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Ultrasound-stimulated microbubble enhancement of radiation response

  • Gregory J. Czarnota EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: February 28, 2015
Biological Chemistry
From the journal Biological Chemistry Volume 396 Issue 6-7

Abstract

Cancer therapies result in the killing of cancer cells but remain largely ineffective, with most patients dying of their disease. The methodology described here is a new image-guided cancer treatment under development that relies on physical methods to alter tumour biology. It enhances tumour responses to radiation significantly by synergistically destroying tumour blood vessels using microbubbles. It achieves tumour specificity by confining the ultrasonic fields that stimulate microbubbles to tumour location only. By perturbing tumour vasculature and activating specific genetic pathways in endothelial cells, the technique has been demonstrated to sensitise the targeted tissues to subsequent therapeutic application of radiation, resulting in significantly enhanced cell killing through a ceramide-dependent pathway initiated at the cell membrane. The treatment reviewed here destroys blood vessels, significantly enhancing the anti-vascular effect of radiation and improving tumour cure. The significant enhancement of localised tumour cell kill observed with this method means that radiation-based treatments can be potentially made more potent and lower doses of radiation utilised. The technique has the potential to have a profound impact on the practice of radiation oncology by offering a novel and safe means of reducing normal tissue toxicity while at the same time significantly increasing treatment effectiveness.

Keywords: apoptosis; asmase; cell death; radiosensitisation; tumour
Corresponding author: Gregory J. Czarnota, Department of Radiation Oncology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto M4N 3M5, Ontario, Canada; Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Departments of Radiation Oncology, and Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, e-mail:

Acknowledgments

G.J.C. is a recipient of a James and Mary Davie Research Chair in Breast Cancer Imaging and Ablation Research from the University of Toronto.

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Received: 2014-12-9
Accepted: 2015-2-10
Published Online: 2015-2-28
Published in Print: 2015-6-1

©2015 by De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Guest Editorial
  3. Highlight: Molecular Medicine of Sphingolipids
  4. HIGHLIGHT: MOLECULAR MEDICINE OF SPHINGOLIPIDS
  5. The role of serum amyloid A and sphingosine-1-phosphate on high-density lipoprotein functionality
  6. Sphingolipids in viral infection
  7. Tackling the biophysical properties of sphingolipids to decipher their biological roles
  8. Ceramide and sphingosine in pulmonary infections
  9. Molecular mechanisms of erythrocyte aging
  10. Sphingolipids in liver injury, repair and regeneration
  11. Ultrasound-stimulated microbubble enhancement of radiation response
  12. Innate immune responses in the brain of sphingolipid lysosomal storage diseases
  13. Novel mechanisms of action of classical chemotherapeutic agents on sphingolipid pathways
  14. The role of sphingolipids in endothelial barrier function
  15. The effect of altered sphingolipid acyl chain length on various disease models
  16. Secretory sphingomyelinase in health and disease
  17. Preclinical development of a C6-ceramide NanoLiposome, a novel sphingolipid therapeutic
  18. Sphingomyelin breakdown in T cells: role in activation, effector functions and immunoregulation
  19. The molecular medicine of acid ceramidase
  20. Caenorhabditis elegans as a model to study sphingolipid signaling
  21. S1PR4 is required for plasmacytoid dendritic cell differentiation
  22. Antinociceptive effects of FTY720 during trauma-induced neuropathic pain are mediated by spinal S1P receptors
  23. Subcellular distribution of FTY720 and FTY720-phosphate in immune cells – another aspect of Fingolimod action relevant for therapeutic application
  24. Downregulation of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor 1 by dexamethasone inhibits S1P-induced mesangial cell migration
  25. Sphingosine kinase 2 deficiency increases proliferation and migration of renal mouse mesangial cells and fibroblasts
  26. Obituary
  27. The life and work of Dr. Robert Bittman (1942–2014)
https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2014-0297
Keywords for this article
apoptosis; asmase; cell death; radiosensitisation; tumour

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Guest Editorial
  3. Highlight: Molecular Medicine of Sphingolipids
  4. HIGHLIGHT: MOLECULAR MEDICINE OF SPHINGOLIPIDS
  5. The role of serum amyloid A and sphingosine-1-phosphate on high-density lipoprotein functionality
  6. Sphingolipids in viral infection
  7. Tackling the biophysical properties of sphingolipids to decipher their biological roles
  8. Ceramide and sphingosine in pulmonary infections
  9. Molecular mechanisms of erythrocyte aging
  10. Sphingolipids in liver injury, repair and regeneration
  11. Ultrasound-stimulated microbubble enhancement of radiation response
  12. Innate immune responses in the brain of sphingolipid lysosomal storage diseases
  13. Novel mechanisms of action of classical chemotherapeutic agents on sphingolipid pathways
  14. The role of sphingolipids in endothelial barrier function
  15. The effect of altered sphingolipid acyl chain length on various disease models
  16. Secretory sphingomyelinase in health and disease
  17. Preclinical development of a C6-ceramide NanoLiposome, a novel sphingolipid therapeutic
  18. Sphingomyelin breakdown in T cells: role in activation, effector functions and immunoregulation
  19. The molecular medicine of acid ceramidase
  20. Caenorhabditis elegans as a model to study sphingolipid signaling
  21. S1PR4 is required for plasmacytoid dendritic cell differentiation
  22. Antinociceptive effects of FTY720 during trauma-induced neuropathic pain are mediated by spinal S1P receptors
  23. Subcellular distribution of FTY720 and FTY720-phosphate in immune cells – another aspect of Fingolimod action relevant for therapeutic application
  24. Downregulation of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor 1 by dexamethasone inhibits S1P-induced mesangial cell migration
  25. Sphingosine kinase 2 deficiency increases proliferation and migration of renal mouse mesangial cells and fibroblasts
  26. Obituary
  27. The life and work of Dr. Robert Bittman (1942–2014)
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