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Biomedical subjects

A Kimchi

Publications and source records attributed to A Kimchi.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Interferons and interleukin 6 suppress phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein in growth-sensitive hematopoietic cells.

One approach to identify postreceptor molecular events that transduce the negative-growth signals of inhibitory cytokines is to analyze the cytokine-induced modifications in the expression of cell-cycle-controlling genes. Here we report that suppression of phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma gene product (pRb) is a receptor-generated event triggered by interferons and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in hematopoietic cell lines. The conversion of pRb to the underphosphorylated forms occurs concomitantly with the decline in c-myc protein expression and both events precede the G0/G1-phase arrest induced by the cytokines. Loss of IL-6-induced c-myc responses in cells that have been stably transfected with constitutive versions of the c-myc gene abrogates the typical G0/G1-phase arrest but does not prevent the specific dephosphorylation of pRb. Conversely, depletion of protein kinase C from cells interferes with part of the interferon-induced suppression of pRb phosphorylation and relieves the G0/G1-phase cell-cycle block without affecting the extent of c-myc inhibition. None of the cytokines, including transforming growth factor beta, reduce the phosphorylation of pRb in S-phase-blocked cells. In contrast, the other IL-6-induced molecular responses, including the decline in c-myc mRNA levels, are not phase-specific and develop normally in S-phase-blocked cells that are depleted of the underphosphorylated functional forms of pRb. These and the suppression of pRb phosphorylation, which occur independently of each other, and suggest that the development of the interferon- or IL-6-induced G0/G1-specific arrest requires at least these two receptor-generated events.

Animals

Cytokine triggered molecular pathways that control cell cycle arrest.

Recent progress has been made concerning the understanding of the molecular pathways that mediate the growth suppressive effects of inhibitory cytokines. Interferons, interleukin-6 and transforming growth factor-beta were investigated in these studies. Cell lines that display growth sensitivity to all three cytokines and growth resistant derivates provided a suitable genetic background to determine whether common or unique post-receptor elements mediate the effects of each cytokine. Three nuclear genes, c-myc, RB, and cyclin A were found to be common key downstream targets along the cytokine induced growth suppressive pathways. Genetic and pharmacological manipulations proved that these molecular responses fall into few complementary pathways that function in parallel to achieve the cytokine mediated G0/G1 arrest. New strategies, such as knock out anti-sense gene cloning were developed and they currently provide powerful tools for the isolation of genes along the signaling pathways of growth arrest.

Animals

Wild-type p53 induces apoptosis of myeloid leukaemic cells that is inhibited by interleukin-6.

Wild-type p53 protein has many properties consistent with its being the product of a tumour suppressor gene. Although the normal roles of tumour suppressor genes are still largely unknown, it seems that they could be involved in promoting cell differentiation as well as in mediating growth arrest by growth-inhibitory cytokines. Hence, the abrogation of wild-type p53 expression, which is a common feature of many tumours, could eliminate these activities. We have now tested this notion by restoring the expression of p53 in a murine myeloid leukaemic cell line that normally lacks p53. The use of a temperature-sensitive p53 mutant allowed us to analyse cells in which the introduced p53 had either wild-type or mutant properties. Although there seemed to be no effect on differentiation, the introduction of wild-type p53 resulted in rapid loss of cell viability in a way characteristic of apoptosis (programmed cell death). The effect of wild-type p53 was counteracted by interleukin-6. Thus products of tumour suppressor genes could be involved in restricting precursor cell populations by mediating apoptosis.

Animals

A genetic tool used to identify thioredoxin as a mediator of a growth inhibitory signal.

Loss of sensitivity to growth inhibitory polypeptides is likely to be one of the events that participates in the formation of some tumors and might be caused by inactivation or loss of the genetic elements that transduce these extracellular signals. The isolation of such a gene was achieved by randomly inactivating genes by an anti-sense complementary DNA expression library followed by direct selection for growth in the presence of an inhibitory polypeptide. Thus, a gene whose inactivation conveyed growth resistance to interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was isolated. Sequence analysis showed complete identity with human thioredoxin, a dithiol reducing agent, implicated here in the IFN-gamma-mediated growth arrest of HeLa cells.

