Growth of astrocytoma cells in the presence of prostaglandin E1: effect on the regulation of cyclic AMP metabolism.

Human astrocytoma cells (1321N1) in culture respond to pharmacological concentrations of prostaglandins and catecholamines with a marked increase in the accumulation of cyclic AMP. However, growth of 1321N1 cells in the presence of low concentrations (0.003 to 0.1 muM) of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) results in a marked reduction in the responsiveness of the cells-even to concentrations of PGE1 that normally stimulate maximal accumulation of cyclic AMP. Occasionally, a partial reduction in the responsiveness to catecholamines was observed in cells grown in the presence of PGE1. When it occurred this effect could be correlated with an increase in the cyclic AMP-degradation capacity of the cells. This loss of responsiveness to catecholamines could be completely reversed by 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine, a potent inhibitor of phosphodiesterase activity in 1321N1 cells. The consistently observed and more profound desensitization to the effects of PGE1 could not be correlated with an increase in cyclic AM-degradative capacity. Accordingly, 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine was only minimally effective in reversing desensitization to PGE1. It is concluded that the inability of 1321N1 cells grown in the presence of PGE1 to accumulate cyclic AMP upon subsequent challenge with PGE1 is primarily due to a selective desensitization of the PGE1-activated adenylate cyclase.     

Evidence for glutathione peroxidase activities in cultured plant cells

Extracts from cultured plant cells of spinach, maize and sycamore and from Lemna plants contain detectable glutathione peroxidase activity, using either hydrogen peroxide or t-butyl hydroperoxide as substrates. Using extracts from cultured maize cells, two peaks of glutathione peroxidase activity could be resolved by a combination of gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. One peak was eluted along with glutathione transferase activity; the second was distinct from both glutathione transferase and ascorbic acid peroxidase, and was active with both hydrogen peroxide and organic hydroperoxides. It seems likely that at least two enzymes with glutathione peroxidase activity exist in higher plant cells.     

Enzymatic methylation of sulfide, selenide, and organic thiols by Tetrahymena thermophila

Cell extracts from the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila catalyzed the S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methylation of sulfide. The product of the reaction, methanethiol, was detected by a radiometric assay and by a gas-chromatographic assay coupled to a sulfur-selective chemiluminescence detector. Extracts also catalyzed the methylation of selenide, and the product was shown by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to be methaneselenol. The sulfide and selenide methyltransferase activities copurified with the aromatic thiol methyltransferase previously characterized from this organism (A.-M. Drotar and R. Fall, Pestic. Biochem. Physiol. 25:396-406, 1986), but heat inactivation experiments suggested the involvement of distinct sulfide and selenide methyltransferases. Short-term toxicity tests were carried out for sulfide, selenide, and their methylated derivatives; the monomethylated forms were somewhat more toxic than the nonmethylated or dimethylated compounds. Cell suspensions of T. thermophila exposed to sulfide, methanethiol, or their selenium analogs emitted methylated derivatives into the headspace. These results suggest that this freshwater protozoan is capable of the stepwise methylation of sulfide and selenide, leading to the release of volatile methylated sulfur or selenium gases.     

Enzymatic methylation of sulfide, selenide, and organic thiols by Tetrahymena thermophila.

Cell extracts from the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila catalyzed the S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methylation of sulfide. The product of the reaction, methanethiol, was detected by a radiometric assay and by a gas-chromatographic assay coupled to a sulfur-selective chemiluminescence detector. Extracts also catalyzed the methylation of selenide, and the product was shown by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to be methaneselenol. The sulfide and selenide methyltransferase activities copurified with the aromatic thiol methyltransferase previously characterized from this organism (A.-M. Drotar and R. Fall, Pestic. Biochem. Physiol. 25:396-406, 1986), but heat inactivation experiments suggested the involvement of distinct sulfide and selenide methyltransferases. Short-term toxicity tests were carried out for sulfide, selenide, and their methylated derivatives; the monomethylated forms were somewhat more toxic than the nonmethylated or dimethylated compounds. Cell suspensions of T. thermophila exposed to sulfide, methanethiol, or their selenium analogs emitted methylated derivatives into the headspace. These results suggest that this freshwater protozoan is capable of the stepwise methylation of sulfide and selenide, leading to the release of volatile methylated sulfur or selenium gases.     

Widespread occurrence of bacterial thiol methyltransferases and the biogenic emission of methylated sulfur gases.

A majority of heterotrophic bacteria isolated from soil, water, sediment, vegetation, and marine algae cultures methylated sulfide, producing methanethiol. This was demonstrated with intact cells by measuring the emission of methanethiol with a sulfur-selective chemiluminescence detector, and in cell extracts by detection of sulfide-dependent thiol methyltransferase activity. Extracts of two Pseudomonas isolates were fractionated by gel-filtration and ion-exchange chromatography, and with sulfide as the substrate a single peak of thiol methyltransferase activity was seen in each case. Extracts of several bacterial strains also contained thiol methyltransferase activity with organic thiols as substrates. Thus, S-adenosylmethionine-dependent thiol methyltransferase activities are widespread in bacteria and may contribute to biogenic emissions of methylated sulfur gases and to the production of methyl thioethers.     

