Nursing the elderly.
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Activities of Daily Living↗
Biomedical subjects
K M Richmond
Publications and source records attributed to K M Richmond.
Apparent heterogeneity in the response of quiescent swiss 3T3 cells to serum growth factors: implications for the transition probability model and parallels with "cellular senescence" and "competence".
When subconfluent, Swiss 3T3 cells made quiescent by serum deprivation are stimulated with low concentrations of serum (ca. 1%), only a proportion of them (roughly 50%) enter S phase despite daily replacement with fresh, low-serum medium. The cells that fail to enter S phase are not incapable of doing so, since most of them initiate DNA synthesis after transfer to 10% serum. It would appear that individual cells vary in their growth factor requirements. Using time-lapse cinemicroscopy a few of the cells that respond to low serum were seen to give rise to several generations of progeny, while the majority of cells failed to divide at all, or divided once at most. Despite this, differences between cells in growth factor requirements do not seem to be heritable in the long term, since attempts to enrich for responding cells by prolonged culture in 1% serum have been unsuccessful. Rather, it would appear that the capacity to respond to low serum is an unstable property lost after a few generations in low serum. The loss of responsiveness shows parallels with "cellular senescence" and could conceivably result from decay of the platelet-derived growth factor-induced state of "competence." But regardless of why some cells respond to low serum while others do not, it is clear that the kinetics of entry into S phase after serum stimulation of quiescent 3T3 cells are not strictly first-order, since the labelling index plateaus after roughly 3 days at values substantially below 100%. As such, the kinetics, though not contradicting the transition probability model, cannot be taken to support it as was previously thought.
Animals↗
Apparent desensitization of Swiss 3T3 cells to the mitogens FGF and vasopressin.
The growth factors FGF and vasopressin were found to have only a transient effect on confluent quiescent monolayers of Swiss 3T3 cells. Whether measured as cumulative entry into S-phase by autoradiography, or as cell division by time-lapse filming, the elevated rate of cell proliferation was maintained only over 10-15 hr. Several trivial or artifactual explanations for this transience were ruled out, including toxicity of 3H-thymidine; exhaustion or degradation of medium components, nutrients or growth factors (although some medium depletion was observed); and the generation during quiescence of cells incapable of division. We have also eliminated heritable variation in the capacity to respond to individual growth factors. However, unstable phenotypic heterogeneity in growth factor requirements between cells may play some part, as found elsewhere for the response to low concentrations of serum (Brooks et al, 1984). Cell populations that had ceased to respond to vasopressin recovered their sensitivity after 2-3 days' incubation in conditioned medium lacking vasopressin. The phenomenon thus resembles the mitogen-induced desensitization described by Collins and Rosengurt (1982, 1983). However, in our case, the loss of sensitivity was not selective for vasopressin but applied also to epidermal growth factor (EGF) and to prostaglandin F2 alpha. Furthermore, changes in responsiveness to vasopressin with time were associated with changes in cell density. Although some element of selective desensitization has not been ruled out, the transient response in our experiments can be accounted for in terms of unstable heterogeneity in growth factor requirements and/or in terms of density-dependent regulation of growth.
Animals↗
Residual cell division measurements are unreliable as indicators of the timing of events in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle.
We report here an analysis of the execution point of the temperature-sensitive Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle mutant, cdc27-47. When a logarithmically growing culture was shifted from standard growth conditions (strain 27.8B growing in YEPD at 25 degrees C) to the restrictive temperature cell division ceased abruptly and reproducibly within one population doubling time, the extent of cell division indicating an execution point early in the cell cycle. Approximately 50% of stationary-phase cells were able to divide when refed with fresh medium at 37 degrees C, showing that the execution point could be passed before 'start'. This makes the sharp cut-off in cell division difficult to explain. This difficulty was compounded by observations of the cell cycle stage at which individual cells acquired the capacity to divide at 37 degrees C. Half the cells that were budded at the time of a temperature shift-up formed three division-blocked cells, and in 11 of these 13 cases, two were descended from the original mother cell and one from the original bud. Thus, mother and daughter cells pass the execution point independently; daughters usually during G1, and mothers usually in the budded phase of the previous cycle. The sharp cut-off in cell division is therefore spurious, and a mechanism is proposed to account for it, which has implications for the interpretation of the execution points of other cdc mutants. In addition, the expression of the cdc27-47 execution point was modified by both genetic and environmental factors, being affected by carbon source, by the petite condition, and by genetic background. This illustrates the difficulties of interpreting execution point data and the dangers of extrapolation of cell cycle parameters between strains and growth conditions.
Cell Cycle↗
'G1 rate' model of cell cycle--a realistic alternative to 'transition probability'?
