Properties of the superoxide-generating oxidase of B-lymphocyte cell lines. Determination of Michaelis parameters.

The capacity of three B-lymphocyte cell lines to generate superoxide (O2.-) was examined. The Burkitt lymphoma lines P.3HR-1 and Jijoye gave no response to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) at 100 ng/ml but produced up to 0.35 nmol of O2.-/min per mg of protein when stimulated with 5 micrograms of PMA/ml; the cell line RPMI 1788 produced Nitro Blue Tetrazolium-positive responses to low PMA concentrations and approx. 0.4 nmol of O2.-/min per mg of protein at 5 micrograms of PMA/ml. Each cell line contained approx. 10 pmol of low-potential cytochrome b (cytochrome b-245)/mg of protein. Homogenates of PMA-activated cells gave 10-20-fold greater rates of O2.- produced per mg of protein. The Km for NADPH varied between approx. 250 microM for P3.HR-1 and RPMI 1788 cell lines and 30.5 +/- 6.5 microM for the Jijoye cell line; the Km values for NADH were higher. Determination of intracellular NADPH concentration showed that this might limit the rate of O2.- production since in each cell line it was at or below the Km concentration.     

Fluorescence spectroscopy for detection of malignancy: H-ras overexpressing fibroblasts as a model.

Autofluorescence from intracellular chromophores upon illumination of cells by monochromatic light has been studied towards the development of novel noninvasive and sensitive technology for the early detection of cancer. To investigate the relationship between biochemical and morphological changes underlying malignant disease and resulting fluorescence spectra, an in vitro model system of a paired normal and malignant murine fibroblasts cell lines, differing in cancer-associated H-ras expression was employed. A comparison of fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of proliferative cells revealed that fluorescence intensity of malignant cells was significantly less than that of normal cells upon excitation at 290 nm. Fluorescence of both cell lines decreased with decreasing cell concentration, but at each concentration, normal cells had higher fluorescence intensity than malignant cells. Similar differences between the cell lines were observed when brought to quiescence or at stationary phase. Results suggested that the chromophore contributing most significantly to these spectra is tryptophan and its moieties in proteins. This model system demonstrates the specific contribution of H-ras to subcellular chromophores, resulting in a significant difference in their autofluorescence intensity, and implies the potential use of the technique for cancer detection. This model system is potent for analysis of the contribution of other oncogenes and their combinations towards spectral detection of cancer.     

Succinic Dehydrogenase and Cytochrome Oxidase Activities in Cell Cultures

Succinic dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase have been assayed in permanent cell lines (HEP 1, HEP 2, and HLM), in short-term cultures of chick embryo heart cells, and in various tissues. Their activities in different cells are compared by relating them to deoxyribonucleic acid. They are very low in HEP 1, HEP 2, and HLM cells by comparison with the activities in any normal tissues examined. All the succinic dehydrogenase was shown to be located in the mitochondria of the permanent cell lines by staining with tetrazolium derivatives. Both enzymes were more active in tissues of 19-day chick embryos than in those of 11- or 14-day embryos. The increasing activities found during normal development were quickly curtailed or reversed when heart cells were grown as monolayer cultures. Digitonin-treated mitochondria produced preparations with much higher activities of cytochrome oxidase than untreated samples. Activities measured in this way were again very much lower in HEP 1, HEP 2, and HLM cells than in the normal tissues. From the derived ratio of cytochrome oxidase:succinic dehydrogenase, it was apparent that cytochrome oxidase is diminished to a greater extent than succinic dehydrogenase in both permanent cell lines and short-term cultures, by comparison with the corresponding activities in embryonic and adult tissues. The features common to the metabolism of proliferating cells in vitro and malignant cells are discussed.     

Cytochrome P-450- and Peroxidase-Dependent Activation of Procarbazine and Iproniazid in Mammalian Cells

Metabolism of hydrazine derivatives, procarbazine and iproniazid, to reactive free radical intermediates has been studied using spin-trapping techniques in intact human promyelocytic leukemia (HL60) and mouse hepatic cell lines. While HL60 cells have been shown to contain both myeloperoxidase and cytochrome P-450 enzymes, the hepatic cell line shows only cytochrome P-450 activity. Both peroxidases and cytochrome P-450 have been reported to catalyze biotransformation of hydrazines. Procarbazine and iproniazid were rapidly metabolized in these cell lines to methyl and isopropyl radicals, respectively. However, in HL60 cells, procarbazine was metabolized by myeloperoxidase while iproniazid was metab olized mostly by the cytochrome P-450 system. In the hepatic cells, both of these compounds were metabolized by the P-450 system.     

