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Biomedical subjects

B Ensoli

Publications and source records attributed to B Ensoli.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Inflammatory cytokines induce AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma-derived spindle cells to produce and release basic fibroblast growth factor and enhance Kaposi's sarcoma-like lesion formation in nude mice.

Homosexual males often present signs of immune activation and are likely to have increased levels of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma. These individuals develop Kaposi's sarcoma (AIDS-KS) more frequently than other HIV-1-infected groups. Our previous work demonstrated that inflammatory cytokines stimulate the growth of spindle cells derived from AIDS-KS lesions (AIDS-KS cells) and that these cells produce high levels of bFGF that mediate autocrine and paracrine (endothelial) cell growth and angiogenesis. Here we show that AIDS-KS cells constitutively produce and release bioactive bFGF in the absence of cell death, and that extracellular bFGF exist in both a soluble and a bound form; the latter can be released by treatment with trypsin, heparin, or heparinase I. Inflammatory cytokines stimulate both the synthesis and release of biologically active bFGF from KS cells and enhance their ability to induce angiogenic KS-like lesions in nude mice. Because bFGF is highly expressed in primary KS lesions, and is a mediator of KS-like lesion formation, these results suggest that the export of bFGF induced by inflammatory cytokines may play a critical role in the induction and progression of KS in HIV-1-infected homosexual men.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1995

An autoregulated dual-function antitat gene for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gene therapy.

One approach to gene therapy for AIDS is to block the replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) by inhibiting that tat gene, whose product activates the expression of all HIV-1 genes. To accomplish this, we constructed an antitat gene expressing an RNA with dual (polymeric TAR and antisense-tat) function in an attempt to both sequester Tat protein and block its translation from mRNA. A minigene consisting of the antitat gene driven by the HIV-1 long terminal repeat was inserted into a double-copy retrovirus vector, such that antitat expression would be upregulated only in HIV-1-infected cells. After transduction of a T-lymphocytic cell line (Molt-3) the antitat gene inhibited HIV-1 replication. This inhibition was inversely correlated with the virus infections dose. Virus replication was also inhibited for 5 months in two different T-cell lines after they had been infected at a high multiplicity of infection, suggesting that the antitat gene may be effective over long periods. Importantly, antitat blocked the replication and the cytopathic effect of HIV-1 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and led to as much as 4,000-fold inhibition of the replication of an HIV-1 field isolate as well as HIV-1 prototypes maintained in culture. These results suggest that antitat gene therapy has potential use for blocking HIV-1 replication in infected individuals.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1995

Inhibition of clinical human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 isolates in primary CD4+ T lymphocytes by retroviral vectors expressing anti-HIV genes.

Gene therapy may be of benefit in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected individuals by virtue of its ability to inhibit virus replication and prevent viral gene expression. It is not known whether anti-HIV-1 gene therapy strategies based on antisense or transdominant HIV-1 mutant proteins can inhibit the replication and expression of clinical HIV-1 isolates in primary CD4+ T lymphocytes. We therefore transduced CD4+ T lymphocytes from uninfected individuals with retroviral vectors expressing either HIV-1-specific antisense-TAR or antisense-Tat/Rev RNA, transdominant HIV-1 Rev protein, and a combination of antisense-TAR and transdominant Rev. The engineered CD4+ T lymphocytes were then infected with four different clinical HIV-1 isolates. We found that replication of all HIV-1 isolates was inhibited by all the anti-HIV vectors tested. Greater inhibition of HIV-1 was observed with transdominant Rev than with antisense RNA. We hereby demonstrated effective protection by antisense RNA or transdominant mutant proteins against HIV-1 infection in primary CD4+ T lymphocytes using clinical HIV-1 isolates, and this represents an essential step toward clinical anti-HIV-1 gene therapy.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1995

Cytokines from activated T cells induce normal endothelial cells to acquire the phenotypic and functional features of AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma spindle cells.

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a proliferative disease of vascular origin particularly frequent in HIV-1-infected homosexual men (AIDS-KS) and characterized by proliferating spindle-shaped cells, angiogenesis, and inflammatory cell infiltration. Previous work has suggested that KS spindle cells are of endothelial cell origin and that chronic immune activation via the release of inflammatory cytokines may cooperate with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and the HIV-1 Tat protein in the induction and progression of AIDS-KS. Here we show that KS spindle cells have features of activated endothelial cells, and that conditioned media from activated T cells, rich in the same inflammatory cytokines increased in HIV-1-infected individuals, induce normal endothelial cells to acquire the phenotypic and functional features of KS cells. These include (a) acquisition of a similar pattern of cell surface antigen expression; (b) similar proliferative response to bFGF; (c) induction of the responsiveness to the mitogenic effect of extracellular HIV-1 Tat protein that is now able to promote the G1-S transition of endothelial cell cycle; and (d) induction in nude mice of vascular lesions closely resembling early KS as well as the lesions induced by inoculation of KS cells. These results suggest that chronic immune activation, via release of inflammatory cytokines, may play a role in the induction of KS.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

Synergy between basic fibroblast growth factor and HIV-1 Tat protein in induction of Kaposi's sarcoma.

