Several lines of evidence correlate the overexpression of glutathione S-transferase omega 1-1 (GSTO1-1) with the onset of drug resistance of cancer cells; however, no direct evidence is yet available. In order to investigate the mechanisms involved, stable transfection with GSTO1-1 complementary DNA was performed in HeLa cells, which spontaneously express very low levels of GSTO1-1. When transfected cells were seeded at low density, a sharp increase in GSTO1-1 expression was observed as compared with controls, along with an increased resistance against cisplatin cytotoxicity. When seeded at increasing densities, control untransfected cells also presented with an increase in GSTO1-1 expression, again accompanied by cisplatin resistance; the latter was significantly reduced after transfection with GSTO1-1 small interfering RNA. Cisplatin resistance of transfected cells was not accounted for by changes in the intracellular drug concentration nor in the amount of DNA cross-links or content of glutathione. Rather, transfected cells presented with a marked decrease of apoptosis as compared with controls, suggesting that GSTO1-1 overexpression may prevent cisplatin toxicity by interfering with the apoptotic process. Cisplatin treatment was in fact followed at early times (1-2 h) by activation of both Akt kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-1/2 in the transfected cells but not in controls. Conversely, in transfected cells, the strong activation of Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-1 induced by cisplatin at later times (10-20 h) was completely prevented. In conclusion, GSTO1-1 overexpression appears to be associated with activation of survival pathways (Akt and ERK1/2) and inhibition of apoptotic pathways (JNK1), as well as protection against cisplatin-induced apoptosis.

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In papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs), oncogenes activate a transcriptional program including the upregulation of CXCL10 chemokine, which stimulates proliferation and invasion. Furthermore, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-g (PPARg) activators thiazolidinediones (TZDs) modulate CXCL10 secretion in normal thyroid follicular cells (TFC), and inhibit PTC growth. Until now, no study has evaluated the effect of cytokines on CXCL10 secretion in PTCs, nor the effect of PPARg activation. The combined effects of interferon g (IFNg) and tumor necrosis factor a (TNFa) stimulation on CXCL10 secretion in primary cells from PTCs and TFC were tested. Furthermore, the effect of PPARg activation by TZDs, on CXCL10 secretion and proliferation in these cell types was studied. In primary cultures of TFC and PTCs CXCL10 production was absent under basal conditions; a similar dose-dependent secretion of CXCL10 was induced by IFNg in both cell types. TNFa alone induced a slight but significant CXCL10 secretion only in PTCs. The stimulation with IFNgCTNFa induced a synergistic CXCL10 release in both cell types; however, a secretion more than ten times higher was induced in PTCs. Treatment of TFC with TZDs dose-dependently suppressed IFNgCTNFainduced CXCL10 release, while TZDs stimulated CXCL10 secretion in PTCs. A significant antiproliferative effect by TZDs was observed only in PTCs. In conclusion, a dysregulation of CXCL10 secretion has been shown in PTCs. In fact, a CXCL10 secretion more than ten times higher has been induced by IFNgCTNFa in PTCs with respect to TFC. Moreover, TZDs inhibited CXCL10 secretion in TFC and stimulated it in PTCs. The effect of TZDs on CXCL10 was unrelated to the significant antiproliferative effect in PTCs.

The antitumoral activity of two new pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine compounds (CLM3, CLM29) in vitro and CLM3 in vivo in DePTC has been shown, opening the way to a future clinical evaluation.