PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

L Sachs

Publications and source records attributed to L Sachs.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Hematopoietic cytokines inhibit apoptosis induced by transforming growth factor beta 1 and cancer chemotherapy compounds in myeloid leukemic cells.

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) induces cell death in myeloid leukemia by apoptosis. In the M1 myeloid leukemia, this induction of apoptosis was inhibited by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) or interleukin-6 (IL-6) and to a lesser extent by IL-1 alpha. IL-3 and stem cell factor/mast cell growth factor (SCF) showed only a marginal effect, and granulocyte-macrophage and macrophage CSFs (GM-CSF and M-CSF, respectively) were inactive. The induction of apoptosis by TGF-beta 1 in a different myeloid leukemia (7-M12) was inhibited by GM-CSF and IL-3 but not by the other cytokines. In the absence of TGF-beta 1, both M1 and 7-M12 leukemic cells were independent of hematopoietic cytokines for cell viability and growth. The cytotoxic compounds vincristine, vinblastine, adriamycin, cytosine arabinoside, cycloheximide, and sodium azide, some of which are used in cancer chemotherapy, induced cell death by apoptosis in both leukemias. As with TGF-beta 1, apoptosis induced by these cytotoxic compounds was inhibited by GM-CSF (7-M12 leukemia) and by G-CSF or IL-6 (M1 leukemia). Cyclosporine A decreased cell multiplication in M1 cells without inducing apoptosis, and G-CSF and IL-6 inhibited the cytostatic effect of cyclosporine A. It is suggested that the clinical use of cytokines to correct therapy-associated myelosuppression should be carefully timed to avoid protection of malignant cells from the cytotoxic action of the therapeutic compounds.

Animals

Regulation of leukaemic cells by interleukin 6 and leukaemia inhibitory factor.

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) and leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) can have pleiotropic effects on different cell types. M1 myeloid leukaemic cells respond to IL-6 with activation of a terminal differentiation programme which includes activation of genes for certain haemopoietic regulatory proteins (IL-6, IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF], M-CSF, tumour necrosis factor and transforming growth factor [TGF] beta 1) and for receptors for some of these proteins, thus establishing a network of positive and negative regulatory cytokines. IL-6 and some other cytokines also induce during differentiation sustained levels of transcription factors that can regulate and maintain gene expression in the differentiation programme. M1 leukaemic cells induced to differentiate with IL-6 undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis) on withdrawal of IL-6, and can be rescued from apoptosis by IL-6, IL-3, M-CSF, G-CSF or IL-1, but not by GM-CSF. These differentiating leukaemic cells can also be rescued from apoptosis by the tumour promoter TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate) but not by the non-tumour-promoting isomer 4-alpha-TPA, and rescue from apoptosis can be achieved by different pathways. Apoptosis can also be induced in undifferentiated M1 leukaemic cells by expression of the wild-type form of the tumour suppressor p53 protein and IL-6 can rescue the cells from this wild-type p53-mediated apoptosis. There are clones of M1 cells that differentiate with IL-6 but not with LIF and another M1 clone that differentiates with either IL-6 or LIF. Differentiation induced by IL-6 or LIF is inhibited by TGF-beta 1. The pleiotropic effects of LIF, like those of IL-6, are presumably also in a network of interacting regulatory proteins.

Animals

The molecular control of hematopoiesis: from clonal development in culture to therapy in the clinic.

The establishment of a cell culture system for the clonal development of hematopoietic cells has made it possible to discover the proteins that regulate cell viability, growth and differentiation of different hematopoietic cell lineages and the molecular basis of normal and abnormal cell development in blood-forming tissues. These regulators include cytokines now called colony stimulating factors and interleukins. Different cytokines can induce cell viability, multiplication and differentiation, and hematopoiesis is controlled by a network of interactions between these cytokines. This network includes positive regulators such as colony stimulating factors and interleukins and negative regulators such as transforming growth factor beta and tumor necrosis factor. Gene cloning has shown that there is a family of different genes for these cytokines. The functioning of the network requires an appropriate balance between positive and negative regulators and the selective regulation of programmed cell death (apoptosis). There are different ways of inducing or inhibiting programmed cell death, and differences in the regulation of this program can result in tumor promotion or tumor suppression. The cytokine network which has arisen during evolution allows considerable flexibility, depending on which part of the network is activated and the ready amplification of response to a particular stimulus. A network may also be necessary to stabilize the whole system. Cytokines that regulate hematopoiesis can induce the expression of genes for transcription factors can thus ensure the autoregulation and transregulation of cytokine genes that occur in the network.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Medicines and culture--a double perspective on drug utilization in a developing country.

