Bone Cell-autonomous Contribution of Type 2 Cannabinoid Receptor to Breast Cancer-induced Osteolysis

The cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2) has previously been implicated as a regulator of tumor growth, bone remodeling, and bone pain. However, very little is known about the role of the skeletal CB2 receptor in the regulation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts changes associated with breast cancer. Here we found that the CB2-selective agonists HU308 and JWH133 reduced the viability of a variety of parental and bone-tropic human and mouse breast cancer cells at high micromolar concentrations. Under conditions in which these ligands are used at the nanomolar range, HU308 and JWH133 enhanced human and mouse breast cancer cell-induced osteoclastogenesis and exacerbated osteolysis, and these effects were attenuated in cultures obtained from CB2-deficient mice or in the presence of a CB2 receptor blocker. HU308 and JWH133 had no effects on osteoblast growth or differentiation in the presence of conditioned medium from breast cancer cells, but under these circumstances both agents enhanced parathyroid hormone-induced osteoblast differentiation and the ability to support osteoclast formation. Mechanistic studies in osteoclast precursors and osteoblasts showed that JWH133 and HU308 induced PI3K/AKT activity in a CB2-dependent manner, and these effects were enhanced in the presence of osteolytic and osteoblastic factors such as RANKL (receptor activator of NFκB ligand) and parathyroid hormone. When combined with published work, these findings suggest that breast cancer and bone cells exhibit differential responses to treatment with CB2 ligands depending upon cell type and concentration used. We, therefore, conclude that both CB2-selective activation and antagonism have potential efficacy in cancer-associated bone disease, but further studies are warranted and ongoing.     

Influence of beta-adrenergic antagonists on cell proliferation rates in the kidney of untreated and diethylnitrosamine-treated male F344 rats.

Some nongenotoxic chemicals which cause kidney tumors have been shown to stimulate tubular cell proliferation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of two beta-adrenoreceptor blocking agents, propranolol and atenolol, on cell proliferation rates in the kidneys of male F344 rats. Immunohistochemical expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and mitotic index have been examined in formalin-stored kidneys from F344 rats used in an initiation-promotion study of carcinogenesis. Cell proliferation rate was quantified in the proximal tubule epithelium. Non-initiated rats and rats initiated with a single dose of diethylnitrosamine (DEN, 200 mg/kg, i.p.) were continuously treated with propranolol (75-100 mg/kg) or atenolol (300 mg/kg) by gavage and were sacrificed after 2, 4, 8 or 21 months of experimentation. There were two control groups, one untreated (D1) and one given distilled water by gavage (D1). Control group D1 showed significantly lower cell proliferation rates than the D0 group. In non-initiated rats, propranolol had a weak enhancing effect on cell proliferation, most evident after 4 months, while atenolol had a clear enhancing effect most evident after 8 months of promoting regimen. Treatment with DENalone resulted in a significant increase in cell proliferation rate as compared to group D1. In DEN-initiated rats given propranolol, there was a borderline significant increase in cell proliferation rates, compared to rats given DEN alone, after 8 months of promoting regimen. Atenolol had no effect. Because of the differences in body weight gain and food consumption observed among the various groups, it is suggested that the state of nutrition may have obscured the effects of beta-blockers on cell proliferation rates.     

Induction of vancomycin resistance in Enterococcus faecium by inhibition of transglycosylation

Vancomycin resistance has recently been recognized among clinical isolates of enterococci. Resistance is inducible, and associated with production of a novel 39 kDa membrane protein. The mechanism by which exposure to vancomycin, which does not penetrate the cell membrane, induces resistance is unknown. In the vancomycin resistant strain Enterococcus faecium 228, resistance was also inducible by moenomycin, suggesting that inhibition of the transglycosylation step in peptidoglycan synthesis may be required for induction of resistance. Cytoplasmic pools of peptidoglycan precursors were increased after exposure to vancomycin or moenomycin, representing a potential means for regulation of induction.     

Protein composition of the chromosomal scaffold and interphase nuclear matrix

Residual protein structures were prepared from isolated chromosomes and interphase nuclei of in vitro cultured bovine liver cells and the protein compositions were analysed. Chromosomes with minimal cytoplasmic contamination were obtained by a simple procedure using a pH 8 isolation medium containing Triton X-100 and polyamines, and residual protein-DNA complexes were prepared by extraction with 2 M NaCl. Residual protein structures were also obtained by digesting isolated chromosomes with staphylococcal nuclease. Protein compositions of both structures as obtained by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were essentially the same. Residual protein structures were prepared from isolated nuclei by the same procedures. The major nuclear matrix proteins, i.e., the lamins A, B, and C, were not found in the chromosomes and chromosome scaffolds. On the other hand, the residual chromosome structures contained two major polypeptides of 37 and 83 kilodalton relative molecular weights that were absent from the nuclear matrix preparations. A few polypeptides with the same or very similar electrophoretic mobilities were found in the residual structures of both the nuclei and the chromosomes.     

Evidence for two waves of induction of DNA enzymes in stimulated human lymphocytes

The stimulation of human lymphocytes with phytohaemoagglutinin induces the appearance or increase of several enzymes of DNA metabolism [Pedrini etal., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 47:1221(1972)]. With long times of stimulation, two phenomena are observed; an increase in the levels of DNA polymerase, of a DNase acting on single-stranded DNA, and of an endonuclease, occurring between the third and fourth day, in parallel with a wave of DNA synthesis;a second wave of increase of the same enzymes and of DNA ligase,occurring between the fifth and eight day when the DNA replication rate, as measured by thymidine-pulses, has decreased to values close to the background.     

