Polyamines upregulate the mRNA expression of cationic amino acid transporter-1 in human retinal pigment epithelial cells

We previously showed that ornithine was mainly transported via cationic amino acid transporter (CAT)-1 in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell line, human telomerase RT (hTERT)-RPE, and that CAT-1 was involved in ornithine cytotoxicity in ornithine--aminotransferase (OAT)-deficient cell produced by a OAT specific inhibitor, 5-fluoromethylornithine (5-FMO). We showed here that CAT-1 mRNA expression was increased by ornithne in OAT-deficient RPE cells, which was reversed by an inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), -difluoromethylornithine (DFMO). Polyamines, especially spermine, one of the metabolites of ODC, also enhanced the expression of CAT-1 mRNA. ODC mRNA expression was also increased by ornithine and polyamines, and gene silencing of ODC by siRNA decreased ornithine transport activity and its cytotoxicity. In addition, the mRNA of nuclear protein c-myc was also increased in 5-FMO- and ornithine-treated hTERT-RPE cells, and gene silencing of c-myc prevented the induction of CAT-1 and ODC. Increases in expression of CAT-1, ODC, and c-myc, and the inhibition of these stimulated expression by DFMO were also observed in primary porcine RPE cells. These results suggest that spermine plays an important role in stimulation of mRNA expression of CAT-1, which is a crucial role in ornithine cytotoxicity in OAT-deficient hTERT-RPE cells. ornithine transport; ornithine decarboxylase; c-myc     

A role for c-myc in chemically induced renal-cell death.

A variety of genes, including c-myc, are activated by chemical toxicants in vivo and in vitro. Although enforced c-myc expression induces apoptosis after withdrawing survival factors, it is not clear if activation of the endogenous c-myc gene is an apoptotic signal after toxicant exposure. The renal tubular epithelium is a target for many toxicants. c-myc expression is activated by tubular damage. In quiescent LLC-PK1 renal epithelial cells, c-myc but not max or mad mRNA is induced by the nephrotoxicant S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine (DCVC). The kinetics of DCVC-induced c-myc expression and apoptosis suggested an association between cell death and prolonged activation of c-myc expression after toxicant exposure. Accordingly, prolonged activation of an estrogen receptor-Myc fusion construct, but not a construct in which a c-Myc transactivation domain had been deleted, was sufficient to induce apoptosis in LLC-PK1 cells. Moreover, under conditions in which necrosis was the predominant cell death pathway caused by DCVC in parental cells, overexpressing c-myc biased the cell death pathway toward apoptosis. DCVC also induced ornithine decarboxylase (odc) mRNA and activated the odc promoter. Activation of the odc promoter by DCVC required consensus c-Myc-Max binding sites in odc intron 1. Inhibiting ODC activity with alpha-difluoromethylornithine delayed DCVC-induced cell death. Therefore, odc is a target gene in the DCVC apoptotic pathway involving c-myc activation and contributes to apoptosis. Finally, a structurally related cytotoxic but nongenotoxic analog of DCVC did not induce c-myc and did not activate the odc promoter or induce apoptosis. The data support the hypothesis that activation of apoptotic cell death in quiescent renal epithelial cells involves induction of c-myc. This is the first study to demonstrate that c-myc induction by a specific nephrotoxicant leads to gene activation and cell death.     

Insulin induction of ornithine decarboxylase. Importance of mRNA secondary structure and phosphorylation of eucaryotic initiation factors eIF-4B and eIF-4E

We investigated the possibility that insulin could stimulate translation of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) mRNA in a murine fibroblast cell line that expresses large numbers of human insulin receptors (HIR 3.5 cells). Within 3 h after exposure to 70 nM insulin, ODC enzyme activity increased approximately 50-fold and mRNA accumulation 3-fold in the HIR 3.5 cells but not in normal fibroblasts. Pretreatment of cells with cycloheximide completely inhibited insulin-stimulated ODC expression; actinomycin D partially inhibited this effect. To determine the influence of the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) of ODC mRNA on insulin-regulated ODC expression, plasmids were constructed which contained sequences from the 5'UTR of a rat ODC mRNA interposed between the ferritin promoter and the coding region of the human growth hormone gene. These constructions were then expressed transiently in HIR 3.5 cells. Insulin stimulated a 2-4-fold change in growth hormone accumulation in the medium of cells transiently expressing plasmids containing the entire 5'UTR of ODC mRNA or just the 5'-most 115 bases, a G/C-rich conserved sequence predicted to form a stem-loop structure and shown previously to be responsible for constitutive inhibition of translation. There was a direct correlation between the extent of insulin stimulation and the predicted secondary structure of the added 5'UTR sequences. To determine whether this effect might be due to insulin activation of initiation factors responsible for melting mRNA secondary structure, we examined the effect of insulin on the phosphorylation states of two such factors, eucaryotic initiation factors eIF-4B and eIF-4E. Insulin stimulated the phosphorylation of both initiation factors; this stimulation was evident at 15 min and maximal by 60 min. These results suggest a potential general mechanism by which insulin could preferentially stimulate translation of mRNAs whose 5'UTRs exhibit significant secondary structure by activating initiation factors involved in melting such secondary structures.     