A double perspective, one medical-pharmacological and one social-anthropological, is used to understand the logic of drug utilization among practitioners and outpatients at a health unit in Sri Lanka. Both negative and positive aspects of local prescribing practices are highlighted. Western pharmaceuticals are integrated into therapeutic choices for outpatients in Sri Lanka by means of the Ayurvedic theory of balance and practitioners' and patients' behaviour in consultations results in their expectations being met, even if they do not use the same set of health ideas and interpretations of health intervention. The healing power ascribed to Western pharmaceuticals is described and their possible risks discussed from both a biomedical and an anthropological point of view.

Adult

Inhibition of specific pathways of myeloid cell differentiation by an activated Hox-2.4 homeobox gene.

Abnormal expression of homeobox genes is one of the abnormalities associated with the development of murine and human leukemia. Myeloid leukemic cells that can be induced to differentiate to mature cells by interleukin 6 were stably transfected with an activated Hox-2.4 homeobox gene. Expression of the Hox-2.4 gene in the transfected clones inhibited specific pathways of the myeloid differentiation program induced by interleukin 6. The expression of some genes associated with differentiation was almost completely blocked, and the expression of other genes was either partially inhibited or not affected. The results support the hypothesis that abnormal expression of Hox-2.4 may contribute to the development of leukemia by interfering with the differentiation program.

Animals

Selective regulation by hydrocortisone of induction of in vivo differentiation of myeloid leukemic cells with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 6 and interleukin 1 alpha.

Clones of myeloid leukemic cells can differ in their ability to be induced to differentiate in vitro by different cytokines. Using such leukemic clones, we studied the regulation by hydrocortisone of induction of in vivo differentiation by injection of recombinant interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Injection of IL-6 and IL-1 alpha induced in vivo differentiation of leukemic cells that were induced to differentiate by these cytokines in vitro, but not of leukemic cells that were not susceptible to these cytokines in vitro. In contrast, injection of GM-CSF induced in vivo differentiation both in leukemic cells that were susceptible or not susceptible to GM-CSF in vitro. The effect of GM-CSF, but not of IL-6 or IL-1 alpha, on inducing differentiation in vivo was inhibited by pretreatment with hydrocortisone. In leukemic cells that were not induced to differentiate with GM-CSF in vitro, this inhibition of differentiation by pretreatment with hydrocortisone was greater than inhibition of differentiation obtained by pretreatment with cyclophosphamide or irradiation or the use of nude mice. After hydrocortisone pretreatment, the number of peritoneal cells and their ability to produce GM-CSF and IL-6 were suppressed. It is suggested that hydrocortisone can inhibit the effect of an injected cytokine such as GM-CSF on induction of in vivo differentiation of leukemic cells by inhibiting the ability of host cells to produce cytokines to which the leukemic cells are susceptible.

Animals

Rescue from programmed cell death in leukemic and normal myeloid cells.

Growth factor-independent clones of myeloid leukemic cells can regain a growth factor-dependent state during differentiation. Loss of viability in these differentiating leukemic cells in the absence of growth factor was associated with DNA fragmentation and morphologic changes typical of programmed cell death (apoptosis). The differentiating leukemic cells could be rescued from apoptosis by a hematopoietic growth factor such as interleukin-3 (IL-3) and by the tumor-promoting phorbol ester 12-O-tetra-decanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), but not by the nonpromoting phorbol ester 4-alpha-TPA. IL-3 and TPA rescued differentiating myeloid leukemic cells by different pathways and also rescued normal myeloid precursor cells from apoptosis. The rescue of differentiating leukemic and normal myeloid cells by IL-3 or TPA was blocked by amiloride inhibitors of the Na+/H+ antiporter. We suggest that TPA may act as a tumor promoter by inhibiting programmed cell death.

Amiloride

A deletion and a rearrangement distinguish between the intracisternal A-particle of Hox-2.4 and that of interleukin-3 in the same leukemic cells.

Two intracisternal A-particle (IAP) insertions have been identified in WEHI-3B myeloid leukemic cells, one at the interleukin-3 (IL-3) gene and another at the homeobox gene Hox-2.4. In contrast to the 5-kb IL-3-IAP, the Hox-2.4-IAP is only 2.1 kb in size and contains a rearrangement. The homology throughout the remaining sequences suggests that both IAPs originated from a common progenitor molecule. Both proviral insertions have resulted in transcriptional activation of the adjacent genes, which appears to be a significant step in the leukemogenic process in these leukemic cells.

