p38 MAPK activation, JNK inhibition, neoplastic growth inhibition, and increased gap junction communication in human lung carcinoma and Ras-transformed cells by 4-phenyl-3-butenoic acid

Human lung neoplasms frequently express mutations that down‐regulate expression of various tumor suppressor molecules, including mitogen‐activated protein kinases such as p38 MAPK. Conversely, activation of p38 MAPK in tumor cells results in cancer cell cycle inhibition or apoptosis initiated by chemotherapeutic agents such as retinoids or cisplatin, and is therefore an attractive approach for experimental anti‐tumor therapies. We now report that 4‐phenyl‐3‐butenoic acid (PBA), an experimental compound that reverses the transformed phenotype at non‐cytotoxic concentrations, activates p38 MAPK in tumorigenic cells at concentrations and treatment times that correlate with decreased cell growth and increased cell‐cell communication. H2009 human lung carcinoma cells and ras‐transformed rat liver epithelial cells treated with PBA showed increased activation of p38 MAPK and its downstream effectors which occurred after 4 h and lasted beyond 48 h. Untransformed plasmid control cells showed low activation of p38 MAPK compared to ras‐transformed and H2009 carcinoma cells, which correlates with the reduced effect of PBA on untransformed cell growth. The p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB203580, negated PBA's activation of p38 MAPK downstream effectors. PBA also increased cell–cell communication and connexin 43 phosphorylation in ras‐transformed cells, which were prevented by SB203580. In addition, PBA decreased activation of JNK, which is upregulated in many cancers. Taken together, these results suggest that PBA exerts its growth regulatory effect in tumorigenic cells by concomitant up‐regulation of p38 MAPK activity, altered connexin 43 expression, and down‐regulation of JNK activity. PBA may therefore be an effective therapeutic agent in human cancers that exhibit down‐regulated p38 MAPK activity and/or activated JNK and altered cell–cell communication. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 269–281, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Synthesis and cardioprotective properties of apelin-12 and its structural analogs

The apelin-12 and a number of its analogs, resistant to degradation of proteases, were synthesized by Fmoc- method of SPPS. By-products of synthesis were examined. It was found that serine hydroxyl group was sulfating during the final deprotection of apelin-12 (I) and its analogs. Sulfate moiety of Arg-protecting group transfer into hydroxyl group of Ser. Amount of by-product depends on presence of water in cleavage mixture. Furthermore, the final deprotection of amide analogs of apelin-12 (III, IV) is closed with formation of by-product--4-hydroxybenzylamide, its amount range on 20-8% on reaction mixture accordance HPLC data and also depend on composition of cleavage mixture. Effects of the synthesized peptides on recovery of cardiac function after ischemia were examined in a model of isolated perfused rat heart. Infusions of any of the peptides (I-V) before ischemia resulted in a significant improvement of contractile and pump function recovery compared to the control. Cardioptotective efficacy of the peptides increased in the following rank (I) < (II) = (III) < (IV) = (V).     

Okazaki fragment processing-independent role for human Dna2 enzyme during DNA replication

Dna2 is an essential helicase/nuclease that is postulated to cleave long DNA flaps that escape FEN1 activity during Okazaki fragment (OF) maturation in yeast. We previously demonstrated that the human Dna2 orthologue (hDna2) localizes to the nucleus and contributes to genomic stability. Here we investigated the role hDna2 plays in DNA replication. We show that Dna2 associates with the replisome protein And-1 in a cell cycle-dependent manner. Depletion of hDna2 resulted in S/G(2) phase-specific DNA damage as evidenced by increased γ-H2AX, replication protein A foci, and Chk1 kinase phosphorylation, a readout for activation of the ATR-mediated S phase checkpoint. In addition, we observed reduced origin firing in hDna2-depleted cells consistent with Chk1 activation. We next examined the impact of hDna2 on OF maturation and replication fork progression in human cells. As expected, FEN1 depletion led to a significant reduction in OF maturation. Strikingly, the reduction in OF maturation had no impact on replication fork progression, indicating that fork movement is not tightly coupled to lagging strand maturation. Analysis of hDna2-depleted cells failed to reveal a defect in OF maturation or replication fork progression. Prior work in yeast demonstrated that ectopic expression of FEN1 rescues Dna2 defects. In contrast, we found that FEN1 expression in hDna2-depleted cells failed to rescue genomic instability. These findings suggest that the genomic instability observed in hDna2-depleted cells does not arise from defective OF maturation and that hDna2 plays a role in DNA replication that is distinct from FEN1 and OF maturation.     

Peptide fragments of the fractalkine chemokine domain: Influence on migration of human monocytes

The CX3CL1 Fractalkine is the sole cytokine of the CX3C family. Its molecule consists of an extracellular N-terminal chemokine domain, a mucin-like rod, a transmembrane domain, and an intracellular domain. Fractalkine exhibits the properties of an adhesion molecule in the membrane-bound state. The fractalkine chemokine domain (FCD) is proteolytically released from a cellular membrane in a soluble form. It acts as a chemoattractant for leukocytes which express the CX3CR1 fractalkine receptor. Fractalkine participates in the development of a number of pathological inflammation-mediated processes. Therefore, a search for its inhibitors is an urgent problem. We determined the FCD antigenic determinants and synthesized the corresponding peptides: P41-52 H-Leu-Glu-Thr-Arg-Gln-His-Arg-Leu-Phe-Cys-Ala-Asp-NH₂, P53-60 H-Pro-Lys-Glu-Gln-Trp-Val-Lys-Asp-NH₂, and P60-71 H-Asp-Ala-Met-Gln-His-Leu-Asp-Arg-Gln-Ala-Ala-Ala-NH₂. The biological activity of these peptides was evaluated according to their action on the adhesion and migration of human peripheral blood monocytes which expressed the fractalkine receptor. FCD and the P41-52 peptide significantly increased monocyte adhesion and migration in comparison with the corresponding spontaneous adhesion and migration of the cells. The P53-60 and P60-71 peptides inhibited the FCD-stimulated monocyte adhesion and migration. We analyzed the influence of the prepared peptides on the interaction of FCD with heparin by EIA, because binding of chemokines to glycosaminoglycans of cellular surface and extracellular matrix was one of the conditions of the chemokine migration activity. The P41?C52 peptide competed with FCD for the heparin binding, whereas the P53?C60 and P60?C71 peptides had no significant effect.     

The Use of Hydrogen Peroxide for Closing Disulfide Bridges in Peptides

The use of hydrogen peroxide for the formation of disulfide bridges was studied in 15 peptides of various lengths and structures. The oxidation of peptide thiols by hydrogen peroxide was shown to proceed under mild conditions without noticeable side reactions of Trp, Tyr, and Met residues. Yields of the corresponding cyclic disulfides were high and mostly exceeded those obtained with other oxidative agents, in particular, iodine. It was established that the use of hydrogen peroxide in organic medium also provided sufficiently high yields when large-scale syntheses of oxytocin and octreotide (up to 10 g) were carried out.