|
|
||||||||
Basic Science Investigation |
1 Department of Surgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana; 2 Department of Pediatrics, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; and 3 Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center and Veterans Administration Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Catherine T. Anthony, PhD, Department of Surgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 1542 Tulane Ave., New Orleans, LA 70112. E- mail: bombesin1{at}aol.com
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Key Words: somatostatin receptors gene expression tachyphylaxis binding
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Clinical observations suggest that desensitization of the target tumor tissue (tachyphylaxis) is occasionally a problem in patients using chronic octreotide therapy (57). In contrast, some nuclear medicine physicians have noted that chronic octreotide use enhances the efficiency of nuclear imaging with radiolabeled somatostatin analogs (8,9). Finally, some pharmacologists argue that octreotide treatment may have differing effects on sst subtype 2 (sst2) expression or binding depending on the length of treatment and the dose of octreotide (10).
Radiolabeled somatostatin analogs such as 111In-pentetreotide (OctreoScan; Mallinckrodt Medical) are widely used for diagnosis and more recently for targeted radiotherapy. 111In-Pentetreotide is formulated by conjugating 111In to the octreotidechelator (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) complex. This complex is used in low doses (222 MBq) for imaging and at high doses (6.722.2 GBq) for targeted radiotherapy (11).
Receptor-specific cytotoxicity (DNA damage) is produced by Auger electrons emitted from the 111In when it is internalized within the sst2-expressing cells. These Auger electrons have short radii of action; thus, 111In-containing analogs must be internalized to optimize their cytotoxic effects. Higher-energy 90Y- and 177Lu-labeled analogs with greater radii of action are also in therapeutic clinical trials (12,13). These high-energy radiolabeled analogs exert cytotoxic effects not only on the cell to which they bind but also for millimeters to centimeters around the source of radioactive emission, generating an "innocent bystander" effect. The advantage of these targeted radiotherapies is a high degree of specificity due to the high sst expression in neuroendocrine tumors and a relatively lower sst expression in most normal tissues.
If tachyphylaxis occurs in patients receiving long-term octreotide treatment, whether by frequent short-acting subcutaneous injection, by continuous subcutaneous pump delivery, or by monthly subcutaneous long-acting release, the efficacy of this therapy would be expected to decrease over time. Similarly, if receptor downregulation occurs at the gene expression level or inhibition of receptor recycling occurs at the cell membrane level, the efficacy of 111In-pentetreotide, when given at either diagnostic or therapeutic doses, would theoretically decrease in patients using chronic octreotide therapy. Assuming that chronic exposure to octreotide induces tachyphylaxis, we hypothesized that chronic exposure to octreotide would downregulate receptor binding and that this decrease in binding might be the result of sst downregulation at the gene level.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Scenario 1 attempted to model an untreated patient. Cells were not pretreated with octreotide and were subsequently exposed to either a low (diagnostic) or a high (therapeutic) dose of 111In-pentetreotide for binding studies. Untreated cells were harvested and frozen at 80°C for subsequent determination of the sst gene expression copy number by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Scenario 2 attempted to model a patient who is using multiple daily doses of subcutaneous octreotide and who stopped therapy for 48 h before exposure to either diagnostic or therapeutic doses of 111In-pentetreotide. The aqueous form of OA has a relatively short (90120 min) half-life in plasma. Scenario 2 was represented by cells treated with a moderate dose of octreotide (5 x 109 mol/L) for 2 wk, washed, allowed to recover in growth medium for 48 h, and then exposed to a low (diagnostic) or high (therapeutic) dose of 111In-pentetreotide. Paired cell cultures were exposed to octreotide at 1 x 108 or 1 x 1012 mol/L for 1 or 14 d and then frozen at 80°C for subsequent determination of the sst gene expression copy number by quantitative PCR.