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat protein synergize in inducing angiogenic Kaposi's sarcoma-like lesions in mice. Synergy is due to Tat, which enhances endothelial cell growth and type-IV collagenase expression in response to bFGF mimicking extracellular matrix proteins. The bFGF, extracellular Tat and Tat receptors are present in HIV-1-associated KS, which may explain the higher frequency and aggressiveness of this form compared to classical Kaposi's sarcoma where only bFGF is present.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

Identification and culture of Kaposi's sarcoma-like spindle cells from the peripheral blood of human immunodeficiency virus-1-infected individuals and normal controls.

We examined 26 patients with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1)-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), and 76 HIV-1-infected (HIV-1+) people without KS or uninfected (HIV-1-) controls for the presence of circulating KS-like spindle cells. Adherent cells that had spindle morphology and several characteristics of spindle cells of KS lesions (KS cells) were identified in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell fraction only after culture in the presence of conditioned medium (CM) from activated lymphocytes. The peripheral blood-derived spindle cells (PBsc) expressed a variety of endothelial cell markers, such as Ulex europaeus I lectin, EN4, EN2/3, EN7/44, CD13, CD34, CD36, CD54, ELAM-1, and HLA-DR. However, they were negative for CD2, CD19, PaIE, and factor VIII-related antigen. The PBsc produced angiogenic factors as evidenced by the ability of CM from these cells to promote growth of normal vascular endothelial cells. In addition, subcutaneously injected PBsc stimulated angiogenesis in vivo in athymic nude mice. We determined that the number of PBsc grown from the peripheral blood of HIV-1+ patients with KS or at high risk to develop KS were increased by 78-fold (P = .0001) and 18-fold (P = .005), respectively, when compared with HIV-1- controls. The number of spindle cells cultured from the HIV-1+ patients at low risk for developing KS, eg, HIV-1+ injection drug users, showed no statistical increase when compared with HIV-1- controls. The presence of increased PBsc with characteristics of KS cells in HIV-1+ KS patients or patients at high risk for developing KS gives insights into the origin of KS cells and may explain the multifocal nature of the disease. In addition, this may be useful in predicting the risk of KS development.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

HIV-1 gene expression and replication in neuronal and glial cell lines with immature phenotype: effects of nerve growth factor.

Encephalopathy and neurological disorders are a major manifestation of pediatric AIDS. Although HIV-1 can replicate in cells of neuronal and glial origin, it is yet unclear whether immature neural cells, which are present during nervous system development, can support HIV-1 replication and whether neurotrophic factors can modulate HIV-1 gene expression. In this study we show that a glial cell line with a phenotype closely resembling immature glial cells is more permissive to HIV-1 infection and replication than a neuroblastic cell line. After HIV-1 infection or after transfection of these cells with the HIV-1 LTR-CAT reporter gene alone or in the presence of Tat, both HIV-1 replication and viral gene expression progressively decrease in the neuronal cell line, while they increase in the glial cell line. In both cell types viral gene expression and replication are augmented by the addition to the cells of nerve growth factor (NGF) at concentrations which induce neuronal differentiation. However, these effects are again more evident with the glial cell type, suggesting that immature glial cells may represent one of the major targets and reservoirs of HIV-1 in the developing nervous system. As NGF and Tat act synergistically in inducing HIV-1 gene expression, these data also suggest that during development the presence of high levels of neural trophic factors may activate viral replication and render the CNS more susceptible to the deleterious effects of HIV-1 infection.

Cell Differentiation↗
PubMed1994

Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 by retroviral vectors expressing antisense-TAR.

The human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) Tat activation response (TAR) region is essential for Tat-mediated trans-activation of the HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR). The TAR element is present on the 5' and 3' ends of all HIV-1 transcripts and is relatively conserved among different HIV-1 isolates. These properties make it an attractive target for anti-HIV-1 gene therapy strategies. We have constructed a Moloney murine leukemia-based retroviral vector that expresses a chimeric tRNA(iMet)-antisense TAR fusion transcript complementary to the HIV-1 TAR region. The potential of this anti-TAR retroviral vector to inhibit HIV-1 was initially tested by transient transfections with an HIV-1-LTR-Tat expression plasmid into HeLa-CAT cells. Anti-TAR inhibited Tat-mediated HIV-1 LTR-driven CAT reporter gene expression in a dose-dependent fashion. The antisense-TAR vector was then used to transduce the human SupT1 T cell line. Cotransfection of these SupT1 cells with a Tat expression plasmid plus an HIV-1 LTR-CAT reporter plasmid resulted in decreased CAT gene expression in comparison to control transduced SupT1 cells. The antisense-TAR engineered SupT1 cell line was then challenged with HIV-1MN.HIV-1 viral production was inhibited in SupT1 cells transduced with the antisense-TAR retroviral vector. Greater inhibition of HIV-1 was observed with antisense-TAR as compared to antisense-Tat expressing retroviral vector. These observations suggest that antisense-TAR retroviral vectors are potentially useful for clinical anti-HIV-1 gene therapy.

