Naturally occurring organic sulfur compounds (OSCs), such as linear allylsulfides from Allium species, are attracting attention in cancer research, since several OSCs were shown to act beneficially both in chemoprevention and in chemotherapy, while hardly exerting any harmful side effects. Hence, we investigated the possible role of different OSCs in the treatment of leukemia. Thereby, we found that the compounds tested in this study induced apoptosis in U937 cells, with an efficiency depending on the number of sulfides, and selected the most promising candidate, diallyltetrasulfide (Al2S4), for detailed mechanistic studies. Here we show that Al2S4 induced an accumulation of cells in early mitosis (G2/M phase), followed by the activation of caspase-dependent apoptosis. The compound counteracted different anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members (Bcl-xL, phospho-Bad and Bcl-2), promoted activation of Bax and Bak and induced the release of cytochrome c into the cytoplasm. Treatment by Al2S4 let to the identification of early apoptotic events including Bcl-xL degradation, Bak activation and release of cytochrome c followed by late events including Bcl-2 proteolysis, Bax activation, Bad dephosphorylation, caspase activation, nuclear fragmentation and phosphatidylserine exposure.

No abstract

In recent years, much progress has been made in analyzing the molecular origin of many diseases in vivo. For most applications, attention has been devoted to the detection of single molecules only. In this study, we present a proof of concept for the straightforward monitoring of interactions between different molecules via Fö rster resonance energy transfer (FRET) in an in vivo spectral multiplexing approach using conventional small organic dyes covalently attached to antibodies. Methods: We coupled the fluorophores DY-682 (donor; absorption [abs]/ emission [em], 674/712 nm), DY-505 (control donor; abs/em, 498/529 nm), and DY-782 (acceptor; abs/em, 752/795 nm) to the model antibody IgG. The occurrence of FRET between these fluorophores was assessed in vitro for conjugate mixtures adsorbed onto membranes, after accumulation into the phagocytic compartment of macrophages (J774 cells), and in vivo in a mouse edema model using a whole-body animal imaging system with multispectral analysis features. Results: When the free acceptor DY-782 was combined with the DY-682 donor, FRET occurred as a consequence of small dye-to-dye distances, unlike the case for mixtures of the dyes DY-782 and DY-505. Our proof of concept was also transferred to living cells after internalization of the DY-682-IgG-DY-782-IgG pair into macrophages and finally to animals, where intermolecular FRET was observed after systemic probe application in vivo in edema-bearing mice. Conclusion: Our simple cooperative-imaging approach enables the noninvasive detection of the presence of two or principally even more neighboring disease-related biomarkers. This finding is of high relevance for the in vivo identification of complex biologic processes requiring strong spatial interrelations of target molecules in key pathologic activation processes such as inflammation, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Abstract. Garlic-derived organo sulphur compounds such as diallylsulfides provide a significant protection against carcinogenesis. Chemically synthesized, and highly pure diallylsulfides with a chain of 1-4 sulphur atoms, as well as a range of control compounds, were employed to investigate the influence of these agents on cell viability, cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis in HCT116 human colon cancer cells. Diallyltrisulfide, and even more efficiently diallyltetrasulfide treatment of HCT116 cells led to a reduced cell viability, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. A similar activity was found for the propylanalogues, while mono-and disulfides were considerably less active. Initial calculations point toward the ability of triand tetrasulfides to form reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, we found that the induction of apoptosis was indeed dependent on the redox-state of the cell, with anti-oxidants being able to prevent sulfide-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, using HCT116 cells which were either positive or negative for p53 revealed that p53 is clearly dispensable for induction of apoptosis. Growth arrest and induction of apoptosis is associated with a considerable reduction of the level of cdc25C. These results support the therapeutic potential of polysulfides and allow insight into the mechanisms based on the polysulfide biochemistry.

As leukotriene D4 receptor CysLT1R upregulation is an early event in inflammatory processes, specific detection of CysLT1R via molecular imaging might be a promising diagnostic tool for inflammatory diseases. We coupled a specific anti-CysLT1R IgG antibody to near-infrared (NIR) hemicyanine fluorophore DY-734. The fluorophore was also coupled to unspecific rabbit-IgG antibody or corresponding Fab fragments. Expression of CysLT1R in HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells in vitro could be proven by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR, and flow cytometry. Detection of the probes by flow cytometry showed that CysLT1R*DY-734 probe binds distinctly stronger to HL-60 cells than IgG*DY-734. Induction of ear edema in mice was conducted to test signaling of the synthesized probes in vivo. A markedly higher fluorescence intensity was observed in the edematous region than in the healthy region by a whole-body imaging system. Semiquantitative analysis showed that CysLT1R*DY-734 and Fab-CysLT1R*DY-734 probes bind 1.9- and 1.2-fold stronger, respectively, than the unspecific probes. Biodistribution studies revealed an enrichment of full-length IgG probes in liver and spleen, whereas Fab-containing probes are mostly found in liver and kidneys. Taken together, we present an approach that might improve early diagnosis of inflammatory diseases in the long term.