Blotting, Northern

Deregulated c-myc expression abrogates the interferon- and interleukin 6-mediated G0/G1 cell cycle arrest but not other inhibitory responses in M1 myeloblastic cells.

The proliferation of M1 myeloblastic cells can be specifically restricted at the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle by exposure to alpha- and beta-interferons or to interleukin 6. The latter cytokine also induces the morphological and functional differentiation of these myeloblasts toward monocytes. Each of these two different cytokines suppresses the expression of the c-myc nuclear oncogene, and the selective reduction in c-myc mRNA and protein precedes the cell cycle changes. In order to investigate whether one or more of the growth-suppressive effects of interferon and interleukin 6 are mediated by c-myc reduction, M1 cells were transfected with SV40-driven c-myc plasmid, whose expression fails to be turned off by these two cytokines. A detailed analysis of the responses to interferon and to interleukin 6 revealed that all of the myc-transfected clones have lost the cytokine-mediated G0/G1 type of growth arrest. However, not all of the growth responses to these cytokines were rescued by this specific genetic manipulation, and the cytokine-treated transfected cells stopped to proliferate in a new fashion which was not cell cycle specific. In addition, the myc-transfected cells developed the differentiated phenotype in response to interleukin 6, as determined by the morphological change, expression of Fc receptors, and cytochemical analysis, suggesting that these molecular events can occur in the monocyte cell lineage in spite of the abnormal constitutive expression of c-myc.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

The involvement of protein kinase C in mediating growth suppressive signals of interferons in hematopoietic cells.

The possible involvement of protein kinase C in transducing the growth suppressive signals of interferons was studies in this work in two different hematopoietic cell lines. Chronic exposure of human Burkitt lymphoma and mouse M1 myeloblastic cell lines to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), reduced by more than 90% the PKC protein levels and enzymatic activity in cell extracts. The depletion of PKC from cells abrogated the ability of IFN (alpha + beta) to arrest cell growth at the G0/G1 resting phase of the cell cycle. In contrast, other responses to IFN such as the induction of (2'-5') oligoadenylate synthetase gene, continued to take place at the same dose response pattern thus excluding the possibility that early targets in the pathway, such as the number or affinity of IFN cell surface receptors might be affected by PMA. The same prolonged treatment of M1 cells with PMA did not interfere with the ability of another cytokine, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), to induce the normal type of G0/G1 arrest further supporting the specificity of the effect towards IFN responses. Unexpectedly, depletion of PKC from cells did not interfere with the negative effects of IFN on c-myc mRNA and protein expression in spite of the direct involvement of this molecular event in growth responses to IFN. The putative PKC dependent molecular event could therefore function either downstream to or in combination with the reduction in c-myc protein levels, providing a necessary but not a sufficient step to arrest cell cycle progression at the G0/G1 phase.

Animals

The interferon-induced protein kinase PK-i from mouse L cells.

Interferon-treated L cells are characterized by an increased protein kinase activity that can selectively phosphorylate the small subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2. This protein kinase, PK-i, has been extensively purified and shown to be a potent inhibitor of mRNA translation. The purified PK-i contains the endogenously phosphorylated 67,000 Mr protein characteristic of interferon-treated cell extracts. PK-i can also phosphorylate arginine-rich histones. Purified PK-i can be activated by preincubation with ATP (but not adenylyl imidodiphosphate) and low concentrations of double-stranded RNA. The activation results in an increase in the first rate of eIF-2 phosphorylation. Activated PK-i becomes resistant to high concentrations of double-stranded RNA and more thermostable. A stimulator of PK-i activity, factor A, was isolated, as well as a specific phosphoprotein phosphatase that dephosphorylates the 67,000 Mr protein and eIF-2. These two factors, which are present in untreated L cells, may regulate the translation inhibitory activity of the interferon-induced and double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase PK-i.

