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Clinical Investigation |
1 Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; and 2 Department of Otolaryngology, Division of Head and Neck Cancer Research, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Richard L. Wahl, MD, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, 601 N. Caroline St., Room 3223A, Baltimore, MD 21287. E-mail: rwahl{at}jhmi.edu
| ABSTRACT |
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Key Words: Glut-1 HKII PET 3H-FDG chemotherapy
| INTRODUCTION |
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Doxorubicin (DOX) is an anthracycline commonly used in the treatment of lymphomas, breast carcinoma, and other solid tumors. DOX has been reported to cause cell death through several pathways, including intercalating nuclear DNA (1); increasing cytosolic levels of H2O2, a reactive oxygen species (2); and causing the breakdown of the outer mitochondrial membrane that leads to the release of cytochrome c and initiates the caspase cascade ultimately leading to apoptosis (3,4).
In contrast, 5-fluorouracil (5FU), which has been in clinical use as an antineoplastic agent for almost 50 years, functions primarily by its inhibition of thymidylate synthase (5). Thymidylate synthase catalyzes the reductive methylation of 2'-deoxyuridine 5-monophosphate to generate thymidylate, an essential precursor for DNA synthesis, and its inhibition results in the cessation of cellular proliferation and growth (6). Indeed, there exist data that suggest a link between overexpression of thymidylate synthase and induction of a neoplastic phenotype (7).
PET is playing an increasingly important role in diagnosis, staging, and follow-up in the oncologic patient (8). Although many tracers have been used with PET, 18F-FDG has consistently demonstrated its value as a general tracer for use with this modality and takes advantage of the hypermetabolic state of neoplastic cells relative to their benign counterparts (9). One aspect of this hypermetabolism is the increased expression of the insulin-independent glucose transporter-1 (Glut-1) (10,11) and the type 2 isoform hexokinase (HKII) (1214), which are important for the transport of glucose across the cell membrane and for the first step of glycolysis, respectively. In several carcinomas, their expression levels have been demonstrated to have prognostic significance (15).
18F-FDG PET is clearly of utility for monitoring the response of cancers to therapy (16). Because of the strong chemical and molecular changes induced in cells undergoing chemotherapy, we hypothesized that the typical relationship between 18F-FDG uptake and cell number seen in untreated cancer cells could be disrupted under these conditions. Zhou et al. have already demonstrated that several chemotherapeutic agents have a direct effect on the expression of Glut-1 and HKII (17). Additionally, a study has shown that 18F-FDG uptake is also affected by treatment (18). When combined, these findings, most notably those associated with 18F-FDG uptake, could be of significant importance to physicians in characterizing PET image findings in patients undergoing or having recently undergone chemotherapy.
Given the major roles played by Glut-1 and HKII in cellular metabolism, we sought to quantitatively determine their respective gene expression in a real-time environment in MCF-7 breast cancer cellsboth untreated and undergoing chemotherapy with 1 of 2 common therapies, DOX or 5FU. These data were then compared with viability, Glut-1 and HKII protein levels, and 3H-FDG uptake data from cells under the same conditions during and soon after chemotherapy.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Gene Expression
MCF-7 cells were grown in T75 flasks, one for each time point and condition, and brought to 35%40% confluence before treatment in the manner stated previously.
cDNA Preparation.
For each sample, the cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and given 1 mL of Buffer RLT (Qiagen, Inc.) with ß-mercaptoethanol added, as prescribed. The cells were scraped, collected, and frozen at 80°C until extracted for total RNA using an RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen). RNA was quantitated using a spectrophotometer, load-equalized to 5 µg per reaction, and converted to cDNA using a SuperScript first-strand synthesis kit (Invitrogen).
Real-Time Analysis.