Observations sur la spécificité de la coloration aux acides phosphotungstique et phosphomolybdique

Résumé Les Auteurs ont démontré que, en conditions histochimiques sur du matériel fixé au formol, les acides phosphotungstique et phosphomolybdique ont une double action: 1. une action oxydative à la charge des radicaux PAS-positifs (vic-glycols et éthyleniques) en milieu aqueux, et à la charge des radicaux aminiques en milieu anhydre; cette action entraine la transformation de ces radicaux en aldéhydes; 2. la formation d'une liaison chimique entre les aldéhydes et les molécules des acides phosphomolybdique et phosphotungstique. — La coloration du collagène, au contraire, n'est pas due ni aux radicaux aminiques ni vic-glycols et implique un mécanisme encore inconnu.

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Observations about the specificity of staining of phosphotungstic and phosphomolybdic acid

Summary The authors demonstrated that phosphotungstic and phosphomolybdic acid applied to formol-fixed tissues explete two following actions: 1. An oxidative action on the PAS-positive radicals (double bonds, vic-glycols groups) if in water solution and on aminogroups if in anhydrous solution. This oxidation results in a production of aldehydic radicals 2. The formation of chemical bonds between the aldehydic new-formed groups and the molecules of phosphotungstic or phosphomolybdicacid.— However, the above mentioned mechanism of action is not applicable to the collagen staining for which a different explanation has to be supposed.

     

The γ subunits of the native GABAA/benzodiazepine receptors

Subunit-specific antibodies to all the γ subunit isoforms described in mammalian brain (γ₁, γ_2S, γ_L, and γ₃) have been made. The proportion of GABA_A receptors containing each γ subunit isoform in various brain regions has been determined by quantitative immunoprecipitation. In all tested regions of the rat brain, the γ₁, and γ₃ subunits are present in considerable smaller proportion of GABA_A receptor than the γ₂ subunit. Immunocytochemistry shows that γ₁ immunoreactivity concentrates in the stratum oriens and stratum radiatum of the CA1 region of the hippocampus. In the dentate gyrus, γ₁ immunoreactivity concentrates on the outer 2/3 of the molecular layer coinciding with the localization of the axospinous synapses of the perforant pathway. In contrast, γ₃ immunoreactivity concentrates on the basket cells and other GABAergic local circuit neurons of the hilus. These cells are also rich in γ_2S. In the cerebellu, γ₁ immunolabeling was localized on the Bergmann glia. The γ_2S and γ_2L subunits are differentially expressed in various brain regions. Thus the γ_2S is highly expressed in the olfactory bulb and hippocampus whereas the γ_2L is very abundant in inferior colliculus and cerebellum, particularly in Purkinje cells, as immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization and immunoprecipitation techniques have revealed. The γ_2S and γ_2L coexist in some brain areas and cell types. Moreover, the γ_2S and γ_2L subunits can coexist in the same GABA_A receptor pentamer. We have shown that this is the case in some GABA_A receptors expressed in cerebellar granule cells. These GABA_A receptors also have α and β subunits forming the pentamer. Immunoblots have shown that the rat γ₁, γ_2S, γ_2L and γ₃ subunits are peptides of 47, 45, 47 and 44 kDa respectively. Results also indicate that there are aging-related changes in the expression of the γ_2S and γ_2L subunits in various brain regions which suggest the existence of aging-related changes in the subunit composition of the GABA_A receptors which in turn might lead to changes in receptor pharmacology. The results obtained with the various γ subunit isoforms are discussed in terms of the high molecular and binding heterogeneity of the native GABA_A receptors in brain. Special issue dedicated to Dr. Kinya Kuriyama     

Effect of oxygen availability and salinity on EARLY LIFE HISTORY STAGES OF SALT MARSH PLANTS. I. Different germination strategies of Spartina alterniflora and Phragmites australis (Poaceae)

Gradients in oxygen availability and salinity are among the most important environmental parameters influencing zonation in salt marsh communities. The combined effects of oxygen and salinity on the germination of two salt marsh grasses, Spartina alterniflora and Phragmites australis, were studied in growth chamber experiments. Germination of both species was initiated by emergence of the shoot and completed by root emergence. Percentage S. alterniflora germination was reduced at high salinity (40 g NaCl/L) and in decreased oxygen (5 and 2.5%). In 0% oxygen shoots emerged, but roots did not. P. australis germination was reduced at a lower salinity (25 g NaCl/L) than S. alterniflora, and inhibited at 40 g NaCl/L and in anoxia. However, a combination of hypoxia (10 and 5% O2) and moderate salinity (5 and 10 g NaCl/L) increased P. australis germination. When bare areas in the salt marsh are colonized, the different germination responses of these two species to combinations of oxygen and salt concentrations are important in establishing their initial zonation. In high salinity wetlands S. alterniflora populates the lower marsh and P. australis occupies the high marsh at the upland boundary.     

The Subunit Composition of a GABAA/Benzodiazepine Receptor from Rat Cerebellum

Abstract: The pentameric subunit composition of a large population (36%) of the cerebellar granule cell GABA_A receptors that show diazepam (or clonazepam)-insensitive [³H]Ro 15-4513 binding has been determined by immunoprecipitation with subunit-specific antibodies. These receptors have α₆, α₁, γ_2S, γ_2L, and β₂ or β₃ subunits colocalizing in the same receptor complex.