Singlet Oxygen-induced Activation of Akt/Protein Kinase B is Independent of Growth Factor Receptors¶

Hypoxia-triggered singlet oxygen and nitrogen mustard release towards a synergistic therapeutic action

We report an endoperoxide and nitrogen mustard conjugate (Pyd-endo) as a prodrug that can release cytotoxic singlet oxygen and aromatic nitrogen mustard under hypoxic conditions. Cell culture experiments demonstrated the hypoxia-responsiveness of the prodrug and its ability to kill and inhibit the migration and proliferation of various types of cancer cells. Studies using tumor-bearing mice and a liposomal formulation demonstrated its anticancer utility in vivo. Our design not only addresses the challenges of tumor hypoxia and limited light penetration issues of PDT but also presents the power of the combined cytotoxic action of singlet oxygen and a chemotherapy agent.

Cellular Stresses and Stress Responses in the Pathogenesis of Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance (IR), a key component of the metabolic syndrome, precedes the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Its etiological pathways are not well defined, although many contributory mechanisms have been established. This article summarizes such mechanisms into the hypothesis that factors like nutrient overload, physical inactivity, hypoxia, psychological stress, and environmental pollutants induce a network of cellular stresses, stress responses, and stress response dysregulations that jointly inhibit insulin signaling in insulin target cells including endothelial cells, hepatocytes, myocytes, hypothalamic neurons, and adipocytes. The insulin resistance-inducing cellular stresses include oxidative, nitrosative, carbonyl/electrophilic, genotoxic, and endoplasmic reticulum stresses; the stress responses include the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, the DNA damage response, the unfolded protein response, apoptosis, inflammasome activation, and pyroptosis, while the dysregulated responses include the heat shock response, autophagy, and nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 signaling. Insulin target cells also produce metabolites that exacerbate cellular stress generation both locally and systemically, partly through recruitment and activation of myeloid cells which sustain a state of chronic inflammation. Thus, insulin resistance may be prevented or attenuated by multiple approaches targeting the different cellular stresses and stress responses.

Multiple Components of Photodynamic Therapy Can Phosphorylate Akt?

A growing number of clinically relevant molecular and cellular responses are observed following photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT-mediated oxidative stress and PDT-induced tissue hypoxia can elicit the transcriptional and/or translational expression of genes associated with cellular stress, inflammation, angiogenesis, immuno-modulation, apoptosis and signal transduction. One of the signaling molecules activated by oxidative stress is Akt/protein kinase B. Phosphorylation of Akt/protein kinase B activates this signaling molecule and induces a survival response in effected cells and tissue. We hypothesized that PDT using Photofrin (PH) as the photosensitizer could also induce increased levels of Akt phosphorylation. Results from our initial set of experiments demonstrated that in vitro and in vivo PDT treatments induced Akt phosphorylation. Interestingly, incubation of mouse and human breast cancer cells with the porphyrin-based photosensitizer, PH, increased the expression of Akt phosphorylation in the absence of light. Exposure of the corresponding mouse and human-derived breast cancer tumors growing in mice to 630 nm light in the absence of PH administration also induced Akt phosphorylation. These results demonstrate that individual components of the PDT process, photosensitizer alone and light alone, as well as the complete PDT procedure can activate the Akt signaling pathway.