The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib exhibits antitumor activity in many malignancies including mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Unfortunately, many patients fail to respond to treatment or become refractory. Hyperthermia is an effective chemosensitizer that in combination with some chemotherapeutic agents has shown clinical activity in phase II and III studies. The aim of this study was to use MCL cell lines to investigate the potential benefit of combining clinically relevant doses of bortezomib with two different thermal doses (41.8 degrees C/120 min and 44 degrees C/30 min) that mimic the heterogeneity of the temperature distributions achieved within tumors during hyperthermia. Treated tumor cells were assessed for proliferation using the WST-1 assay and for apoptosis by annexin V staining, while heat shock protein (HSP) levels were determined following western blot analysis. Our results demonstrated that MCL cell lines that are sensitive to bortezomib are also thermosensitive and have low basal expression of hsp27, whereas the bortezomib-resistant MCL cell line strongly expresses hsp27 and is thermoresistant. Interestingly, pre-treatment of MCL cell lines with heat at the two different thermal doses, and the transient elevation of hsp27 and hsp70, do not impair their primary sensitivity to bortezomib. Finally, we show that the concurrent treatment of heat and bortezomib results in additive killing in MCL cell lines.In conclusion, these results suggest that the application of bortezomib, under thermal conditions, in mantle cell lymphoma cells may be beneficial and warrants further investigation.

In the course of combining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the science education curriculum, the relevance of the micro- and macroalgae in education is based on the biotechnological future-oriented significance and the ever-growing trend toward plant-based nutrition. So, the micro- and macroalgae are finding their way onto the food shelves and creating biotechnological solutions with regard to climate change (SDG4; SDG13). Their colored photopigments and phycobiliproteins are already established as important natural dyes in the food and textile industries. In addition to being essential in photosynthesis, photopigments have a variety of functions and effects that influence almost all aspects of our lives. The article presents experimental protocols developed based on the established methods for the extraction of photopigments from plants and optimized for the use of phototrophic micro- and macroalgae (Chlorella vulgaris, Arthrospira platensis, and Palmaria palmata). Besides the green chlorophylls and yellow-orange carotenoids in plants, cyanobacteria and red algae developed additional light antenna complexes, so-called phycobilisomes, consisting of different phycobiliproteins. For this purpose, experiments that are simple to execute have been developed to make the colorful world of photopigments visible to the students from the upper secondary level and can be used in both university and school educational settings. Furthermore, a column chromatography was developed, which allows the preparation of the pigment and phycobiliprotein extracts from A. platensis. This procedure is based on the established “supermarket column” and was optimized according to the use of powdered amounts of A. platensis. Additionally, results from a first implementation in a classroom setting will be discussed.

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