Differential effects of forskolin and phobol 12-myristate-13-acetate on the c-fos and c-jun mRNA expression in rat C6 glioma cells

The effects of forskolin (FSK) and phobol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) on c-fos and c-jun mRNA expressions in rat C6 glioma cells were studied. Both FSK and PMA increased the c-fos mRNA level. The C-jun mRNA level was decreased by FSK, whereas it was increased by PMA. The elevated c-fos mRNA level, induced by FSK or PMA, was significantly inhibited by dexamethasone (DEX). In contrast, DEX did not affect the FSK- and PMA-induced response of the c-jun mRNA level. Cycloheximide (CHX) caused a superinduction of the FSK- or PMA-induced c-fos mRNA level. Furthermore, CHX also potentiated the PMA-induced c-jun mRNA level. However, CHX did not affect the FSK-induced down-regulation of the c-jun mRNA level. When C6 glioma cells were incubated with PMA and FSK, the PMA-induced c-jun mRNA level was inhibited by FSK, whereas FSK did not affect the PMA-induced c-fos mRNA level. Our results suggest that the activations of PKA and PKC pathways have different roles in the regulation of the c-jun mRNA expression in rat C6 glioma cells. PKA activation can inhibit induction of the c-jun mRNA expression by PMA. In addition, DEX appears to have a selective inhibitory action against c-fos, but not c-jun, -mRNA expression that is regulated by PKA and PKC. On-going protein synthesis inhibition is required for the superinduction of the c-fos expression that is induced by PMA, or FSK and the PMA-induced c-jun mRNA level.     

Differential effects of cholera toxin and pertussis toxin on the c-fos and c-jun mRNA expression in rat C6 glioma cells

Cholera toxin (CTX) increased c-fos mRNA level whereas it down-regulated the c-jun mRNA level in rat C6 glioma cells. In contrast to the action of CTX, pertussis toxin (PTX) did not affect either c-fos or c-jun mRNA level. The elevated c-fos mRNA level induced by CTX was significantly inhibited by the co-treatment with dexamethasone (DEX). However, DEX did not affect CTX-induced down-regulation of c-jun mRNA level. Cycloheximide (CHX) increased c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels. CHX caused a super-induction of CTX-induced c-fos mRNA level. Our results suggest that CTX-, but not PTX-, sensitive G-proteins may play an important role for c-fos mRNA up-regulation and c-jun mRNA down-regulation. In addition, DEX appears to have a selective inhibitory action against c-fos mRNA expression regulated by CTX. Ongoing protein synthesis inhibition is required for the superinduction of c-fos, but not c-jun, mRNA induced by CTX.     

Regulation of proto-oncogene expression and deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in granulosa cells of perifused immature rat ovaries.

The present series of experiments examined the effects of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and insulin (IN) on granulosa cell (GC) proto-oncogene expression and DNA synthesis. In the first study, GCs were harvested from immature rat ovaries after 15, 30, or 60 min of perifusion and DNA synthesis (3H-thymidine incorporation) and proto-oncogene mRNA levels were determined. The presence of c-myc and c-fos proteins was localized within GCs immunocytochemically. GCs of control ovaries exhibited modest levels of DNA synthesis and proto-oncogene expression. FSH/IN not only stimulated DNA synthesis but also increased c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun mRNA levels and the percentage of cells staining for c-fos and c-myc proteins. The protein kinase inhibitor, 2-aminopurine (2-AP), inhibited the FSH/IN-induced increases in c-myc and c-fos mRNA levels, the percentage of cells staining for Myc and Fos protein, and DNA and protein synthesis. The effects of 48 h of perifusion with FSH in the presence or absence of IN were also examined. These treatments were selected because after 48 h of continuous exposure to FSH alone, estradiol-17 beta (E2) secretion is enhanced and 3H-thymidine incorporation is inhibited. Conversely, FSH/IN maintains 3H-thymidine incorporation for up to 48 h of perifusion culture without stimulating E2 (Peluso et al., Endocrinology 1991; 128:191-196). After 48 h of perifusion, both FSH and FSH/IN stimulated c-fos mRNA and protein levels. However, high levels of c-jun mRNA and protein were detected only within GCs of FSH/IN-treated ovaries.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effects of ionizing radiation and beta-adrenergic stimulation on the expression of early response genes in rat parotid glands.