Amino Acid Sequence

The oncogenic potential of an activated Hox-2.4 homeobox gene in mouse fibroblasts.

The homeobox gene Hox-2.4 is transcriptionally activated in cells of the mouse myeloid leukemia WEHI-3B. The constitutive Hox-2.4 expression in WEHI-3B cells is due to insertion of a transposable element belonging to the family of intracisternal A particles. In this study, we demonstrated the oncogenic potential of this activated homeobox gene. NIH 3T3 fibroblast clones bearing the activated Hox-2.4 gene produced fibrosarcomas in nude mice.

Animals

Pattern of interleukin 6 gene expression in vivo suggests a role for this cytokine in angiogenesis.

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that acts on various cell types. Here we show that IL-6 mRNA is produced in vivo in two self-limiting physiologic angiogenic processes: (i) the formation of the vascular system accompanying development of ovarian follicles and (ii) the formation of a capillary network in the maternal decidua following embryonic implantation. In situ and RNA blot hybridization analyses detected transient expression of IL-6 mRNA in gonadotropin-primed hyperstimulated ovaries, with maximal mRNA levels coinciding with the period of formation of a capillary network around follicles. Expression of IL-6 mRNA was detected in the vasculature extending from the ovarian medulla to the forming capillary sheath in the thecal layer of individual growing follicles. No expression was detected in more-developed preovulatory follicles once angiogenesis had been completed. IL-6 mRNA was also detected in the uterus of pregnant mice 9.5 days postcoitum, and there was no appreciable IL-6 mRNA at later stages of embryonic development. Expression in the uterus was confined to cords of endothelial cells in the process of formation of an anastomosing network that traversed the maternal decidua towards the developing embryo. The expression of IL-6 mRNA in two independent physiological angiogenic processes and the transient nature of its expression in endothelial cells suggest a role for IL-6 in angiogenesis.

Animals

[Does low-dosage heparin treatment require serial haematological controls? (author's transl)].

Blanket serial controls are not necessary in low-dosage heparin treatment. It would, in any case, be difficult under normal clinical conditions and would run counter to the whole conception of low-dose heparin treatment. However, in problem cases with an increased thrombo-embolic risk, sensitive methods for monitoring the heparin effect are recommended. A study on 150 patients has indicated that the most sensitive method is the use of chromogenic substrates. Thrombin time, using low-concentration thrombin solution of 1.5 NIH units/ml, thrombelastogram and activated partial thromboplastin time are less sensitive. Antithrombin III levels should be determined in all cases of increased heparin tolerance. With reduced antithrombin III levels and higher body weight an increase of the standard dose from 5000 U.S.P. units heparin t. i. d. subcutaneously to 7500 U.S.P. units t. i. d. should be considered.

Antithrombins

Activation of normal genes in malignant cells: activation of chemotaxis in relation to other stages of normal differentiation in myeloid leukemia.

Genetically differerent clones of myeloid leukemic cells have been used to study the activation of normal genes in these malignant cells by the normal physiological inducer of myeloid cell differentiation, the protein MGI. In appropriate clones, MGI induced the normal differentiation-associated property of chemotaxis to a variety of compounds including the steroid hormone dexamethasone. The induced cells could also distinguish among different steroids by chemotaxis, suggesting that there are specific membrane interaction sites for steroids. The sequence of differentiation in these cells was the formation of C3 and Fc rosettes leads to phagocytosis of these rosettes and chemotaxis leads to synthesis and secretion of lysozyme leads to mature macrophages or granulocytes. The use of appropriate mutants and the comparison of induction by MGI and dexamethasone has shown that chemotaxis to casein can be dissociated from: chemotaxis to dexamethasone, ATP, and bacterial factor; formation of C3 or Fc rosettes; phagocytosis of these rosettes; synthesis of lysozyme; and the formation of mature cells. It is suggested from this dissection of normal differentiation that there are different membrane changes for specific chemotaxis, formation of these rosettes, and their phagocytosis, and that induction of each of these properties requires activation of different genes.

Animals

Regulation of normal differentiation in mouse and human myeloid leukemic cells by phorbol esters and the mechanism of tumor promotion.

