PAT-PM-2

No clinically effective chemoprevention for lung cancer has been found. Angiogenesis is an early feature of both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell lung cancer. We investigated the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) inhibition on lung carcinogenesis in a murine model of adenocarcinoma. The VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, vandetanib, was given to FVB/N mice in chow for 7 days at varying doses to show pharmacologic activity by inhibition of VEGF-mediated VEFGR-2 and ERK phosphorylation. Plasma levels corroborated adequate dosage. For chemoprevention experiments, mice were injected i.p. with 1 mg/g of urethane, a carcinogen found in tobacco smoke. Chow containing vandetanib, 75 mg/kg/d, or control chow was given to mice, starting 7 days after urethane administration. Sixteen weeks after urethane injection, mice were sacrificed, tumors enumerated and measured. Vandetanib resulted in reductions in tumor multiplicity (6.5 ± 0.86 versus 1.0 ± 0.30, P = 0.001) and average tumor volume (0.85 ± 0.10 versus 0.15 ± 0.09 mm3, P = 0.001), but not incidence (71% versus 100%, P = ns), compared with control. As vandetanib has other activities besides VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinase inhibition, we gave the anti–VEGFR-2 monoclonal antibody, DC101, for weeks 11 to 15 of a urethane carcinogenesis protocol with an arrest in tumor volume increase, but no change in multiplicity or incidence. Further investigation of the chemopreventive effect of vandetanib and other VEGF signaling inhibitors is needed. Cancer Prev Res; 3(9); 1141–7. ©2010 AACR.

Overactivation of the immune system upon acute bacterial infection leads to septic shock. Specific bacterial products potently stimulate immune cells via toll-like receptors (TLRs). Gram-negative bacteria induce a predominantly TLR4-driven signal through LPS release. To neutralize LPS signaling in experimental models of sepsis, we generated mAbs toward the TLR4/myeloid differentiation protein-2 (MD-2) complex. The binding properties of an array of selected rat mAbs differed in respect to their specificity for TLR4/MD-2 complex. The specificity of one such mAb, 5E3, to murine TLR4 was confirmed by its recognition of an epitope within the second quarter of the ectodomain. 5E3 inhibited LPS-dependent cell activation in vitro and prevented proinflammatory cytokine production in vivo following LPS challenge in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, 5E3 protected mice from lethal shock-like syndrome when applied using both preventative and therapeutic protocols. Most notably, in the colon ascendens stent peritonitis model of polymicrobial abdominal sepsis, administration of a single dose of 5E3 (50 μg) protected mice against mortality. These results demonstrate that neutralizing TLR4/MD-2 is highly efficacious in protecting against bacterial infection-induced toxemia and offers TLR4/MD-2 mAb treatment as a potential therapy for numerous clinical indications.