Up-regulation of E-cadherin and β-catenin in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines by sodium butyrate and interferon-α

Summary Human E-cadherin is a homophilic cell adhesion molecule and its expression is well preserved in normal human hepatocytes; a decrease in its expression has been observed in poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma cells. We examined the alteration of E-cadherin and catenin expressions caused by differentiation inducers in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, HCC-T and HCC-M, were cultured with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), dexamethasone (DEX), sodium butyrate, and interferon-α. E-cadherin expression was only up-regulated by butyrate and interferon-α (IFN-α) in both cell lines, studied by means of fluorescence immunostaining and flow cytometry. The localization of E-cadherin staining was shown at their cell membrane. According to the increase in E-cadherin expression, β-catenin expression appeared at the cell membrane of both cell lines when treated with butyrate and IFN-α. Such an appearance was not observed when cells were treated with ATRA and DEX. Western blotting showed that α-and γ-catenin expression was not changed, while only the expression of β-catenin increased. β-Catenin oncogenic activation as a result of amino acid substitutions or interstitial deletions within or including parts of exon 3, which has been demonstrated recently, was not detected in these cell lines by direct deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing. These results suggest that the expression and interaction between E-cadherin and wild-type β-catenin are potentially modulated by butyrate and IFN-α, and that these two agents are potent inhibitors of hepatocellular carcinoma cell invasion and metastasis.     

Effect of sodium butyrate on the production of serotonin, histamine and glycosaminoglycans by cultured murine mastocytoma cells

Effect of sodium butyrate on the cellular serotonin, histamine and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) contents of mastocytoma p-815 cells was examined. When mastocytoma p-815-4 cells were cultured for 4 days in the presence of butyrate at 2 mM, the optimal concentration for the induction of granulopoiesis in this cell line, the cellular serotonin, histamine and GAGs contents increased markedly: serotonin increased almost 7 times, histamine 140 times and total GAGs 10 times. Chondroitinase ABC-resistant GAGs, heparin and/or heparan sulfate, increased 21 times. These cellular products reached at 3 or 4 days culture their maximal levels which depended on the amount of butyrate added up to 2 mM. The effectiveness of butyrate varied among the cloned cell lines: serotonin and histamine contents did not increase in mastocytoma p-815-6 cells, in which butyrate failed to induce granulopoiesis.     

Butyrate reduces colonic paracellular permeability by enhancing PPARgamma activation

Butyrate may have a role in preventing ulcerative colitis, but its precise mechanism is unknown. Also, PPARgamma (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma) is expressed at high levels both in the colonic epithelium and colon cancer cell lines, but no report was shown on the relationship between PPARgamma activation and the effect of butyrate. We investigated the effects of butyrate and PPARgamma agonist on paracellular permeability. To discover whether PPARgamma expressed in the cell lines treated with butyrate was functional or not, we transfected HT-29 cells with an acyl-CoA oxidase promoter-luciferase reporter plasmid containing a PPRE (peroxisome proliferator responsive element) and analyzed the luciferase activity. Butyrate and PPARgamma agonist significantly reduced paracellular permeability of the colon cell line (p<0.05) and this effect indicated that butyrate and PPARgamma agonist decreased HT-29 cell growth and increased differentiation (p<0.01). PPRE activation treated with butyrate was approximately four and a half times that in untreated cells (p<0.01). These findings suggest that the effect of butyrate on paracellular permeability has apparently taken place through PPARgamma activation and this effect attributes to preventing inflammation of the colon.     

An improved method of electroporation for introducing biologically active foreign genes into cultured mammalian cells

We have developed a modified, reproducible, and efficient method for introducing cloned genes into mammalian cells by using an electric field followed by treatment with sodium butyrate. Transfection frequencies with plasmid pSV2-neo, consisting of an antibiotic (G418) resistance gene and simian virus 40 (SV40) early promoter, by electroporation were higher than those by calcium phosphate DNA precipitation. Treatment with sodium butyrate following electroporation significantly increased the frequency of transfection in various types of cell lines and primary cultured cells including human skin fibroblasts. Treatment with sodium butyrate also increased the transient expression of the gene for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (acetyl-CoA; chloramphenicol O3-acetyltransferase, CAT, EC 2.3.1.28) when the gene was introduced into BALB/c 3T3 cells by electroporation. Electroporation combined with sodium butyrate treatment is an improved method for stable and transient biochemical transformation of foreign genes in cultured mammalian cells.     

