IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "Roman, Ann"

Browsing by Author "Roman, Ann"

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ANTI-TUMOR AND RADIO-SENSITIZING PROPERTIES OF AD-IU2, A PROSTATE-SPECIFIC REPLICATION-COMPETENT ADENOVIRUS ARMED WITH TRAIL
(2009-03-18T18:58:00Z) Jimenez, Juan Antonio; Gardner, Thomas A.; Kao, Chinghai; Crabb, David W.; Harrington, Maureen A.; Roman, Ann
In this thesis, I investigated the preclinical utility and antitumor efficacy of TRAIL delivered by Ad-IU2, a prostate-specific replication-competent adenovirus (PSRCA), against androgen-independent prostate cancer. Through transcriptional control of adenoviral early genes E1a, E1b and E4, as well as TRAIL by two bidirectional prostate-specific enhancing sequences (PSES), expression of TRAIL as well as adenoviral replication was limited to prostate-specific antigen and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSA/PSMA)-expressing cells. Ad-IU2 replicated efficiently in and was restricted to PSA/PSMA-positive prostate cancer cells and induced 5-fold greater apoptosis in androgen-independent CWR22rv and C4-2 prostate cancer cells than the PSRCA control not expressing TRAIL. Ad-IU2 exhibited superior killing efficiency in PSA/PSMA-positive prostate cancer cells at doses 5 to 8-fold lower than that required by a non-TRAIL expressing PSRCA to produce a similar effect. This enhanced cytotoxic effect was not observed in non-prostatic cells, however. As an enhancement of its therapeutic efficacy, Ad-IU2 exerted a bystander effect through either direct cell-to-cell contact or soluble factors present in conditioned media from Ad-IU2-infected cells. In vivo, Ad-IU2, as compared to a control PSRCA, markedly suppressed the growth of subcutaneous CWR22rv xenografts at six weeks post-treatment (3.1 vs. 17.1-fold growth of tumor). The treatment of androgen-independent prostate cancer with Ad-IU2 prior to external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) significantly reduced clonogenic survival with dose reduction factors of 4.91 and 2.43 for CWR22rv and C4-2 cells, respectively. Radio-sensitization by Ad-IU2 was restricted to PSA/PSMA-positive cells. Combinatorial radio-gene therapy resulted in accumulation of cells in G1 phase and a perturbation of the radiation-induced G2 phase arrest. This multi-modal approach combining viral lysis, apoptosis-inducing gene therapy, and radiation therapy could have great impact in achieving complete local tumor control while reducing radiation dose and associated treatment morbidities. This would result in improvement of the clinical outcome of patients with high risk prostate cancer.
Diversifying biomedical training: A synergistic intervention
(2010) Gibau, Gina Sanchez; Foertsch, Julie; Blum, Janice; Brutkiewicz, Randy; Queener, Sherry; Roman, Ann; Rhodes, Simon; Sturek, Michael; Wilkes, David; Broxmeyer, Hal
For over three decades, the scientific community has expressed concern over the paucity of African American, Latino and Native American researchers in the biomedical training pipeline. Concern has been expressed regarding what is forecasted as a shortage of these underrepresented minority (URM) scientists given the demographic shifts occurring worldwide and particularly in the United States. Increased access to graduate education has made a positive contribution in addressing this disparity. This article describes the multiple pathway approaches that have been employed by a school of medicine at an urban Midwest research institution to increase the number of URM students enrolled in, and graduating from, doctoral programs within basic science departments, through the combination of R25 grants and other grant programs funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This article outlines the process of implementing a strong synergistic approach to the training of URM students through linkages between the NIH-funded "Bridges to the Doctorate (BRIDGES)" and "Initiative for Maximizing Graduate Student Diversity (IMGSD)" programs. The article documents the specific gains witnessed by this particular institution and identifies key components of the interventions that may prove useful for institutions seeking to increment the biomedical pipeline with scientists from diverse backgrounds.
