Glial cells play an important role in sequestering neuronally released glutamate via Naϩ -dependent transporters. Surprisingly, these transporters are not operational in glial-derived tumors (gliomas). Instead, gliomas release glutamate, causing excitotoxic death of neurons in the vicinity of the tumor. We now show that glutamate release from glioma cells is an obligatory by-product of cellular cystine uptake via system x c Ϫ , an electroneutral cystine-glutamate exchanger. Cystine is an essential precursor for the biosynthesis of glutathione, a major redox regulatory molecule that protects cells from endogenously produced reactive oxygen species (ROS). Glioma cells, but not neurons or astrocytes, rely primarily on cystine uptake via system x c Ϫ for their glutathione synthesis. Inhibition of system x c Ϫ causes a rapid depletion of glutathione, and the resulting loss of ROS defense causes caspase-mediated apoptosis. Glioma cells can be rescued if glutathione status is experimentally restored or if glutathione is substituted by alternate cellular antioxidants, confirming that ROS are indeed mediators of cell death. We describe two potent drugs that permit pharmacological inhibition of system x c Ϫ . One of these drugs, sulfasalazine, is clinically used to treat inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Sulfasalazine was able to reduce glutathione levels in tumor tissue and slow tumor growth in vivo in a commonly used intracranial xenograft animal model for human gliomas when administered by intraperitoneal injection. These data suggest that inhibition of cystine uptake into glioma cells through the pharmacological inhibition of system x c Ϫ may be a viable therapeutic strategy with a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug already in hand.

Taste buds consist of approximately 100 taste cells, including three morphological types of short receptor cells which synapse on the peripheral gustatory nerves. Some of the receptor cells produce neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), which may play a role in formation of specific connections in this system. Antibodies directed against different forms of NCAM were utilized in an attempt to define not only the distribution, but also the type of NCAM within taste buds. Within each taste bud approximately 10% of the taste cells exhibit abundant immunoreactivity for 180 kD (ld) or 140 kD (sd) forms of NCAM (i.e., those with an intracellular domain) along virtually the entire surface of the cell. Ultrastructural analysis reveals that these abundantly immunoreactive taste cells are of the intermediate morphological type, although not all of the intermediate taste cells within any bud are immunoreactive. In addition, the ultrastructural studies show that punctate (ld/sd) NCAM-immunoreactivity occurs on the membranes of taste cells and nerve fibers throughout each taste bud. The embryonic form of NCAM (E-NCAM), rich in polysialic acid residues, is present only in association with nerve fibers and other unidentified elongate, thin profiles of a few taste buds. The nerve plexus beneath the gustatory epithelium is also rich in NCAM-immunoreactivity. These fibers occasionally reveal immunoreactivity indicative of only the 120 kD (ssd) form of NCAM, typical of glial cells.

Taste buds are the anatomical structures that mediate the sense of taste. They comprise taste cells and nerve fibers within specialized epithelial structures. Taste cells are traditionally described by histologic methods as basal, dark, intermediate, and light cells, with the nerve fibers surrounding and infiltrating the taste buds. By means of immunohistochemical methods, taste cells and gustatory nerve fibers can be classified in functional groups based on the expression of various cell adhesion molecules and other proteins. When taste buds become damaged, the loss of the ability to taste results. This loss is not uncommon and can impact health and quality of life. Patients who receive radiation therapy for head and neck cancer often experience taste loss, which leads to compromised nutritional intake and a worse outcome than patients who do not experience taste loss. The mode of radiation damage to taste cells and nerve fibers has been investigated using cell adhesion molecules, synaptic vesicle proteins, and other cell markers. The light and intermediate cells are preferentially affected by ionizing radiation, whereas the nerve fibers remain structurally intact. Experimental studies of radiation-induced taste loss are performed via a unique animal/human model.

Lymphomas and leukemias, neoplasms of hematopoetic lineage, pose unique challenges that require novel treatment paradigms. The inter-relationship between the immune system and the neoplastic lesion in these diseases dictates that, to evaluate novel therapies, models are needed that mimic human disease in an immunocompetent host. In the present study, we describe a disseminated, syngeneic model of B-cell lymphoma in the Balb/c mouse based upon the A20 cell line. This model mimics aspects of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas in humans, and recapitulates para-spinous tumor growth, bone destruction and nerve root compression, which may complicate disseminated disease. Furthermore, this tumor expresses a key marker of interest, CD40, which is a candidate for tumor-specific vector targeting via current modalities. The present study therefore describes a high-fidelity model of disseminated lymphoma with implications for novel targeted therapeutics. Lymphomas and leukemias, neoplasms of hematopoetic lineage, pose unique challenges that require novel treatment paradigms. The inter-relationship between the immune system and the neoplastic lesion in these diseases dictates that, to evaluate novel therapies, models are needed that mimic human disease in an immunocompetent host. In the present study, we describe a disseminated, syngeneic model of B-cell lymphoma in the Balb/c mouse based upon the A20 cell line. This model mimics aspects of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas in humans, and recapitulates para-spinous tumor growth, bone destruction and nerve root compression, which may complicate disseminated disease. Furthermore, this tumor expresses a key marker of interest, CD40, which is a candidate for tumor-specific vector targeting via current modalities. The present study therefore describes a high-fidelity model of disseminated lymphoma with implications for novel targeted therapeutics.

Neurons from brains of chick embryos and pond snails (Lymnaea stagnalis) were cultured for 3 to 4 d in the presence of no toxins, inorganic lead (PbCl2), or organic lead (triethyl lead chloride). In chick neurons, inorganic lead reduced the percentage of cells that grew neurites (IC50 = 270 microM total lead, approximately 70 nM free Pb2+) but did not reduce the number of neurites per cell or the mean neurite length. Triethyl lead reduced the percentage of cells that grew neurites (IC50 = 0.24 microM) and the mean neurite length (extrapolated IC50 = 3.6 microM) but did not reduce the number of neurites per cell. In Lymnaea neurons, inorganic lead reduced the percentage of cells that grew neurites (IC50 = 13 microM total lead; approximately 10 nM free Pb2+). Triethyl lead reduced the percentage of cells that grew neurites (IC50 = 0.4 microM) and exerted significant toxicity at 0.2 microM. The two forms of lead affected neurite growth in qualitatively different ways, which suggests that their mechanisms of action are different.