Comparison of the Effects of Forskolin and Dibutyryl Cyclic AMP in Neuroblastoma Cells: Evidence that Some of the Actions of Dibutyryl Cyclic AMP Are Mediated by Butyrate

We have compared the effects of forskolin, N6,2'-O-dibutyryladenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (dibutyryl cyclic AMP, Bt2-cAMP), and butyrate on several aspects of neuroblastoma cell physiology. The morphology of Neuro 2A cells was similar after incubation with forskolin and Bt2-cAMP, which caused extensive neurite outgrowth, whereas in the presence of butyrate some rudimentary neurites were formed but they were not nearly as extensive. All compounds produced a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation, but the effect of Bt2-cAMP was more marked than that caused by forskolin, thus showing that the effect of Bt2-cAMP is due partially to the butyrate released. Acetylcholinesterase activity was lower in the cells incubated with butyrate or Bt2-cAMP than in untreated cells or in forskolin-treated cells. This suggests that cyclic AMP does not play a role in the regulation of this enzyme. Bt2-cAMP produced histone acetylation, a well-known effect of butyrate in cultured cells, whereas forskolin did not affect this modification. Consequently, the levels of thyroid hormone receptor, a nuclear protein whose concentration is regulated by butyrate through changes in acetylation of chromatin proteins, were decreased in cells incubated with Bt2-cAMP or butyrate, but were unaffected by forskolin. Butyrate elevated the concentration of histone H1(0), a protein that increases in neuroblastoma cells as a result of different treatments that block cell division. The concentration of H1(0) in the cells treated with Bt2-cAMP was at a level intermediate between that found after treatment with butyrate and with forskolin. The present results clearly indicate that some of the effects of Bt2-cAMP on neuroblastoma cells can be attributed to the butyryl moiety of this compound rather than to the cyclic nucleotide itself.     

Sodium butyrate induced alterations in lysosomal enzyme activity

Summary Treatment of cultured HeLa cells with 5 mM sodium butyrate causes an inhibition of growth as well as extensive chemical and morphological differentiation. Lysosomal enzyme activity changes have been associated with both normal and neoplastic growth as well as many aspects of the neoplastic process. The comparative ultrastructural results show that the butyrate-treated cells have a more extensive internal membraneous system than the untreated cells, whereas other organelles seem unaffected by the butyrate treatment. Methods for the histochemical localization of lysosomal acid phosphatase show a twofold increase in particulate reaction product in the butyrate-treated HeLa cells. Isolation of lysosomes followed by a comparative enzyme analysis shows a two to three fold increase in acid phosphatase activity per cell after 24 h of butyrate treatment, as well as three to four fold increase in β-glucuronidase activity. These increases reverse within 24 h of removal of the butyrate from the culture medium. These results as interpreted suggest that butyrate treatment may be preventing sublethal autolysis by arresting the leakage of the lysosomal enzymes from the lysosome into the cytosol and thus allowing the cell to chemically and morphologically differentiate. This work was supported by National Institute of Health Grant HD 14085-03.     

Acid sphingomyelinase is induced by butyrate but does not initiate the anticancer effect of butyrate in HT29 and HepG2 cells

Butyric acid and sphingomyelin (SM) affect colonic tumorigenesis. We examined the potential link between butyrate stimulation and SM metabolism in colonic and hepatic cancer cell lines. After incubating HT29 and HepG2 cells with butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids, we found that butyrate increased acid but not neutral or alkaline sphingomyelinase (SMase) activity by 10- to 20-fold. The effects occurred after 16 h of incubation and were associated with reduced SM and phosphatidylcholine contents and increased ceramide levels. Northern blotting showed increased acid SMase mRNA levels in these cells after butyrate stimulation. Propionate was less potent, and acetate had no effect. No similar changes of acid phosphatase could be identified. At concentrations that increased acid SMase expression, butyrate inhibited cell proliferation, activated caspase 3, and induced apoptosis. However, the antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of butyrate preceded the changes of acid SMase and were not affected by knocking down acid SMase expression by small, interfering RNA. In addition, butyrate-induced acid SMase expression was not affected by blocking the caspase pathway. In conclusion, butyrate regulates SM metabolism by stimulating acid SMase expression in colon and liver cancer cells, but the increased acid SMase is not a critical mechanism for initiating the anticancer effects of butyrate.     