Methylation of Xenobiotic Thiols by Euglena gracilis: Characterization of a Cytoplasmic Thiol Methyltransferase

The green alga Euglena gracilis contains a thiol methyltransferasethat catalyzes the S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methylationof pentachlorobenzenethiol. The enzyme was localized in thecytoplasm and partially purified. The pH optimum for the enzymewas 6.5. The enzyme methylated a number of foreign thiols, butnot the cellular thiols, glutathione or cysteine. Phenols andanilines were not substrates. When pentachloro-benzenethiolwas the methyl acceptor the K_m was found to be 82 µM andthe corresponding K_m for S-adenosylmethionine was 140 µM.The molecular weight of the enzyme was 21,000, as determinedby gel filtration. A role for this enzyme in detoxifying xenobioticthiols is proposed. (Received September 28, 1984; Accepted April 25, 1985)     

Widespread occurrence of bacterial thiol methyltransferases and the biogenic emission of methylated sulfur gases

A majority of heterotrophic bacteria isolated from soil, water, sediment, vegetation, and marine algae cultures methylated sulfide, producing methanethiol. This was demonstrated with intact cells by measuring the emission of methanethiol with a sulfur-selective chemiluminescence detector, and in cell extracts by detection of sulfide-dependent thiol methyltransferase activity. Extracts of two Pseudomonas isolates were fractionated by gel-filtration and ion-exchange chromatography, and with sulfide as the substrate a single peak of thiol methyltransferase activity was seen in each case. Extracts of several bacterial strains also contained thiol methyltransferase activity with organic thiols as substrates. Thus, S-adenosylmethionine-dependent thiol methyltransferase activities are widespread in bacteria and may contribute to biogenic emissions of methylated sulfur gases and to the production of methyl thioethers.     

Properties of N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphotransferase from human lymphoblasts.

Human lymphoblast and fibroblast cell lines from a patient with I-cell disease and normal individuals were characterized with respect to certain properties of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine:lysosomal enzyme precursor N-acetylglucosamine phosphotransferase. The enzyme isolated from normal lymphoblast and fibroblast cell lines expressed similar kinetic properties, substrate specificities and subcellular localizations. Coincident with the severe reduction of N-acetylglucosamine phosphotransferase activity in both I-cell fibroblast and lymphoblast cell lines, there was an increased secretion of several lysosomal enzymes compared to normal controls. Subsequent examination of N-acetyl-beta-D-hexosaminidase secreted by the I-cell lymphoblasts demonstrated a significant increase in adsorption of the I-cell enzyme to Ricinus communis agglutinin, a galactose-specific lectin. However, the I-cell lymphoblasts did not exhibit the significant decrease in intracellular lysosomal activities seen in I-cell fibroblasts. Our results suggest that lymphoblasts not only represent an excellent source for the purification of N-acetylglucosamine phosphotransferase, but in addition, represent a unique system for studying alternate mechanisms involved in the targeting of lysosomal enzymes.     

A high affinity pyruvate decarboxylase is present in cottonwood leaf veins and petioles: A second source of leaf acetaldehyde emission?

Considerable evidence indicates that acetaldehyde is released from the leaves of a variety of plants. The conventional explanation for this is that ethanol formed in the roots is transported to the leaves where it is converted to acetaldehyde by the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) found in the leaves. It is possible that acetaldehyde could also be formed in leaves by action of pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), an enzyme with an uncertain metabolic role, which has been detected, but not characterized, in cottonwood leaves. We have found that leaf PDC is present in leaf veins and petioles, as well as in non-vein tissues. Veins and petioles contained measurable pyruvate concentrations in the range of 2 mM. The leaf vein form of the enzyme was purified approximately 143-fold, and, at the optimum pH of 5.6, the K_m value for pyruvate was 42 μM. This K_m is lower than the typical millimolar range seen for PDCs from other sources. The purified leaf PDC also decarboxylates 2-ketobutyric acid (K_m = 2.2 mM). We conclude that there are several possible sources of acetaldehyde production in cottonwood leaves: the well-characterized root-derived ethanol oxidation by ADH in leaves, and the decarboxylation of pyruvate by PDC in leaf veins, petioles, and other leaf tissues. Significantly, the leaf vein form of PDC with its high affinity for pyruvate, could function to shunt pyruvate carbon to the pyruvate dehydrogenase by-pass and thus protect the metabolically active vascular bundle cells from the effects of oxygen deprivation.     

Expression of the regulation of cAMP metabolism in somatic cell hybrids

Normal rat liver cells (BRL-1) that respond to isoproterenol (beta+2), prostaglandin E1 (PGE+1) and adenosine (Ado+) with a rise in adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cAMP) content have been hybridized with rat hepatoma cells (H35) which do not respond to any of these agonists (beta-2, PGE-1 and Ado-). Both the initial hybrid line (BF5) and a subclone (BF5-1-1) expressed a beta+2, PGE+1, Ado- phenotype. However, full expression of the responsive phenotype in the BF5 line was apparent only if phosphodiesterase activity was blocked, for example, by methylisobutylxanthine (MIX). Direct measurements showed the rate of degradation of cAMP to be 7 times greater in intact BF5 cells than in the BRL-1 parent. In contrast to BF5 cells, the BF5-1-1 cells did not express maximal responsiveness to any of the agonists even in the presence of MIX. The differential accumulation of intracellular cAMP observed with BRL-1, BF5 and BF5-1-1 cells in response to isoproterenol was shown not to be as a result of differential rates of excretion of cAMP. Furthermore, no differences in the apparent affinities of the beta 2-catecholamine receptors for isoproterenol were observed. It is suggested that the increased degradative capacity of BF5 cells accounts for the difference in cAMP accumulation in these cells compared with the BRL-1 parent. The reduced responsiveness of BF5-1-1 cells, however, does not appear to be solely due to increased phosphodiesterase activity. It appears that the beta 2- phenotype may not always be dominant in hybrid crosses of this type as has been reported previously.