Animals

Differential effects of two interferon-induced translational inhibitors on initiation of protein synthesis.

At least two different mechanisms for the inhibition of mRNA translation operate in extracts of interferon-treated L cells. One is mediated by an interferon-induced protein kinase which, when activated by double-stranded RNA and ATP, phosphorylates the small subunit of initiation factor eIF-2. Addition of the purified interferon-induced protein kinase to L cell extracts, strongly reduces the amount of methionyl-tRNA bound to 40-S ribosomal subunits. The second translational inhibition is due to the synthesis of (2'-5')oligo(adenylate) by interferon-induced enzyme E. The oligonucleotide in turn activates a ribonuclease F constitutively present in L cells. Addition of the purified nuclease with its oligonucleotide activator to L cell extracts produces a strong decrease in polyribosome formation and an accumulation of initiation complex. These experiments differentiate the effects of the two interferon-induced inhibitors on mRNA translation.

Animals

Evaluation of the beta-blocking drug acebutolol in angina pectoris.

The effects of the beta-adernergic blocking drug acebutolol were studied in 23 patients with angina pectoris and angiographically documented coronary artery disease. Patients were evaluated clinically, by graded treadmill testing and by 24-hour Holter monitoring in the control state, after 2 weeks treatment with placebo, and after 2 weeks treatment with 600 mg. and then 1,200 mg. of acebutolol. Acebutolol (in a daily dose of 600 mg.) was an effective antianginal drug: the number of clinical attacks of angina pectoris (p less than 0.001) and the consumption of sublingual nitrate decreased (p less than 0.01), there was a significant increase in the treadmill effort tolerance as measured by the time to appearance of ischemic ECG changes (p less than 0.001) and the total work performed (p less than 0.001), and there was also a significant decrease in ischemic ST segment depression on 24-hour Holter monitoring. Treatment with 1,200 mg. acebutolol was associated with a further decrease in heart rate and a further improvement in effort tolerance on treadmill testing (p less than 0.05). On the large dose of the drug, however, there was no further clinical improvement, and no further improvement on 24-hour ECG monitoring; several patients complained of weakness and fatigue. Graded treadmill testing was an excellent objective method for assessing physical effort tolerance and its improvement after treatment with the beta-blocking drug. Twenty-four-hour Holter monitoring was a useful and complementary test, especially in patients who stopped exercising on the treadmill because of fatigue or weakness, and especially for assessing the efficacy of beta-blockade in controlling emotionally induced tachycardia and ischemia in the patient's own daily environment.

Acebutolol

Kinetics of the induction of three translation-regulatory enzymes by interferon.

Three enzymes that cause inhibition of mRNA translation, eukaryotic initiation factor 2 protein kinase PK-i, oligoisoadenylate synthetase E, and phosphodiesterase 2'-PDi, have been recently isolated from interferon-treated cells. We show that the rise in these three enzyme activities may be used to study the response of uninfected cells to interferon. For each enzyme, a specific microassay that can be carried out on extracts from 2-5 x 10(4) monolayer cells from mouse, monkey, or man was developed. With these assays, the kinetics of induction of the three enzymes in mouse L cells are compared. The dose dependence for protein kinase PK-i induction is shown to be similar to that for the development of the antiviral state. Actinomycin D and anti-interferon serum block enzyme induction if added to the cells early after interferon treatment. The quantitative measurements of the intracellular level of these enzymes provide a new and convenient model to study the cell's response to interferon.