Decreased phospholipase A2 activity in butyrate differentiated HT29 cells.

Our earlier work has shown that in butyrate differentiated colonic HT29 cells, there is an alteration in phospholipid composition as compared to control. To know more about these changes, butyrate treated and control cell homogenates were incubated in presence of calcium and phospholipids were analyzed. It was observed that incubation with calcium was associated with increase in lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC) and free fatty acids and the increase was much higher in control as compared to butyrate treated cells. There was no alteration in lysoPC content. These products are formed by the action of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) which is activated by calcium and suggests that butyrate-induced differentiation is associated with decrease in PLA2 activity.     

Effects of Butyrate on Cell Cycle Progression and Polyploidization of Various Types of Mammalian Cells

We studied the effect of butyrate on cell cycle progression and polyploidization in three fibroblast (rat 3Yl, human IMR-90, and human embryo lung HEL) and two epithelial (human embryo kidney HEK and monkey kidney BSC-1) cells. In these cells, except for 3Y1, G1 arrest with butyrate was incomplete, and the production of tetraploid cells was detectable in the presence of butyrate. G2 arrest with butyrate was also incomplete in HEL and BSC-1 cells, and the number of HEL cells increased in the presence of butyrate. On the contrary, most BSC-1 cells that divided in the presence of butyrate were unstable and the number of attached cells decreased. These results indicate that the effect of butyrate on cell cycle progression varies with the cell type and that polyploidization can be induced by a single treatment with butyrate.     

Effects of butyrate on cell cycle progression and polyploidization of various types of mammalian cells.

We studied the effect of butyrate on cell cycle progression and polyploidization in three fibroblast (rat 3Y1, human IMR-90, and human embryo lung HEL) and two epithelial (human embryo kidney HEK and monkey kidney BSC-1) cells. In these cells, except for 3Y1, G1 arrest with butyrate was incomplete, and the production of tetraploid cells was detectable in the presence of butyrate. G2 arrest with butyrate was also incomplete in HEL and BSC-1 cells, and the number of HEL cells increased in the presence of butyrate. On the contrary, most BSC-1 cells that divided in the presence of butyrate were unstable and the number of attached cells decreased. These results indicate that the effect of butyrate on cell cycle progression varies with the cell type and that polyploidization can be induced by a single treatment with butyrate.     

Sodium butyrate preserves aspects of the differentiated phenotype of normal adult rat hepatocytes in culture

We have determined that sodium butyrate and, to a lesser extent, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and 3-aminobenzamide (3-AB) preserve aspects of the differentiated phenotype of primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes. The histone deacetylase inhibitor, butyrate, inhibits the increase in gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) activity and the decrease in basal tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) activity normally observed when hepatocytes are cultured under appropriate conditions. The effects of butyrate on GGT and TAT activities are accompanied by parallel changes in GGT and TAT mRNA levels. The poly(ADP)ribose-synthetase inhibitor, 3-aminobenzamide, has effects similar to butyrate on GGT activity and mRNA levels, while both 3-AB and DMSO increase basal TAT activity in cultured hepatocytes. Under appropriate conditions all three agents--butyrate, 3-AB, and DMSO--extend the length of time cultured hepatocytes can be maintained as confluent monolayers. However, under all the conditions studied, butyrate extended the length of time hepatocytes could be maintained as monolayers more than any other treatment used. Butyrate-treated hepatocytes maintained ultrastructural features that were more similar to those of hepatocytes in vivo than hepatocytes treated with any other of the agents tested. Histone acetylation levels of primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes declined concomitant with the loss of the differentiated phenotype of the cells. These results suggest that histone acetylation may play a role in the changes in gene expression observed when hepatocytes are placed in culture.     

