Inhibition of histidine decarboxylase and tumour promoter-induced arachidonic acid release by lecanoric acid analogues

Lecanoric acid analogues containing benzanilide structure inhibited histidine decarboxylase and arachidonic acid release from the cell membrane phospholipids induced by a tumour promoter, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. But they did not inhibit cellular binding of phorbol-12,13-dibutylate. Lecanoric acid analogues also inhibited prostaglandin synthetase and delayed-type hypersensitivity responses against sheep red blood cells in mice. Thus, lecanoric acid analogues antagonized several enzymic and cellular effects of the tumour promoter.     

Evidence that arginine vasotocin inhibits human chorionic gonadotropin and cyclic adenosine 3',5' monophosphate stimulated ovarian steroidogenesis

Lyngbyatoxin A, isolated from a marine blue-green alga, and dihydroteleocidin B, a hydrogenated derivative of teleocidin, induce ornithine decarboxylase in mouse skin. In addition, dihydroteleocidin B was recently shown to be a potent tumor promoter in mouse skin. The present studies demonstrate that both lyngbyatoxin A and dihydroteleocidin B induce increased prostaglandin release and choline turnover in HeLa cells at concentrations of 6–20 ng/ml, with a time course similar to that of the potent phorbol ester tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate. Thus these indole alkaloids, although structurally different from phorbol ester tumor promoters, share several properties with the latter compounds.     

Influence of spontaneous hypertension on n-3 delta-6-desaturase activity and fatty acid composition of rat hepatocytes

The first and rate limiting step in the conversion of alpha-linolenic acid is catalyzed by the delta-6-desaturase enzyme. The activity of such an enzyme was studied in order to investigate the n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid biogenesis during hypertension. Rat isolated hepatocyte n-3 delta-6-desaturase activity was higher in 1 month old Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats — prehypertensive period- as compared to normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats, whereas there was no significant difference at 12 months — hypertensive period-. Our data indicate no correlation between the directly measured enzyme activity and the changes in hepatocyte n-3 fatty acid compositions. The loss of hepatocyte n-3 delta-6-desaturase activity in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat may be a key factor in the evolution of hypertension related to aging through altering the eicosanoid balance.     

促癌物TPA诱导小鼠表皮鸟氨酸脱羧酶mRNA表达和维甲类化合物对该表达的影响

強皮肤促癌物十四烷酰佛波醋酸酯(TPA)局部应用时可触发一系列的生物化学改变,其中最明显的事件之一就是对ODC活性的短暂而急到的诱导,而这种诱导作用与其促癌作用密切相关。利用Northern印迹分析和条带(Slot)印迹分析证明,10nmol/L TPA一次局部处理小鼠背部皮肤可刺激ODC mRNA(2.0kb大小)表达,在4h左右最为明显,随后逐渐降低。10nmol/L TPA多次处理小鼠皮肤(每2天一次,共4次)也有类似的促进作用,但却在6h左右最为明显。在二甲基苯蒽和巴豆油诱发的二阶段小鼠皮肤乳头瘤和癌组织中也观察到了相同大小的ODC mRNA的高水平表达,尤以癌组织最高。新维甲类化合物R8605虽能明显抑制巴豆油诱导的ODC活性,但却未见对TPA诱导的ODC mRNA增加有明显抑制作用。     

A possible naturally occurring tumor promoter, teleocidin B from Streptomyces.

Dihydroteleocidin B, a derivative of teleocidin B, when painted on mouse skin, caused marked induction of ornithine decarboxylase within 4 hrs. This induction of ornithine decarboxylase was inhibited by painting the skin with 13-cis-retinoic acid one hour before dihydroteleocidin B. Dihydroteleocidin B induced cell adhesion of human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60) to the surface of culture flasks, and inhibited terminal differentiation of Friend erythroleukemia cells induced by dimethyl sulfoxide. Its effective dose for these actions was comparable to that of the potent tumor promoter, 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate. Teleocidin B seems to be a new type of promoter of carcinogenesis.     

Phorbol ester tumor promoters induce epidermal transglutaminase activity

Epidermal basal cells in culture have low levels of epidermal transglutaminase, the enzyme responsible for the formation of the cross-linked envelope in differentiated cells. The tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and other active (but not inactive) phorbol ester skin tumor promoters induce transglutaminase activity. Sloughing of differentiated cells accompanies the rise in transglutaminase activity. Phorbol esters do not affect transglutaminase activity when added directly to cell lysates. Corticosteroids have little influence on transglutaminase induction by phorbol esters. Retinoic acid induces transglutaminase activity, but activity does not further increase when basal cells are treated with both retinoic acid and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.     

