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Biomedical subjects

S C Souza

Publications and source records attributed to S C Souza.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

A 40-amino acid segment of the growth hormone receptor cytoplasmic domain is essential for GH-induced tyrosine-phosphorylated cytosolic proteins.

It has become evident that intracellular protein phosphorylation plays an important role in mediating signal transduction of hormones and growth factors, including growth hormone (GH). We have previously demonstrated that GH can stimulate tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins with approximate molecular masses of 95,000 daltons (pp95) in GH-treated 3T3-F442A preadipocytes and in mouse L cells that express recombinant porcine or bovine GH receptors. In the present study, a series of GH receptor (GHR) truncation analogs were constructed and examined for their abilities to induce pp95. The results revealed that a region of approximately 40 amino acids in the porcine GHR cytoplasmic domain is essential for induction of pp95. The results also established that the 115 amino acids (517-638) near the C terminus of porcine GHR are not required for pp95 induction. Moreover, the basal levels of GH-induced pp95 in parental mouse L cells was suppressed by expression of these GHR truncation analogs. This suggests that pp95 induced by GH may be mediated by GHR dimerization and can be inhibited by overexpression of truncated porcine GHRs.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1995

A single arginine residue determines species specificity of the human growth hormone receptor.

Although growth hormone (GH) receptors (GHRs) in many species bind human (h) GH as well as their own GH, the hGHR only binds primate GH. Arg43 in hGHR interacts with Asp171 of hGH. Nonprimates have a His in the position equivalent to residue 171 of primate GH and a Leu in position 43 of primate GHR. To determine whether Arg43 accounts for the species specificity of the hGHR, point mutations that changed Leu43 to Arg were introduced into the cDNAs encoding the bovine (b) GHR or the rat GH binding protein (GHBP) and these mutants or their wild-type (WT) counterparts were expressed in mouse L cells. Binding of hGH or bGH to transfected cells or to GHBP secreted into the incubation medium was assessed by displacement of 125I-labeled hGH. WT and mutant bGHR bound hGH with similar affinity, but the affinity of the mutant receptors for bGH was reduced 200-fold. Likewise, WT and mutant GHBP bound hGH with equal affinity, but only WT GHBP bound bGH. Cross-linking of 125I-labeled hGH to WT or mutant GHR produced a 141-kDa labeled complex whose appearance was blocked by unlabeled hGH, but bGH blocked cross-linking only to WT receptors. Both hGH and bGH stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of a 95-kDa protein in cells transfected with WT GHR, but bGH was less effective in cells expressing mutant GHR. We conclude that incompatibility of Arg43 in the hGHR with His171 in nonprimate GH is the major determinant of species specificity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Growth hormone stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1.

Growth hormone (GH) produces insulin-like effects in rat adipocytes that have been deprived of GH for at least 3 h. The effect of a saturating concentration of GH is qualitatively and quantitatively similar to that produced by 2-4 ng/ml insulin but differs from that of insulin in the respect that adipocytes become refractory to prolonged or repeated stimulation with GH. Since activation of tyrosine kinase is an early event in the action of both hormones, we investigated the possibility that GH stimulation of tyrosine phosphorylation of some protein in the insulin transduction cascade might result in the similar effect of the two hormones. Adipocytes were preincubated for 3 h in the absence of hormones and then reincubated without or with 500 ng/ml GH or 4-400 ng/ml insulin for 10 min. The cells were lysed with an equal volume of buffer containing 1% SDS and preheated to 100 degrees C. Proteins were separated by electrophoresis on 7.5% polyacrylamide gels and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes, and tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins were detected using anti-phosphotyrosine antiserum coupled to horseradish peroxidase and reagents to produce chemiluminescence. The faint band seen at 185 kDa in control lanes was increased by GH treatment in five independent experiments. Insulin produced a similar effect at a concentration of 4 ng/ml, and phosphorylation increased in a dose-related manner in cells treated with higher concentrations of insulin. A prominent approximately 95-kDa band that is probably not the beta subunit of the insulin receptor was also seen in GH-treated cells. The beta subunit of the insulin receptor has similar electrophoretic mobility to the 95-kDa protein, but was not phosphorylated to an extent that allowed detection when insulin was added at concentrations below 400 ng/ml. Phosphorylation of the 185- and 95-kDa bands was evident within 1 min after addition of GH, persisted for at least 30 min, and was equally prominent in sensitive and refractory cells. Antiserum to IRS-1 immunoprecipitated the tyrosine-phosphorylated 185-kDa protein. The data suggest that IRS-1 is a substrate for a GH-activated tyrosine kinase, possibly JAK-2, which may account for the insulin-like effects of GH. The data further suggest that refractoriness to insulin-like stimulation by GH may result from an additional GH-dependent action that is distinct from phosphorylation of IRS-1.

Adipocytes↗
PubMed1994

Growth hormone (GH) induces tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins in mouse L cells that express recombinant GH receptors.

Porcine and bovine GH receptor (GHR) cDNAs were stably expressed in mouse L cells, which normally do not possess detectable levels of mouse GHR. Expression of the GHR cDNAs resulted in specific binding of 125I-labeled GH by these cell lines. To study GHR-related signaling events in these cells, protein tyrosine phosphorylation was examined. In GH-treated cells, a tyrosine-phosphorylated protein with a molecular mass of approximately 95 kDa (pp95) was increased dramatically (approximately 100-fold) relative to non-GH-treated cells. The amount of pp95 within the cells after GH treatment was positively correlated with the number of GHRs on the cells. Tyrosine phosphorylation of pp95 could not be induced by prolactin, insulin, insulin-like growth factor I, interleukin 2, epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, or fibroblast growth factor. Phosphorylation of pp95 was found to be a rapid event that could be observed 60 sec after GH treatment. Also, pp95 appears to exist as a complex of two proteins, i.e., pp95 and pp96. The GH-induced response by these cells may be of use in screening GH analogs for biological activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Evaluation of the mutagenic potential of the antichagasic drug Rochagan in healthy and chagasic rodents.

Benznidazole (bz) is the active component of the antichagasic drug Rochagan. Tests were carried out to detect the induction of chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei in rodent bone marrow cells and peripheral blood cells, respectively. Rats were exposed to acute treatment with Rochagan by gavage at total doses of 150, 300, 1500, 2000 and 3000 mg bz/kg body weight and killed at different times. In the chronic treatments, healthy and chagasic Balb/c mice were treated with Rochagan by gavage at a dose of 100 mg bz/kg/day for 10 and 25 days. No significant increase in frequency of chromosomal aberrations in bone marrow cells or of micronuclei in peripheral blood cells was detected in the animals acutely or chronically exposed to Rochagan in vivo.

Acute Disease↗