Michael B. Sporn

Bio: Michael B. Sporn is an academic researcher from Dartmouth College. The author has contributed to research in topics: Transforming growth factor & Transforming growth factor beta. The author has an hindex of 157, co-authored 559 publications receiving 94605 citations. Previous affiliations of Michael B. Sporn include Cornell University & Reata Pharmaceuticals.

Specific Chemopreventive Agents Trigger Proteasomal Degradation of G 1 Cyclins: Implications for Combination Therapy

Abstract: Purpose: There is a need to identify cancer chemoprevention mechanisms. We reported previously that all- trans- retinoic acid (RA) prevented carcinogenic transformation of BEAS-2B immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells by causing G 1 arrest, permitting repair of genomic DNA damage. G 1 arrest was triggered by cyclin D1 proteolysis via ubiquitin-dependent degradation. This study investigated which chemopreventive agents activated this degradation program and whether cyclin E was also degraded. Experimental Design: This study examined whether: ( a ) cyclin E protein was affected by RA treatment; ( b ) cyclin degradation occurred in derived BEAS-2B-R1 cells that were partially resistant to RA; and ( c ) other candidate chemopreventive agents caused cyclin degradation. Results: RA treatment triggered degradation of cyclin E protein, and ALLN, a proteasomal inhibitor, inhibited this degradation. Induction of the retinoic acid receptor β, growth suppression, and cyclin degradation were each inhibited in BEAS-2B-R1 cells. Transfection experiments in BEAS-2B cells indicated that RA treatment repressed expression of wild-type cyclin D1 and cyclin E, but ALLN inhibited this degradation. Mutation of threonine 286 stabilized transfected cyclin D1, and mutations of threonines 62 and 380 stabilized transfected cyclin E, despite RA treatment. Specific chemopreventive agents triggered cyclin degradation. Nonclassical retinoids (fenretinide and retinoid X receptor agonists) and a synthetic triterpenoid (2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9-dien-28-oic acid) each suppressed BEAS-2B growth and activated this degradation program. However, a vitamin D3 analog (RO-24–5531), a cyclooxygenase inhibitor (indomethacin), and a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ agonist (rosiglitazone) each suppressed BEAS-2B growth, but did not cause cyclin degradation. BEAS-2B-R1 cells remained responsive to nonclassical retinoids and to 2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9-dien-28-oic acid. Conclusions: Specific chemopreventive agents activate cyclin proteolysis. Yet, broad resistance did not occur after acquired resistance to a single agent. This provides a therapeutic rationale for combination chemoprevention with agents activating non-cross-resistant pathways.

Influence of 15 retinoic acid amides on urinary bladder carcinogenesis in the mouse.

Abstract: A series of experiments was conducted to determine the efficacy of 15 synthetic retinoic acid amides (retinamides) as inhibitors of chemical carcinogenesis of the urinary bladder in C57BL/6 x DBA/2F1 mice. Eight of the retinamides tested had significant protective activity when administered at nontoxic levels in the diet. Minor structural alterations, such as the addition of a methyl or hydroxyl group to the terminal amide moiety had a major influence on the anticarcinogenic activity of the retinamides. Although 13-cis retinamides generally were less toxic on a molar basis than were their all-trans isomers, no consistent pattern of differential anticarcinogenic activity was noted among the six pairs of all-trans and 13-cis isomers tested. All-trans-4-hydroxyphenyl retinamide was among the most active and least toxic of the retinoids tested, and appears to be the compound of choice for further study.

Novel semisynthetic analogues of betulinic acid with diverse cytoprotective, antiproliferative, and proapoptotic activities.

Abstract: Betulinic acid (BA), a pentacyclic triterpene isolated from birch bark and other plants, selectively inhibits the growth of human cancer cell lines. However, the poor potency of BA hinders its clinical development, despite a lack of toxicity in animal studies even at high concentrations. Here, we describe six BA derivatives that are markedly more potent than BA for inhibiting inducible nitric oxide synthase, activating phase 2 cytoprotective enzymes, and inducing apoptosis in cancer cells and in Bax/Bak−/− fibroblasts, which lack two key proteins involved in the intrinsic, mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathway. Notably, adding a cyano-enone functionality in the A ring of BA enhanced its cytoprotective properties, but replacing the cyano group with a methoxycarbonyl strikingly increased potency in the apoptosis assays. Higher plasma and tissue levels were obtained with the new BA analogues, especially CBA-Im [1-(2-cyano-3-oxolupa-1,20(29)-dien-28-oyl)imidazole], compared with BA itself and at concentrations that were active in vitro . These results suggest that BA is a useful platform for drug development, and the enhanced potency and varied biological activities of CBA-Im make it a promising candidate for further chemoprevention or chemotherapeutic studies. [Mol Cancer Ther 2007;6(7):2113–9]

N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine-induced urinary bladder cancer in C57BL/6 X DBA/2 F1 mice as a useful model for study of chemoprevention of cancer with retinoids.

Abstract: Highly invasive carcinomas of the urinary bladder were induced in male C57BL/6 X DBA/2 F1 (hereafter called B6D2F1) mice by gastric intubation of N-butyl-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (OH-BBN) using a quantitative dosing schedule. Animals received either 5 or 10 mg OH-BBN per intubation, two times each week, for 9 weeks for a total dose of either 90 or 180 mg, and they were killed 6 months after the first carcinogen intubation. Seven days after the final intubation of OH-BBN, animals were fed either a placebo diet or diet supplemented with either 150 or 200 mg 13-cis-retinoic acid per kg of diet. A 41 and 43% incidence of urinary bladder cancer was observed in mice given the low and high dose of carcinogen, respectively, and fed a placebo diet. Sixty-seven % of the carcinomas induced in these animals invaded either into or through the urinary bladder wall. Varying degrees of transitional and either squamous or glandular or both squamous and glandular differentiation were observed in the carcinomas. Feeding of diet supplemented with 13-cis-retinoic acid reduced cancer incidence; the degree of reduction was proportional to the dose of retinoid administered. The highly invasive nature of the carcinomas induced by quantitative administration of OH-BBN in B6D2F1, mice provides a useful animal model of the highly invasive variant of human transitional cell urinary bladder cancer in which to study chemoprevention by retinoids as well as other compounds.

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis: a perspective for the 1990s

Abstract: Atherosclerosis, the principal cause of heart attack, stroke and gangrene of the extremities, is responsible for 50% of all mortality in the USA, Europe and Japan. The lesions result from an excessive, inflammatory-fibroproliferative response to various forms of insult to the endothelium and smooth muscle of the artery wall. A large number of growth factors, cytokines and vasoregulatory molecules participate in this process. Our ability to control the expression of genes encoding these molecules and to target specific cell types provides opportunities to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic agents to induce the regression of the lesions and, possibly, to prevent their formation.

TGF-beta signal transduction.

Abstract: The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) family of growth factors control the development and homeostasis of most tissues in metazoan organisms. Work over the past few years has led to the elucidation of a TGF-beta signal transduction network. This network involves receptor serine/threonine kinases at the cell surface and their substrates, the SMAD proteins, which move into the nucleus, where they activate target gene transcription in association with DNA-binding partners. Distinct repertoires of receptors, SMAD proteins, and DNA-binding partners seemingly underlie, in a cell-specific manner, the multifunctional nature of TGF-beta and related factors. Mutations in these pathways are the cause of various forms of human cancer and developmental disorders.