Pro/antioxidant Status in Murine Skin Following Topical Exposure to Cumene Hydroperoxide Throughout the Ontogeny of Skin Cancer

Organic peroxides used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries have a reputation for being potent skin tumor promoters and inducers of epidermal hyperplasia. Their ability to trigger free radical generation is critical for their carcinogenic properties. Short-term in vivo exposure of mouse skin to cumene hydroperoxide (Cum-OOH) causes severe oxidative stress and formation of spin-trapped radical adducts. The present study was designed to determine the effectiveness of Cum-OOH compared to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in the induction of tumor promotion in the mouse skin, to identify the involvement of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in oxidative metabolism of Cum-OOH in keratinocytes, and to evaluate morphological changes and outcomes of oxidative stress in skin of SENCAR mice throughout a two-stage carcinogenesis protocol. Dimethyl-benz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-initiated mice were treated with Cum-OOH (32.8 micro mol) or TPA (8.5 nmol) twice weekly for 20 weeks to promote papilloma formation. Skin carcinoma formed only in DMBA/Cum-OOH-exposed mice. Higher levels of oxidative stress and inflammation (as indicated by the accumulation of peroxidative products, antioxidant depletion, and edema formation) were evident in the DMBA/Cum-OOH group compared to DMBA/TPA treated mice. Exposure of keratinocytes (HaCaT) to Cum-OOH for 18 h resulted in expression of COX-2 and increased levels of PGE(2). Inhibitors of COX-2 efficiently suppressed oxidative stress and enzyme expression in the cells treated with Cum-OOH. These results suggest that COX-2-dependent oxidative metabolism is at least partially involved in Cum-OOH-induced inflammatory responses and thus tumor promotion.     

The tumor promoting phorbol diester, 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) increases glyoxalase I and decreases glyoxalase II activity in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Glyoxalase I and II catalyze the formation and breakdown of S-lactoylglutathione respectively. Recent studies have implicated this com-pound as a possible mediator of immune and inflammatory responses. Incubation of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes with the tumor promoter, 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate has been found to affect the activities of both glyoxalase enzymes in an interrelated manner. The diester either increases the activity of glyoxalase I or decreases the activity of glyoxalase II or has both effects. It is suggested that a subsequent increase in S-lactoylglutathione might mediate some or all of the effects of the phorbol diesters.     

Inhibition of replicon initiation by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate

To investigate the inhibition of DNA replication by tumor promoters, we incubated HeLa cells with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA; 10^?8 to 10^?5 g/ml) and quantified DNA synthesis on alkaline sucrose gradients. TPA was found to selectively inhibit replicon initiation without affecting DNA chain elongation in replicons that had already initiated. No inhibition of DNA synthesis was seen when cells were exposed to the nonpromoting derivative of TPA, 4-α-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate. Superoxide dismutase did not prevent the TPA-induced inhibition of initiation.     

Increased methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity and behavioral sensitization in histamine-deficient mice

We have recently suggested that the brain histamine has an inhibitory role on the behavioral effects of methamphetamine by pharmacological studies. In this study, we used the histidine decarboxylase gene knockout mice and measured the spontaneous locomotor activity, the changes of locomotion by single and repeated administrations of methamphetamine, and the contents of brain monoamines and amino acids at 1 h after a single administration of methamphetamine. In the histidine decarboxylase gene knockout mice, spontaneous locomotor activity during the dark period was significantly lower than in the wild-type mice. Interestingly, methamphetamine-induced locomotor hyperactivity and behavioral sensitization were facilitated more in the histidine decarboxylase gene knockout mice. In the neurochemical study, noradrenaline and O-phosphoserine were decreased in the midbrain of the saline-treated histidine decarboxylase gene knockout mice. On the other hand, single administration of methamphetamine decreased GABA content of the midbrain of the wild-type mice, but did not alter that of histidine decarboxylase gene knockout mice. These results suggest that the histamine neuron system plays a role as an awakening amine in concert with the noradrenaline neuron system, whereas it has an inhibitory role on the behavioral effects of methamphetamine through the interaction with the GABAergic neuron system.     

