dihydropyridines and Osteosarcoma

The biological behavior of osteosarcoma in dogs is similar to that in humans and the dog has been suggested as a model for the disease in humans. Because occult metastatic disease is common at presentation, systemic therapy is necessary. The dihydropyridine, dexniguldipine hydrochloride (B859-35), is a potent inhibitor of protein-kinase-C(PKC)-stimulated cell proliferation and has shown therapeutic activity in experimentally induced neuroendocrine hamster lung tumors and in a mammary cancer cell line. In human osteosarcoma cell lines, PKC activity can be down-regulated, resulting in increased sensitivity to cisplatin. Since these results supported the involvement of PKC inhibitors in the therapeutic management of osteosarcoma, we performed a prospective, randomized clinical trial using dogs with naturally occurring appendicular osteosarcoma to determine the therapeutic potential of dexniguldipine. Dogs received either no drug treatment (control group, n = 8), standard treatment (e.g., cisplatin, n = 14), or dexniguldipine treatment (n = 14) following amputation. Dexniguldipine- and cisplatin-treated dogs had a longer median remission duration and survival time than untreated dogs (P < 0.05); however, dexniguldipine-treated dogs had a shorter survival time than cisplatin-treated dogs (P < 0.05). The results of this study demonstrate that dexniguldipine has significant activity in the inhibition of canine osteosarcoma micrometastases. The identification of a tumor model that may be responsive to this class of antiproliferative agents warrants further clinical investigation to determine the optimum dosage of dexniguldipine and the role it may have in the therapeutic management of canine osteosarcoma.

Topics: Amputation, Surgical; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Bone Neoplasms; Cisplatin; Combined Modality Therapy; Dihydropyridines; Dogs; Female; Male; Osteosarcoma; Prospective Studies

An early cellular response of osteoblasts to swelling is plasma membrane depolarization, accompanied by a transient increase in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i), which initiates regulatory volume decrease (RVD). The authors have previously demonstrated a hypotonically induced depolarization of the osteoblast plasma membrane, sufficient to open L-type Ca channels and mediate Ca2+ influx. Herein is described the initiation of RVD in UMR-106.01 cells, mediated by hypotonically induced [Ca2+]i transients resulting from the activation of specific isoforms of L-type Ca channels. The authors further demonstrate that substrate interaction determines which specific alpha1 Ca channel subunit isoform predominates and mediates Ca2+ entry and RVD. Swelling-induced [Ca2+]i transients, and RVD in cells grown on a type I collagen matrix, are inhibited by removal of Ca from extracellular solutions, dihydropyridines, and antisense oligodeoxynucleotides directed exclusively to the alpha1C isoform of the L-type Ca channel. Ca2+ transients and RVD in cells grown on untreated glass cover slips were inhibited by similar maneuvers, but only by antisense oligodeoxynucleotides directed to the alpha1S isoform of the L-type Ca channel. This represents the first molecular identification of the Ca channels that transduce the initiation signal for RVD by osteoblastic cells.

Topics: Animals; Bone Neoplasms; Calcium; Calcium Channel Blockers; Calcium Channels; Calcium Channels, L-Type; Cell Size; Dihydropyridines; Hypotonic Solutions; Nifedipine; Oligonucleotides, Antisense; Osmolar Concentration; Osteoblasts; Osteosarcoma; Patch-Clamp Techniques; Protein Isoforms; Rats; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Topics: Adenosine Triphosphatases; Affinity Labels; ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1; Azides; Cell Membrane; Cloning, Molecular; Colchicine; Daunorubicin; Dihydropyridines; DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; Drug Resistance, Multiple; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Escherichia coli; HeLa Cells; Humans; Indicators and Reagents; Iodine Radioisotopes; Osteosarcoma; Plasmids; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Prazosin; Recombinant Proteins; Restriction Mapping; Transfection; Tritium; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Vaccinia virus; Vinblastine; Viral Proteins

Analogs of the seco-steroid hormone, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-(OH)-2D3] can preferentially stimulate genomic or nongenomic signaling pathways in osteoblasts. In this study, we used 1,25-(OH)2D3 analogs and voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channel (VSCC) ligands, including dihydropyridines (Bay K 8644 and nitrendipine), in an osteosarcoma cell model to examine the relationship between 1,25-(OH)2D3-stimulated Ca2+ influx and genomic and nongenomic pathways leading to osteoblast activation. Northern blotting experiments demonstrated that an analog of 1,25-(OH)2D3, 1,24-dihydroxy-22-ene-24-cyclopropyl D3, increased messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of both osteopontin (OPN) and osteocalcin (OCN) without triggering Ca2+ influx through VSCCs. Nitrendipine (an inhibitor of L-type VSCCs) did not block the mRNA increase induced by either analog 1,24-dihydroxy-22-ene-24-cyclopropyl D3 or 1,25-(OH)2D3. 1-Deoxy analogs of 1,25-(OH)2D3, 25-hydroxy-16-ene-23-yne-D3, or 25-hydroxy-23-yne-D3, which stimulate Ca2+ influx, did not produce mRNA accumulation for OPN and OCN, consistent with their poor binding to nuclear receptors. Likewise, Bay K 8644, an agonist of VSCCs that produces Ca2+ influx, did not increase mRNA levels for OPN or OCN. Experiments using a construct derived from the sequence of the genomic OPN promoter region and a luciferase reporter confirmed the analog specificity in stimulating transcription. Together these results indicate that 1,25-(OH)2D3-mediated up-regulation of genes encoding OPN and OCN is independent of Ca2+ influx and suggest that the stimulation of Ca2+ influx by 1,25-(OH)2D3 is not required for target gene activation.

Topics: Calcitriol; Calcium; Dihydropyridines; Gene Expression Regulation; Genome; Osteocalcin; Osteopontin; Osteosarcoma; RNA, Messenger; Sialoglycoproteins; Time Factors; Transcriptional Activation; Tumor Cells, Cultured

A slowly inactivating inward calcium current was identified in the rat osteosarcoma cell line ROS 17/2.8 using a combination of ion flux and electrophysiological techniques. Voltage dependence, dihydropyridine sensitivity, divalent cation selectivity, and single channel properties identified this current as a high threshold, "L-type" calcium current. Ion flux experiments using 45Ca2+ confirmed that calcium uptake through these channel represents a major pathway for calcium entry into osteosarcoma cells. In resting cells, i.e. at negative membrane potentials, stimulation of both calcium current and rapid 45Ca2+ influx could be elicited by concentrations of 1,25-(OH)2-vitamin D3 between 0.1 and 3 nM. At these concentrations, 1,25-(OH)2-vitamin D3 shifted the threshold for activation of inward calcium current to more negative potentials. At higher concentrations (5-10 nM), inhibitory effects became predominant. These opposing effects are functionally similar to those of the dihydropyridine BAY K 8644. Other vitamin D3 metabolites (25-(OH)-D3 and 24,25-(OH)2-D3) exhibited less potent stimulatory effects and greater inhibition of calcium current than 1,25-(OH)2-D3. These results suggest that (i) vitamin D3 acts as a potent modulator of calcium channel function in osteosarcoma cells, and (ii) intracellular Ca2+-dependent signaling processes may be affected acutely by physiological concentrations of vitamin D3 metabolites.

Topics: 24,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D 3; 3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester; Animals; Barium; Calcifediol; Calcitriol; Calcium; Calcium Channels; Cell Line; Dihydropyridines; Kinetics; Membrane Potentials; Osteosarcoma; Rats; Tumor Cells, Cultured