In particular, TP was found to increase the expression and secretion of angiogenic factors, such as vascular endothelial

growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and interleukins (IL). The enzymatic activity of TP was found to be crucial for its angiogenic properties. In human glioblastomas, which are highly vascularized tumors, TP expression was found to correlate with angiogenesis. In order to identify angiogenesis mediators of TP in glioblastomas, find more we transfected U87 human glioblastoma cells with TP cDNA (U87/TP) or with an empty vector (U87/EV). Three clones of U87/TP with a different expression level of TP were obtained. Using a human angiogenesis antibody array the secretion of 42 (anti-)angiogenic proteins was compared in TP- and mock-transfected cells. Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) secretion was found to be significantly (10-fold) reduced in U87/TP cells, compared to mock-transfected cells. Further analysis showed that also the intracellular Ang-2 protein level was significantly lower in U87/TP cells than in U87/EV cells, although Ang-2 transcription was not affected by TP. In contrast, Ang-1 mRNA and Ang-1 secretion were significantly (4-fold) increased in TP-expressing U87 cells. Addition of thymidine (substrate for the TP

enzymatic reaction) or an inhibitor of TP did not affect the changes in Ang-1/2 secretion, indicating that the enzymatic activity of TP is not important for the observed effects. Our findings indicate that increased TP expression in the tumor microenvironment may learn more significantly increase the Ang-1/Ang-2 ratio, leading to increased Tie-2 receptor activation. The latter is currently under investigation. Poster No. 22 Human

Breast Organotipic Culture: Identification of Vitamin D Regulated Genes in Tumor Microenvironment Cintia Milani 1 , JoEllen Welsh2, Maria Lúcia Hirata Katayama1, Eduardo Carneiro Lyra3, Maria do Socorro Maciel4, Maria Mitzi Brentani1, Maria A. Azevedo Koike Folgueira1 1 Departamento de Radiologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 2 Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Albany, Rensselaer, New York, USA, 3 , Instituto Brasileiro de Controle do Câncer, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 4 Hospital A.C.Camargo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Background: tuclazepam Vitamin D (VD) effects on stromal-epithelium interactions may interfere with breast cancer (BC) development. We have previously identified some regulated genes in a BC organ culture model, which XAV-939 solubility dmso preserves epithelial mesenchymal interactions. Our present aim was to specifically evaluate the epithelial component behavior and determine whether candidate genes were directly modulated by VD in breast cell lines or indirectly regulated through stromal interactions in MCF7 xenograft. Methods: Human BC samples were sliced, cultivated and VD treated (24 h). Affymetrix gene expression profile was obtained.