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Biomedical subjects

M Castagna

Publications and source records attributed to M Castagna.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Tumor-promoting phorbol diesters inhibit in vitro antibody synthesis.

The tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate prevents the synthesis of antibodies directed against sheep red blood cells in an in vitro system. The inhibitory effect of 3 phorbol diesters on this immune response was positively correlated with their tumor-promoting activity. The effect did not appear to be mediated through the inhibition of cell proliferation. Results suggest that the tumor promoter may alter the differentiation of the precursor cells to antibody-producing cells.

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Insulinotropic effect of the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate in rat pancreatic islets.

In isolated rat pancreatic islets, the tumor-promoting agent 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), when used in the 2.10(-9) to 2.10(-7) M range, was found to stimulate insulin release both in the absence and presence of glucose. The non-tumor-promoting agent 4-methylphorbol-12,13-didecanoate failed to stimulate insulin release. The insulinotropic capacity of TPA was enhanced by glucose in a dose-related fashion. In the absence of glucose, the TPA-stimulated release of insulin was a slowly induced and not rapidly reversible phenomenon. It was inhibited by antimycin A, by epinephrine, at low temperatures, and in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ or the presence of cytochalasin B, was unaffected by the organic calcium antagonist D600 or indomethacin, and was potentiated by theophylline. No obvious effect of TPA upon 86Rb or 32P efflux and 45Ca net uptake could be detected in the isolated islets. However, TPA caused a progressive increase in both 45Ca fractional outflow rate and cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate content in the islets. It is proposed that the insulinotropic action of TPA may be due, in part at least, to interference with the transport of calcium by native ionophores.

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Modifications of the activities of key enzymes and intracellular levels of cyclic nucleotides, in correlation with the glyogen deposition in a cultured hepatoma cell line.

Glycogen accumulation in growing cultures of ZHC cells (originally derived from the Zajdela ascitic hepatoma) is accompanied by an increase in glycogen synthetase (E.C. 2.4.1.11) and phosphorylase (E.C. 2.4.1.1) activities. Essentially the synthetase b and the phosphorylase a are involved in this process. The glycogen accumulation in ZHC cells us preceeded by a noticeable peak of cAMP, whereas cGMP rises early after replating and then decreases simultaneously with the growth rate. The present results suggest that these cultured hepatoma cells undergo throughout every passage an induction process involved in glycogen synthesis storage. Since the original ascites cells growing in vivo (which lack glycogen) and the cultured ZHC cells exhibit similar glycogen synthetase and phosphorylase activities, the resurgence of the glycogenic function (Staedel and Beck, 1978) in the in vitro cultureed cells does not seem related to a change in these two enzymes. By contrast, the high cyclic nucleotide levels in the cultured cells, as compared to those in the ascites cells, offer a possible explanation.

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Tumour-promoting phorbol diester induces substrate-adhesion and growth inhibition in lymphoblastoid cells.

The treatment of human lymphoblastoid cell cultures with the phorbol diester, 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate, a tumour promoter, caused at nM concentration surface structural changes associated with altered adhesion properties. The effect was observed in several cell lines from normal or leukaemic origin. In addition, the tumour promoter induced an early and transitory growth inhibition which was observed in all tested B-characteristic cells. The phorbol diester, 4-O-methyl-phorbol-12,13-didecanoate, which is devoid of tumour-promoting activity, was much less effective in altering cell adhesion properties and cell growth than the active derivative. These observations suggest that lymphoblastoid cells may be a useful model for studying the molecular alterations at the membrane level resulting from the action of tumour-promoting phorbol diesters.

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Effect of interferon on concentrations of cyclic nucleotides in cultured cells.

