Genomic analysis of a nutrient response in Arabidopsis reveals diverse expression patterns and novel metabolic and potential regulatory genes induced by nitrate.
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Microarray and RNA gel blot analyses were performed to identify Arabidopsis genes that responded to nitrate at both low (250 microM) and high (5 to 10 mM) nitrate concentrations. Genes involved directly or indirectly with nitrite reduction were the most highly induced by nitrate. Most of the known nitrate-regulated genes (including those encoding nitrate reductase, the nitrate transporter NRT1, and glutamate synthase) appeared in the 40 most strongly nitrate-induced genes/clones on at least one of the microarrays of the 5524 genes/clones investigated. Novel nitrate-induced genes were also found, including those encoding (1) possible regulatory proteins, including an MYB transcription factor, a calcium antiporter, and putative protein kinases; (2) metabolic enzymes, including transaldolase and transketolase of the nonoxidative pentose pathway, malate dehydrogenase, asparagine synthetase, and histidine decarboxylase; and (3) proteins with unknown functions, including nonsymbiotic hemoglobin, a senescence-associated protein, and two methyltransferases. The primary pattern of induction observed for many of these genes was a transient increase in mRNA at low nitrate concentrations and a sustained increase when treated with high nitrate concentrations. Other patterns of induction observed included transient inductions after both low and high nitrate treatments and sustained or increasing amounts of mRNA after either treatment. Two genes, AMT1;1 encoding an ammonium transporter and ANR1 encoding a MADS-box factor, were repressed by nitrate. These findings indicate that nitrate induces not just one but many diverse responses at the mRNA level in Arabidopsis. (+info)
Histidine decarboxylase expression in human melanoma.
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Histamine has been implicated as one of the mediators involved in regulation of proliferation in both normal and neoplastic tissues. Histidine decarboxylase, the only enzyme that catalyzes the formation of histamine from L-histidine, is an essential regulator of histamine levels. In this study, we investigated the gene and protein expression of histidine decarboxylase in melanoma. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization studies of WM-35, WM-983/B, HT-168, and M1 human melanoma cell lines both resulted in positive signals for histidine decarboxylase messenger RNA. A polyclonal chicken antibody was developed against human histidine decarboxylase and protein expression was confirmed by western blot analysis of the cell lysates, revealing a predominant immunoreactive band at approximately 54 kDa corresponding to monomeric histidine decarboxylase. Protein expression of histidine decarboxylase was also shown by flow cytometric analysis and strong punctate cytoplasmic staining of melanoma cell lines. Moreover, both primary and metastatic human melanoma tissues were brightly stained for histidine decarboxylase. When compared with the very weak or no reactions on cultivated human melanocytes both western blot and immunohistochemical studies showed much stronger histidine decarboxylase expression in melanoma cells. These findings suggest that expression of histidine decarboxylase is elevated in human melanoma. (+info)
Multiple sites of L-histidine decarboxylase expression in mouse suggest novel developmental functions for histamine.
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Histamine mediates many types of physiologic signals in multicellular organisms. To clarify the developmental role of histamine, we have examined the developmental expression of L-histidine decarboxylase (HDC) mRNA and the production of histamine during mouse development. The predominant expression of HDC in mouse development was seen in mast cells. The HDC expression was evident from embryonal day 13 (Ed13) until birth, and the mast cells were seen in most peripheral tissues. Several novel sites with a prominent HDC mRNA expression were revealed. In the brain, the choroid plexus showed HDC expression at Ed14 and the raphe neurons at Ed15. Close to the parturition, at Ed19, the neurons in the tuberomammillary (TM) area and the ventricular neuroepithelia also displayed a clear HDC mRNA expression and histamine immunoreactivity (HA-ir). From Ed14 until birth, the olfactory and nasopharyngeal epithelia showed an intense HDC mRNA expression and HA-ir. In the olfactory epithelia, the olfactory receptor neurons (ORN) were shown to have very prominent histamine immunoreactivity. The bipolar nerve cells in the epithelium extended both to the epithelial surface and into the subepithelial layers to be collected into thick nerve bundles extending caudally toward the olfactory bulbs. Also, in the nasopharynx, an extensive subepithelial network of histamine-immunoreactive nerve fibers were seen. Furthermore, in the peripheral tissues, the degenerating mesonephros (Ed14) and the convoluted tubules in the developing kidneys (Ed15) showed HDC expression, as did the prostate gland (Ed15). In adult mouse brain, the HDC expression resembled the neuronal pattern observed in rat brain. The expression was restricted to the TM area in the ventral hypothalamus, with the main expression in the five TM subgroups called E1-E5. A distinct mouse HDC mRNA expression was also seen in the ependymal wall of the third ventricle, which has not been reported in the rat. The tissue- and cell-specific expression patterns of HDC and histamine presented in this work indicate that histamine could have cell guidance or regulatory roles in development. (+info)
Biosynthesis of histamine and putrescine in mice during post-natal development and its hormone dependence.