The role of adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate in the transformation of cloudman mouse melanoma cells

The role of adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) in the regulation of mouse melanoma cell growth and differentiation was investigated. A variant melanoma (Cloudman S91-F) which displays a greater degree of transformation than the parental cell (Cloudman S91) was isolated. A correlation between cyclic AMP metabolism and transformation was made. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP depressed cell growth and increased pigmentation in both parental and variant cell lines. The parental cell line, however, was more responsive to melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) which was found to affect cell growth and pigmentation by increasing cyclic AMP levels. The more transformed S91-F cell line contained lower levels of cyclic AMP than the parental cell line, and this fact correlated well with the higher degree of growth and lesser degree of pigmentation in the variant. Enzymatic analysis revealed that the hydrolysis of cyclic AMP in both cell lines was similar, while the adenylate cyclase activity of the variant cell line was lower than that of the parental cell line. Lineweaver-Burk plots demonstrated that the K_m′s for the enzymes in the two cell lines were the same but that the V_max of the S91-F cell line was significantly less than that of the S91 cell line. Thus, the lesion in the S91-F cell which is responsible for its more transformed characteristics seems to be one which affects adenylate cyclase at the level of the cell membrane.     

Molecular characterization of novel melanoma cell lines

We isolated two novel cell lines from different types of sporadic human malignant melanoma: the hmel1 line was obtained from a melanoma skin metastasis and the hmel9 cell line from a primary superficial spreading melanoma. The karyotype and pigmentation parameters were assessed in these cell lines. Cytogenetic analysis in early stages of culture revealed that both cell lines had chromosome instability and simultaneous growth of heteroploid subpopulations. The molecular analysis of some genes involved in melanoma showed that both cell lines harbor BRAF mutations. The unpigmented hmel1 and the pigmented hmel9 lines were found to express the tyrosinase gene. The tyrosine hydroxylase activity was detectable only in hmel9 cells and practically absent in the hmel1 cell line. This activity was found to be correlated with the relative tyrosinase protein amount in both melanoma cell lines. The biological behaviour in the two melanoma cell lines, derived from two different types of melanoma lesions displaying distinct clinical and histopathological features, confirms the heterogeneous characteristics of sporadic melanoma. Similarities and/or differences between cell lines extracted from different melanoma cases could be useful in the future for diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic purposes.     

Cytochrome P-450- and Peroxidase-Dependent Activation of Procarbazine and Iproniazid in Mammalian Cells

Metabolism of hydrazine derivatives, procarbazine and iproniazid, to reactive free radical intermediates has been studied using spin-trapping techniques in intact human promyelocytic leukemia (HL60) and mouse hepatic cell lines. While HL60 cells have been shown to contain both myeloperoxidase and cytochrome P-450 enzymes, the hepatic cell line shows only cytochrome P-450 activity. Both peroxidases and cytochrome P-450 have been reported to catalyze biotransformation of hydrazines. Procarbazine and iproniazid were rapidly metabolized in these cell lines to methyl and isopropyl radicals, respectively. However, in HL60 cells, procarbazine was metabolized by myeloperoxidase while iproniazid was metab olized mostly by the cytochrome P-450 system. In the hepatic cells, both of these compounds were metabolized by the P-450 system.     

The effect of gamma-linolenic acid and zinc supplementation on the growth of normal and tumour cells in vitro

The effects of zinc, gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and zinc combined and GLA supplementations on the growth of a benign monkey kidney, cell line (LLCMK) and a malignant tumour murine melanoma, cell line (BL-6) cells in vitro were studied. Cell growth was indicated by both cell counts and 3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA. The addition of zinc to the cells resulted in a general trend of overall reduction in the growth of tumour cells but not in the normal cells. The addition of GLA at high concentrations resulted in a general decrease in cell growth of both the benign and malignant tumour cells while the addition of lower concentrations of GLA had less effect. The combined effect of supplementary zinc and GLA resulted in an inhibitory effect on the growth of the malignant cells while a less and variable effect on the non-malignant cells was found. Some interaction between zinc and GLA in reducing tumour cell growth is suggested by the results.     