Constant intracellular concentrations of both adenosine 3',5'-cyclic-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) and guanosine 3',5'-cyclic-monophosphate (cyclic GMP) were obtained when leukemia L1210 cells were cultivated under steady-state conditions in the chemostat. In this sensitive and controlled system addition of mouse interferon resulted in a rapid (5-10 min) increase in the intracellular concentration of cyclic GMP, which preceded by several hours an increase in the intracellular concentration of cyclic AMP. In contrast to the effect of interferon, addition of prostaglandin E1 induced a rapid increase in the intracellular concentration of cyclic AMP without markedly affecting the intracellular concentration of cyclic GMP. It is suggested that the rapid effect of interferon on cyclic GMP plays a role in mediating some of the effects of interferon on cells.

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Cyclic nucleotide levels in rat embryo fibroblasts treated with tumor-promoting phorbol diester.

Intracellular concentrations of cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) and cyclic guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate were measured in rat embryo fibroblasts stimulated to divide by either the addition of 12-0-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) or a serum-supplemented medium change. Cyclic nucleotide levels were altered within minutes and large oscillations occurred in a reciprocal fashion over the pre-replicative and the replicative phases. Patterns of oscillating levels depended on the growth state of the cultures. Intracellular content of cyclic nucleotide similarly changed in response to either mitogenic treatment with the exception of the early alterations in cyclic AMP. The medium-change stimulation resulted within minutes in a drop of the cyclic AMP levels at confluence and a rise in growing cells when TPA-induced stimulation proceeded without altering those levels. Treatment with 4-0-methyl-phorbol didecanoate, a TPA derivative that is inactive as a tumor promoter, did not affect the cyclic nucleotide levels.

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Evidence for a role of sulfhydryl groups in catalytic activity and subunit interaction of the cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase from silkworm.

Guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase (ATP:protein phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.37) has been isolated from silkworm pupal fat body (Bombyx mori) which is devoid of any adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase. The enzyme displayed catalytic properties which were roughly similar to those described for adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase. This similarity has been found in substrate specificity, optimal Mg2+ dependency, polyamines effects and the lack of dependency upon sulfhydryl compound for activation by cyclic GMP. Treatment of the enzyme with sulfhydryl reagents, N-ethylmaleimide or p-chloromercuribenzoic acid, inhibited the catalytic activity as well as the dissociation of the binding and catalytic activities as shown by means of sucrose-density gradient ultracentrifugation. In the presence of cyclic GMP or histone, the disulfide-linked structure did not dissociate into separate subunits nor did it migrate as the holoenzyme but sedimented as an intermediate form carrying both binding and catalytic activities.

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Nuclear protein-kinase activity in perfused rat liver stimulated with dibutyryl-adenosine cyclic 3':5'-monophosphate.

Cytoplasmic and nuclear protein kinase activities from perfused rat liver have been studied in response to dibutyryl-adenosine cyclic 3':5'-monophosphate added at a concentration that stimulates hepatic gluconeogenesis (100 muM). Total nuclear protein kinase, as assayed using a mixed histone fraction as phosphate acceptor, is increased by 5-fold within 8 min of the addition of cyclic nucleotide to the perfusate. In contrast the total cytoplasmic protein kinase activity is decreased to 50% of the control value. The protein substrate specificity of the protein kinase that is present in the nucleus in response to dibutyryl-adenosine cyclic 3':5'-monophosphate stimulation is similar to that of cytoplasmic, adenosine cyclic 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent, protein kinase but is distinct from that of the enzyme(s) present in control nuclei. The predominant species to protein kinase from stimulated nuclei has a sedimentation constant of 3.9 S. This value is identical to that of the catalytic subunit of cytoplasmic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase. These data suggest that some of the effects of adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate on nuclear events may be mediated through its interaction with the inactive protein kinase holoenzyme in the cytoplasm and the subsequent redistribution of the active catalytic subunits generated by this interaction.

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Nuclear protein kinase activity in glucagon-stimulated perfused rat livers.

Nuclei isolated from glucagon-stimulated perfused rat livers contained 2-3 times as much protein kinase activity as did nuclei from control animals. In the presence of either the heat-stable inhibitor or the protein kinase regulatory subunit the elevated cyclic AMP-independent enzyme activity from stimulated nuclei was inhibited to an activity equivalent to that found in controls.

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