E7 PROTEINS OF HIGH-RISK (TYPE 16) AND LOW-RISK (TYPE 6) HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUSES REGULATE p130 DIFFERENTLY
(2010-10-15) Barrow, Lisa C.; Roman, Ann; Brown, Darron; He, Johnny J.; Nakshatri, Harikrishna
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are one of the most common causes of sexually transmitted disease in the world. HPVs are divided into high-risk (HR) or low-risk (LR) types based on their oncogenic potential. HPVs 16 and 18 are considered HR types and can cause cervical cancer. HPVs 6 and 11 are classified as LR and are associated with condyloma acuminata (genital warts). Viral proteins of both HR and LR HPVs must be able to facilitate a replication competent environment. The E7 proteins of LR and HR HPVs are responsible for maintenance of S-phase activity in infected cells. HR E7 proteins target all pRb family members (pRb, p107 and p130) for degradation. LR E7 does not target pRb or p107 for degradation, but does target p130 for degradation. Immunohistochemistry experiments on HPV 6 infected patient biopsies of condyloma acuminata showed that detection of p130 was decreased in the presence of the whole HPV 6 genome. Further, the effect of HR HPV 16 E7 and LR HPV 6 E7 on p130 intracellular localization and half-life was examined. Experiments were performed using human foreskin keratinocytes transduced with HPV 6 E7, HPV 16 E7 or parental vector. Nuclear/cytoplasmic fractionation and immunofluorescence showed that, in contrast to control and HPV 6 E7-expressing cells, a greater amount of p130 was present in the cytoplasm in the viii presence of HPV 16 E7. The half-life of p130, relative to control cells, was decreased in the cytoplasm in the presence of HPV 6 E7 or HPV 16 E7, but only decreased by HPV 6 E7 in the nucleus. Inhibition of proteasomal degradation extended the half-life of p130, regardless of intracellular localization. Experiments were also conducted to detect E7-binding partners. Cyclin C and cullin 5 were identified as proteins capable of binding to both HPV 6 E7 and HPV 16 E7. Preliminary experiments showed that decreasing protein levels of p600, a binding partner of both HPV 6 E7 and HPV 16 E7, by RNA interference might affect p130 stability. Elucidating the mechanisms of p130 degradation may identify potential targets for preventing degradation of p130 and allowing restoration of cell cycle control.
Effects of Altering Cell Proliferation on Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell Function
(2011-06-14) Rohrabaugh, Sara L.; Broxmeyer, Hal E.; Pelus, Louis; Roman, Ann; Yoder, Mervin C.
Cell cycle checkpoints guarantee movement through the cell cycle in an appropriate manner. The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) ensures the proper segregation of chromosomes into daughter cells during mitosis. Mitotic arrest deficiency 2 (Mad2), a member of the mitotic checkpoint proteins, appears to be crucial for generating the wait anaphase signal to prevent onset of anaphase. We first studied the SAC in hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) to ensure that it was functional. Our previous studies found that prolonged SAC activation was uncoupled from apoptosis initiation in mouse and human embryonic stem cells (ESC). We found that upon treatment with a microtubule-destabilizing agent, HSC arrested in M-phase and subsequently initiated apoptosis. Thus unlike ESC, HSC exhibit coupling of prolonged SAC activation with apoptosis. We studied the effects of Mad2+/- on in vivo recovery of bone marrow HPC from cytotoxic effects and also effects of cytostatic agents on HPC growth in vitro using Mad2-haploinsufficient (Mad2+/-) mice. We found that Mad2+/- HPCs were protected from the cytotoxic effects of cytarabine (Ara-C), a cycle specific agent, consistent with Mad2+/- HPCs being in a slow or non-cycling state. Mad2 haploinsufficiency did not affect recovery of functional HPC after treatment with cyclophosphamide or high sub-lethal dose irradiation, both non-cycle specific agents. There were no differences in immunophenotype defined HSCs in Mad2+/- and Mad2+/+ mice, data confirmed by functional HSC competitive repopulation assays. To better understand the role of Mad2 in HPC, E3330, a cytostatic agent, was used to assess the redox function of Ape1/Ref-1, and colony formation in vitro was examined under normoxic and lowered O2 tension. Mad2+/- HPCs were less responsive to E3330 than Mad2+/+ HPCs, and E3330 was more effective under lowered O2 tension. Mad2+/- HPCs did not exhibit enhanced growth in lowered oxygen tension, in contrast to Mad2+/+ HPCs. Our studies have unexpectedly found that Mad2 haploinsufficiency is protective from the cytotoxic effects of a cycle specific DNA synthesis agent in vivo, and Ape1/Ref-1 inhibitor in vitro.