Cell-cycle-dependent expression of human ornithine decarboxylase

A human ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) gene probe has been isolated from a Jurkat T-cell cDNA expression library, sequenced, and used to analyze ODC mRNA levels in untransformed human lymphocytes and fibroblasts stimulated to proliferate by various mitogens. The partial cDNA sequence is 86% homologous to the mouse ODC cDNA, and Northern blots indicate that the human and mouse mRNA species are similar in size. ODC mRNA is barely detectable in quiescent human T lymphocytes and undetectable in density-arrested W138 fibroblasts. Following stimulation of T-lymphocyte proliferation with phytohemagglutinin, the ODC mRNA level rises to a peak around mid G1 phase and decreases as the cells enter S phase. Serum stimulation of density-arrested fibroblasts results in an elevation of the ODC mRNA level which persists throughout the cell cycle. Epidermal growth factor (20 ng/ml) but not insulin (10 mg/ml) or dexamethasone (55 ng/ml) stimulates ODC expression in quiescent W138 fibroblasts. Southern blots suggest that human cells have a single copy of the ODC gene.     

Bombesin induction of c-fos and c-myc proto-oncogenes in Swiss 3T3 cells: significance for the mitogenic response

Bombesin is a potent mitogen for Swiss 3T3 cells and acts synergistically with insulin and other growth factors. We show here that addition of bombesin to quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells causes a striking increase in the levels of c-fos and c-myc mRNAs. Enhanced expression of c-fos (122 +/- 14-fold) occurred within minutes of peptide addition followed by increased expression of c-myc (82 +/- 16-fold). The concentrations of peptide required for half-maximal increase in the levels of c-fos and c-myc mRNAs were 1.0 and 0.9 nM, respectively. The peptide [D-Arg1, D-Pro2, D-Trp7,9, Leu11] substance P which inhibits the binding of bombesin to its receptor and bombesin-stimulated DNA synthesis in Swiss 3T3 cells blocked the increase in c-fos and c-myc mRNA levels promoted by bombesin. Down-regulation of protein kinase C by long-term exposure to phorbol esters prevented c-fos and c-myc induction by bombesin. This and other results indicate that the induction of these proto-oncogenes by bombesin could be mediated by the coordinated effects of protein kinase C activation and Ca2+ mobilization. The marked synergistic effect between bombesin and insulin was used to assess whether the increase in the induction of c-fos and c-myc is an obligatory event in cell activation. In the presence of insulin, bombesin stimulated DNA synthesis at subnanomolar concentrations but had only a small effect on c-fos and c-myc mRNA levels. This apparent dissociation of mitogenesis from proto-oncogene induction was even more dramatic in 3T3 cells with down-regulated protein kinase C. In these cells bombesin stimulated DNA synthesis in the presence of insulin but failed to enhance c-fos and c-myc mRNA levels at comparable concentrations. Thus, the induction of c-fos and c-myc may be a necessary step in the mitogenic response initiated by ligands that act through activation of protein kinase C but the expression of these proto-oncogenes may not be an obligatory event in the stimulation of mitogenesis in 3T3 cells by mitogens that utilise other signalling pathways.     

Rapid inhibition of c-myc gene expression by a glucocorticoid in the avian oviduct

The glucocorticoid dexamethasone (DEX) causes a rapid, reversible reduction in c-myc mRNA level in the oviducts of estrogen-treated, immature chickens. The c-myc mRNA level begins to decrease by 5 min after injection of 0.5 mg DEX, reaches a minimum of 10% of the control value by 30 min, and returns to 30-40% of the control value by 4 h post injection. This rapid effect of DEX on the c-myc mRNA level occurs in both diethylstilbestrol-stimulated and diethylstilbestrol-withdrawn oviducts. The effect is dose dependent, with reduction of the c-myc mRNA measured with as little as 10 micrograms DEX injection (0.03 micrograms/g BW). The effect of the steroid is gene specific with H2B histone mRNA displaying a significantly reduced response. The effect is also tissue specific with liver displaying an increase of 170% of control values in c-myc mRNA level by 30 min after injection of 0.5 mg DEX. The reduction of avian oviduct c-myc mRNA levels by DEX may play a role in glucocorticoid inhibition of cell proliferation in this tissue. The rapidity of the steroid effects on c-myc expression makes it likely that the steroid-induced reduction of c-myc mRNA levels represents a direct primary action of the steroid-receptor complex on the c-myc gene expression.     