Scenario 3 attempted to model a patient receiving chronic long-acting-release therapy. A long-acting-release dosage of 30 mg/mo provides an average plasma level of 5 nmol/L (14). Cells were exposed to octreotide at 5 x 109mol/L (5 nmol/L) for 2 wk and either were not washed (octreotide present during 111In-pentetreotide scanning or therapy) or were washed immediately before exposure to a low (diagnostic) or high (therapeutic) dose of 111In-pentetreotide for binding analysis (as an assay control). No additional cells were treated for subsequent analysis of sst gene expression copy number by quantitative PCR, because this step was done in scenario 2.
Cell Cultures
To test these hypotheses, we obtained IMR-32 human neuroblastoma cells, which have previously been shown to express sst2 (CCL-127; American Type Culture Collection) (7), and PANC-1 human pancreatic epithelial carcinoma cells, which do not express sst2 (CRL-1469; American Type Culture Collection) (15), and maintained them in culture at 37°C in humidified air with 5% CO2. IMR-32 cells were cultured in Eagle's minimum essential medium with Earle's salts (Gibco) and supplemented with nonessential amino acids, 15% fetal bovine serum (Gibco), and an antibioticantimycotic agent (Gibco). PANC-1 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Gibco) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum and antibioticantimycotic solution. Both cell lines were passaged once a week; PANC-1 cells were passaged with trypsin (0.25%) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (1 mmol/L), and IMR-32 cells were passaged without enzymatic digestion.
Treatment
For binding experiments, flasks of cells for each cell line were exposed to OA (Sandostatin, 5 nmol/L) for 2 wk or were left untreated as controls. The concentration of OA corresponded to the average plasma level obtained with a 30-mg dose of Sandostatin LAR OA, or a 0.5 mg/d infusion (14). The 3 scenarios required that cell treatment with OA be terminated at cell harvest or plating to set up multiwell plates for the binding experiments (2 d before addition of the radioactive ligand) (scenario 1) or terminated immediately before the addition of radioactive ligand for binding (scenario 2) or not terminated at all (scenario 3). Cells were harvested and counted, and the 3 groups of OA-treated cells were seeded into 6-well culture plates (Costar) at 5 x 104 cells per well. Untreated cells were also harvested and plated for binding experiments. Once the cells had been harvested and plated, cell treatment was terminated at the specified times. The cells in scenario 1 (the first plate) were washed and allowed to recover from the OA treatment for 48 h in growth medium before incubation with 111In-pentetreotide. The cells in scenario 2 (the second plate) were rinsed immediately before incubation with 111In-pentetreotide. For the cells in scenario 3 (the third plate), OA treatment (5 nmol/L) was continued during the incubation with 111In-pentetreotide (i.e., no termination). A fourth plate was seeded with cells that had not been pretreated with OA and served as the control.
Quantitative PCR was used to determine the effect of short- or long-term octreotide exposure on sst copy number. IMR-32 cells were exposed to OA for short (1 d) or long (2 wk) periods. Two concentrations of OA were used for each exposure period: 1 x 108 mol/L (high-dose octreotide exposure, equivalent to 60 mg of octreotide per month) and 1 x 1012 mol/L (low-dose octreotide exposure, equivalent to 100150 µg 3 times per day). Control cells were maintained in growth medium. Rinsed cells were harvested, frozen, and stored at 80°C before RNA extraction. Cells were maintained at logarithmic growth for the duration of this experiment.
Binding
The radioligand, 111In-pentetreotide, was prepared using a modification of the method used to prepare an 111In-pentetreotide kit (16). Specific activity for 111In-pentetreotide is approximately 1,720,833 GBq/mmol. For each cell line, sst binding (sst2) was estimated using 111In-pentetreotide at 2 concentrations to mimic conditions for either a diagnostic (222 MBq) or therapeutic (13.3 GBq) dose of the radiolabel. To calculate these levels, we estimated the volume of distribution of the radiolabeled drug using 15 L as an average distribution volume (17). The diagnostic dose (222 MBq) provided an 8.6 pmol/L concentration (14.8 kBq/mL; 630,000 cpm per well), whereas the therapeutic dose (equivalent to 13.3 GBq) provided a 510 pmol/L concentration (888 kBq; 3.78 x 107 cpm per well). OA (1 µmol/L) was added to 3 of the 6 wells per plate to assess nonspecific binding.