Expression of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 E7 Is Sufficient To Significantly Increase Expression of Angiogenic Factors But Is Not Sufficient To Induce Endothelial Cell Migration
(2010-10-21) Walker, Joanna Antigone; Roman, Ann; Cornetta, Kenneth; Clapp, Wade D.; Goebl, Mark, 1958-
Human papillomavirus 16 (HPV 16) causes cancer. Two viral oncoproteins of HPV 16, E6 and E7, are consistently expressed in these cancers. HPV 16 E6 and E7 proteins target p53 and Rb family members, respectively, for degradation thus inactivating the functiond of these tumor suppressor proteins. Tumor development requires the acquisition of a blood supply, a process known as angiogenesis. Tumor suppressors negatively regulate angigogenesis. Expression of HPV 16 E6 and E7 together in human foreskin keratinocytes (HFKs) increases the level of angiogenic inducers vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-8 (IL-8). Further, conditioned media from such cells are sufficient to alter endothelial cell behavior both in vitro and in vivo. To determine the individual contributions of HPV E6 and E7 to angiogenesis, translational termination linkers (TTLs) were inserted into the coding region of E6 or E7. Following retroviral transduction of the mutated cassette into HFKs, the ability of E7 in the context of the E6TTL mutation (E6TTLE7) and E6 in the context of the E7TTL mutation (E6E7TTL) to induce VEGF and IL-8 was compared to the LXSN control retrovirus. E7 and, to a lesser extent E6, increased the expression of VEGF and IL-8. Migration of human microvascular endothelial cells was not induced using conditioned media from either E6 or E7 expressing cells. Since the increased levels of VEGF and IL-8 induced by HPV 16E6ETTLE7 were not sufficient to alter endothelial cell behavior, immunological depletion experiments were used to determine whether either angiogenic factor was required for HPV 16E6 and E7 together to induce HMVEC migration. Only VEGF was required. Preliminary data suggest that the ability of HPV 16 E7 to induce angiogenic factors is dependent upon degradation of a specific Rb family member.
HIV-1 NEF: THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES AND VIROLOGICAL SYNAPSE-MEDIATED INFECTION
(2011-03-16) Green, Linden Ann; He, Johnny J.; Blum, Janice Sherry, 1957-; Georgiadis, Millie M.; Roman, Ann
HIV-1 infection is one of the greatest public health concerns today. The current HIV/AIDS therapy is effective in halting virus multiplication and has improved the outlook of AIDS; however, high cost, side effects, and the rise of drug-resistant viral strains have posed challenges for long-term treatment and management and mandate development of alternative anti-HIV therapies. Despite the fact that a great deal of progress has been made in our understanding of the infection over the last twenty-seven years, there are many unanswered basic scientific questions and no vaccines. In this study, we focused on two aspects related to the HIV-1 protein Nef: one is development of a Nef-based anti-HIV therapeutic strategy; the other is discovery of a novel mechanism that accounts for Nef-enhanced viral infectivity. We first devised an anti-HIV therapeutic strategy that took advantage of the high virion incorporation of the Nef mutant Nef7 to deliver anti-HIV factors to the virion. We performed a series of proof-of-concept experiments, using the host anti-HIV cellular factor APOBEC3G (A3G). The Nef7.A3G fusion protein retains important properties of Nef7: higher virion incorporation efficiency, lack of PAK2 activation, and reduced CD4 and MHC I downregulation, as well the anti-HIV infectivity function of A3G. Moreover, virus-like particle (VLP)-mediated delivery of Nef7.A3G into infected CD4+ T lymphocytes leads to inhibition of HIV-1 replication in these cells. These results support the use of Nef7 as an anti-HIV therapeutic strategy for the delivery of therapeutic proteins into HIV-1 virions. HIV-1 Nef protein has long been known to enhance viral infectivity. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remained elusive. Here we show that Nef is important for VS formation and VS-mediated virus transmission from cell to cell, especially in primary cells. Nef accomplishes this by inducing the clustering of VS components CD81 and ZAP70 and by inducing formation of actin protrusions, and these functions involve specific and distinct Nef domains. These findings not only yield new insights into the regulatory function of Nef in viral infectivity, but could also lead to development of more effective anti-HIV therapies that work equally well at blocking both VS-mediated and cell-free virus infection.