There is little known about the regulation of gene expression in rat parotid glands after exposure to ionizing radiation. The present studies investigate the effects of in vivo ionizing radiation, with subsequent stimulation of beta-adrenergic receptors by isoproterenol, on parotid gland function and on the expression of the early response genes, c-fos, c-jun, and jun B. Ionizing radiation diminished parotid gland weight and saliva output. Treatment of irradiated rats with isoproterenol increased the gland weight to levels similar to those in nonirradiated rats. However, such treatment had no effect on saliva output as indicated by measurements of parotid salivary flow rate. Irradiation alone increased the expression of c-fos, c-jun, and jun B. The combination of irradiation and isoproterenol had an additional effect on the levels of c-fos and jun B mRNAs and proteins particularly at earlier experimental times (1 to 8 h). Isoproterenol alone induced high levels of c-fos and jun B mRNA but not of c-jun mRNA. However, c-jun mRNA was induced markedly by radiation and 8 h of isoproterenol treatment, indicating a combined effect on c-jun gene expression. These observations suggest that the expression of the proto-oncogenes c-fos, c-jun, and jun B is probably regulated through differential signal transduction pathways which may be activated by these external stimuli and may be associated with functional changes induced in the rat parotid gland by ionizing radiation and by ionizing radiation and isoproterenol.     

低、高频电针诱导原癌基因c－fos／c－jun和阿片肽基因表达及其关系的比较研究

本工作对低频（２Ｈｚ）和高频（１００Ｈｚ）电针引起大鼠中枢Ｆｏｓ／Ｊｕｎ表达和三类阿片肽基因表达进行了详细的比较研究,并用针对ｃ－ｆｏｓ／ｃ－ｊｕｎ的反义寡核苷酸（ＯＤＮｓ）对电针引起的Ｆｏｓ／Ｊｕｎ表达进行选择性阻断,然后观察阿片肽基因表达是否受到影响,以确定Ｆｏｓ／Ｊｕｎ复合物在电针引起阿片肽基因表达中的作用。主要结果如下：（１）２Ｈｚ和１００Ｈｚ电针引起脑内不同部位的Ｆｏｓ／Ｊｕｎ表达;（２）２Ｈｚ电针使前脑啡肽原（ＰＰＥ）ｍＲＮＡ表达大幅度增高,１００Ｈｚ电针也能增加ＰＰＥｍＲＮＡ的转录,但不如２Ｈｚ电针的作用显著;但１００Ｈｚ电针能使某些脑区的前强啡肽原（ＰＰＤ）基因转录加速,而２Ｈｚ电针没有这一作用;（３）用ｃ－ｆｏｓ／ｃ－ｊｕｎ反义ＯＤＮｓ特异地阻断Ｆｏｓ／Ｊｕｎ表达后,电针引起的ＰＰＤ转录加速被明显阻断,而ＰＰＥ表达不受影响。提示Ｆｏｓ／Ｊｕｎ是电针引起ＰＰＤ（而非ＰＰＥ）基因表达的转录因子。     

Growth conditions differentially affect the constitutive expression of primary response genes in cultured cereballar granule cells

