2-Methoxyestradiol (2-ME) is an endogenous metabolite of estradiol-17beta and the oral contraceptive agent 17-ethylestradiol. 2-ME was recently reported to inhibit endothelial cell proliferation. The current study was undertaken to explore the mechanism of 2-ME effects on endothelial cells, especially whether 2-ME induces apoptosis, a prime mechanism in tissue remodeling and angiogenesis. Cultured bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (BPAEC) exposed to 2-ME showed morphological (including ultrastructural) features characteristic of apoptosis: cell shrinkage, cytoplasmic and nuclear condensation, and cell blebbing. 2-ME-induced apoptosis in BPAEC was a time- and concentration-dependent process (EC50 = 0.45 +/- 0.09 microM, n = 8). Nucleosomal DNA fragmentation in BPAEC treated with 2-ME was identified by agarose gel electrophoresis (DNA ladder) as well as in situ nick end labeling. Under the same experimental conditions, estradiol-17beta and two of its other metabolites, estriol and 2-methoxyestriol (< or =10 microM), did not have an apoptotic effect on BPAEC. 2-ME activated stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK)/c-Jun amino-terminal protein kinase in BPAEC in a concentration-dependent manner. The activity of SAPK was increased by 170 +/- 27% and 314 +/- 22% over the basal level in the presence of 0.4 and 2 microM 2-ME (n = 3-6), respectively. The activation of SAPK was detected at 10 min, peaked at 20 min, and returned to basal levels at 60 min after exposure to 2-ME. Inhibition of SAPK/c-Jun amino-terminal protein kinase activation by basic fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth factor, or forskolin reduced 2-ME-induced apoptosis. Immunohistochemical analysis of BPAEC indicated that 2-ME up-regulated expression of both Fas and Bcl-2. In addition, 2-ME inhibited BPAEC migration (IC50 = 0.71 +/- 0.11 microM, n = 4) and basic fibroblast growth factor-induced angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane model. Taken together, these results suggest that promotion of endothelial cell apoptosis, thereby inhibiting endothelial cell proliferation and migration, may be a major mechanism by which 2-ME inhibits angiogenesis.

Chemokines play an important role in the regulation of endothelial cell (EC) function, including proliferation, migration and differentiation during angiogenesis, and re-endothelialization after injury. In this study, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to reveal expression of various CXC and CC chemokine receptors in human umbilical vein EC. Northern analysis showed that CXCR4 was selectively expressed in vascular EC, but not in smooth muscle cells. Compared with other chemokines, stromal cell-derived factor-1␣ (SDF-1␣), the known CXCR4 ligand, was an efficacious chemoattractant for EC, causing the migration of ϳ40% input cells with an EC 50 The vascular endothelium is strategically located to play a prominent sensory and effector cell role in the maintenance of hemostasis, and during the vascular response to inflammation, infection, and injury (1, 2). The endothelium is also integrally associated with angiogenesis (3) and cardiovascular disorders such as atherosclerosis and restenosis (4). Endothelial cells (EC) 1 interact with various inflammatory cells, as well as platelets and smooth muscle cells via a variety of chemotactic factors such as chemokines and their receptors (5, 6). Chemokines are classified into at least two groups, which differ with respect to the organization of the dicysteine motif present at the NH 2 terminus. The ␣-chemokines, characterized by the CXC motif include PF-4, IL-8, ␥IP-10 and SDF-1. The ␤-chemokines, characterized by the CC motif include MCP-1, MIP-1␣ and 1␤, and RANTES (5, 7, 8). Chemokines mediate their specific effect on target cells through two related subfamilies of G-protein coupled receptors. To date, several CXC and CC functional human chemokine receptors have been discovered (9 -16). In line with their well defined role as mediators of diapedesis, the chemokine receptors have been primarily localized on neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, and eosinophils (5). However, little is known about other distinct functions of these cytokines and their interaction with non-hematopoietic cells.Three lines of evidence indicate that human EC also express the genes for chemokine receptors and thus play an active and important role as target cells for chemokine function. First, the proliferation, migration, and differentiation of vascular EC, during angiogenesis, is modulated by chemokines, apparently via specific receptors. Thus, IL-8 is an inducer of angiogenesis (17), whereas PF-4 (18 -20), Gro-␤ (21), and ␥IP-10 (22) are inhibitors of EC proliferation and angiogenesis. Second, it has been suggested that leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium and transmigration require that chemotactic factors be immobilized on the EC surface (23,24). This idea is necessitated due to the obvious conceptual difficulty in generating a chemotactic gradient of soluble chemokines under conditions of blood flow. Although chemokines can bind cell surface proteoglycans (24,25), vascular endothelium may still require expression of receptors that are capable of immobilizing chemokin...

