Most cited article - PubMed ID 19408840
Metallothionein--a promising tool for cancer diagnostics
Zinc ions are essential cofactors of a wide range of enzymes, transcription factors, and other regulatory proteins. Moreover, zinc is also involved in cellular signaling and enzymes inhibition. Zinc dysregulation, deficiency, over-supply, and imbalance in zinc ion transporters regulation are connected with various diseases including cancer. A zinc ion pool is maintained by two types of proteins: (i) zinc-binding proteins, which act as a buffer and intracellular donors of zinc and (ii) zinc transporters responsible for zinc fluxes into/from cells and organelles. The decreased serum zinc ion levels have been identified in patients suffering from various cancer diseases, including head and neck tumors and breast, prostate, liver, and lung cancer. On the contrary, increased zinc ion levels have been found in breast cancer and other malignant tissues. Zinc metalloproteomes of a majority of tumors including brain ones are still not yet fully understood. Current knowledge show that zinc ion levels and detection of certain zinc-containing proteins may be utilized for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. In addition, these proteins can also be promising therapeutic targets. The aim of the present work is an overview of the importance of zinc ions, zinc transporters, and zinc-containing proteins in brain tumors, which are, after leukemia, the second most common type of childhood cancer and the second leading cause of death in children after accidents.
- Keywords
- Cancer, Childhood brain tumors, Metallothioneins, Zinc metalloenzymes, Zinc transporters,
- MeSH
- Models, Biological MeSH
- Molecular Targeted Therapy MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Neoplasm Proteins metabolism MeSH
- Brain Neoplasms diagnosis metabolism MeSH
- Zinc metabolism MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Review MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Neoplasm Proteins MeSH
- Zinc MeSH
ABSTRACT: Quantum dots (QDs) are fluorescence nanoparticles (NPs) with unique optic properties which allow their use as probes in chemical, biological, immunological, and molecular imaging. QDs linked with target ligands such as peptides or small molecules can be used as tumor biomarkers. These particles are a promising tool for selective, fast, and sensitive tagging and imaging in medicine. In this study, an attempt was made to use QDs as a marker for human metallothionein (MT) isoforms 1 and 2. Four kinds of CdTe QDs of different sizes bioconjugated with MT were analyzed using the chip-CE technique. Based on the results, it can be concluded that MT is willing to interact with QDs, and the chip-CE technique enables the observation of their complexes. It was also observed that changes ranging roughly 6-7 kDa, a value corresponding to the MT monomer, depend on the hydrodynamic diameters of QDs; also, the MT sample without cadmium interacted stronger with QDs than MT saturated with cadmium. Results show that MT is willing to interact with smaller QDs (blue CdTe) rather than larger ones QDs (red CdTe). To our knowledge, chip-CE has not previously been applied in the study of CdTe QDs interaction with MT.
- Keywords
- Bioconjugation, Biomarkers, Chip-CE, Health effects, Metallothionein, Quantum dots,
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Metallothioneins (MT) are low molecular weight, cysteine-rich proteins maintaining metal ions homeostasis. They play a role in carcinogenesis and may also cause chemoresistance. The aim of the study was to explore the importance of MT serum levels in children suffering from malignant tumours. This prospective study involves examination of 865 samples from 172 patients with malignant tumours treated from 2008 to 2011 at University Hospital Motol. MT serum levels were determined using differential pulse voltammetry-Brdicka reaction. Mean MT level was 2.7 ± 0.5 μM. There was no statistically significant difference between MT levels in different tumours. We also did not find any correlation between MT levels and response to therapy or clinical stages. However, we found a positive correlation between MT levels and age (p = 0.009) and a negative correlation with absolute lymphocyte number (p = 0.001). The fact that patients who had early disease recurrence had lower MT levels during the treatment (complete remission 2.67 vs. recurring 2.34, p = 0.001) seems to be important for clinical practice. Accordingly we believe that there is benefit in further studies of serum MT levels in tumours.
- MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Infant MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Metallothionein blood MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Biomarkers, Tumor blood MeSH
- Neoplasms blood drug therapy MeSH
- Child, Preschool MeSH
- Prognosis MeSH
- Disease Progression MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Infant MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Child, Preschool MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Metallothionein MeSH
- Biomarkers, Tumor MeSH
The drugs based on platinum metals represent one of the oldest, but also one of the most effective groups of chemotherapeutic agents. Thanks to many clinical studies it is known that resistance of tumor cells to drugs is a frequent cause of chemotherapy failure. With regard to platinum based drugs, multidrug resistance can also be connected with increased expression of low-molecular weight protein metallothionein (MT). This study aimed at investigating the interactions of MT with cisplatin or carboplatin, using the adsorptive transfer technique coupled with differential pulse voltammetry Brdicka reaction (AdTS DPV Brdicka reaction), and a comparison of in vitro results with results obtained in vivo. The results obtained from the in vitro study show a strong affinity between platinum based drugs and MT. Further, we analyzed extracts of neuroblastoma cell lines treated with cisplatin or carboplatin. It is clear that neuroblastoma UKF-NB-4 cisplatin-resistant and cisplatin-sensitive cell lines unlikely respond to the presence of the platinum-based cytostatics cisplatin and carboplatin. Finally, we determined the level of MT in samples from rabbits treated with carboplatin and patients with retinoblastoma treated with the same drug.
- Keywords
- anticancer therapy, metallothionein, platinum based anticancer drugs, resistance, retinoblastoma, tumor disease,
- MeSH
- Models, Biological MeSH
- Cisplatin * pharmacokinetics pharmacology MeSH
- Carboplatin * pharmacokinetics pharmacology MeSH
- Rabbits MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Metallothionein metabolism MeSH
- Cell Line, Tumor MeSH
- Neuroblastoma * drug therapy metabolism pathology MeSH
- Antineoplastic Agents * pharmacokinetics pharmacology MeSH
- Retinoblastoma * drug therapy metabolism pathology MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Rabbits MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Cisplatin * MeSH
- Carboplatin * MeSH
- Metallothionein MeSH
- Antineoplastic Agents * MeSH