RB phosphorylation in sodium butyrate-resistant HL-60 cells: Cross-resistance to retinoic acid but not vitamin D3

To examine the potential coupling between inducible cellular changes in RB (retinoblastoma) tumor suppressor protein phosphorylation and ability to G0 growth arrest and differentiate, HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells were cultured in incremental sodium butyrate (NaB) concentrations and thereby made resistant to the growth inhibitory effects of sodium butyrate, which normally induces G0 arrest and monocytic differentiation in wild type HL-60 cells. The resistant cells were also unable to differentiate in response to NaB, indicating that a regulatory function controlling both G0 growth arrest and differentiation had been affected. The induced resistance was not genetic in origin since the cells regained the ability to G0 arrest and differentiate after being recultured in medium free of sodium butyrate for only three days. The resistant cells had similar cell cycle phase durations as the original wild type cells. The resistant cells retained the ability to both G0 arrest and differentiate in response to 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 (VD3), normally an inducer of G0 arrest and monocytic differentiation in wild type cells. However, they were cross-resistant to retinoic acid (RA), another ligand for the same steroid thyroid hormone receptor family, which induces G0 arrest and myeloid differentiation in wild type cells. The ability to G0 arrest and phenotypically differentiate in response to RA were both grossly impaired. Unlike wild type cells which undergo early down-regulation and then hypophosphorylation of the RB protein when induced to differentiate, in resistant cells, hypophosphorylation of RB in response to NaB was grossly retarded. These changes in RB protein occurred faster when the cells were treated with VD3. In contrast, the changes in RB phosphorylation occurred significantly slower when the cells were treated with RA. The results suggest a coupling between the ability to G0 growth arrest and phenotypically convert and the ability to hypophosphorylate RB. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Butyrate-induced cell differentiation of cell-cycle mutants and ''wild-type'' mastocytoma cells: Histamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and metachromatic granules as independently regulated differentiation markers

In cultures of heat-sensitive (hs; arrested at 39.5 degrees C, multiplying at 33 degrees C) and cold-sensitive (cs; arrested at 33 degrees C, multiplying at 39.5 degrees C) cell-cycle mutants that had been isolated from the same subclone (K21) of the murine P-815-X2 mastocytoma line, the degree of cell differentiation was assessed by determining the cellular histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) content as well as the number of metachromatic granules per cell. The findings were compared with those obtained for 'wild-type' K21 and P-815-X2 cells. The addition of butyrate to 'wild-type' cells or to mutant cells maintained at the respective permissive temperature resulted in a relative increase in the level of all three differentiation markers. In cs mutant cells, essentially the same pronounced increase in granule numbers was observed during butyrate treatment at 39.5 degrees C and during incubation at 33 degrees C without butyrate, thereby suggesting that butyrate induces morphological cell differentiation in cs mutants via the same mechanisms as exposure to the nonpermissive temperature. In contrast, the histamine and 5-HT levels reached in hs and cs mutant cells in the presence of butyrate were higher than those observed during incubation at the nonpermissive temperature. Large quantitative differences were detected with respect to the potential of individual cell lines to express the three differentiation parameters. High levels of histamine were characteristic of 'wild-type' P-815-X2 cells treated at 33 degrees C with butyrate, while low amine levels and small numbers of granules were observed in K21 cells (i.e., the parent line of hs and cs mutants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effect of sodium butyrate on primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes

Summary Sodium butyrate, at millimolar concentrations, seems to mediate or initiate multiple effects on many mammalian cells in culture. Although many transformed cell lines respond to butyrate treatment with acquisition of normal cellular characteristics, the effect of butyrate on a normal cell type, the parenchymal hepatocyte, has not been studied. Serum-free primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes maintain many adult characteristics, yet after several days in culture a loss of adult characteristics occurs while fetal characteristics are often reexpressed. Therefore, we investigated whether butyrate treatment would improve the morphologic and biochemical characteristics of cultured hepatocytes. Exposure to 5 mM butyrate for 3 d did not affect hepatocyte viability or morphology but retarded the progressive decline in cytochrome P-450 levels and 5′-nucleotidase activity. The spontaneous increase in alkaline phosphatase activity was reduced and the induction of tyrosine aminotransferase was inhibited after 3 d in culture. The fetal liver characteristic, gamma glutamyltranspeptidase, was not affected by butyrate treatment. Results of this study suggest that butyrate represents a nontoxic compound capable of improving the maintenance of cell culture characteristics of adult rat hepatocytes.     