Protein Kinase C and Melanocyte Transformation

Melanoma cells which have been isolated from metastatic melanoma tissue are able to survive and proliferate in serum supplemented media. In contrast, normal human melanocytes require the presence of growth stimulators if they are to survive in culture. A tumor promotor, 12–0-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and substances that increase intracellular levels of cyclic-adenosine-monophosphate (cAMP), such as cholera toxin or isobutylmethyl xanthine, have been widely used for this purpose. The phorbol diester receptor was shown in 1982 to be the phospholipid- and calcium-dependent enzyme protein kinase C (PKC). We therefore directed our studies to the role of PKC regulation in the growth of normal human melanocytes and their transformation. Our studies show that while melanoma cells are inhibited by TPA, the growth of normal melanocytes is stimulated in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitor, 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methyl-piperizine dihydrochloride (H7), which has been found to be the most specific for PKC, had no effect on the growth of normal melanocytes, but inhibited the growth of melanoma cells in a dose-dependent manner. PKC was isolated from the membrane and cytosol of normal melanocytes and melanoma cells. The basal (resting) levels of PKC activity in normal melanocytes was low compared to that measured in melanoma cells, and after short-term (1 hour) treatment with TPA the PKC activity was greatest at the membrane, with the activity decreasing the cytosol. Upon prolonged (48 hours) treatment with TPA, this redistribution of activity continued in normal melanocytes and the total activity increased. In melanoma cells, however, the total PKC activity decreased, particularly in the membrane fraction. A difference in activity and distribution of the enzyme was also seen after short-term (1 hour) treatment with H7. There was very little effect seen on PKC in normal melanocytes; however, the effect on melanoma cells was similar to that seen after 48 hours of exposure to TPA with a decrease in total activity, particularly in the membrane fraction. These results indicate that the regulation of PKC, in particular its activation by TPA, is altered during the transformation of normal human melanocytes     

Effect of diabetes on the induction of ornithine decarboxylase by refeeding.

Refeeding of starved rats that had previously been schedule-fed increased ornithine decarboxylase activity 140-fold in liver and six-fold in skeletal muscle within three hours. In diabetic rats, refeeding caused a smaller increase in enzyme activity in liver and none at all in muscle. When insulin was administered together with food to the diabetic rats, ornithine decarboxylase in muscle increased to levels greater than those observed in refed controls. The activity of the enzyme in liver also increased; however, the increase was still less than that observed in refed control rats. The data indicate that the induction of ornithine decarboxylase in liver and muscle following food ingestion is altered in diabetes. In addition, they suggest that insulin, or a factor dependent on insulin, modulates the activity of ornithine decarboxylase in skeletal muscle.     

Aggregation of human lymphoblastoid cells by tumor-promoting phorbol esters and dihydroteleocidin B

Human lymphoblastoid cells transformed by Epstein-Barr virus aggregated rapidly in the presence of tumor-promoting phorbol esters and dihydroteleocidin B. Cell aggregation was almost complete after incubation for 6 hours. In amounts of a few ng, they induced significant aggregation. Their abilities to aggregate cells could be measured quantitatively and correlated well with their effects in promoting skin tumors.     

Initiator and promoter induced specific changes in epidermal function and biological potential

Mouse epidermal basal cells can be selectively cultivated in medium with a calcium concentration of 0.02–0.09 mM. Terminal differentiation and slouching of mature kcratinocytes occur when the calcium concentration is increased to 1.2–1.4 mM. When basal cell cultures are exposed to chemical initiators of carcinogenesis, colonies of cells that resist calcium-induced differentiation evolve. Likewise, basal cells derived from mouse skin initiated in vivo yield foci that resist terminal differentiation. This defect in the commitment to terminal differentiation appears to be an essential change in initiated cells in skin and is also characteristic of malignant epidermal cells. This model system has also provided a means to determine if basal cells are more responsive to phorbol esters than other cells in epidermis and to explore the possibility that heterogeneity of response exists within subpopulations of basal cells. The induction of the enzyme ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) was used as a marker for responsiveness to phorbol esters. ODC induction after exposure to 12-0-tetradccanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in basal cells is enhanced 20-fold over the response of a culture population containing both differentiating and basal cells. When basal cells are induced to differentiate by increased calcium, responsiveness to TPA is lost within several hours. In basal cell cultures, two ODC responses can be distinguished. After exposure to low concentrations of TPA or to weak promoters of the phorbol ester series, ODC activity is maximal at 3 hr. With higher concentrations of TPA, the ODC maximum is at 9 hr. These results arc consistent with the presence of subpopulations of basal cells with differing sensitivities to TPA. Other studies that use the enzyme epidermal transglutaminase as a marker for differentiation support this conclusion. In basal cell culture TPA exposure rapidly increases transglutaminase activity and cornified envelope development, reflecting induced differentiation in some cells. As differentiated cells arc sloughed from the dish, the remaining basal cells proliferate and become resitant to induced differentiation by 1.2 m M calcium. These data provide additional evidence of basal cell heterogeneity in which TPA induces one subpopulation to differentiate while another is stimulated to proliferate and resists a differentiation signal. Tumor promoters, by their ability to produce heterogeneous responses with regard to terminal differentiation and proliferation, would cause redistribution of subpopulations of epidermal cells in skin. Cells that resist signals for terminal differentiation, such as initiated cell, would be expected to increase in number during remodeling. Clonal expansion of the intitiated population could result in a benign tumor with an altered program of differentiation. In skin, benign tumors are the principal product of 2-stage carcinogenesis. Subsequent progression to malignancy may involve an additional step, probably a genetic alteration, that is independent of the tumor promoter.     