We used a real-time sequence detection system (ABI Prism 7900HT; Applied Biosystems) that applies a 2-cycle polymerase chain reaction program in which denaturing is performed at 94°C and both annealing and extension are performed at 60°C; probes and primers (TaqMan; Applied Biosystems) are designed with this in mind. Glut-1 and HKII probes contained a 6FAM label and TAMRA quencher. The ß-actin probe used VIC and TAMRA. Reactions for each condition were performed separately, in triplicate, in a 384-well plate for 40 cycles. All treated/chemo data were analyzed using the Applied Biosystems SDS 2.1 software normalizing to ß-actin levels and given as a percentage of its corresponding untreated cells. Sequences for the TaqMan primers and probes used are outlined in Table 1.
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Western Blotting.
Twenty-five micrograms of protein were electrophoresed through either 8% or 10% Tris-glycine gels (Invitrogen) and electrophoretically transferred onto Immobilon-P (Millipore Corp.) membranes. After transfer, the membranes were subjected to standard blocking (KPL, Inc.) and incubation procedures and were incubated to the various proteins as follows: Glut-1 polyclonal, 1:1,000; HKII polyclonal, 1:8,000; and ß-actin monoclonal, 1:1,000 (Chemicon International). The membranes were washed 4 times for 10 min in PBS with polysorbate and then further incubated for 1 h at room temperature with horseradish peroxidaselabeled secondary antibody (donkey antirabbit or goat antimouse IgG) diluted 1:4,000 in blocking buffer. After three 10-min washes in PBS with Tween, the membranes were treated with Immobilon Western Chemiluminescent HRP Substrate (Millipore Corp.) for 3 min and then were exposed on x-ray film (Denville Scientific, Inc.) for the required times (1530 s) and developed. Densitometry was also performed on the digitized images.
3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-Diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) Assay
Concurrently with the uptake study, approximately 350,000 MCF-7 cells were seeded into 6-well plates, 3 for each time point, and allowed to attach overnight. After treatment with either DOX or 5FU as already described, cell viability was assessed with an MTT cell proliferation kit (Roche Diagnostics) and treated according to protocol. Readings were made daily on a plate-reading spectrophotometer at 580 nm (cells) and 750 nm (background), subtracted, and plotted against a standard curve of known numbers.
3H-FDG Uptake
Approximately 350,000 MCF-7 cells were seeded into 6-well plates, 3 wells for each time point and condition, and allowed to attach overnight. At time 0, the cells were given either fresh medium or chemotherapy as already described. One hour before the appropriate testing point, the cells were washed with PBS and given low-glucose (1.0 g/L) Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium. They were then given 7.4 MBq (0.2 mCi) of tritiated FDG (3H-FDG) in a volume of 3 mL of low-glucose medium for another hour. During each step, the cells were kept incubated at 37°C with 5% carbon dioxide. After this uptake phase, the medium containing the 3H-FDG was removed and the cells were washed twice with ice-cold PBS. The cells were trypsinized with 400 µL of 0.25% trypsin and, once the cells lifted, were lysed with 500 µL of NaOH (0.33 mol/L) containing 1% sodium dodecylsulfate. The contents were placed into scintillation vials, given 10 mL of scintillation fluid (Formula 989; Perkin-Elmer, Inc.), and counted in a ß-counter.
| RESULTS |
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Treated Cells.
The expression of mRNA for Glut-1 and HKII in DOX- and 5FU-treated MCF-7 cells, as well as MTT and 3H-FDG uptake data, are shown in Figures 4 and 5. With both DOX and 5FU treatments, the relative levels of Glut-1 mRNA to HKII mRNA were high during the 24 h in which the cells received treatment. After treatments, Glut-1 message levels become inversely proportional to 3H-FDG uptake with DOX and 5FU treatment, and the R2 values for these correlations were 0.68 and 0.36, respectively.
Statistical Analysis
Mean values for the expression of untreated and DOX- and 5FU-treated Glut-1 and HKII, and mean values obtained from the 3H-FDG uptake study, given as uptake per cell, were subjected to regression analysis for the 6 time points tested. Correlation coefficients were determined, and these results are shown in Figure 6.