Cultured cerebellar granule cells underwent apoptotic degeneration when grown in medium containing 10 instead of 25 mM K⁺. Knowing that apoptosis is associated with changes in the expression of primary response genes, we have measured c-fos, zif/268, and c-jun mRNA levels during maturation of cultured granule cells grown in 10 or 25 mM K⁺. The constitutive expression of c-fos and zif/268 was differentially regulated by extracellular K⁺ concentration at 5 days of maturation in vitro (DIV), when cells grown under suboptimal conditions (i.e. in 10 mM K⁺) are committed to degenerate. At this stage, c-fos mRNA levels were detectable only in cultures grown in 25 mM K⁺, whereas zif/268 mRNA levels were dramatically elevated in cultures grown in 10 mM K⁺. This provides one of the few conditions in which c-fos and zif/268 are differentially regulated in nerve cells. Substantial changes in c-jun, or -actin mRNA levels were detectable only at 7 DIV, when the percentage of apoptotic cells had already reached a plateau in ultures grown in 10 mM K⁺. We speculate that changes in the expression of zif/268 are important in the gene program associated with the induction of apoptosis by trophic deprivation in cultured neurons.Special issue dedicated to Dr. Robert Balázs     

Effects of neonatal diethylstilbestrol exposure on c-fos and c-jun protooncogene expression in the mouse uterus

Quantitative and cell-type-specific expression of c-fos and c-jun genes after 17beta-estradiol (E2) stimulation, was investigated in the uteri of neonatally diethylstilbestrol (DES)-exposed and ovariectomized adult mice (neoDES-mice), employing Northern blot analysis, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. The c-fos mRNA level before E2 injection (at baseline) was about 2.2-fold higher in neoDES-mice than in vehicle-treated control mice. In controls, E2 treatment transiently increased c-fos mRNA levels, showing a peak value (15.8-fold relative to the baseline) after 2 hours. In neoDES-mice, c-fos mRNA level reached a peak showing a 2.1-fold increase compared with its baseline value 1 hour after E2 injection. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization revealed that c-fos protein (Fos) and mRNA are induced in the epithelium and vascular endothelium in both groups. Most uterine epithelia of neoDES-mice revealed low sensitivity to the c-fos expression after E2 administration compared with those of vehicle-treated controls, whereas few epithelia showed high c-fos mRNA expression even at baseline. The c-jun mRNA concentration in the neoDES-mice uteri at baseline was 70% of that in vehicle-treated controls. At 1 hour after E2 injection, c-jun mRNA levels increased 1.8-fold in controls and 1.3-fold in the neoDES-mice relative to each baseline value. There were no significant differences in the distribution pattern of c-jun protein (Jun) and mRNA in the uteri of either groups; E2 stimulated c-jun mRNA expression in the stromal and myometrial cells but suppressed it in the epithelial cells, whereas intensity of c-jun immunostaining increased in the three cell types. The permanent changes in the expression of estrogen-regulated protooncogenes, c-fos and c-jun genes, by neonatal DES exposure may be responsible for the wide range of abnormalities in the genital tract of mature animals.     

Adrenalectomy Potentiates Immediate Early Gene Expression in Rat Brain

Administration of kainate or pentylenetetrazole increased c-fos, c-jun, junB, and junD mRNA levels in rat brain in a dose-dependent manner. Kainate increased these mRNA levels predominantly in the hippocampus, and pentylenetetrazole was more effective in the cortex. Adrenalectomy (3 days) was used to eliminate endogenous glucocorticoid hormones. Adrenalectomy significantly potentiated kainate-induced increases, compared with increases caused by kainate (4 mg/kg) alone, in the hippocampal mRNA levels of c-fos and junB by 6.5-fold and of junD by twofold and tended to augment c-jun mRNA. Corticosterone administration blocked the potentiated stimulation of these mRNA levels caused by adrenalectomy. Adrenalectomy also significantly increased pentylenetetrazole-induced levels of c-fos mRNA in the cortex. These results demonstrate that glucocorticoids modulate immediate early gene expression in the brain, raising the possibility that this interaction contributes to interneuronal and interindividual differences in responses to stimuli and to the effects of stress- or disease-induced changes in glucocorticoid concentrations.     