Screening of a human erythroleukemia cell cDNA library with radiolabeled chicken P2Y 3 cDNA at low stringency revealed a cDNA clone encoding a novel G protein-coupled receptor with homology to P2 purinoceptors. This receptor, designated P2Y 7 , has 352 amino acids and shares 23-30% amino acid identity with the P2Y 1 -P2Y 6 purinoceptors. The P2Y 7 cDNA was transiently expressed in COS-7 cells: binding studies thereon showed a very high affinity for ATP (37 ؎ 6 nM), much less for UTP and ADP (ϳ1300 nM), and a novel rank order of affinities in the binding series studied of 8 nucleotides and suramin. The P2Y 7 receptor sequence appears to denote a different subfamily from that of all the other known P2Y purinoceptors, with only a few of their characteristic sequence motifs shared. The P2Y 7 receptor mRNA is abundantly present in the human heart and the skeletal muscle, moderately in the brain and liver, but not in the other tissues tested. The P2Y 7 receptor mRNA was also abundantly present in the rat heart and cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. The P2Y 7 receptor is functionally coupled to phospholipase C in COS-7 cells transiently expressing this receptor. The P2Y 7 gene was shown to be localized to human chromosome 14. We have thus cloned a unique member of the P2Y purinoceptor family which probably plays a role in the regulation of cardiac muscle contraction.The widespread occurrence of metabotropic receptors for extracellular ATP has long been inferred from physiological and pharmacological evidence (1). A number of such G proteincoupled ATP receptors have been characterized and a consensus on their nomenclature has termed all of these as P2Y purinoceptors (to be individually named P2Y 1 to P2Y n ), regardless of previous terminology such as P 2U or P 2T for subclasses thereof (2). The first such receptors to be characterized by DNA cloning and expression were the P2Y 1 receptor (where UTP is inactive) (3) and the P2Y 2 receptor (ATP and UTP are equally active) (4). True species homologues (or orthologues) of P2Y 1 have since been obtained, e.g. bovine (5) and human (6), and of P2Y 2 , e.g. from human airway epithelium (7) or human erythroleukemia (HEL) 1 cells (8). Further types identified by cloning have been the P2Y 3 receptor (UDP Ͼ ADP Ͼ ATP) (9) and P2Y 4 (UTP Ͼ Ͼ ATP, and more strongly related to P2Y 2 ) (10, 11). Further novel P2Y receptors have recently been identified from their cDNAs from chicken activated T lymphocytes (12) and rat vascular smooth muscle cells (13) and designated P2Y 5 and P2Y 6 receptors. Previously we have demonstrated at least three P2 purinoceptors on the hematopoietic cell line, HEL cells, by intracellular calcium mobilization and by photoaffinity labeling (8). Here we report the molecular cloning and characterization of one of these, a novel P2 purinergic receptor designated P2Y 7 .

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B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), a member of the tumor necrosis factor family of receptors, is predominantly expressed on the surface of terminally differentiated B cells. BCMA is highly expressed on plasmablasts and plasma cells from multiple myeloma (MM) patient samples. We developed a BCMAxCD3 bispecific antibody (teclistamab [JNJ-64007957]) to recruit and activate T cells to kill BCMA-expressing MM cells. Teclistamab induced cytotoxicity of BCMA+ MM cell lines in vitro (H929 cells, 50% effective concentration [EC50] = 0.15 nM; MM.1R cells, EC50 = 0.06 nM; RPMI 8226 cells, EC50 = 0.45 nM) with concomitant T-cell activation (H929 cells, EC50 = 0.21 nM; MM.1R cells, EC50 = 0.1 nM; RPMI 8226 cells, EC50 = 0.28 nM) and cytokine release. This activity was further increased in the presence of a γ-secretase inhibitor (LY-411575). Teclistamab also depleted BCMA+ cells in bone marrow samples from MM patients in an ex vivo assay with an average EC50 value of 1.7 nM. Under more physiological conditions using healthy human whole blood, teclistamab mediated dose-dependent lysis of H929 cells and activation of T cells. Antitumor activity of teclistamab was also observed in 2 BCMA+ MM murine xenograft models inoculated with human T cells (tumor inhibition with H929 model and tumor regression with the RPMI 8226 model) compared with vehicle and antibody controls. The specific and potent activity of teclistamab against BCMA-expressing cells from MM cell lines, patient samples, and MM xenograft models warrant further evaluation of this bispecific antibody for the treatment of MM. Phase 1 clinical trials (monotherapy, #NCT03145181; combination therapy, #NCT04108195) are ongoing for patients with relapsed/refractory MM.