Sam68, Stress Granules, and translational control of HIV-1 nef mRNA
(2009-06-23T21:33:16Z) Henao-Mejia, Jorge Alejandro; He, Johnny J.; Blum, Janice S.; Roman, Ann; Wek, Ronald C.
More than 20 million people have died of AIDS since the early eighties, while nearly 34 millions are currently infected with the HIV. Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) directed at key viral enzymes has changed AIDS from uniformly fatal to a manageable chronic disease. However, ART-associated drug resistance and toxicity have posed a great challenge for long-term management of the disease and have called for development of new therapeutics. In this study, we focused on the viral factor Nef and the host factor Sam68. Nef is a major pathogenic viral determinant for HIV-1, and no therapeutics have been targeted to this factor. Sam68 is indispensible for HIV-1 propagation. We revealed that Sam68 variants were very potent in preventing Nef expression. We found that these effects were associated with their ability to form a macromolecular structure called stress granules (SG). In addition, we demonstrated that these variants bound to nef mRNA in a sequence-specific manner. Furthermore, we showed that these variants co-localized with nef mRNA in SG. Importantly, we validated these findings in the context of HIV-1 infection of its natural target cells and found significant loss of Nef function in these cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that SG induction and nef mRNA sequestration account for translational suppression of Nef expression and offer a new strategy for development of anti-HIV therapeutics. Sam68 is implicated in a variety of other important cellular processes. Our findings that Sam68 variants were able to induce SG formation prompted us to investigate whether wild-type Sam68 was also recruited to SG. We found that Sam68 was increasingly recruited into SG under oxidative stress, and that its specific domains were involved. However, Sam68 knockdown had no effects on SG assembly, suggesting that Sam68 is not a constitutive component of SG assembly. Lastly, we demonstrated that Sam68 complexed with TIA-1, an essential SG component. Taken together, these results provide direct evidence for the first time that Sam68 is recruited into SG through complexing with TIA-1, and suggest that SG recruitment of Sam68 and ensuing changes in Sam68 physiological functions are part of the host response to external stressful conditions.
SIRT1 DEFICIENCY COMPROMISES MOUSE EMBRYONIC STEM CELL DIFFERENTIATION, AND EMBRYONIC AND ADULT HEMATOPOIESIS IN THE MOUSE
(2011-03-16) Ou, Xuan; Broxmeyer, Hal E.; Pelus, Louis; Roman, Ann; Yoder, Mervin C.
SIRT1 (Sirtuin 1) is a founding member of a family of seven proteins and histone deacetylases. It is involved in cellular resistance to stress, metabolism, differentiation, aging, and tumor suppression. SIRT1-/- mice demonstrate embryonic and postnatal development defects. We examined hematopoietic and endothelial cell differentiation of SIRT1-/- mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells in vitro, and hematopoietic progenitors in SIRT1+/+, SIRT1+/-, and SIRT1-/- mice. SIRT1-/- ES cells exhibited markedly delayed/immature formation of blast colony-forming cells (BL-CFCs). When individual blast colonies were analyzed for hematopoietic and endothelial potential, replated SIRT1-/- BL-CFC possessed limited hematopoietic potential, whereas endothelial potential was essentially unaltered. The ability of SIRT1-/- ES cells to form primitive erythroid progenitors was not only delayed but greatly decreased. Moreover, after differentiation of SIRT1-/- mES cells, there were also significant decreases in granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) and multipotential (CFU-GEMM) progenitor cells. Differentiation delay/defects were associated with delayed capacity to switch off Oct4, Nanog and Fgf5, decreased β-H1 globin, β-major globin, and Scl gene expression and reduced activation of the Erk1/2 pathway upon SIRT1-/- ES cell commitment. Reintroduction of WT SIRT1 into SIRT1-/- cells partially rescued the primitive erythroid progenitor formation of SIRT1-/- cells and the expression of hemoglobin genes, Hbb-bh1 and Hbb-b1, suggesting that the defect of hematopoietic commitment is due to deletion of SIRT1, and not to genetic drifting of SIRT1-/- cells. To confirm the requirement for SIRT1 for normal development of hematopoietic progenitor cells, we assessed embryonic and adult hematopoiesis in SIRT1+/+, SIRT1+/- and SIRT1-/- mice. Yolk sacs from SIRT1 mutant embryos generated fewer primitive erythroid precursors compared to wild-type (WT) and heterozygous mice. Moreover, knockout of SIRT1 decreased primary bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) in 5 week and 12 month old mice, which was especially notable at lower (5%) O2 tension. In addition these progenitors survived less well in vitro under conditions of delayed growth factor addition. Taken together, these results demonstrate that SIRT1 plays a role in ES cell hematopoietic differentiation and mouse hematopoiesis.