Spontaneous activation of fish eggs is abolished by protease inhibitors

During spawning, eggs of most fish species entering the aquatic environment remain fertilizable for a relatively short period of time. This is due to the “spontaneous egg activation” giving rise to the fertilization membrane, which prevents the penetration of excessive and foreign sperm into the egg during normal fertilization. This work demonstrates that the fertilization membrane formation and the loss of fertilizability in aqueous solutions of different composition are inhibited by protease inhibitors, in particular, leupeptin and aprotinin. The presence of natural protease inhibitors in the ovarian fluid that prevent spontaneous egg activation is proposed. The decrease in the concentration of these inhibitors as the ovarian fluid is diluted in aquatic medium during spawning can explain egg activation in the absence of sperm.     

Leishmania tropica major: effect of paromomycin and pentamidine on polyamine levels in the skin of normal and infected mice

The polyamine content of the skin of BALB/c and C3H mice was determined at intervals, after injecting Leishmania tropica major. In BALB/c mice, putrescine and spermidine levels increased three- to seven-fold; in C3H mice, spontaneous recovery occurred after 3 weeks, accompanied by a reduction in putrescine and spermidine levels. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was negligible in normal, uninfected skin of both BALB/c and C3H mice, but increased steadily during infection. Treatment with drugs that inhibit the growth of leishmanial amastigotes in the skin of mice also reduced polyamine levels and ornithine decarboxylase activity of previously infected skin. There was a close correlation between the therapeutic activity of the drugs and their effect on polyamine content and synthesis. The aminoglycoside paromomycin, which was chemotherapeutically more effective than pentamidine, also had a greater effect on polyamine levels. S-adenosyl-L-Methionine decarboxylase activity in the skin of BALB/c and C3H mice was only slightly affected by the parasites. Polyamine levels and ornithine decarboxylase activity could possibly serve as means for measuring the growth of leishmanial parasites in skin and other tissues and as a measure of the efficacy of anti-leishmanial chemotherapeutics.     

Exposure to sodium butyrate, dimethyl sulfoxide, and phorbol-12-myristine-13-acetate alters sensitivity of K562 cells to nonspecific lysis by human or rat leukocytes

We studied the ability of inducers and inhibitors of erythroid differentiation of K562 leukemia cells, such as sodium butyrate, dimethyl sulfoxide, and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, respectively, to modulate sensitivity of these cells to nonspecific lysis (nonrestricted with respect to antigens of the major histocompatibilty complex) mediated by natural human or rat killer cells. Unfractionated leukocytes from human peripheral blood or rat splenocytes were used as sources of natural killers. The induction of erythroid differentiation by sodium butyrate was accompanied by a significant increase in cell sensitivity to lysis with human peripheral blood lymphocytes; incubation of K562 cells in the mixture of sodium butyrate and dimethyl sulfoxide did not change cell sensitivity to lysis by both types of effector cells. The inhibition of sodium butyrate-induced erythroid differentiation with high doses of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (100 nM; incubation was in the presence of both these agents simultaneously) resulted in an increased cell sensitivity to lysis with rat splenocytes. Incubation of K562 cells in a mixture of sodium butyrate, dimethyl sulfoxide, and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (100 nM) produced greater lysis by human leukocytes, as compared with incubation in the mixture of sodium butyrate and dimethyl sulfoxide.     

Platelet derived growth factor induces ornithine decarboxylase activity in NIH 3T3 cells

Incubation with highly purified human Platelet Derived Growth Factor induced ornithine decarboxylase activity in quiescent NIH 3T3 cells concomitantly with mitogenic stimulation. Pretreatment of cells with a specific ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor, DL-alpha-difluoromethyl-ornithine significantly inhibited the effect of the mitogen on DNA synthesis. These experiments suggest that the mitogenic activity of Platelet Derived Growth Factor, similarly to that of other serum growth factors or tumor promoters, is mediated through rise in polyamine levels.