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Biomedical subjects

G Tyler

Publications and source records attributed to G Tyler.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Differential effects of bryostatin 1 and phorbol ester on human breast cancer cell lines.

The effects of the protein kinase C (PKC) activators, phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl-13-phorbol acetate (TPA) and the marine natural product, bryostatin 1, on the growth and morphology of human breast cancer cell lines were examined. TPA (1 to 100 nM) inhibited growth of four of six cell lines by up to 75% in 5-day cultures. Bryostatin 1 inhibited growth of only MCF-7 cells and only at a high dose (100 nM). However, bryostatin 1 completely antagonized the growth inhibition and morphological changes induced by TPA in MCF-7 cells. The divergent effects of these two agents are associated with differing effects on PKC activity and isoform expression in MCF-7 cells. TPA induced rapid translocation of the PKC-alpha isozyme and PKC activity to the membrane fraction of MCF-7 cells. In contrast, bryostatin 1 treatment resulted in the loss of the PKC-alpha isozyme and PKC activity from both cytosolic and membrane compartments within 10 min of treatment. In coincubation assays the bryostatin 1 effect was dominant over that of TPA. Similar effects on PKC-alpha isozyme and PKC activity were seen in a second cell line whose growth was inhibited by TPA but not by bryostatin 1, MDA-MB-468. In contrast, in the T47D cell line, where TPA was not growth inhibitory, TPA failed to induce translocation of PKC-alpha to the cell membrane. Bryostatin, however, still caused loss of PKC-alpha isozyme and PKC activity from cytosolic and membrane fractions. Thus, differential actions of bryostatin 1 and TPA on PKC activity and alpha-isoform level in the membrane-associated fraction of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cells may account for the divergent effects of these two agents on cell growth and morphology. These results suggest that the PKC-alpha isoform may specifically play a role in inhibiting growth of human breast cancer cells.

Breast Neoplasms

c-myc gene-induced alterations in protein kinase C expression: a possible mechanism facilitating myc-ras gene complementation.

The mechanism(s) by which the c-myc nuclear protein and the membrane-associated ras protein interact to mediate phenotypic changes is unknown. We now find that c-mcy gene expression is associated with alterations in the principal signal transduction pathway through which the ras protein is thought to function. We studied the transcript and protein expression of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in a culture line of human small cell lung cancer cells (NCI H209) in which expression of inserted c-myc and Ha-ras genes together, but not alone, causes a transition to a large cell phenotype. In control H209 cells, at the transcript and cell membrane protein levels, PKC-alpha is the dominant PKC species. In this cell line, the expression of an exogenous c-myc gene, but not of a viral Ha-ras gene, causes a 5- to 10-fold increase in the PKC-beta isoform transcript and protein. The insertion of ras into the exogenous myc-expressing 209 cells, in addition to causing phenotypic transition, results in the translocation of the PKC-beta protein from the cytosol to the membrane fraction and a decrease in membrane-associated PKC-alpha. Concomitant with these changes, the increased PKC isoform transcript levels induced by myc alone are completely reversed. These observations suggest that a complex set of PKC transcript and protein alterations, most prominently involving an increased PKC-beta protein level in the cell membrane, a decrease in PKC-alpha protein, and a decrease in all PKC isoform transcripts, may represent a fundamental event(s) for c-myc collaboration with Ha-ras to alter cell phenotype.

Carcinoma, Small Cell

Role of nuclear protein kinase C in the mitogenic response to platelet-derived growth factor.

We have assessed the involvement of nuclear envelope protein phosphorylation in the mitogenic response to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in NIH/3T3 fibroblasts. We find that stimulation of quiescent NIH/3T3 cells with PDGF or with the mitogenic protein kinase C (PKC) activators phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or bryostatin 1 (bryo) leads to rapid, dose-dependent phosphorylation of several nuclear envelope polypeptides. The predominant nuclear envelope targets for mitogen-induced phosphorylation are immunologically identified as the nuclear envelope lamins. All three lamin species (A, B and C) are phosphorylated in response to PMA or bryo, while lamins A and C are preferentially phosphorylated in response to PDGF. Phosphopeptide mapping and phosphoamino acid analysis indicate that similar serine sites on the lamins are phosphorylated in response to PDGF, PMA and bryo. Both mitogenicity and lamina phosphorylation induced by these mitogens can be inhibited by the selective PKC inhibitor staurosporine at 2 nM. Treatment of quiescent NIH/3T3 cells with PDGF, PMA or bryo leads to rapid translocation of PKC to the nuclear envelope. These data indicate that rapid nuclear events, including translocation of cytosolic PKC to the nuclear membrane and lamina phosphorylation, may play a role in the transduction of the mitogenic signals of PDGF from the cytoplasm to the nucleus in NIH/3T3 fibroblasts.

Animals

The identification of particulate matter in biological tissues and fluids.

Sections, 1-2 micron thick, of Araldite embedded tissue were prepared to provide a link between optical and electron microscopy for the identification of crystals. This technique permits examination of individual particles by means of polarising light microscopy, electron microscopy, X-ray energy spectroscopy and electron diffraction. It provides a reliable method for routine and research studies. It has led to the positive identification of individual crystals of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate and hydroxyapatite in synovial fluids. The method can be applied to the identification of other particulate matter in a variety of biological specimens.

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