Kainic acid—induced excitotoxicity is associated with a complex c-Fos and c-Jun response which does not preclude either cell death or survival

c-fos and c-jun mRNA induction and c-Fos and c-Jun protein expression were examined in the brains of adult rats subjected to systemic kainic acid (KA) injection at convulsant doses. Induction of c-fos and c-jun mRNA, as seen with in situ hybridization, occurred in the piriform and entorhinal cortices, neocortex, amygdala, hippocampus, dentate gyrus, and discrete thalamic nuclei. This was followed by c-Fos protein expression, as revealed with immunohistochemistry, in the same regions. However, the distribution of c-Jun protein expression differed depending on the antibody used. The distribution of cells immunostained with the antibody c-Jun (AB-1) was similar to that of c-jun mRNA, but the distribution of cells immunostained with the antibody c-Jun/AP1 (N) was restricted to a few neurons in the pyramidal cell layer of CA1 and CA3, layer II of the piriform and entorhinal cortices, basal amygdala, and discrete thalamic nuclei. Although the regional distribution of c-Fos- and c-Jun-immunoreactive cells in the hippocampus, layer II of the entorhinal and piriform cortices, basal amygdala, and discrete thalamic nuclei matched the distribution of cells committed to dying, c-Fos- and c-Jun-immunoreactive cells in the neocortex and dentate gyrus survived. Therefore, the present data show that c-fos and c-jun are not predictors of either cell death or survival, but rather, markers of cells sensitive to KA excitotoxicity. Western blots to c-Fos showed a double band at p62 in samples containing the hippocampus and entorhinal and piriform cortices (hip samples) and in samples containing the neocortex (cortex samples). The upper band was abolished following preincubation of the samples with alkaline phosphatase, thus suggesting c-Fos phosphorylation. Western blots to c-Jun (AB-1) showed a single band at about p39 in hip and cortex. However, Western blots to c-Jun/AP1 (N) identified two bands. One band at about p39 was seen in control rats and the cortex of KA-treated rats. Another band at p26 was observed only in hip samples of KA-treated rats. In addition, decreased c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK-1) expression, as revealed on Western blots, was coincidental with the appearance of the p26 c-Jun-immunoreactive band in KA-treated rats. These results show that c-Fos and different Jun-related antigens are expressed following KA excitotoxicity, and that posttranslational modifications involving phosphorylation of c-Fos and Jun(s) may occur following KA injection. These results also stress the necessity of examining the composition of Fos and Jun-related antigens and the metabolic state of Fos and Jun(s) in different experimental models of nervous system injury. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 33: 232–246, 1997     

Endothelin-I induces gene expression through stimulation of endothelin type a receptors in normal rat kidney cells

RNA blots of total cellular RNA isolated from quiescent and endothelin (ET-1)-stimulated normal rat kidney (NRK) cells demonstrated that ET-1 induced the expression of c-jun, jun B, and c-fos mRNA in a time-dependent manner with maximal expression of mRNA by 1 hr after the addition of ET-1. Five hundred picomolal ET-1 was sufficient to induce maximal mRNA expression. These data agreed with saturation experiments which demonstrated that maximal binding of [¹²⁵I]ET-1 was achieved at concentrations greater than 100 pM. The K_d and B_max values for [¹²⁵I]ET-1 binding to NRK membranes were 20.5 pM and 22.2 fmol/mg protein, respectively. Competition experiments for the binding of [¹²⁵I]ET-1 to NRK membranes demonstrated that ET-1 was a more potent inhibitor (K_i = 0.047 nM) than ET-3 (K_i = 10.8 nM). No specific binding of [¹²⁵I]ET-3 (40 or 500 pM) to NRK membranes could be observed. The expression of c-jun, jun B, and c-fos mRNA was inhibited by the endothelin type A receptor (ET)-selective antagonist, BQ-123. Thus, these data demonstrate that ET-1 mediates the expression of immediate response gene mRNA in NRK cells via the ET_A receptor. ET-1 stimulation of NRK cells also upregulated EGF receptors, providing a possible mechanism for ET-1 complementation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) mitogenicity in NRK cells. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.