After 24 h of exposure to 111In-pentetreotide, the cells were washed with ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.5) and harvested, and cell-associated radioactivity was determined using a
-counter (Gamma 5500; Beckman). This value represents total specific binding. Internalized radioligand was estimated by release of surface-bound peptide with a brief acid wash (10 min with ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline, pH 4.0). Residual radioactivity associated with the cells (internalized) was again determined using a
-counter. Data were normalized to cellular protein using a Bradford assay (Sigma), and specific binding was expressed as cpm/µg of protein. ANOVA with Bonferroni corrections using combined data (2 experiments; n = 6) was performed for the control and 3 treatment groups for each dose of 111In-pentetreotide.
Gene Expression
The effect of short- and long-term OA treatment on expression of the somatostatin and sst subtypes 15 (sst1sst5) in IMR-32 cells was determined by quantitative PCR as we have previously described (18). Briefly, total RNA was isolated from IMR-32 cells and from the TT thyroid carcinoma cell line, which expresses high levels of both somatostatin and sst2 as well as the SKNSH neuroblastoma cell line transfected with sst1, as shown in Table 1. DNA contamination was removed with the RNeasy MiniKit (Qiagen Inc.). The RNA was then converted to complementary DNA (cDNA) using a reaction mixture of 2 µg of RNA, 200 units of SuperScript II RT (Invitrogen Co.), 500 nmol of dNTPs per liter, 133 ng of random hexamers, 2.5 mmol of MgCl2 per liter, 10 mmol of dithiothreitol per liter, 2 µL of 10x PCR buffer, and H2O to a final volume of 20 µL under the following conditions: 70°C for 10 min, 25°C for 10 min, 42°C for 50 min, and 70°C for 10 min. A reaction without reverse transcriptase was included as a check for genomic DNA contamination. This control is important to ensure that RNA, rather than genomic DNA, is being quantified for intronless genes such as sst1sst5 (19).
|
| RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
|
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
In this study, we have shown that sst2 gene expression is not upregulated in vitro by exposure of sst2-expressing cells to low- or high-dose octreotide therapy for up to 2 wk. In a similar fashion, chronic exposure of sst2-expressing cells to octreotide does not significantly alter the binding or internalization of the radiolabeled analog under any of the scenarios tested. This result may be tumor specific (IMR/neuroblastoma cell lines), and similar studies on other cell lines and biopsies of fresh human tumors must be evaluated before we can postulate that the lack of effect of octreotide on sst gene expression and binding is universal. However, this may be the first study that considers the effect of clinically relevant scenarios on the binding and gene expression of sst2 in neuroendocrine tumors.
Clinically, we have commonly recommended that patients receiving the long-acting-release form of octreotide be switched to the aqueous form of the drug (continuous infusion or multiple daily injections) for 3 mo before therapy. The data presented here suggest that those precautions may be optimal but may not be required in all patients. Binding in the presence of octreotide at a concentration of 5 nmol/L (no wash) was decreased by only 18% for the diagnostic dose and by 31% for the therapeutic dose. The current study also suggests that cessation of the aqueous octreotide for 48 h before a diagnostic scan or therapy with radiolabeled somatostatin analogs is not required.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Related articles in JNM:
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
D. A. Mankoff, J. M. Link, H. M. Linden, L. Sundararajan, and K. A. Krohn Tumor Receptor Imaging J. Nucl. Med., June 1, 2008; 49(Suppl_2): 149S - 163S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE TECHNOLOGY | THE JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE |