A Kunitz-type protease inhibitor,bikunin, inhibits ovarian cancer cell invasion by blocking the calcium-dependent transforming growth factor-beta 1 signaling cascade

Bikunin is a Kunitz-type protease inhibitor, acting at the level of tumor invasion and metastasis. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of bikunin-dependent signal transduction involved in the expression of a plasminogen activator (PA) system and invasion. We report here the following. 1) The human ovarian cancer cell line HRA produced secreted and cell-associated urokinase-type PA (uPA) and PA inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1). The plasma membrane of the cells showed enzymatically active uPA even in the presence of high level of PAI-1, as measured by zymography, Western blot, chromogenic assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Northern blot. 2) HRA cells leading to invasion are induced through up-regulation of uPA expression. 3) HRA cells specifically released transforming growth factor-beta type 1 (TGF-beta1) participating in an autocrine/paracrine regulation of cell invasion. 4) Elimination of endogenous TGF-beta1 could induce change in uPA/PAI-1 expression, which could in turn modify the invasive behavior of the cells. 5) The constitutive expression of TGF-beta1 as well as up-regulation of the PA system observed in HRA cells was inhibited by preinoculation of the cells with bikunin or calcium channel blocker SK&F 96365 but not with nifedipine or verapamil, with an IC(50) of approximately 100 nm for bikunin or approximately 30 microm for SK&F 96365, respectively, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Bikunin showed no additive effect on SK&F 96365-mediated suppression of TGF-beta1 expression. 6) The ability of TGF-beta1 to elevate free intracellular Ca(2+), followed by activation of Src and ERK, was reduced by preincubation of the cells with bikunin. In conclusion, bikunin could inhibit the constitutive expression of TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta1-mediated, Src- and ERK-dependent, PA system signaling cascade, at least in part, through inhibition of a non-voltage-sensitive calcium channel.     

Contribution of membrane-associated prostaglandin E2 synthase to bone resorption

This study initially confirmed that, among prostaglandins (PGs) produced in bone, only PGE(2) has the potency to stimulate osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in the mouse coculture system of osteoblasts and bone marrow cells. For the PGE(2) biosynthesis two isoforms of the terminal and specific enzymes, membrane-associated PGE(2) synthase (mPGES) and cytosolic PGES (cPGES) have recently been identified. In cultured mouse primary osteoblasts, both mPGES and cyclooxygenase-2 were induced by the bone resorptive cytokines interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and fibroblast growth factor-2. Induction of mPGES was also seen in the mouse long bone and bone marrow in vivo by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide. In contrast, cPGES was expressed constitutively both in vitro and in vivo without being affected by these stimuli. An antisense oligonucleotide blocking mPGES expression inhibited not only PGE(2) production, but also osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption stimulated by the cytokines, which was reversed by addition of exogenous PGE(2). We therefore conclude that mPGES, which is induced by and mediates the effects of bone resorptive stimuli, may make a target molecule for the treatment of bone resorptive disorders.     

Structural basis of protein-bound endogenous aldehydes. Chemical and immunochemical characterizations of configurational isomers of a 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-histidine adduct

4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), a major racemic product of lipid peroxidation, reacts with histidine to form a stable HNE-histidine Michael addition-type adduct possessing three chiral centers in the cyclic hemiacetal structure. In the present study, we characterized configurational isomers of a HNE-N(alpha)-acetylhistidine adduct by NMR spectroscopy and by molecular orbital calculations. In addition, we raised monoclonal antibodies against (R)-HNE-histidine and (S)-HNE-histidine adducts, characterized their specificities, and examined in vivo localizations of each adduct under oxidative stress. To facilitate structural characterization of the configurational isomers of an HNE-histidine adduct, we prepared the (R)-HNE-histidine and (S)-HNE-histidine adducts by incubating N(alpha)-acetylhistidine with each HNE enantiomer, both of which provided two peaks (Ra and Rb from (R)-HNE-histidine and Sa and Sb from (S)-HNE-histidine adducts) in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The NMR analysis showed that each peak was a mixture of two diastereomers. In addition, the analysis of the nuclear Overhauser effect enabled the determination of configurations of the eight isomers. The relative amounts of these isomers in the NMR analysis correlated with the relative energies calculated by molecular orbital methods. On the other hand, using (R)-HNE-modified and (S)-HNE-modified keyhole limpet hemocyanins as the antigens, we raised the monoclonal antibodies, mAbR310 and mAbS412, which enantioselectively recognized the (R)-HNE-histidine and (S)-HNE-histidine adducts, respectively. Among the mixtures (Ra, Rb, Sa, and Sb) of diastereomers, mAbR310 showed the highest immunoreactivity to Rb (the mixture of 2R,4S,5R and 2S,4S,5R isomers), whereas mAbS412 preferentially recognized Sa (the mixture of 2R,4S,5S and 2S,4S,5S isomers). The presence of (R)-HNE and (S)-HNE epitopes in vivo was immunohistochemically examined in the kidney of rats exposed to the renal carcinogen, ferric nitrilotriacetate, by which nuclear and cytosolic stainings with mAbR310 and mAbS412, respectively, were detected.     

Cardiac contractility modulation by electric currents applied during the refractory period

Inotropic effects of electric currents applied during the refractory period have been reported in cardiac muscle in vitro using voltage-clamp techniques. We investigated how electric currents modulate cardiac contractility in normal canine hearts in vivo. Six dogs were instrumented to measure regional segment length, ventricular volume (sonomicrometry), and ventricular pressure. Cardiac contractility modulating (CCM) electric currents (biphasic square pulses, amplitude +/-20 mA, total duration 30 ms) were delivered during the refractory period between pairs of electrodes placed on anterior and posterior walls. CCM significantly increased index of global contractility (E(es)) from 5.9 +/- 2.9 to 8.3 +/- 4.6 mmHg/ml with anterior CCM, from 5.3 +/- 1.8 to 8.9 +/- 4.0 mmHg/ml with posterior CCM, and from 6.1 +/- 2.6 to 11.0 +/- 7.0 mmHg/ml with combined CCM (P < 0.01, no significant change in volume axis intercept). End-systolic pressure-segment length relations showed contractility enhancement near CCM delivery sites, but not remotely. Relaxation was not influenced. CCM increased mean aortic pressure, but did not change peripheral resistance. Locally applied electrical currents enhanced global cardiac contractility via regional changes in myocardial contractility without impairing relaxation in situ.     

Up-regulation of sodium-dependent glucose transporter by interaction with heat shock protein 70

Heat shock stress induces some heat shock proteins, including Hsp70, and activates sodium-dependent glucose transport in porcine renal LLC-PK(1) cells, but its mechanisms have not been described in detail. We investigated whether sodium-dependent glucose transporter (SGLT1) interacts with Hsp70 to increase SGLT1 activity. Heat shock stress increased SGLT1 activity without changing SGLT1 expression. The increase of SGLT1 activity was completely inhibited by an anti-transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) antibody. Instead of heat shock stress, TGF-beta1 increased SGLT1 activity dose- and time-dependently without changing SGLT1 expression. We found that the amount of Hsp70 immunoprecipitated from TGF-beta1-treated cells with an anti-SGLT1 antibody was higher than that of the control cells. Transfection of an anti-Hsp70 antibody into the cells inhibited the increase of SGLT1 activity. With confocal laser microscopy, both SGLT1 and Hsp70 was localized near the apical membrane in the TGF-beta1-treated cells, and an anti-Hsp70 antibody disturbed this localization. Furthermore, we clarified that an anti-Hsp70 antibody inhibited interaction of SGLT1 with Hsp70 in vitro. These results suggest that Hsp70 forms a complex with SGLT1 and increases the expression level of SGLT1 in the apical membrane, resulting in up-regulation of glucose uptake.     

T cells of atomic bomb survivors respond poorly to stimulation by Staphylococcus aureus toxins in vitro: does this stem from their peripheral lymphocyte populations having a diminished naïve CD4 T-cell content?

We found previously that the peripheral CD4 T-cell populations of heavily exposed A-bomb survivors contained fewer na?ve T cells than we detected in the corresponding unexposed controls. To determine whether this demonstrable impairment of the CD4 T-cell immunity of A-bomb survivors was likely to affect the responsiveness of their immune systems to infection by common pathogens, we tested the T cells of 723 survivors for their ability to proliferate in vitro after a challenge by each of the Staphylococcus aureus toxins SEB, SEC-2, SEC-3, SEE and TSST-1. The results presented here reveal that the proliferative responses of T cells of A-bomb survivors became progressively weaker as the radiation dose increased and did so in a manner that correlated well with the decreasing CD45RA-positive (na?ve) [but not CD45RA-negative (memory)] CD4 T-cell percentages that we found in their peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) populations. We also noted that the T cells of survivors with a history of myocardial infarction tended to respond poorly to several (or even all) of the S. aureus toxins, and that these same individuals had proportionally fewer CD45RA-positive (na?ve) CD4 T cells in their PBL populations than we detected in survivors with no myocardial infarction in their history. Taken together, these results clearly indicate that A-bomb irradiation led to an impairment of the ability of exposed individuals to maintain their na?ve T-cell pools. This may explain why A-bomb survivors tend to respond poorly to toxins encoded by the common pathogenic bacterium S. aureus.     

Vaccination with a Melan-A peptide selects an oligoclonal T cell population with increased functional avidity and tumor reactivity

Both the underlying molecular mechanisms and the kinetics of TCR repertoire selection following vaccination against tumor Ags in humans have remained largely unexplored. To gain insight into these questions, we performed a functional and structural longitudinal analysis of the TCR of circulating CD8(+) T cells specific for the HLA-A2-restricted immunodominant epitope from the melanocyte differentiation Ag Melan-A in a melanoma patient who developed a vigorous and sustained Ag-specific T cell response following vaccination with the corresponding synthetic peptide. We observed an increase in functional avidity of Ag recognition and in tumor reactivity in the postimmune Melan-A-specific populations as compared with the preimmune blood sample. Improved Ag recognition correlated with an increase in the t(1/2) of peptide/MHC interaction with the TCR as assessed by kinetic analysis of A2/Melan-A peptide multimer staining decay. Ex vivo analysis of the clonal composition of Melan-A-specific CD8(+) T cells at different time points during vaccination revealed that the response was the result of asynchronous expansion of several distinct T cell clones. Some of these T cell clones were also identified at a metastatic tumor site. Collectively, these data show that tumor peptide-driven immune stimulation leads to the selection of high-avidity T cell clones of increased tumor reactivity that independently evolve within oligoclonal populations.     

Norepinephrine triggers Ca2+-dependent exocytosis of 5-hydroxytryptamine from rat pinealocytes in culture

5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a precursor and a putative modulator for melatonin synthesis in mammalian pinealocytes. 5-HT is present in organelles distinct from l-glutamate-containing synaptic-like microvesicles as well as in the cytoplasm of pinealocytes, and is secreted upon stimulation by norepinephrine (NE) to enhance serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity via the 5-HT2 receptor. However, the mechanism underlying the secretion of 5-HT from pinealocytes is unknown. In this study, we show that NE-evoked release of 5-HT is largely dependent on Ca2+ in rat pinealocytes in culture. Omission of Ca2+ from the medium and incubation of pineal cells with EGTA-tetraacetoxymethyl-ester inhibited by 59 and 97% the NE-evoked 5-HT release, respectively. Phenylephrine also triggered the Ca2+-dependent release of 5-HT, which was blocked by phentolamine, an alpha antagonist, but not by propranolol, a beta antagonist. Botulinum neurotoxin type E cleaved 25 kDa synaptosomal-associated protein and inhibited by 50% of the NE-evoked 5-HT release. Bafilomycin A1, an inhibitor of vacuolar H+-ATPase, and reserpine and tetrabenazine, inhibitors of vesicular monoamine transporter, all decreased the storage of vesicular 5-HT followed by inhibition of the NE-evoked 5-HT release. Agents that trigger L-glutamte exocytosis such as acetylcholine did not trigger any Ca2+-dependent 5-HT release. Vice versa neither NE nor phenylephrine caused synaptic-like microvesicle-mediated l-glutamate exocytosis. These results indicated that upon stimulation of a adrenoceptors pinealocytes secrete 5-HT through a Ca2+-dependent exocytotic mechanism, which is distinct from the exocytosis of synaptic-like microvesicles.     

Expression level of c-FLIP versus Fas determines susceptibility to Fas ligand-induced cell death in murine thymoma EL-4 cells

The caspase-8 inhibitor c-FLIP blocks death receptor-mediated cell death and plays an essential role in the regulation of lymphocyte homeostasis and the immune escape of tumors. The murine thymoma cell line EL-4 was resistant to Fas ligand (FasL)-induced apoptosis by constitutive expression of FLIP (L). Cycloheximide downregulated the expression of FLIP (L) and markedly sensitized EL-4 cells to FasL-induced apoptosis. In contrast, DNA-damaging agents sensitized EL-4 cells to FasL-induced cell death via an increase of cell-surface Fas without any influence on FLIP (L) expression. Enforced expression of transfected Fas rendered EL-4 cells highly susceptible to FasL-induced cell death. These findings demonstrate that susceptibility to FasL-induced cell death mainly depends on the expression level of c-FLIP versus cell-surface Fas.