Radiodinated meta-iodobenzylguandine (MIBG) is increasingly used for the diagnosis and targeted radiotherapy of neuro-adrenergic tumors. We have investigated various conditions for specific tumor loading and prolonged retention of this radiopharmaceutical in poorly differentiated SK-N-SH neuroblastoma and highly differentiated PC-12 pheochromocytoma cells. At a constant value of drug concentration x incubation time, short incubations were superior to protracted incubations for maximal cell loading. This effect was most pronounced in the SH-N-SH neuroblastoma cells. In highly differentiated pheochromocytoma cells, the levels of MIBG storage remained high and unchanged during incubations up to 46 hr in label-free medium, while primitive SK-N-SH cells lost 40-50% of accumulated drug by diffusion. In PC-12 cells, susceptibility of stored MIBG to exocytotic release induced by acetylcholine or K+ was similar to that of natural norepinephrine (NE) and prevented by the Ca(++)-channel blockers verapamil and nifedipine. Conversely, granule-poor SK-N-SH cells were insensitive to exocytotic release of MIBG. Uptake and retention capacities were minimally impaired by an externally delivered radiation dose of 5 Gy to mimic the radiobiological effect of 131I-MIBG in tumors. In pre-irradiated cultures, drug uptake was even stimulated, probably due to enrichment in non-proliferating cells. An autoradiographic comparison of the (sub)cellular distributions of 3H-norepinephrine and 125I-MIBG showed that routine conditions of cell fixation and sample processing do not yield reliable results regarding localization of MIBG.
In the current study the authors have investigated whether human primary breast cancer specimens contain insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptors (IGF-1-R) or IGF-1-like activities. Simultaneously, epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors (EGF-R) and cytosolic estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and EGF-like activity were determined. All tumors assayed contained a single class of specific iodine 125 (125I)-IGF-1 binding sites (Kd: median 106, range 48-755 pM; n = 32) with limited capacity (Bmax: median 147, range 19-11,900 fmol/mg membrane protein). Seventy percent of 44 tumors (50% ER+, PR+), displayed specific 125I-EGF binding with a wide range of values (median 13, range 2-215 fmol/mg protein, n = 31). A positive relationship was apparent between the amount of IGF-1-R with ER and PR (Spearman; 2P less than 0.02 and 2P less than 0.01, respectively; n = 32), whereas for EGF-R a negative relationship was observed (for both 2P less than 0.01; n = 44). All tumors contained endogeneous IGF-1-like and EGF-like activities as measured by radioreceptor assay on acid-ethanol extracted cytosols (median 15, range 3-131 ng/mg protein, n = 78 for IGF-1; and median 86, range 26-517 ng/mg protein, n = 142 for EGF). Tumor contents of IGF-1-like and EGF-like activities showed a negative relationship with ER (2P less than 0.1 for IGF-1, n = 78; and 2P less than 0.001 for EGF, n = 142), and with PR (2P less than 0.05, n = 78; and 2P less than 0.001, n = 142). No relationship was observed between the tumor contents of IGF-1-like and EGF-like activities. In conclusion, these data support the view that IGF-1 and EGF can act as autocrine or paracrine growth factors in human breast cancer.
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