Bhattacharya, Santanu

Abstract Cancer is a public health crisis affecting approximately 19.3 million globally, annually. Lung cancer has the highest percentage of incidence and is responsible for 27% of cancer-related deaths. The prevalence of lung cancer worldwide led us to investigate differential gene expression in lung adenocarcinoma and small cell lung cancer cell lines in comparison to a healthy lung cell line. We also investigated the effect of lung tumor microenvironment to bone marrow derived pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells (PMSC) and tumor associated macrophages. This research involved cancer and healthy cell line culture with appropriate medium. Whole transcriptomic and small non-coding RNA sequencing and analysis by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (Qiagen, USA), Quantitative RT-PCR and ELISA assays. We further studied morphological changes and differential gene expression in extracellular vesicles(exosomes) isolated from the TAM and TME exposed PMCs by atomic force microscopy and RNA sequencing techniques. The results of our investigation showed differential gene expression and novel core canonical pathways in the lung cancer cells, TME exposed TAM, and PMSC. We also observed morphological changes in TME derived exosomes from TAM and PMSC. RNA sequencing results showed differential gene expression of both coding and non-coding RNAs including tRNA fragments. Thus, our findings of this investigation led to identification of multiple cancer related genes and small non-coding microRNA, long non-coding RNA, and tRNA fragments which will have potential diagnostic and therapeutic target value that demands further future research. Acknowledgement: This research is supported by a grant from US NIH-NIGMS- 5T34GM100831-08 and US-NIH Grant# U 54 MD007597-31-5959. Citation Format: Hirendra N. Banerjee, Joseph Hedley, Cheslsey Aurelus, Narendra Banerjee, Kuldeep Rawat, Quentin Reaves, Shennel Brown, Darla Gilmartin, Makieyah Liverman, Jazmine Cuffee, Elizabeth Cagle, Erik Armstrong, Brent Lake, Santosh Mandal, Somiranjan Ghosh, Stephen Beebe, Kamal Asadipour, Christopher Krauss, Santanu Bhattacharya, Tanmay Kulkarni, Zahidur Abedin. An investigation to study differential gene expression of lung cancer cells, tumor associated macrophages, and bone marrow derived mesenchymal stems cells in the tumor microenvironment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 5477.

Abstract The goal of this project is to develop a unique pancreatic cancer treatment platform where, X-ray excited Targeted-Gold nanoparticles (T-GNPs) trigger and enhance drug action (I-RaGAZ, Integrated radiation combined with T-GNP and 2-Azido-2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-AZ-2-DG)). Herein, we plan to utilize a novel three stage nanotechnology-chemoradiation combinatorial approach for enhancing catastrophic cell death in pancreatic tumors and reducing normal tissue toxicity. T-GNP has cytotoxic effect at tumor site and can specifically sensitize tumor tissue for radiation. In this work, we used our GNP-based pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) -specific drug delivery platform using a plectin-1-targeting peptide (PTP) (patent: US2018/0333432 A1) to demonstrate the cytotoxicity of the nanocomplex in vitro. In PANC-1 cancer cell model, using traditional gold-standard clonogenic assay, we show 2-AZ-2-DG has radiation-mediated cytotoxicity which is further augmented by T-GNP. These results align with our hypothesis and the electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy electron-induced aminyl radical production data presented here. This radiation-produced auger electrons from T-GNP likely increased formation of RNH• which result in enhanced cell kill. This via H-atom abstraction reactions that might cause DNA-strand breaks and/or crosslink formation leading to lesions that could induce apoptosis of cancer cells. This nanotool paraphrased as I-RaGAZ, Integrated radiation induced T-GNP - 2-AZ-2-DG anti-tumor action, will be very useful for treating deep-seated tumors with minimum collateral damage. This approach, integrated radiation-mediated azido tumor cure (I-RaGAZ), has vast global cancer treatment potential considering the dual mode of damaging the tumor tissues and protecting the normal tissues/organs. Citation Format: Rao V. Papineni, Amitava Adhikary, Santanu Bhattacharya. Towards targeted-gold nanoparticle enhanced chemoradiation therapy of pancreatic cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 219.