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1. Histidine decarboxylase and ornithine decarboxylase activities were determined in mouse kidney and liver during post-natal development. 2. The content of histamine, putrescine, spermidine and spermine was examined in kidney and liver and in the urine of adult male and female mice. 3. Histamine formation by the kidney was high in both sexes when determined a few days after birth but decreased during weaning. Thereafter, a distinct sex difference was established in that in the female kidney the level of histidine decarboxylase rose several-fold during adolescence while in the male the level was still further reduced. 4. Putrescine formation by mouse kidney was low in both sexes up to three weeks of age whereafter the amine formation in the male increased conspicuously whereas that of the female kidney remained low. 5. The observed sex differences in tissue enzyme activities were reflected in concomitant differences in the amount of the diamines excreted in the urine. 6. No correlation was found between the actual enzyme levels and the assayed tissue content of histamine, putrescine, spermidine and spermine. 7. Following gonadectomy, the activities of both decarboxylases were significantly altered. Ornithine decarboxylase activity of male kidney and histidine decarboxylase activity of female kidney were strikingly reduced. 8. In the mouse liver, the two decarboxylases displayed no changes comparable with that of the kidney during development. (+info)
Suppression of melanoma cell proliferation by histidine decarboxylase specific antisense oligonucleotides.
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Histidine decarboxylase (HDC) is expressed by the cells of melanoma, in which the histamine content tends to be relatively high. This study shows that elevated expression of HDC was found by western blot analysis of primary and metastatic melanoma tissue using a polyclonal HDC specific antibody. The specificity of anti-HDC antibody was confirmed by inhibition of HDC translation (i.e., immunopositivity) in melanoma cells by HDC-specific antisense oligonucleotide. Moreover, the decrease in proliferation caused by HDC antisense oligonucleotides indicates considerable functional relevance of histamine synthesis in melanoma growth and suggests a possible in situ application of specific antisense oligonucleotides for HDC in melanoma therapy. (+info)
Histidine decarboxylase (HDC) synthesizes histamine from histidine in mammals. To evaluate the role of histamine, we generated HDC-deficient mice using a gene targeting method. The mice showed a histamine deficiency and lacked histamine-synthesizing activity from histidine. These HDC-deficient mice are viable and fertile but exhibit a decrease in the numbers of mast cells while the remaining mast cells show an altered morphology and reduced granular content. The amounts of mast cell granular proteases were tremendously reduced. The HDC-deficient mice provide a unique and promising model for studying the role of histamine in a broad range of normal and disease processes. (+info)
L-histidine decarboxylase decreases its own transcription through downregulation of ERK activity.
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A poorly defined negative feedback loop decreases transcription of the L-histidine decarboxylase (HDC) gene. To help understand this regulation, we have studied the effect of HDC protein expression on HDC gene transcription in transfected AGS-B cells. Expression of the rat HDC protein inhibited HDC promoter activity in a dose-dependent fashion. The region of the HDC promoter mediating this inhibitory effect corresponded to a previously defined gastrin and extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK)-1 response element. Overexpression of the HDC protein reduced nuclear factor binding in this region. Experiments employing specific histamine receptor agonists indicated that the inhibitory effect was not dependent on histamine production, and studies with the HDC inhibitor alpha-fluoromethylhistidine revealed that inhibition was unrelated to enzyme activity. Instead, an enzymatically inactive region at the amino terminal of the HDC enzyme (residues 1-271) was shown to mediate inhibition. Fluorescent chimeras containing this domain were not targeted to the nucleus, arguing against specific inhibition of the HDC transcription machinery. Instead, we found that overexpression of HDC protein decreased ERK protein levels and ERK activity and that the inhibitory effect of HDC protein could be overcome by overexpression of ERK1. These data suggest a novel feedback-inhibitory role for amino terminal sequences of the HDC protein. (+info)
Effects of histamine and interleukin-4 synthesized in arterial intima on phagocytosis by monocytes/macrophages in relation to atherosclerosis.
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We investigated the localization of histidine decarboxylase (HDC), which is the rate-limiting enzyme that generates histamine from histidine, in human aorta/coronary artery. RT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining revealed that the HDC gene was expressed in monocytes/macrophages and T cells in the arterial intima but not in smooth muscle cells in either the arterial intima or the media. A luciferase promoter assay with U937 and Jurkat cells demonstrated that interleukin-4 (IL-4) inhibited the expression of the HDC gene. In contrast, among a scavenger receptor family, IL-4 as well as histamine up-regulated U937 cells to express the LOX-1 gene but not the SR-A gene, which genes encode receptors that scavenge oxidized lipids. These findings suggest that histamine synthesized in the arterial wall participates in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and that IL-4 can act as an important inhibitory and/or stimulatory factor in the function of monocytes/macrophages modulated by histamine in relation to the process of atherosclerosis. (+info)