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Bioconjugates containing the GnRH-III hormone decapeptide as a targeting moiety are able to deliver chemotherapeutic agents specifically to cancer cells expressing GnRH receptors, thereby increasing their local efficacy while limiting the peripheral toxicity. However, the number of GnRH receptors on cancer cells is limited and they desensitize under continuous hormone treatment. A possible approach to increase the receptor mediated tumor targeting and consequently the cytostatic effect of the bioconjugates would be the attachment of more than one chemotherapeutic agent to one GnRH-III molecule. Here we report on the design, synthesis and biochemical characterization of multifunctional bioconjugates containing GnRH-III as a targeting moiety and daunorubicin as a chemotherapeutic agent. Two different drug design approaches were pursued. The first one was based on the bifunctional [4Lys]-GnRH-III (Glp-His-Trp-Lys-His-Asp-Trp-Lys-Pro-Gly-NH2) containing two lysine residues in positions 4 and 8, whose ϵ-amino groups were used for the coupling of daunorubicin. In the second drug design, the native GnRH-III (Glp-His-Trp-Ser-His-Asp-Trp-Lys-Pro-Gly-NH2) was used as a scaffold; an additional lysine residue was coupled to the ϵ-amino group of 8Lys in order to generate two free amino groups available for conjugation of daunorubicin. The in vitro stability/degradation of all synthesized compounds was investigated in human serum, as well as in the presence of rat liver lysosomal homogenate. Their cellular uptake was determined on human breast cancer cells and the cytostatic effect was evaluated on human breast, colon and prostate cancer cell lines. Compared with a monofunctional compound, both drug design approaches resulted in multifunctional bioconjugates with increased cytostatic effect.
The metabolic activity of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells was observed using a light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS). The dependency toward different glucose concentrations (17–200 mM) follows a Michaelis–Menten kinetics trajectory with Kₘ = 32.8 mM, and the obtained Kₘ value in this experiment was compared with that found in literature. In addition, the pH shift induced by glucose metabolism of tumor cells transfected with the HPV-16 genome (C3 cells) was successfully observed. These results indicate the possibility to determine the tumor cells metabolism with a LAPS-based measurement device.
Persistent infection with the high-risk Human Papillomavirus type 16 (HPV 16) is the causative event for the development of cervical cancer and other malignant tumors of the anogenital tract and of the head and neck. Despite many attempts to develop therapeutic vaccines no candidate has entered late clinical trials. An interesting approach is a DNA based vaccine encompassing the nucleotide sequence of the E6 and E7 viral oncoproteins. Because both proteins are consistently expressed in HPV infected cells they represent excellent targets for immune therapy. Here we report the development of 8 DNA vaccine candidates consisting of differently rearranged HPV-16 E6 and E7 sequences within one molecule providing all naturally occurring epitopes but supposedly lacking transforming activity. The HPV sequences were fused to the J-domain and the SV40 enhancer in order to increase immune responses. We demonstrate that one out of the 8 vaccine candidates induces very strong cellular E6- and E7- specific cellular immune responses in mice and, as shown in regression experiments, efficiently controls growth of HPV 16 positive syngeneic tumors. This data demonstrates the potential of this vaccine candidate to control persistent HPV 16 infection that may lead to malignant disease. It also suggests that different sequence rearrangements influence the immunogenecity by an as yet unknown mechanism.
Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (hrHPV) can result in the formation of anogenital cancers. As hrHPV proteins E6 and E7 are required for cancer initiation and maintenance, they are ideal targets for immunotherapeutic interventions. Previously, we have described the development of DNA vaccines for the induction of HPV16 E6 and E7 specific T cell immunity. These vaccines consist of ‘gene-shuffled’ (SH) versions of HPV16 E6 and E7 that were fused to Tetanus Toxin Fragment C domain 1 (TTFC) and were named TTFC-E6SH and TTFC-E7SH. Gene-shuffling was performed to avoid the risk of inducing malignant transformation at the vaccination site. Here, we describe the preclinical safety evaluation of these candidate vaccines by analysis of their transforming capacity in vitro using established murine fibroblasts (NIH 3T3 cells) and primary human foreskin keratinocytes (HFKs). We demonstrate that neither ectopic expression of TTFC-E6SH and TTFC-E7SH alone or in combination enabled NIH 3T3 cells to form colonies in soft agar. In contrast, expression of HPV16 E6WT and E7WT alone or in combination resulted in effective transformation. Similarly, retroviral transduction of HFKs from three independent donors with both TTFC-E6SH and TTFC-E7SH alone or in combination did not show any signs of immortalization. In contrast, the combined expression of E6WT and E7WT induced immortalization in HFKs from all donors. Based on these results we consider it justified to proceed to clinical evaluation of DNA vaccines encoding TTFC-E6SH and TTFC-E7SH in patients with HPV16 associated (pre)malignancies.
Chelate stabilization of a titanium(IV)–salan alkoxide by ligand exchange with 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (dipic) resulted in heptacoordinate complex 3 which is not redox-active, stable on silica gel and has increased aqueous stability. 3 is highly toxic in HeLa S3 and Hep G2 and has enhanced antitumor efficacy in a mouse cervical-cancer model.
"Biologie trifft Mikroelektronik", das Motto des Instituts für Nano- und Biotechnologien (INB) an der FH Aachen, unterstreicht die zunehmende Bedeutung interdisziplinär geprägter Forschungsaktivitäten. Der thematische Zusammenschluss grundständiger Disziplinen, wie die Physik, Elektrotechnik, Chemie, Biologie sowie die Materialwissenschaften, lässt neue Forschungsgebiete entstehen, ein herausragendes Beispiel hierfür ist die Nanotechnologie: Hier werden neue Werkstoffe und Materialien entwickelt, einzelne Nanopartikel oder Moleküle und deren Wechselwirkung untersucht oder Schichtstrukturen im Nanometerbereich aufgebaut, die neue und vorher nicht bekannte Eigenschaften hervorbringen.
Vor diesem Hintergrund bündelt das im Jahre 2006 gegründete INB die an der FH Aachen vorhandenen Kompetenzen von derzeit insgesamt sieben Laboratorien auf den Gebieten der Halbleitertechnik und Nanoelektronik, Nanostrukturen und DNA-Sensorik, der Chemo- und Biosensorik, der Enzymtechnologie, der Mikrobiologie und Pflanzenbiotechnologie, der Zellkulturtechnik, sowie der Roten Biotechnologie synergetisch. In der Nano- und Biotechnologie steckt außergewöhnliches Potenzial! Nicht zuletzt deshalb stellen sich die Forscher der Herausforderung, in diesem Bereich gemeinsam zu forschen und Schnittstellen zu nutzen, um so bei der Gestaltung neuartiger Ideen und Produkte mitzuwirken, die zukünftig unser alltägliches Leben verändern werden.
Im Folgenden werden die verschiedenen Forschungsbereiche kurz zusammenfassend vorgestellt und vorhandene Interaktionen anhand von exemplarisch ausgewählten, aktuellen Forschungsprojekten skizziert.