Insulin as a growth factor in rat hepatoma cells. Stimulation of proto-oncogene expression

In a subline of Reuber H35 rat hepatoma cells that becomes quiescent under serum-deprived conditions, insulin acts as a growth factor. When added to serum-deprived H35 cells, physiologic concentrations of insulin stimulate DNA synthesis, demonstrating that insulin alone is capable of inducing a transition from G0/G1 into S phase. This response, which is induced by nanomolar concentrations of insulin, is mediated directly through the insulin receptor. Here we show that coincident with this growth response, insulin or serum induces dramatic increases in the steady-state levels of c-fos and c-myc mRNAs in serum-deprived H35 cells in a time course similar to that observed in the regenerating liver. Other growth factors, including epidermal growth factor, appear not to affect these cells either in terms of DNA synthesis or c-myc mRNA induction. The phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) also induces c-myc and c-fos mRNAs without inducing DNA synthesis. However, the mechanism of this induction appears to be different from the insulin-induced induction since pretreatment of cells with PMA blocks only the PMA-mediated, not the insulin-mediated, induction of c-myc and c-fos.     

暂时性脑缺血诱导c-fos原癌基因和鸟氨酸脱羧酶基因表达

应用大鼠椎动脉与颈内动脉结扎造成暂时性脑缺血再灌注以及RNA点杂交方法观察c-fos基因与鸟氨酸脱羧酶(ODC)基因表达的动力学过程。结果表明:大鼠大脑皮质c-fos基因在再灌后0.5至3小时表达,ODC基因在6小时至14小时表达;海马的c-fos基因则自36至72小时呈现高水平表达,ODC基因表达与之相对同步或稍延后。但是暂时性脑缺血却不能诱导c-Myc基因表达。上述结果提示c-fos及ODC可能在缺血型脑损伤后具有特殊作用。文中对缺蛋再灌引起cfos-及ODC基因表达的机制进行了分析与讨论,并提出“神经元应激状态”这一概念以描述神经元对伤害性刺激的反应历程。     

暂时性脑缺血诱导c-fos原癌基因和鸟氨酸脱羧酶基因表达

应用大鼠椎动脉与颈内动脉结扎造成暂时性脑缺血再灌注以及RNA点杂交方法观察c-fos基因与鸟氨酸脱羧酶(ODC)基因表达的动力学过程。结果表明:大鼠大脑皮质c-fos基因在再灌后0.5至3小时表达,ODC基因在6小时至14小时表达;海马的c-fos基因则自36至72小时呈现高水平表达,ODC基因表达与之相对同步或稍延后。但是暂时性脑缺血却不能诱导c-Myc基因表达。上述结果提示c-fos及ODC可能在缺血型脑损伤后具有特殊作用。文中对缺蛋再灌引起cfos-及ODC基因表达的机制进行了分析与讨论,并提出“神经元应激状态”这一概念以描述神经元对伤害性刺激的反应历程。     

Messenger RNAs coding for enzymes of polyamine biosynthesis are induced during the G0-G1 transition but not during traverse of the normal G1 phase

The events occurring during emergence of cells from quiescence ("G0") are not necessarily identical to those in the G1 phase of continuously dividing cells. Cellular levels of the mRNAs coding for ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and S-adenosyl-methionine decarboxylase (SDC), key enzymes in polyamine synthesis, increased maximally within 5 h after addition of serum to resting 3T3 cells, following a kinetic course similar to that of c-myc mRNA. In a pure early G1 population of cells, prepared by centrifugal elutriation of growing fibroblasts, the levels of ODC and SDC mRNAs were not significantly lower than in other phases of the cell cycle and approximated serum-induced levels rather than the reduced values found in serum-starved cells. Thus, we conclude that the mRNAs coding for the polyamine biosynthetic enzymes, like c-myc, are growth controlled, but not regulated during traverse of a normal cell cycle.