Abstract BackgroundEfficacy of targeted drug delivery using nanoparticles relies on several factors including the uptake mechanisms such as phagocytosis, macropinocytosis, micropinocytosis and receptor mediated endocytosis. These mechanisms have been studied with respect to the alteration in signaling mechanisms, cellular morphology, and linear nanomechanical properties (NMPs). Commonly employed classical contact mechanics models to address cellular NMPs fail to address mesh like structure consisting of bilayer lipids and proteins of cell membrane. To overcome this technical challenge, we employed poroelastic model which accounts for the biphasic nature of cells including their porous behavior exhibiting both solid like (fluid storage) and liquid like (fluid dissipate) behavior ResultsIn this study, we employed atomic force microscopy to monitor the influence of surface engineering of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) to the alteration of nonlinear NMPs such as drained Poisson’s ratio, effective shear stress, diffusion constant and pore dimensions of cell membranes during their uptake. Herein, we used pancreatic cancer (PDAC) cell lines including Panc1, AsPC-1 and endothelial cell HUVECs to understand the receptor-dependent and -independent endocytosis of two different GNPs derived using plectin-1 targeting peptide (PTP-GNP) and corresponding scrambled peptide (sPEP-GNP). Compared to untreated cells, in case of receptor dependent endocytosis of PTP-GNPs diffusion coefficient altered ~1264-fold and ~1530-fold and pore size altered ~320-fold and ~260-fold in Panc1 and AsPC-1 cells respectively. Whereas for receptor independent mechanisms, we observed modest alteration in diffusion coefficient and pore size, in these cells compared to untreated cells. Effective shear stress corresponding to 7.38±0.15 kPa and 20.49±0.39 kPa in PTP-GNP treatment in Panc1 and AsPC-1, respectively was significantly more than that for sPEP-GNP. These results demonstrate that with temporal recruitment of plectin-1 during receptor mediated endocytosis affects the poroelastic attributes of the membrane. ConclusionThis study confirms that nonlinear NMPs of cell membrane are directly associated with the uptake mechanism of nanoparticles and can provide promising insights of the nature of endocytosis mechanism involved for organ specific drug delivery using nanoparticles. Hence, nanomechanical analysis of cell membrane es using this noninvasive, label-free and live-cell analytical tool can therefore be instrumental to evaluate therapeutic benefit of nanoformulations.

Hydrophobic drugs are grafted to polyelectrolytes to produce nanoparticles that deliver and release drugs in cells.

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly desmoplastic cancer with limited treatment options. There is an urgent need for tools that monitor therapeutic responses in real time. Drugs such as gemcitabine and irinotecan elicit their therapeutic effect in cancer cells by producing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). In this study, specific DNA-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), which precisely monitor H2O2, were used to determine the therapeutic response of PDAC cells in vitro and tumors in vivo. Drug therapeutic efficacy was evaluated in vitro by monitoring H2O2 differences in situ using reversible alteration of Raman G-bands from the nanotubes. Implantation of the DNA–SWCNT probe inside the PDAC tumor resulted in approximately 50% reduction of Raman G-band intensity when treated with gemcitabine versus the pretreated tumor; the Raman G-band intensity reversed to its pretreatment level upon treatment withdrawal. In summary, using highly specific and sensitive DNA-SWCNT nanosensors, which can determine dynamic alteration of hydrogen peroxide in tumor, can evaluate the effectiveness of chemotherapeutics. Significance: A novel biosensor is used to detect intratumoral hydrogen peroxide, allowing real-time monitoring of responses to chemotherapeutic drugs.

ABSTRACT Aggregated amyloid β (Aβ) peptides in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain are hypothesized to trigger several downstream pathologies, including cerebrovascular dysfunction. Previous studies have shown that Aβ peptides can have antiangiogenic properties, which may contribute to vascular dysfunction in the early stages of the disease process. We have generated data showing that brain endothelial cells (ECs) exposed to toxic Aβ1‐42 oligomers can readily enter a senescence phenotype. To determine the effect of Aβ oligomers on brain ECs, we treated early passaged human brain microvascular ECs and HUVECs with high MW Aβ1‐42 oligomers (5 µM, for 72 h). For controls, we used no peptide treatment, 5 µM Aβ1‐42 monomers, and 5 µM Aβ1‐42 fibrils, respectively. Brain ECs treated with Aβ1‐42 oligomers showed increased senescence‐associated β‐galactosidase staining and increased senescence‐associated p21/ p53 expression. Treatment with either Aβ1‐42 monomer or Aβ1‐42 fibrils did not induce senescence in this assay. We then measured vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) expression in the Aβ1‐42 oligomer‐treated ECs, and these cells showed significantly increased VEGFR‐1 expression and decreased VEGFR‐2 levels. Overexpression of VEGFR‐1 in brain ECs readily induced senescence, suggesting a direct role of VEGFR‐1 signaling events in this paradigm. More importantly, small interfering RNA‐mediated knockdown of VEGFR‐1 expression in brain ECs was able to prevent up‐regulation of p21 protein expression and significantly reduced induction of senescence following Aβ1‐42 oligomer treatment. Our studies show that exposure to Aβ1‐42 oligomers may impair vascular functions by altering VEGFR‐1 expression and causing ECs to enter a senescent phenotype. Altered VEGFR expression has been documented in brains of AD patients and suggests that this pathway may play a role in AD disease pathogenesis. These studies suggest that modulating VEGFR‐1 expression and signaling events could potentially prevent senescence and rejuvenate EC functions, and provides us with a novel target to pursue for prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular dysfunction in AD.—Angom, R. S., Wang, Y., Wang, E., Pal, K., Bhattacharya, S., Watzlawik, J. O., Rosenberry, T. L., Das, P., Mukhopadhyay, D. VEGF receptor‐1 modulates amyloid β 1–42 oligomer‐induced senescence in brain endothelial cells. FASEB J. 33, 4626–4637 (2019). www.fasebj.org

