Targeted nanoparticles for cancer therapy

Somatostatin receptors: From signaling to clinical practice

Context: Dopamine receptor (DR) and somatostatin receptor subtype expression in pituitary adenomas may predict the response to postsurgical therapies. Objectives: Our objectives were to assess and compare the mRNA levels of DR1-5 and somatostatin receptors 1–5 in normal pituitaries (NPs), nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs), and somatotropinomas. In addition, we determined whether the level of DR expression correlates with the in vivo response to octreotide-LAR in acromegalic patients. Design and Patients: Eight NPs, 30 NFPAs, and 39 somatotropinomas were analyzed for receptor mRNA levels by real-time RT-PCR. The DR2 short variant was estimated as the DR2 long/DR2 total (DR2T). The relationship between DR expression and the postsurgical response to octreotide-LAR was assessed in 19 of the acromegalic patients. Results: DR3 was not detected. The relationship between expression levels of DR subtypes in NPs and somatotropinomas was DR2T⋙DR4≫DR5>DR1, whereas in NFPAs, DR2T⋙DR4≫DR1>DR5. The DR2 short var...

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Expression analysis of dopamine receptor subtypes in normal human pituitaries, nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas and somatotropinomas, and the association between dopamine and somatostatin receptors with clinical response to octreotide-LAR in acromegaly.

Peptide receptors involved in pathophysiological processes represent promising therapeutic targets. Neuropeptide somatostatin (SST) is produced by specialized cells in a large number of human organs and tissues. SST primarily acts as inhibitor of endocrine and exocrine secretion via the activation of five G-protein-coupled receptors, named sst1–5, while in central nervous system, SST acts as a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator, regulating locomotory and cognitive functions. Critical points of SST/SST receptor biology, such as signaling pathways of individual receptor subtypes, homo- and heterodimerization, trafficking, and cross-talk with growth factor receptors, have been extensively studied, although functions associated with several pathological conditions, including cancer, are still not completely unraveled. Importantly, SST exerts antiproliferative and antiangiogenic effects on cancer cells in vitro, and on experimental tumors in vivo. Moreover, SST agonists are clinically effective as antitumor agents for pituitary adenomas and gastro-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. However, SST receptors being expressed by tumor cells of various tumor histotypes, their pharmacological use is potentially extendible to other cancer types, although to date no significant results have been obtained. In this paper the most recent findings on the expression and functional roles of SST and SST receptors in tumor cells are discussed.

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Peptide receptor targeting in cancer: the somatostatin paradigm.

The biological effects of somatostatin (SST) were first encountered unexpectedly in the late 1960s in two unrelated studies, one by Krulich et al. (1968) who reported on a growth hormone (GH)-releasing inhibitory substance from hypothalamic extracts, and the other, by Hellman and Lernmark (1969), on the presence of a potent insulin inhibitory factor from the extracts of pigeon pancreatic islets. However, the inhibitory substance was not officially identified until 1973 by Guillemin’s group (Brazeau et al. 1973). In both synthetic and naturally occurring forms, this tetradecapeptide, originally coined as somatotropin release-inhibitory factor (SRIF, SST-14) was shown by Brazeau et al. to be the substance controlling hypothalamic GH release. This single achievement not only pioneered SST research but was also duly recognized, as Guillemin shared the 1977 Nobel Prize in Medicine. The following years bequeathed an exponential increase in SST-related studies. It soon became clear that SST-synthesis was not restricted to the hypothalamus. Its production is widely distributed throughout the central nervous system (CNS), peripheral neurons, the gastrointestinal tract, and the pancreatic islets of Langerhans (Luft et al. 1974; Arimura et al. 1975; Dubois 1975; Hokfelt et al. 1975; Orci et al. 1975; Pelletier et al. 1975; Polak et al. 1975; Patel and Reichlin 1978). In fact, SST-like immunoreactivity can be found throughout various tissues of vertebrates and invertebrates, including the plant kingdom (Patel 1992; Tostivint et al. 2004). Given its broad anatomical distribution, it is no wonder that SST produces a wide spectrum of biological effects. Generally regarded as an inhibitory factor, SST can function either locally on neighboring cells or distantly through the circulation, to regulate such physiological processes as glandular secretion, neurotransmission, smooth muscle contractility, nutrient absorption, and cell division (Reichlin 1983a, b; Patel 1992, 1999; Patel et al. 2001; Barnett 2003).

Somatostatin and somatostatin receptors.

Aim: We report the comparative efficacy of octreotide, cabergoline and multiple ligands directed towards the different somatostatin subtypes (ssts), such as BIM-23A779 and SOM-230,

Severine Guillen

Papers

Somatostatin and dopamine-somatostatin multiple ligands directed towards somatostatin and dopamine receptors in pituitary adenomas.