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Cell Cycle↗
Glucocorticoids inhibit the stimulatory effect of epidermal growth factor on the initiation of DNA synthesis.
Confluent, quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells in culture can be stimulated to initiate DNA synthesis and divide by addition of growth factors to the culture medium. Here we show that hydrocortisone and other steroids which have glucocorticoid activity inhibit the stimulation of these cells by epidermal growth factor (EGF) in contrast to their reported enhancement of stimulation by fibroblast growth factor (FGF). Binding studies using [3H]-triamcinolone acetonide show that Swiss 3T3 cells contain a single class of glucocorticoid receptor of uniform affinity (KD = 2.0 nM), and about 34,000 receptor sites per cell. Those steroids which displace bound [3H]-triamcinolone acetonide are also effective in inhibiting the stimulation of DNA synthesis by EGF in the presence or absence of insulin, and the concentration of triamcinolone acetonide required for one-half maximal biological effect is in the same range as the KD. A similar concentration is required for one-half maximal enhancement of the effect of FGF. These results suggest that both the inhibitory and stimulatory effects of glucocorticoids may be mediated via these receptors, the different effects thus being due to differences in the intracellular events triggered by each growth factor.
Animals↗
Two growth factors and two hormones regulate initiation of DNA synthesis in cultured mouse cells through different pathways of events.
Epidermal growth factor (EGF) as well as prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha), when added to quiescent, confluent Swiss 3T3 cells, stimulate the initiation of DNA synthesis, which occurs with apparent first-order kinetics after a lag phase of 14-15 hr. These two growth factors appear to stimulate similar events; insulin enhances and hydrocortisone can inhibit the stimulatory effect of either. Here we show that the addition of EGF and PGF2 alpha together, however, results in a synergistic effect seen at the end of the lag phase, but only when EGF and PGF2 alpha are added within 6 hr of each other. Addition of one growth factor 10 or 15 hr after the other delayed the synergy for 15 hr after the addition of the second growth factor. Insulin further increased the rate of entry into the s phage stimulated by EGF and PGF2 alpha together, whereas hydrocortisone inhibited the stimulatory effect observed with either EGF or PGF2 alpha alone. These results suggest that, in spite of the common events responsible for the interactions with the two hormones, EGF and PGF2 alpha must have differences in their sequences of events that initiate DNA synthesis.
Animals↗
The stimulation of the initiation of DNA synthesis by fibroblast growth factor in Swiss 3T3 cells: interactions with hormones during the pre-replicative phase.
Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) stimulates quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells to initiate DNA synthesis and divide. Cells begin to enter the S-phase after a lag of 13--15 hr, and the rate of initiation of DNA synthesis in the population can be quantified by a first order rate constant, k. A subsaturating concentration of FGF may establish the lag phase, while the value of k is dependent on the FGF concentration present during the second half of the lag phase. Insulin and hydrocortisone enhance the effect of FGF by increasing k without changing the lag phase, and they can act when added at any time after FGF. Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) causes a decrease in k and a lengthening of the lag phase, and acts only when added during the first 8 hr. None of these agents stimulate DNA synthesis in the absence of FGF.
Animals↗
Dissociation of uridine and (86Rb+) uptake from stimulatioin of DNA synthesis in Swiss 3T3 cells.
The importance of the stimulation of uridine and (86Rb+) uptake to the stimulation of DNA synthesis was investigated using three defined growth factors, EGF, FGF, and PGF2 alpha, and three hormones, hydrocortisone, insulin and PGE1, which do not stimulate proliferation of Swiss 3T3 cells but modify the response to these growth factors. Uridine uptake is stimulated by insulin, but not by PGF2 alpha, indicating that its activation is neither sufficient nor necessary for stimulation of cell proliferation. (86Rb+) uptake was stimulated by each growth factor tested, but also by insulin and PGE1. Modifying effects of insulin, hydrocortisone or PGE1 in combination with growth factors on the level of DNA synthesis were not reflected in changes in stimulation of these uptake systems. We conclude that these events are regulated separately and are not tightly coupled to the initiation of DNA synthesis.
Animals↗
Translocation of the tetracycline resistance determinant from R100-1 to the Escherichia coli K-12 chromosome.
Pairs of normally incompatible derivatives of R100-1 (one ChlS TetR, the other ChilR TetS) were forced to coexist in a recA host by selection for ChlR TetR cells. After many generations stable derivatives were isolated. The analysis of none independent stabilization experiments showed that in each case TetR was translocated from the plasmid to the chromosome of the host. No evidence for the joint integration of other plasmid genes (those controlling transfer, antibiotic resistance, incompatibility, or origin of transfer replication) was obtained. One of the chromosomal TetR determinants was mapped close to metE.
Chloramphenicol↗