Tumor-selective uptake of plectin-1 targeting peptide-modified gold nanoparticles ameliorates targeted delivery of gemcitabine in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Abstract Purpose: Pancreatic cancer frequently causes diabetes. We recently proposed adrenomedullin as a candidate mediator of pancreatic β-cell dysfunction in pancreatic cancer. How pancreatic cancer–derived adrenomedullin reaches β cells remote from the cancer to induce β-cell dysfunction is unknown. We tested a novel hypothesis that pancreatic cancer sheds adrenomedullin-containing exosomes into circulation, which are transported to β cells and impair insulin secretion. Experimental Methods: We characterized exosomes from conditioned media of pancreatic cancer cell lines (n = 5) and portal/peripheral venous blood of patients with pancreatic cancer (n = 20). Western blot analysis showed the presence of adrenomedullin in pancreatic cancer-exosomes. We determined the effect of adrenomedullin-containing pancreatic cancer exosomes on insulin secretion from INS-1 β cells and human islets, and demonstrated the mechanism of exosome internalization into β cells. We studied the interaction between β-cell adrenomedullin receptors and adrenomedullin present in pancreatic cancer-exosomes. In addition, the effect of adrenomedullin on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response genes and reactive oxygen/nitrogen species generation in β cells was shown. Results: Exosomes were found to be the predominant extracellular vesicles secreted by pancreatic cancer into culture media and patient plasma. Pancreatic cancer-exosomes contained adrenomedullin and CA19-9, readily entered β cells through caveolin-mediated endocytosis or macropinocytosis, and inhibited insulin secretion. Adrenomedullin in pancreatic cancer exosomes interacted with its receptor on β cells. Adrenomedullin receptor blockade abrogated the inhibitory effect of exosomes on insulin secretion. β cells exposed to adrenomedullin or pancreatic cancer exosomes showed upregulation of ER stress genes and increased reactive oxygen/nitrogen species. Conclusions: Pancreatic cancer causes paraneoplastic β-cell dysfunction by shedding adrenomedullin+/CA19-9+ exosomes into circulation that inhibit insulin secretion, likely through adrenomedullin-induced ER stress and failure of the unfolded protein response. Clin Cancer Res; 21(7); 1722–33. ©2014 AACR. See related commentary by Korc, p. 1508

Abstract Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3), a constitutively active serine/threonine kinase, is a key regulator of numerous cellular processes ranging from glycogen metabolism to cell-cycle regulation and proliferation. Consistent with its involvement in many pathways, it has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of various human diseases, including type II diabetes, Alzheimer disease, bipolar disorder, inflammation, and cancer. Consequently, it is recognized as an attractive target for the development of new drugs. In the present study, we investigated the effect of both pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of GSK-3 in two different renal cancer cell lines. We have shown potent antiproliferative activity of 9-ING-41, a maleimide-based GSK-3 inhibitor. The antiproliferative activity is most likely caused by G0–G1 and G2–M phase arrest as evident from cell-cycle analysis. We have established that inhibition of GSK-3 imparted a differentiated phenotype in renal cancer cells. We have also shown that GSK-3 inhibition induced autophagy, likely as a result of imbalanced energy homeostasis caused by impaired glucose metabolism. In addition, we have demonstrated the antitumor activity of 9-ING-41 in two different subcutaneous xenograft renal cell carcinoma tumor models. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing autophagy induction due to GSK-3 inhibition in renal cancer cells. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(2); 285–96. ©2013 AACR.