Transcriptional regulation of the human alcohol dehydrogenases and alcoholism
(2010-09) Pochareddy, Sirisha; Edenberg, Howard J.; Harrington, Maureen A.; Skalnik, David Gordon; Roman, Ann
Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genes encode proteins that metabolize ethanol to acetaldehyde. Humans have seven ADH genes in a cluster. The hypothesis of this study was that by controlling the levels of ADH enzymes, cis-regulatory regions could affect the risk for alcoholism. The goal was thus to identify distal regulatory regions of ADHs. To achieve this, sequence conservation across 220 kb of the ADH cluster was examined. An enhancer (4E) was identified upstream of ADH4. In HepG2 human hepatoma cells, 4E increased the activity of an ADH4 basal promoter by 50-fold. 4E was cell specific, as no enhancer activity was detected in a human lung cell line, H1299. The enhancer activity was located in a 565 bp region (4E3). Four FOXA and one HNF-1A protein binding sites were shown to be functional in the 4E3 region. To test if this region could affect the risk for alcoholism, the effect of variations in 4E3 on enhancer activity was tested. Two variations had a significant effect on enhancer activity, decreasing the activity to 0.6-fold. A third variation had a small but significant effect. The effect of variations in the ADH1B proximal promoter was also tested. At SNP rs1229982, the C allele had 30% lower activity than the A allele. In addition to studying the regulatory regions of ADH genes, the effects of alcohol on liver-derived cells (HepG2) were also explored. Liver is the primary site of alcohol metabolism, and is highly vulnerable to injuries due to chronic alcohol abuse. To identify the effects of long term ethanol exposure on global gene expression and alternative splicing, HepG2 cells were cultured in 75 mM ethanol for nine days. Global gene expression changes and alternative splicing were measured using Affymetrix GeneChip® Human Exon 1.0 ST Arrays. At the level of gene expression, genes involved in stress response pathways, metabolic pathways (including carbohydrate and lipid metabolism) and chromatin regulation were affected. Alcohol effects were also observed on alternative transcript isoforms of some genes.
XPC DNA REPAIR PROTEIN REGULATION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE G1/S CELL CYCLE CHECKPOINT
(2010-10-15) Hardy, Tabitha M.; Smith, Martin L.; Derbigny, Wilbert A.; Herbert, Brittney-Shea; Roman, Ann
DNA is subject to various types of damage that can impair cellular function or cause cell death. DNA damage blocks normal cellular processes such as replication and transcription and can have catastrophic consequences for the cell and for the organism. It has long been thought that the G1/S cell cycle checkpoint allows time for DNA repair by delaying S-phase entry. The p53 tumor suppressor pathway regulates the G1/S checkpoint by regulating the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21Waf1/Cip1, but p53 also regulates the nucleotide excision DNA repair protein XPC. Here, using p53-null cell lines we show that additional mechanisms stabilize XPC protein and promote NER in concert with the G1/S checkpoint. At least one mechanism to stabilize and destabilize XPC involves ubiquitin-mediated degradation of XPC, as the ubiquitin ligase inhibitor MG-132 blocked XPC degradation. The retinoblastoma protein, RB, in its unphosphorylated form actually stabilized XPC and promoted NER as measured by host-cell reactivation experiments. The data suggest that XPC protein and XPC-mediated NER is tightly linked to the G1/S checkpoint even in cells lacking functional p53.

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