Regulation of Chk2 gene expression in lymphoid malignancies: involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in Hodgkin's lymphoma cell lines

The tumor suppressor Chk2 kinase plays crucial roles in regulating cell-cycle checkpoints and apoptosis following DNA damage. We investigated the expression levels of the genes encoding Chk2 and several cell-cycle regulators in nine cell lines from lymphoid malignancies, including three Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) lines. We found that all HL cell lines exhibited a drastic reduction in Chk2 expression without any apparent mutation of the Chk2 gene. However, expression of Chk2 in HL cells was restored following treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitors trichostatin A (TsA) and sodium butyrate (SB), or with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5Aza-dC). Chromatin-immunoprecipitation (Chip) assays revealed that treatment of HL cells with TsA, SB or 5Aza-dC resulted in increased levels of acetylated histones H3 and H4, and decreased levels of dimethylated H3 lysine 9 at the Chk2 promoter. These results indicate that expression of the Chk2 gene is downregulated in HL cells via epigenetic mechanisms.     

Recoverin in Cultured Human Retinoblastoma Cells: Enhanced Expression During Morphological Differentiation

Abstract: Recoverin is a calcium-binding protein expressed in retinal photoreceptors. It appears to delay the termination of the phototransduction cascade by blocking the phosphorylation of photoexcited rhodopsin. The goal of this study was to determine if recoverin mRNA and protein are expressed in cultured human Y79 retinoblastoma cells, so that this cell line could be used as a model to study the mechanism of recoverin gene expression in the retina. A cDNA encoding human recoverin was PCR cloned and used for prokaryotic expression of recoverin protein. Polyclonal antibodies raised against pure recombinant recoverin were used for western blotting and immunocytochemistry of Y79 cells grown as attachment cultures in the presence of the differentiating agents dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP) or butyrate. Northern blot analysis was performed on mRNA extracted from Y79 cells that were also treated with the differentiating agents. In Y79 cell monolayer cultures, recoverin was immunolocalized to the cell cytoplasm, and immunoreactivity was increased dramatically by the addition of 2 m M butyrate to the culture medium. Butyrate treatment also caused an increase in the development of neurite-like cellular processes. Addition of 4 m M dbcAMP resulted in a moderate increase in both recoverin immunoreactivity and number of cellular processes. Western and northern blots of butyrate and dbcAMP-treated Y79 cell cultures demonstrated an increase in recoverin protein and RNA expression, respectively, comparable with that observed with immunocytochemistry. These data suggest that, under the influence of the differentiating agent butyrate, Y79 cells exhibit an increase in expression of the photoreceptor protein recoverin and a concomitant morphological differentiation toward a neuronal phenotype.     

Studies of DNA polymerases alpha and beta from cultured human cells in various replicative states

DNA polymerase activities from HeLa cells and from cultured diploid human fibroblasts in various growth states were compared. alpha-Polymerase activities from log phase fibroblasts treated with sodium butyrate and from stationary phase HeLa cells had DEAE-cellulose elution patterns that differed from those of polymerases from dividing cells. Moreover, alpha- and beta-polymerases from nondividing cells replicated synthetic polymers less faithfully. Although similar changes were observed previously for polymerases from late-passage and postconfluent early passage fibroblasts, amounts of alpha-polymerase activity recovered from nondividing cells in this study did not dramatically decline as they had in the former cases. The alpha-polymerase activities from HeLa cells and fibroblasts in various growth states sedimented near 7.5S in 0.4 M KCI and could be inhibited by a monoclonal IgG fraction prepared against KB cell alpha-polymerase. By several criteria, there was no significant differences in levels of UV-stimulated repair synthesis observed in early or late-passage postconfluent fibroblasts or in log phase fibroblasts treated with sodium butyrate. In summary, levels of alpha-polymerase do not necessarily correlate either with replicative activity or with apparent levels of repair synthesis. However, cells with decreased replicative activity always yielded enzyme with decreased fidelity in vitro and altered chromatographic behavior. It appears, therefore, that the alterations observed for alpha-polymerase from late-passage cells may be attributed more generally to the nondividing nature of these cells.