Oncopig bladder cancer cells recapitulate human bladder cancer treatment responses in vitro

Introduction

Bladder cancer is a common neoplasia of the urinary tract that holds the highest cost of lifelong treatment per patient, highlighting the need for a continuous search for new therapies for the disease. Current bladder cancer models are either imperfect in their ability to translate results to clinical practice (mouse models), or rare and not inducible (canine models). Swine models are an attractive alternative to model the disease due to their similarities with humans on several levels. The Oncopig Cancer Model has been shown to develop tumors that closely resemble human tumors. However, urothelial carcinoma has not yet been studied in this platform.

Methods

We aimed to develop novel Oncopig bladder cancer cell line (BCCL) and investigate whether these urothelial swine cells mimic human bladder cancer cell line (5637 and T24) treatment-responses to cisplatin, doxorubicin, and gemcitabine in vitro.

Results

Results demonstrated consistent treatment responses between Oncopig and human cells in most concentrations tested (p>0.05). Overall, Oncopig cells were more predictive of T24 than 5637 cell therapeutic responses. Microarray analysis also demonstrated similar alterations in expression of apoptotic (GADD45B and TP53INP1) and cytoskeleton-related genes (ZMYM6 and RND1) following gemcitabine exposure between 5637 (human) and Oncopig BCCL cells, indicating apoptosis may be triggered through similar signaling pathways. Molecular docking results indicated that swine and humans had similar Dg values between the chemotherapeutics and their target proteins.

Discussion

Taken together, these results suggest the Oncopig could be an attractive animal to model urothelial carcinoma due to similarities in in vitro therapeutic responses compared to human cells.

A novel biodegradable film based on κ-carrageenan activated with olive leaves extract

This research focused on the development of carrageenan based biodegradable films incorporated with olive leaves extract (OLE). OLE microbial inhibition and its total phenolics (TP) were evaluated. Carrageenan films were produced by casting technique and were characterized by thickness, water vapor permeability (WVP), color, mechanical properties, and infrared spectroscopy. In order to apply as lamb meat packaging, the antimicrobial effect of the films was investigated. Results showed that OLE inhibited E. coli growth and presented excellent TP (41.40 mgGAE/g). Thicknesses of the film with OLE (CAR-OLE) were approximately 28% higher than film without OLE. Addition of OLE reduced the WVP by approximately 54%. CAR-OLE was less resistant to breakage and more flexible showing darker color. FTIR showed interaction of carrageenan with OLE. Results revealed that CAR-OLE promoted 167-fold reduction in initial count of aerobic mesophiles indicating shelf-life extension of lamb meat and promising use as antimicrobial food packaging.

Aliphatic fatty acids and esters: inhibition of growth and exoenzyme production of Candida, and their cytotoxicity in vitro: anti-Candida effect and cytotoxicity of fatty acids and esters

The secretion of extracellular phospholipases and proteinases of Candida has been described as a relevant virulence factor in human infections. Aliphatic fatty acids have antimicrobial properties, but the mechanism by which they affect the virulence factors of microorganisms, such as Candida, is still unclear, and there are a few reports about their toxicity. The current study investigated the in vitro antifungal activity, exoenzyme production and cytotoxicity of some aliphatic fatty acids and their ester derivatives against the Candida species. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentrations of aliphatic medium-chain fatty acids, methyl and ethyl esters were performed using the CLSI M27-A3 method and the cytotoxicity assay was performed according to ISO 10993-5. The influence of these compounds in the inhibition of the production of hydrolytic enzymes, phospholipases and proteinases by Candida was also investigated. Data analysis was performed using the one-way ANOVA method (p≤0.05). In relation to the MIC against Candida species, the fatty acid with the best result was Lauric acid, although its ester derivatives showed no activity. The inhibition of phospholipase production was more significant than the inhibition of proteinase production by Candida. Tested fatty acids revealed more than 80% cell viability in their MIC concentrations. Additionally, a cell viability of 100% was reported at concentrations of anti-enzymatic effect. Therefore, the potential use of these fatty acids could be the basis for more antimicrobial tests.

Anti-Candida, anti-enzyme activity and cytotoxicity of 3,5-diaryl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carboximidamides

Because of the need for more effective and less harmful antifungal therapies, and interest in the synthesis of new carboximidamides, the goal of this study was to determine the antifungal and anti-enzyme activities of some new pyrazole carboximidamides and their cytotoxicity. For this purpose, tests were performed to evaluate: minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC); production of proteinases and phospholipase, and cytotoxicity of the extracts. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey Tests (α = 5%). The results were: MIC and MFC ≥ 62.5 μg/mL (C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. famata, C. glabrata, and Rhodotorula mucillaginosa) and MIC and MFC ≥ 15.6 μg/mL (C. lipolytica). The values of proteinase and phospholipase (Pz) of C. albicans before and after exposure to the compounds were: 0.6 (±0.024) and 0.2 (±0.022) and 0.9 (±0.074) and 0.3 (±0.04), respectively. These proteinase results were not significant (p = 0.69), but those of phospholipase were (p = 0.01), and 15.6 μg/mL was the most effective concentration. The cytotoxicity means were similar among the tests (p = 0.32). These compounds could be useful as templates for further development through modification or derivatization to design more potent antifungal agents. Data from this study provide evidence that these new pyrazole formulations could be an alternative source for the treatment of fungal infections caused by Candida. However, a specific study on the safety and efficacy of these in vivo and clinical trials is still needed, in order to evaluate the practical relevance of the in vitro results.

Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of aliphatic acid esters at room temperature

This work describes the ultrasound-assisted synthesis of saturated aliphatic esters from synthetic aliphatic acids and either methanol or ethanol. The products were isolated in good yields after short reaction times under mild conditions.