by patients2. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify an easily adaptable diagnostic laboratory test to objectively characterize fatigue in the clinical setting3,4.
Multiple underlying mechanisms, including mitochondria dysfunction, have been proposed to cause fatigue5. Mitochondria are the powerhouse organelles, providing 95% of cellular energy needs via oxidative phosphorylation, and play an important role in calcium signaling, apoptosis, immune signaling, and regulation of other intracellular signaling events6. Accordingly, impaired mitochondrial bioenergetics and defects in energy production may contribute to fatigue. Supporting this hypothesis, previous studies have observed mutations in mitochondrial DNA in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome7. While it remains unclear whether the pathophysiological origin of fatigue lies within the central nervous system or peripheral tissues, such as skeletal muscles8,9, there is currently no direct method to accurately assess mitochondrial dysfunction related to fatigue in live, respiring cells.
Using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to study mitochondrial function offers several advantages. First, PBMCs are readily available in the clinical setting using standard phlebotomy and can be isolated quickly using basic laboratory techniques. Second, blood collection is less invasive than collecting other tissues such as a muscle biopsy. Thus, blood samples can be collected from the same patient repeatedly over time, which facilitates longitudinal assessment of treatment effects. Interestingly, mitochondrial function in PBMCs appeared to be well correlated with kidney mitochondrial status in an animal model10. Furthermore, immune cell mitochondria have been used as a proxy for detecting systemic changes under different disease conditions11,12. Mitochondria in circulating immune cells are particularly sensitive to changes in immune functions and immune signaling molecules such as cytokines13,14,15. For example, it has been observed that PBMCs from patients with acute rheumatic inflammatory diseases exhibit high baseline oxygen consumption14. In contrast, oxygen consumption was reduced in PBMCs isolated from patients with systemic inflammatory conditions including sepsis16. Under inflammatory conditions, free radicals produced by dysfunctional mitochondria may further contribute to elevated oxidative stress and prolonged inflammation17. The central role of mitochondria in energy production as well as in oxidative stress suggests the potential utility of using mitochondrial function as a proxy for studying fatigue in cancer patients 13.
Previous studies examining mitochondrial function utilized biochemical techniques, mitochondrial membrane potential measurement, or isolation of specific cell populations that may not be readily adaptable in the clinical setting5,14,18. In recent years, the development of extracellular flux assays has allowed researchers to easily and accurately examine changes in oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in response to automated injections of respiratory inhibitors19,20,21,22. However, most of these studies are designed for specific cell types and the large high-throughput format may not be applicable in a clinical setting. In this manuscript, we describe an optimized protocol for examining mitochondrial function for clinical use.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:876px;" width="875">
	<colgroup>
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
	</colgroup>
	<tbody>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:331px;">CPT Mononuclear Cells Preparation Tube&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">BD Biosciences</td>
			<td style="width:165px;">362761</td>
			<td style="width:257px;">For isolating PBMCs following phlebotomy</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">RPMI-1640&#160;</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>10-040</td>
			<td>For making growth media for PBMCs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">Fetal bovine serum (FBS)</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>35-010-CV</td>
			<td>For making growth media for PBMCs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">Penicillin/Streptomycin</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>15140122</td>
			<td>For making growth media for PBMCs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">Cell-Tak</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>354240</td>
			<td>Cell and Tissue adhesive solution; allows suspension cells to adhere to the surface</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">Seahorse XF Calibrant Solution</td>
			<td>Agilent</td>
			<td>103059-000</td>
			<td>For hydrating cartridges</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">XFp Fluxpak (miniplates and sensor cartridges)</td>
			<td>Agilent</td>
			<td>103022-100</td>
			<td>Contains XFp cell culture miniplates and sensor cartridges</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">XF base media</td>
			<td>Agilent</td>
			<td>103335-100</td>
			<td>For making XF assay media</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">45% cell culture D-(+)-Glucose solution</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>25-037-CI</td>
			<td>For making XF assay media</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">Sodium pyruvate solution</td>
			<td>Corning&#160;</td>
			<td>25-000-CI</td>
			<td>For making XF assay media</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">L-glutamine solution</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>25030081</td>
			<td>For making XF assay media</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">Seahorse XFp Mito Stress Test Kit</td>
			<td>Agilent</td>
			<td>103010-100</td>
			<td>Contains oligomycin, FCCP, antimycin A/rotenone</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">CyQUANT Direct Cell Proliferation Assay</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>C35011</td>
			<td>For quantification of live cells and data normalization</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">Seahorse XFp Analyzer</td>
			<td>Agilent</td>
			<td>S7802AEA</td>
			<td>For measuring mitochondrial function in live cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;">Cytation 5 Cell Imaging Multi-Mode Reader (or any instrument that can quantify fluorescent cells in a plate)</td>
			<td>BioTek</td>
			<td>BTCYT5PV</td>
			<td>For quantification of live cells and data normalization</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

evaluating the role of mitochondrial function in cancer-related fatigue

Fatigue is a common and debilitating condition that affects most cancer patients. To date, fatigue remains poorly characterized with no diagnostic test to objectively measure the severity of this condition. Here we describe an optimized method for assessing mitochondrial function of PBMCs collected from fatigued cancer patients. Using a compact extracellular flux system and sequential injection of respiratory inhibitors, we examined PBMC mitochondrial functional status by measuring basal mitochondrial respiration, spare respiratory capacity, and energy phenotype, which describes the preferred energy pathway to respond to stress. Fresh PBMCs are readily available in the clinical setting using standard phlebotomy. The entire assay described in this protocol can be completed in less than 4 hours without the involvement of complex biochemical techniques. Additionally, we describe a normalization method that is necessary for obtaining reproducible data. The simple procedure and normalization methods presented allow for repeated sample collection from the same patient and generation of reproducible data that can be compared between time points to evaluate potential treatment effects.

The Mito Stress Test relies on measuring oxygen consumption rate (OCR) after sequential injection of various respiratory inhibitors to map a complete mitochondrial profile. OCR measurements after each drug injection can be used to calculate the following parameters related to mitochondrial health: Basal OCR is first measured before any drug injection to assess oxygen consumption needed to meet resting level ATP demand. Basal respiration is calculated by subtracting non-mi...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Evaluating the Role of Mitochondrial Function in Cancer-related Fatigue at JoVE.com

Evaluating the Role of Mitochondrial Function in Cancer-related Fatigue

Our goal was to develop a practical protocol to evaluate mitochondrial dysfunction associated with fatigue in cancer patients. This innovative protocol is optimized for clinical use involving only standard phlebotomy and basic laboratory procedures.

Fatigue is a common and debilitating condition that affects most cancer patients. To date, fatigue remains poorly characterized with no diagnostic test to ...

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