Blotting, Southern↗
PubMed1994

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat protein transactivates tumor necrosis factor beta gene expression through a TAR-like structure.

We have previously shown that the Tat protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transactivates tumor necrosis factor alpha and beta (TNF alpha and TNF beta) gene expression in HIV-1-infected and in tat-transfected T-lymphocytic and monocytic cell lines. The product encoded by the first exon of the tat gene (amino acids 1 to 72) is sufficient for this transactivation. Here we show that (i) the NF-kappa B and Sp1 binding sites of the TNF beta promoter are required for Tat-mediated transactivation and (ii) a predicted stem-loop structure in the TNF beta mRNA leader region, which resembles the Tat-responsive element of the HIV-1 long terminal repeat (TAR) and which is therefore termed TAR-like, is essential for TNF beta transactivation by Tat. These data suggest that similar promoter regulatory elements are necessary for Tat-mediated transactivation of both TNF beta and HIV-1 gene expression. This represents the first demonstration of a cellular gene with a regulatory element downstream of the transcriptional initiation site that, like TAR, may function as an RNA element.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Block of AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) cell growth, angiogenesis, and lesion formation in nude mice by antisense oligonucleotide targeting basic fibroblast growth factor. A novel strategy for the therapy of KS.

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is the most frequent tumor of HIV-1-infected individuals (AIDS-KS). Typical features of KS are proliferating spindle-shaped cells, considered to be the tumor cells of KS, and endothelial cells forming blood vessels. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), a potent angiogenic factor, is highly expressed by KS spindle cells in vivo and after injection in nude mice it induces vascular lesions closely resembling early KS in humans. Similar lesions are induced by inoculating nude mice with cultured spindle cells from AIDS-KS lesions (AIDS-KS cells) which produce and release bFGF. Here we show that phosphorothioate antisense (AS) oligonucleotides directed against bFGF mRNA (ASbFGF) inhibit both the growth of AIDS-KS cells derived from different patients and the angiogenic activity associated with these cells, including the induction of KS-like lesions in nude mice. These effects are due to the block of the production of bFGF which is required by AIDS-KS cells to enter the cell cycle and which, after release, mediates angiogenesis. The effects of ASbFGF are specific, dose dependent, achieved at low (0.1-1 microM), nontoxic, oligomer concentrations, and are reversed by the addition of bFGF to the cells, suggesting that ASbFGF oligomers are promising drug candidates for KS therapy.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

Inhibition of AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma cell induced endothelial cell invasion by TIMP-2 and a synthetic peptide from the metalloproteinase propeptide: implications for an anti-angiogenic therapy.

In the initial phases of angiogenesis, endothelial cells must degrade and cross the vessel basement membrane, as do tumor cells during invasion and metastasis formation. Various metalloproteinases have been implicated in tumor cell invasion, in particular MMP-2 (72 kDa collagenase IV, gelatinase A), which has been demonstrated to be associated with tumor metastasis formation. Supernatants from AIDS-Kaposi sarcoma (KS) cells induce normal endothelial cells to invade through a reconstituted basement membrane (Matrigel) in vitro, which correlates with the angiogenic potential of KS cells in vivo. Here we demonstrate that two specific inhibitors of MMP-2, TIMP-2 and a peptide from the MMP-2 propeptide region (peptide 74), inhibit endothelial cell invasion induced by AIDS-KS cell supernatants. Smooth muscle cells were much less sensitive to these inhibitors. These data suggest that MMP-2 activation is a key event in endothelial cell invasion, the initial phase of tumor-associated neoangiogenesis. Inhibition of this enzyme could be an effective treatment for KS and tumor-associated angiogenesis.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

Block of HIV-1 infection by a combination of antisense tat RNA and TAR decoys: a strategy for control of HIV-1.