The inter-relationship between anchorage independence and tumorigenicity in early cultures of oral keratinocytes

This study examines the expression of anchorage independence and tumorigenicity in early cultures of oral rat keratinocytes. The epithelial cell lines originated from the palatal and the lingual mucosa of rats that had been painted with the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline N-oxide. The colony forming efficiency (CFE) in gel culture of the cell lines derived from five squamous cell carcinomas of the tongue and palate predominantly increased with passage in culture. Carcinoma-derived cell lines that had a relatively high CFE (greater than 2.5%) formed tumours when transplanted to athymic mice, but cells in which the CFE was less than 2.5% were non-tumorigenic. Keratinocytes from a dysplastic palatal lesion were immortal, anchorage dependent and non-tumorigenic. A lingual papilloma cell line consistently expressed a very low CFE but was tumorigenic at the higher culture passages. The results show that the routine passage of cells in culture leads to the emergence of the anchorage independent and tumorigenic phenotypes in keratinocytes of malignant origin and, further, suggest that anchorage independence and tumorigenicity may exist as distinct phenotypes, with anchorage independence preceding tumorigenicity.     

N-myc Downstream Regulated Gene 1 (NDRG1) Promotes Metastasis of Human Scirrhous Gastric Cancer Cells through Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition

Our recent study demonstrated that higher expression of N-myc downregulated gene 1 (NDRG1) is closely correlated with poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients. In this study, we asked whether NDRG1 has pivotal roles in malignant progression including metastasis of gastric cancer cells. By gene expression microarray analysis expression of NDRG1 showed the higher increase among a total of 3691 up-regulated genes in a highly metastatic gastric cancer cell line (58As1) than their parental low metastatic counterpart (HSC-58). The highly metastatic cell lines showed decreased expression of E-cadherin, together with enhanced expression of vimentin and Snail. This decreased expression of E-cadherin was restored by Snail knockdown in highly metastatic cell lines. We next established stable NDRG1 knockdown cell lines (As1/Sic50 and As1/Sic54) from the highly metastatic cell line, and both of these cell lines showed enhanced expression of E-cadherin and decreased expression of vimentin and Snail. And also, E-cadherin promoter-driven luciferase activity was found to be increased by NDRG1 knockdown in the highly metastatic cell line. NDRG1 knockdown in gastric cancer cell showed suppressed invasion of cancer cells into surround tissues, suppressed metastasis to the peritoneum and decreased ascites accumulation in mice with significantly improved survival rates. This is the first study to demonstrate that NDRG1 plays its pivotal role in the malignant progression of gastric cancer through epithelial mesenchymal transition.     

Identification of a chromosome that controls malignancy in Chinese hamster cells.

A chromosome that controls malignancy in Chinese hamster cells has been identified by analysis of the Giemsa banding pattern of a malignant cell line transformed by simian virus 40 (SV40), non-malignant revertants from this line, segregants from the revertants that were again malignant and a cell line transformed by methylcholanthrene. The malignant cell line transformed by SV40 was near diploid and had gained additional material of chromosome 3. Revertants with a suppression of malignancy and malignant revertants from which they were derived. Malignancy of these cells was associated with the ability to form colonies in agar. Cells of a line transformed by methylcholanthrene were malignant, formed almost no colonies in agar and the only chromosome change from the normal diploid chromosome banding complement was the addition of a long arm of chromosome 3. The results indicate that chromosome 3 carriers gene(s) that control malignancy in Chinese hamster cells in cell lines transformed by a viral or a chemical carcinogen and that malignancy was induced in both cell types by an increase of these genes.     

Normal nonmetastatic human trophoblast cells share in vitro invasive properties of malignant cells