The control of cell multiplication and differentiation by tumor-promoting phorbol esters including 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) has been studied with different clones of mouse myeloid leukemic cells, a line of human myeloid leukemic cells, and normal mouse bone marrow myeloblasts. TPA induced normal cell differentiation in one of the mouse leukemic clones and this was mediated by induction of the protein inducer of differentiation to macrophages or granulocytes (MGI) in the cells that then differentiated. Other mouse clones were not induced to differentiate by TPA. In one of these clones, TPA induced cell susceptibility to externally added MGI. This effect was not due to a general induction of susceptibility to all compounds because TPA did not induce susceptibility to lypopolysaccharide or dexamethasone in this clone. In the human leukemic cell line, TPA also induced differentiation with the induction of MGI activity and enhanced susceptibility to added MGI. It is suggested that the clonal differences in induction of MGI activity and increased susceptibility to MGI may be associated with differences in receptors for TPA and the ability of TPA to modify receptors for MGI. Studies with normal bone marrow cells have indicated that TPA stimulated MGI activity and also increased susceptibility of normal myeloblasts to induction of multiplication by MGI. The ability of different phorbol esters to produce these effects on normal myeloblasts and myeloid leukemic cells paralleled their ability to act as tumor promoters. The results indicate that a tumor promoter such as TPA can induce the production of and increase cell susceptibility to a normal regulator of cell multiplication and differentiation. TPA has pleiotropic effects. It is suggested that, by these mechanisms, TPA may thus act as a tumor promoter by increasing cell multiplication in initiated cells, induce differentiation in some cells, or inhibit differentiation in other cells, depending on which molecules are being regulated in the TPA-treated cells.

Animals

Increase of normal myeloblast viability and multiplication without blocking differentiation by type C RNA virus from myeloid leukemic cells.

Clones of mouse myeloid leukemic cells that differ in their competence to be induced for normal cell differentiation by the protein inducer MGI produce type C virus. These viruses have been studied for their effect on the viability, multiplication, and differentiation of normal bone marrow cells either with or without the addition of MGI. Virus from leukemic clones that can differentiate normally to mature macrophages and granulocytes (MGI+D+ clones) induced some multiplication of myeloblasts in the bone marrow, but the cells did not differentiate without adding MGI. In the presence of MGI, this virus then induced an increased number of colonies whose cells differentiated to mature macrophages or granulocytes as in colonies of uninfected cells. Virus infection also resulted in a decrease in the amount of MGI and fetal calf serum that was required for colony formation. Virus from MGI+D+ clones, in the presence of MGI, was 500-fold more effective in increasing colony formation than virus from the differentiation-defective MGI-D- clones, although both types of virus replicated with equal efficiency in the normal bone marrow cells. No such increase was obtained after infection with the Friend leukemic virus complex or the Moloney murine leukemia virus. Infection with virus from a MGI+D+ clone that was differentiated by MGI mainly to macrophages induced a higher percentage of macrophage colonies than virus from MGI+D+ clones that were differentiated by MGI to granulocytes and macrophages. Studies with isolated myeloblast colony-forming cells from the bone marrow have indicated that these are the target cells for the virus. Infections of these isolated myeloblasts with virus from MGI+D+ clones induced some multiplication without differentiation in the absence of MGI, and increased the viability and multiplication of the myeloblasts without inhibiting their ability to differentiate in the presence of MGI. The results, therefore, indicate that virus from MGI+D+ cells can increase the viability and multiplication of normal myeloblasts in the bone marrow without blocking the ability of these cells to be induced to differentiate by MGI, and that this effect was directly related to the competence of the leukemic host cells to be induced for normal differentiation. It is suggested that the difference between the effect of virus from MGI+D+ and MGI-D- cells may be due to a difference in their integration sites in relation to the genes that control cell viability, multiplication, and differentiation.

Animals

Bromocriptine suppression of TRH-stimulated prolactin and thyrotrophin release and accompanying inhibition of bromocriptine induced growth hormone release by TRH in normal man.

Six normal fasting males received on four separate occasions in random order (1) a placebo tablet followed 60 min later by 200 microgram of TRH intravenously (2) bromocriptine 2.5 mg orally followed by TRH intravenously (3) bromocriptine 2.5 mg orally followed by a placebo injection and (4) placebo tablet followed by placebo injection. Plasma prolactin and TSH responses to TRH were decreased following bromocriptine pretreatment. The rise of plasma growth hormone after bromocriptine was inhibited by TRH. The rise in plasma FSH seen after TRH injection was not influenced by bromocriptine pretreatment. Circulating LH and insulin concentrations were unaffected by any drug administration. These results suggest a dopaminergic influence on prolactin and TSH release in normal men, an inhibitory effect of TRH on bromocriptine stimulated growth hormone secretion, and no dopaminergic modulation of basal insulin secretion.

Adult