The tat gene product (Tat) of HIV-1 is an early regulatory protein necessary for viral gene expression and replication. Tat may also play a role as an extracellular protein in both HIV-1 replication and AIDS-associated disorders such as Kaposi's sarcoma. Thus, Tat represents a good target for gene therapy against AIDS. Here we show that when vectors expressing antisense tat RNA are transiently transfected into CD4+ cells, they block about 70% of HIV-1 replication and inhibit the rescue of Tat-defective HIV-1 proviruses by inhibition of Tat protein expression and consequent lack of transcriptional activation of the HIV-promoter. However, antisense tat vectors cannot block the activity of extracellular Tat protein. Another tat inhibitory construct (poly-Tat-activation response; TAR) previously suggested to inhibit HIV-1 transactivation by sequestering the Tat protein, inhibited the activity of extracellular Tat, but like antisense tat RNA did not completely block viral gene expression and replication. These results suggested that one mode of inhibition is not sufficient to block Tat function. However, when the antisense tat and the poly-TAR constructs were combined HIV-1 gene expression was completely blocked (94-98%), suggesting that a combination of inhibitory genes blocking Tat by sequential steps may be a better approach for AIDS gene therapy.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1993

The Tat protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1, a growth factor for AIDS Kaposi sarcoma and cytokine-activated vascular cells, induces adhesion of the same cell types by using integrin receptors recognizing the RGD amino acid sequence.

Spindle-shaped cells of vascular origin are the probable tumor cells of Kaposi sarcoma (KS). These cells, derived from patients with KS and AIDS, proliferate in response to extracellular Tat protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Normal vascular cells, believed to be the progenitors of AIDS-KS cells, acquire spindle morphology and become responsive to the mitogenic effect of Tat after culture with inflammatory cytokines. Such cytokines are increased in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected people, suggesting that immune stimulation (rather than immune deficiency) is a component of AIDS-KS pathogenesis. Here we show that (i) Tat promotes adhesion of AIDS-KS and normal vascular cells; (ii) adhesion of normal vascular cells to Tat is induced by exposure of the cells to the same cytokines; (iii) adhesion is associated with the amino acid sequence RGD of Tat through a specific interaction with the integrin receptors alpha 5 beta 1 and alpha v beta 3, although it is augmented by the basic region; and (iv) the expression of both integrins is increased by the same cytokines that promote these cells to acquire spindle morphology and become responsive to the adhesion and growth effects of Tat. The results also suggest that RGD-recognizing integrins mediate the vascular cell-growth-promoting effect of Tat.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1993

Release, uptake, and effects of extracellular human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat protein on cell growth and viral transactivation.

During acute human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection or after transfection of the tat gene, Tat protein is released into the cell culture supernatant. In this extracellular form, Tat stimulates both HIV-1 gene expression and the growth of cells derived from Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) lesions of HIV-1-infected individuals (AIDS-KS cells). Tat protein and its biological activities appear in the cell supernatants at the peak of Tat expression, when the rate of cell death is low (infection) or cell death is undetectable (transfection) and increased levels of cytoplasmic Tat are present. Tat-containing supernatants stimulate maximal AIDS-KS cell growth but only low to moderate levels of HIV-1 gene expression. This is due to the different concentrations of exogenous Tat required for the two effects. The cell growth-promoting effects of Tat peak at between 0.1 and 1 ng of purified recombinant protein per ml in the cell growth medium and do not increase with concentration. In contrast, both the detection of nuclear-localized Tat taken up by cells and the induction of HIV-1 gene expression or replication require higher Tat concentrations (> or = 100 ng/ml), and all increase linearly with increasing amounts of the exogenous protein. These data suggest that Tat can be released by a mechanism(s) other than cell death and that the cell growth-promoting activity and the virus-transactivating effect of extracellular Tat are mediated by different pathways.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Effects of cytokines from activated immune cells on vascular cell growth and HIV-1 gene expression. Implications for AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma pathogenesis.

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) arises more frequently in homosexual and bisexual men than in other groups of HIV-1 infected individuals. Clinico-epidemiologic data indicate that homosexuals often are infected with multiple microbial agents and/or subjected to other antigenic stimuli, preceding or accompanying HIV-1 infection. Signs of immune activation, in fact, frequently have been detected in these individuals, and the onset of KS can precede any sign of immunodeficiency. These data have suggested that products from activated immune cells may affect the development of AIDS-KS. Here we report that conditioned media from activated or dysregulated T cells contain a variety of cytokines that promote the growth of spindle cells derived from KS lesions of AIDS patients (AIDS-KS cells) and induce normal vascular cells, potential cell progenitors of the AIDS-KS cells, to acquire features of the KS cell phenotype ("spindle" cell morphology and growth responsiveness to the mitogenic effect of extracellular HIV-1 Tat protein). The same conditioned media or cytokines promote HIV-1 gene expression and rescue defective HIV-1 proviruses, interrupting HIV-1 latency and increasing Tat production. The cellular and viral effects of cytokines are increased in an additive or synergistic manner by picomolar concentrations of extracellular Tat. These data suggest that cytokines produced by activated immune cells cooperate with HIV-1 infection in AIDS-KS pathogenesis.

Cell Division↗