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| DISCUSSION |
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For the duration of DOX exposure, Glut-1 mRNA levels increase by as much as 2.5 times over untreated levels and then return to a relatively normal range within 24 h after removal of the drug. However, the maximum effects of DOX on Glut-1 protein expression are not as dramatic at 24 h of exposure as is seen in the mRNA data, likely demonstrating the role of posttranslational alterations in the final protein expression. Indeed, Glut-1 protein appears diminished slightly after 24 h of DOX treatment. Conversely, HKII mRNA levels decrease throughout DOX exposure, and the same recovery effect is seen on its removal. Interestingly, the decrease in HKII seen in the mRNA data is also apparent in the protein data, particularly during the 24 h of DOX treatment.
It is at this 24-h time point that a phenomenon we describe as a "stunning" effect can be seen. In this phenomenon, the relationship between 3H-FDG uptake and viable cell number becomes disjointed after 24 h of treatment with DOX. 3H-FDG uptake becomes less than expected for the number of viable cells, despite the fact that in all other cases in untreated tumors this relationship has proven to be very consistent. With DOX treatment, this phenomenon is seen only at this time pointthe time point at which, despite increased Glut-1 mRNA levels, Glut-1 and HKII protein levels decline. Thus, DOX appears to be interfering with the successful translation of Glut-1 mRNA to Glut-1 protein, with a relevant decline in 3H-FDG uptake. After the maximum decrease of 3H-FDG uptake, observed at 24 h, the MCF-7 cells appear incapable of recovery.
5FU is an antineoplastic agent and works in a simpler manner, mainly through the inhibition of thymidylate synthase and, ultimately, of cell growth through inhibition of thymidylate, an essential precursor for DNA synthesis. Like DOX, 5FU also elevates Glut-1 mRNA, only the effects are longer lasting. The increase in Glut-1, particularly at later time points, is evident in the protein analysis. HKII mRNA levels increase after 1 h of treatment, and possibly another, milder, "stun" is observed at that time. The decrease in 3H-FDG uptake is not as pronounced as is that seen with DOX, and the cells are much better able to recover from this treatment under the conditions in which it was given. With the removal of 5FU, we see a steady increase in 3H-FDG uptake that is mirrored in the MTT data. The relationship between 5FU treatment and 3H-FDG uptake is less clear than that between DOX treatment and 3H-FDG uptake, suggesting that some cellular component other than Glut-1 or HKII plays a larger role in the accumulation of FDG-6-phosphate. Changes in mitochondrial HKII levels might be responsible, but this possibility was not evaluated in our study.
The MTT cell viability assay determines cellular levels of MTT, which produces the formazan that is used as an indicator of cellular metabolism. The presence of formazan indicates metabolic reduction, and the amount of formazan relates to the number of metabolic reducing equivalents produced, such as reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. Although metabolism is an indicator of cell viability, we believed it necessary to clarify our measurement approach. Of concern is the ability of succinate dehydrogenase, a necessary component of cellular metabolism, to act as an electron donor and therefore affect MTT results. Berridge (20) has shown that succinate contributes minimally to MTT reduction and that the terms metabolism and viability can be used synonymously.
Our Western blot analysis was performed using total protein lysates. At the molecular level there are other considerations, such as intracellular localization and compartmentation of Glut-1 and HKII, that one must take into account when addressing the metabolic roles of these proteins. Aloj et al. (21) addressed this notion for Glut-1 and HKII by analyzing lysates from both whole-cell extracts and isolated plasma membrane extracts. With chemotherapy, this type of study would provide more insight into the role of Glut-1, which is membranous. Additionally, obtaining fractionalized samples of mitochondria and mitochondrially attached proteins would help in the determination of HKII protein levels actively involved in glycolysis, as opposed to nascent, unattached HKII. This subcellular localization is a topic of interest and should be addressed in future work.
| CONCLUSION |
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