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Background: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) represents one of the principal tumors of the head and neck. Human papillomavirus (HPV) and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) are considered risk factors for the development and the clinical prognosis of LSCC. High levels of p16INK4a are suggested as a surrogate marker of HPV or EBV infection in some head and neck tumors but in LSCC is still controversial. Furthermore, pRb expression may be considered an additional biomarker but it has not been clearly defined. This work aimed to compare the expression of pRb and p16INK4a as possible biomarkers in tumor tissues with and without infection by EBV or different genotypes of HPV from patients with LSCC. Methods: Tumor samples from 103 patients with LSCC were previously investigated for the presence and genotypes of HPV using the INNO-LiPA line probe assay and for the infection of EBV by qPCR. p16 INK4a and pRb expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results: Of the 103 tumor samples, expression of p16INK4a was positive in 55 (53.4%) and of this, 32 (56.1%) were positive for HPV whereas 11 (39.3%) were EBV positive but both without a significantly difference (p > 0.05). pRb expression was positive in 78 (75.7%) and a higher frequency of this expression was observed in HPV negative samples (87.0%) (p = 0.021) and in high-risk HPV negative samples (85.2%) (p = 0.010). No difference was observed when comparing pRb expression and EBV infection status (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Our results support the suggestion that p16INK4a is not a reliable surrogate marker for identifying HPV or EBV infection in LSCC. On the other hand, most of our samples had pRb expression, which was more frequent in tumors without HPV, suggesting that pRb could indicate HPV negativity. However, more studies with a larger number of cases are required, including controls without LSCC and evaluating other molecular markers to determine the real role of p16INK4a and pRb in LSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common adulthood leukemia, is characterized by the accumulation of abnormal [CD5.sup.+] B lymphocytes, which results in a progressive failure of the immune system. Despite intense research efforts, drug resistance remains a major cause of treatment failure in CLL, particularly in patients with dysfunctional TP53. The objective of our work was to identify potential approaches that might overcome CLL drug refractoriness by examining the pro-apoptotic potential of targeting the cell surface receptor CD47 with serum-stable agonist peptides. Methods and Findings In peripheral blood samples collected from 80 patients with CLL with positive and adverse prognostic features, we performed in vitro genetic and molecular analyses that demonstrate that the targeting of CD47 with peptides derived from the C-terminal domain of thrombospondin-1 efficiently kills the malignant CLL B cells, including those from high-risk individuals with a dysfunctional TP53 gene, while sparing the normal T and B lymphocytes from the CLL patients. Further studies reveal that the differential response of normal B lymphocytes, collected from 20 healthy donors, and leukemic B cells to CD47 peptide targeting results from the sustained activation in CLL B cells of phospholipase C gamma-1 (PLC[gamma]1), a protein that is significantly over-expressed in CLL. Once phosphorylated at tyrosine 783, PLC[gamma]1 enables a [Ca.sup.2+]-mediated, caspase-independent programmed cell death (PCD) pathway that is not down-modulated by the lymphocyte microenvironment. Accordingly, down-regulation of PLC[gamma]1 or pharmacological inhibition of PLC[gamma]1 phosphorylation abolishes CD47-mediated killing. Additionally, in a CLL-xenograft model developed in NOD/scid gamma mice, we demonstrate that the injection of CD47 agonist peptides reduces tumor burden without inducing anemia or toxicity in blood, liver, or kidney. The limitations of our study are mainly linked to the affinity of the peptides targeting CD47, which might be improved to reach the standard requirements in drug development, and the lack of a CLL animal model that fully mimics the human disease. Conclusions Our work provides substantial progress in (i) the development of serum-stable CD47 agonist peptides that are highly effective at inducing PCD in CLL, (ii) the understanding of the molecular events regulating a novel PCD pathway that overcomes CLL apoptotic avoidance, (iii) the identification of PLC[gamma]1 as an over-expressed protein in CLL B cells, and (iv) the description of a novel peptide-based strategy against CLL., Introduction Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a human malignancy caused by an imbalance between proliferation and programmed cell death (PCD) [1], is the most common form of leukemia in adults. CLL [...]

Apoptosis is nowadays what comes first to your scientist mind when someone mentions cellular suicide. However this is not the sole form of programmed cell death and many other alternative or atypical pathways have now been described. These pathways are indeed rather preferred to apoptosis in some instances based on tissue origin, cell type or development stage of the target cell. In this review, we describe many different programmed cell death subtypes according to their characteristics. Discrete, brutal, final or singular cell death pathways all participate in the elimination of unwanted, damaged or dangerous cells in organisms hence contributing to our knowledge of this particular feature of living beings: dying! Through description of anoikis, necroptosis, entosis, netosis, pyroptosis or ferroptosis, we have no choice but to realize that programmed cell death comes in many flavors., (© 2013 médecine/sciences – Inserm.)