Adenine Nucleotides

Study of cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with and without ischemic heart disease. Metabolism of low density lipoprotein and cholesterol ester, synthesis of cellular lipids and effect of chloroquine on accumulation of cholesterol ester.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether skin fibroblasts derived from patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD), which could not be related to accepted risk factors, would show a metabolic abnormality with respect to lipid or lipoprotein metabolism. Male patients 30-52 years old suffering from IHD were subdivided into two groups: those in whom IHD was not associated with risk factors such as hypertension, hyperlipoproteinemia, diabetes or smoking (group I); and those in whom heavy smoking was the only major risk factor recognized (group II). The controls were patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries (group III). Skin fibroblasts obtained from these patients were cultured and investigated with respect to metabolism of low density lipoprotein (LDL), synthesis of cellular lipids and induction of cholesterol ester accumulation in the presence of chloroquine, an inhibitor of lysosomal hydrolases. After 24 h incubation, the uptake and degradation of LDL protein in cells from patients of group II was significantly higher than in the controls, group III, but not different from those of group I. Hydrolysis of [3H] cholesterol linoleate, and incorporation of [3H] oleic acid into total lipids and into cholesterol esters was similar in cell cultures of the 3 groups studied. After exposure to chloroquine and LDL, the cells from the different donors accumulated cholesterol ester to a similar extent. Thus, whereas no significant difference was encountered in the lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in cells of patients with IHD without risk factors and controls, some increase in LDL metabolism was seen in cells from patients with IHD and with a history of smoking. It remains to be determined whether this increase was causally related to smoking.

Adult

Isolation of two interferon-induced translational inhibitors: a protein kinase and an oligo-isoadenylate synthetase.

Large-scale purification of translational inhibitors present in interferon-treated mouse L cells, but not in untreated cells, led to the isolation of two interferon-induced activities. One is a protein kinase system that is activatable by double-stranded RNA and ATP and that phosphorylates a Mr 67,000 protein and the smallest subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor-2. The purified protein kinase is a strong translational inhibitor. The second activity is an enzyme that, with double-stranded RNA, slowly polymerizes ATP into oligoadenylate with a 2'-5' phosphodiester linkage. The oligo-isoadenylate in turn activates a potent inhibitor of mRNA translation.

Enzyme Induction

Acebutolol in angina pectoris: objective assessment using graded treadmill testing.

The clinical effects of a new cardioselective beta-adrenergic blocking drug, acebutolol hydrochloride (SECTRAL), were studied in 18 patients with angina pectoris, using graded treadmill testing according to a modified Bruce protocol. Measurements were made in the control state, after two weeks' treatment with placebo and after two more weeks of constant oral dose of the drug. Acebutolol produced a significant increase in the treadmill work performed before the onset of ischemic ECG changes and chest pain. The heart rate and blood pressure responses to exercise were depressed, so that the greater work load was achieved at a lower double product. Graded treadmill testing is a useful method for assessing the efficacy of treatment with a beta-blocking drug.

Acebutolol

Linkages between deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and cell division in Myxococcus xanthus.

Addition of chloramphenicol or 0.5 M glycerol to growing Myxococcus xanthus resulted in an immediate cessation of cell division and 40% net increase in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Although the chloramphenicol-treated cells divided in the presence of nalidixic acid after chloramphenicol was removed, glycerol-induced myxospores required DNA synthesis for subsequent cell division. Myxospores prepared from chloramphenicol-treated cells lost this potential to divide in the presence of nalidixic acid. The "critical period" of DNA synthesis necessary for cell division after germination overlapped in time (3 to 5 h) with initiation of net DNA synthesis. The length of the critical period of DNA synthesis was estimated at 12 min, or 5% of the M. xanthus chromosome. The requirement for cell division during germination also involved ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis after DNA synthesis. The data suggest that replication at or near the origin of the chromosome triggers the formation of a protein product that is necessary but not sufficient for subsequent cell division; DNA termination is also required. During myxospore formation, the postulated protein is destroyed, thereby reestablishing and making apparent this linkage between early DNA synthesis and cell division.

Cell Division