First-trimester normal human trophoblast cells show some phenotypic similarities to malignant cells, e.g., rapid proliferation and ability to invade neighboring tissue, including basement membrane in situ, but do not have the ability for unlimited growth or metastasis. The present study examined whether the invasive ability of normal trophoblast cells is an intrinsic property of these cells, independent of the microenvironment provided by the pregnant uterus, and if so, whether they share some of the molecular mechanisms of invasion exercized by metastatic malignant cells. The ability of in vitro grown human trophoblast lines to invade an epithelium-free human amniotic membrane was measured from the temporal kinetics of retention of radioactivity within this membrane resulting from a penetration by 125I-iododeoxyuridine-labeled trophoblast cells. The magnitude of this invasion was compared to that of the highly metastatic human JAR-choriocarcinoma cell line and murine B16F10 melanoma line. Trophoblasts were found to share some of the same molecular mechanisms of invasion with the metastatic cell lines. Inhibitors of collagenase, plasmin, plasminogen, and plasminogen activators completely prevented invasion of the amnion by the trophoblast lines as well as by the metastatic JAR and B16F10 lines. Mersalyl, a compound known to activate collagenase, stimulated invasion by all cell lines tested, including under conditions in which plasmin activity was inhibited. In addition, trophoblasts produced significant levels of type IV collagenase and laminin, both of which appear to be important products of metastatic tumor cells required for basement membrane invasion. It may be concluded from these findings that the invasive property of first trimester human trophoblasts is genetically determined; that the magnitude of amnion invasion cannot differentiate between metastatic cell lines and invasive but nonmetastatic cell lines; and that invasiveness is not a sufficient prerequisite for metastatic ability.     

Cisplatin resistance induced by decreased apoptotic activity in non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines

We have investigated defective steps in apoptosis that might account for the development of resistance. For this purpose, A549 and Calu1 NSCLC (non-small-cell lung cancer) cell lines were treated with cisplatin to obtain resistant sub-lines. Gene expression profiles and the phosphorylation status of the BAD (Bcl-2/Bcl-XL-antagonist, causing cell death) protein were determined for each cell line. Cell death and cytochrome c release were analysed after treating cell lines with their appropriate cisplatin doses. Gene expression of BAD, Bid, caspases 4 and 6 were clearly decreased in the resistant cell lines, and the differential phosphorylation status of BAD also seemed to play a role in the development of cisplatin resistance. Since this is a new cisplatin-resistant Calu1 cell line, it is noteworthy that DNA fragmentation, apoptotic cell ratio and cytochrome c levels were most decreased in the CR-Calu1 cell line.     

Influence of dimethyl sulphoxide on intermediate filament proteins in human rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines: modulation at subcellular level

Summary The effects of dimethyl sulphoxide have been investigated on differentiation in human rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines obtained from typically malignant, poorly differentiated tumours. The expression of cell differentiation marker proteins (desmin and vimentin) was assessed in cell lines A-204, A-673 and RD, and the modifications in expression after 3, 8 and 24 h of induction with 1.25% dimethyl sulphoxide were recorded. Protein expression in both the cytoplasm and cytoskeleton was significantly altered by treatments lasting 8 and 24 h, the most noteworthy changes being increased desmin and decreased vimentin expression. The results clearly indicate that dimethyl sulphoxide induced changes typical of differentiation in rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines A-673 and RD; less marked changes were observed in line A-204.     

Evaluation of the chemopreventive potential of retinoids using a novel in vitro human prostate carcinogenesis model

The prevalence of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and latent prostatic carcinoma, representing multiple steps in carcinogenesis and progression to invasive carcinoma, makes them relevant targets for prevention. A unique family of human prostate epithelial cell lines, which mimic steps in prostate carcinogenesis and progression, were used to evaluate the chemopreventive potential of all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) and N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4-HPR). The effects of RA and 4-HPR on anchorage-dependent growth of an immortalized, non-tumorigenic cell line RWPE-1 and two tumorigenic cell lines, WPE1-NB14 and WPE1-NB11, derived from RWPE-1 by exposure to N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), were examined. Both tumorigenic cell lines grow more rapidly than the parent RWPE-1 cell line in monolayer culture. Further, while RWPE-1 cells do not form colonies in agar, both tumorigenic cell lines do, with a colony forming efficiency (CFE) of 1.85 and 2.04% for WPE1-NB14 and WPE1-NB11 cells, respectively. Both RA and 4-HPR inhibited anchorage-dependent growth of all cell lines and anchorage-independent growth of WPE1-NB14 and WPE1-NB11 cells, in a dose-dependent manner, however, 10 times more RA than 4-HPR was required to produce the same effect. RWPE-1 cells are not invasive but WPE1-NB11 cells are significantly more invasive than WPE1-NB14 cells. Both RA and 4-HPR inhibited invasion in vitro by WPE1-NB11 and WPE1-NB14 cells where the more malignant WPE1-NB11 cells showed greater inhibition of invasion by 4-HPR than by RA. Overall, 4-HPR was more effective than RA in inhibiting growth and invasion but the response varied amongst the cell lines. These three cell lines mimic progressive steps in carcinogenesis and progression, from immortalized, non-tumorigenic RWPE-1 cells, to the less malignant WPE1-NB14 to the more malignant WPE1-NB11 cells, and provide powerful models for studies on secondary and tertiary prevention, i.e. promotion and progression stages, respectively, of prostate cancer.     

