Cells were trypsinized, suspended in 0.33% agar in RPMI 1640 complete media and plated in 6-well plates pre-coated with 0.66% agar. transcriptional NF-B activity. functional assays revealed that RelB reduced anchorage-independent cell growth in soft agar, but increased the proliferative potential of 22Rv1 cells in adherent conditions. We also demonstrated that RelB appeared to sensitize 22Rv1 cells to autophagy. This is the first report to suggest a regulatory effect of the alternative NF-B pathway on autophagy. The integration of our and results lead us to propose a model of RelB function during tumor initiation and progression in the xenograft mouse model. Material and methods Cell line and culture conditions 22Rv1 human prostate carcinoma epithelial cells were obtained from ATCC and cultured in RPMI-1640 complete media (Wisent, Montreal, Octopamine hydrochloride Qc) containing 10% FBS (Fetal Bovine Serum) (Wisent, Montreal, Qc), 2.5?g/mL amphotericin B and 50?g/mL gentamicin (Gibco, Grand Island, NY), at 37C with 5% CO2. The 22Rv1 derivatives cells expressing GFP or RelB were grown under selection in RPMI-1640 complete media supplemented with 1.5?g/mL of puromycin (Sigma, St. Louis, MO). Lentiviral production and transduction RelB (“type”:”entrez-nucleotide”,”attrs”:”text”:”NM_006509″,”term_id”:”1519246411″,”term_text”:”NM_006509″NM_006509, from OriGene, Rockville, MD, USA) was inserted in pENTR/D-TOPO (Invitrogen, NY, USA). The generated pENTR-RelB vector was recombined in the 670C1 vector (pLenti CMV/TO Puro DEST, Addgene 17293) [20] using recombination-cloning technology from Invitrogen. The eGFP was used for control cell population and has previously been described elsewhere [21,22]. Lentiviruses were produced by co-transfecting vectors containing RelB or eGFP cDNA and using the ViraPower Lentiviral Packaging Mix (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) in the 293FT packaging cell line. The lentiviral contructs were harvested from cell supernatants, concentrated by ultracentrifugation (20,000?rpm) and stored at ?80?C until use. For viral infection, cells were plated in 6-well plates containing 2?ml of culture media and cultured until 50-70% confluence. Infections were performed in RPMI 1640 media containing 5?g/ml polybrene (Sigma, St. Louis, MO). Culture media was changed 16?hrs after the infection and puromycin selection was performed two days post-infection. Xenograft tumor assays Six week old male SCID CB17 mice (Charles River, Montreal, QC, Canada) were injected subcutaneously with 2.5??105 cells resuspended in a mix of 1:1 1X PBS and matrigel (BD Biosciences, Mississauga, ON, Canada). Six mice were used for each experimental group. Controls included one group of mice injected with a mixed population of 22Rv1-GFP cells and another with a clonal population of 22Rv1-GFP cells. Three other experimental groups were injected with three independent 22Rv1-RelB clonal populations. Data on the weight of the mice and dimensions of the tumors were collected twice a week. Mice were housed under sterile conditions during all experimentations and were sacrificed when Mouse monoclonal to CD44.CD44 is a type 1 transmembrane glycoprotein also known as Phagocytic Glycoprotein 1(pgp 1) and HCAM. CD44 is the receptor for hyaluronate and exists as a large number of different isoforms due to alternative RNA splicing. The major isoform expressed on lymphocytes, myeloid cells and erythrocytes is a glycosylated type 1 transmembrane protein. Other isoforms contain glycosaminoglycans and are expressed on hematopoietic and non hematopoietic cells.CD44 is involved in adhesion of leukocytes to endothelial cells,stromal cells and the extracellular matrix neoplastic lesions reached the limit point (2500?mm3) established by the Institutional Committee on Animal Protection (ICAP) according to the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC). The tumors were then harvested, fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin (FFPE tissues) for subsequent histological analyses. Immunohistochemistry The 22Rv1-induced tumors and 22Rv1 cells were stained by immunochemistry to monitor RelB expression, as previously described by our group [23]. Octopamine hydrochloride (sc-45043, Santa-Cruz Biotechnology Inc) was used for immunoprecipitations. The matrix (25?L/sample) and anti-RelB (1?g/sample) antibody were pre-incubated in 1X PBS for antibody/matrix complex formation required for subsequent steps. Pre-cleared protein samples (250?g) were then incubated with 500?L of matrix/anti-RelB complexes overnight at 4C to precipitate RelB protein. The immunoprecipitated fraction was washed with cold lysis buffer (10?mM TrisCHCl, pH?7.4, 150?mM NaCl, 1?mM EDTA pH?8.0, 1?mM DTT/1?mM NaF/10?mM sodium orthovanadate/protease inhibitor cocktail). Immunoprecipitated proteins still associated with matrix were then denaturated prior to loading for Western blot analyses as described above. NF-B gene reporter assay The transcriptional activity of NF-B was addressed using a Dual-Glo? Luciferase Assay System (Promega, Madison, WI). Octopamine hydrochloride The p3enh-b-CONAluc, carrying a luciferase gene downstream of the B consensus sequence trimer, was used as previously described [25]. The phRL-CMV vector used as internal control contains the CMV promoter upstream of a synthetic luciferase gene (Promega, Madison, WI). The 22Rv1 cell lines, either wild type (WT), RelB or GFP transduced, were co-transfected with p3enh-b-CONAluc and phRL-CMV reporter vectors. The and luciferase luminescence were measured 48?hrs post-transfection. The relative NF-B transcriptional activity was expressed according to the ratio of luciferase activity in the samples under study (RelB and GFP expressing cells) normalized against 22Rv1 WT control cells values. The experiment was repeated three times. Soft agar assay The ability to grow in anchorage-independent conditions was assessed by culturing 22Rv1 cells in soft agar. Cells were trypsinized, suspended in 0.33% agar in RPMI 1640 complete media and plated in Octopamine hydrochloride 6-well plates pre-coated with 0.66% agar. Cells were then incubated in soft agar for two weeks at 37C and 5% CO2. Cell culture media was added weekly. The colonies Octopamine hydrochloride were photographed and manually counted after coloration.