Isolation of molybdenum cofactor defective cell lines of Nicotiana tabacum

Summary Thirty-nine chlorate resistant cell lines were isolated after plating ethylmethane sulphonate treated allodihaploid cells of Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi on agar medium containing 20 mM chlorate. Thirty-two of these cell lines grew as well on nitrate medium as on amino acid medium and three other cell lines grew well on amino acid medium but poorly on nitrate medium. Four other cell lines, 042, P12, P31 and P47 which could grow on amino acid medium, but not on nitrate medium, were examined further. They lacked in vitro nitrate reductase activity but were able to accumulate nitrate. All lines possessed nitrite reductase activity. Lines 042, P12, and P31 had a cytochrome c reductase species which was the same size as the wild type nitrate reductase associated cytochrome c reductase species, whilst the cytochrome c reductase species in line P47 was slightly smaller. All four lines lacked xanthine dehydrogenase activity and neither nitrate reductase nor xanthine dehydrogenase activity was restored by subculture of the four lines into either nitrate medium or glutamine medium supplemented with 1 mM sodium molybdate. These four lines are different from other molybdenum cofactor defective cell lines so far described in N. tabacum and possess similar properties to certain other cnx mutants described in Aspergillus nidulans.     

Antigenic Heterogeneity in Cell Populations of Cloned Polyoma,Virus-induced Tumour Lines

WALLS and Negroni¹ isolated in tissue culture two cell clones from a polyoma virus-induced fibrosarcoma of H₃B/Bi mice. One (malignant cell line 7₁) produced transplantable tumours in adult syngeneic mice; the other (transformed non-malignant line 7₂) was not tumorigenic but induced resistance to the growth of the malignant cells. We have now confirmed these results and extended them to show that other malignant cells (tissue culture clones C₄ and C₅) from a polyoma virus-induced parotid tumour of syngeneic mice are also inhibited by pre-immunization with a non-malignant line (7₂). The number of cells required to induce tumours in 50% of the animals is ten times higher in the preimmunized mice than in the controls, for both fibrosarcoma and parotid malignant lines (Table 1).     

Increased sensitivity of an adriamycin-resistant human small cell lung carcinoma cell line to mitochondrial inhibitors.

The energy metabolism of an atypical multidrug resistant human small cell lung carcinoma cell line (GLC4/ADR) was studied. The glycolytic rate was 30% reduced and the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity 2-fold increased in GLC4/ADR compared to the parental sensitive line (GLC4). Although mitochondrial respiration activities were similar in both cell lines, GLC4/ADR was more sensitive to the antimitochondrial drugs doxycycline and oligomycin, while cross-resistance was observed for the glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose and for the antimitochondrial drug rhodamine-123. Continuous incubation with doxycycline induced a dramatic reduction of mitochondrial mRNAs in both cell lines, whereas a strong reduction of the nuclear-coded mRNA for subunit IV of cytochrome c oxidase was induced in GLC4/ADR only. Incubation with doxycycline had an additive effect on the cytotoxicity of adriamycin in both cell lines. Thus, a form of collateral sensitivity to antimitochondrial drugs may exist in atypical multidrug resistant cell lines.     

In vitro carcinogenesis studies on mouse fibroblast cells

Fibroblast cell lines were established from pulmonary explants derived from inbred CBA T6T6 mouse embryos. Cell lines controlled for the absence of spontaneous transformation were treated with 20=methylcholenthrene (0, 1 microgram/ml). The altered biological characteristics were studied during the process of the malignant transformation by the comparison of the untreated and 20-methylcholanthrene pretreated cell populations: the loss of contact inhibition and the connection between the malignant transformation and the arylhydrocarbon hydroxylase enzyme activity were investigated. No changes in the cell proliferation rate could be found following malignant transformation, but an increased resistance against altered circumstances was observed. In the course of passages, a gradual decreases in aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity of the untreated line was seen, which disappeared or significantly decreased following 20-methylcholanthrene treatment, compared to the controls.