Glucose regulates protein catabolism in ras-transformed fibroblasts through a lysosomal-dependent proteolytic pathway.
(1/106)
Transformed cells are exposed to heterogeneous microenvironments, including low D-glucose (Glc) concentrations inside tumours. The regulation of protein turnover is commonly impaired in many types of transformed cells, but the role of Glc in this regulation is unknown. In the present study we demonstrate that Glc controls protein turnover in ras-transformed fibroblasts (KBALB). The regulation by Glc of protein breakdown was correlated with modifications in the levels of lysosomal cathepsins B, L and D, while autophagic sequestration and non-lysosomal proteolytic systems (m- and mu-calpains and the zeta-subunit of the proteasome) remained unaffected. Lactacystin, a selective inhibitor of the proteasome, depressed proteolysis, but did not prevent its regulation by Glc. The sole inhibition of the cysteine endopeptidases (cathepsins B and L, and calpains) by E-64d [(2S,3S)-trans-epoxysuccinyl-L-leucylamido-3-methylbutane ethyl ester] was also not sufficient to alter the effect of Glc on proteolysis. The Glc-dependent increase in proteolysis was, however, prevented after optimal inhibition of lysosomal cysteine and aspartic endopeptidases by methylamine. We conclude that, in transformed cells, Glc plays a critical role in the regulation of protein turnover and that the lysosomal proteolytic capacity is mainly responsible for the control of intracellular proteolysis by Glc. (+info)
Thyroid cell transformation requires the expression of the HMGA1 proteins.
(2/106)
Elevated expression of HMGA1 and HMGA2 proteins is correlated with a highly malignant phenotype in several human tumors. We previously demonstrated that the block of HMGA2 protein synthesis prevented rat thyroid cell transformation by murine retroviruses. Suppression of HMGA2 synthesis was associated with lack of induction of HMGA1 proteins suggesting that both HMGA1 and HMGA2 play a role in the process of neoplastic transformation. To determine the role of the HMGA1 gene in thyroid cell transformation, we blocked HMGA1 protein synthesis by an antisense methodology. Here we report that transfection of an HMGA1 cDNA antisense construct into a normal rat thyroid cell line (FRTL-5 Cl2), followed by infection with Kirsten murine sarcoma virus (KiMSV), generated a transformed cell line that expresses high levels of the v-ras-Ki oncogene and that does not require thyroid-stimulating hormones for growth. However, this cell line does not show the malignant phenotype, i.e., it neither grows in soft agar nor induces tumors after injection in athymic mice. Moreover, the lack of the neoplastic phenotype in the virus-infected thyroid cells carrying the HMGA1 antisense construct correlates with the absence of induction of AP-1 transcriptional activity. (+info)
Oncogenic ras induces an inhibitor of double-stranded RNA-dependent eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha-kinase activation.
(3/106)
The interferon-inducible 68-kDa dsRNA-dependent eIF2 alpha-kinase (dsI) is a potent cellular antiviral enzyme which is activated by autophosphorylation in response to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Activated dsI has also been implicated as a second messenger for gene induction by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and interferon (IFN). We have shown previously that introduction of a transforming ras gene into BALB/c-3T3 fibroblasts blocks induction of responsive genes by PDGF and IFN. We therefore investigated the effect of transforming ras genes on dsI activity in these cells. We report here that dsRNA-mediated activation of dsI is blocked in v-ras-containing cells in a manner specific to ras and not attributable to the transformed phenotype since: 1) a dexamethasone-inducible v-Ha-ras gene produced the effect within 18 h of induction; 2) morphologic reversion of ras-transformed cells with cAMP or the Krev-1 gene restored potential for dsI activation; and 3) transformation by v-mos or v-abl had no effect on dsI activation. Latent dsI levels were unaffected by v-ras. A heat-sensitive dsI inhibitory activity could be demonstrated in v-ras-containing cells which functioned in trans when mixed with untransformed cell extracts prior to stimulation with dsRNA. The inhibitory activity, which was destroyed by phenol-chloroform extraction, did not bind dsRNA. (+info)
Reversal of divergent differentiation by ras oncogene-mediated transformation.
(4/106)
In embryogenesis, ovarian surface epithelial cells and ovarian granulosa cells arise through divergent differentiation from a common mesenchymal precursor, the urogenital ridge. In the adult rat, ovarian surface epithelial cells are nonsteroidogenic and keratin positive, while ovarian granulosa cells are steroidogenic and keratin negative. In culture, Kirsten murine sarcoma virus-transformed, tumorigenic ovarian surface epithelial cells continued to express keratin but also became steroidogenic. Transformed ovarian granulosa cells remained steroidogenic but also acquired keratins. Mesodermally derived cells from other sources did not show these differentiation-related changes in response to transformation. The results suggest that v-ras oncogenes may cause the reversion of adult, developmentally related cells to the phenotype of a common, multipotential precursor. They also demonstrate the capacity of v-ras to either induce or reduce the same differentiated characteristic, depending on the developmental history of the target cells. (+info)
Differential processing of osteopontin transcripts in rat kidney- and osteoblast-derived cell lines.
(5/106)
Using immunoprecipitation and tryptic peptide microsequencing we confirmed the identity of normal rat kidney (NRK) cell-secreted 69-kDa major phosphoprotein as osteopontin (OP). We then immunoselected a 1.4-kilobase pair (kb) OP cDNA from a lambda gt11 library prepared from Kirsten sarcoma virus-transformed NRK (KNRK) cellular mRNA, using rabbit anti-69-kDa OP serum. Sequence analysis of this cDNA revealed the presence of a 52-nucleotide-long insert in the 5'-noncoding region, which was absent in OP cDNA cloned from the cDNA library of ROS 17/2.8 rat osteosarcoma cells. The insert sequence is flanked by putative intron splice junctions and is located 15-nucleotide upstream of the translational initiation site. An insert-specific 30-mer oligonucleotide probe hybridized to a single 1.5-kb RNA species from both NRK and KNRK cells, but not from ROS 17/2.8 cells. However, Southern analysis showed the presence of this insert sequence in the genomic DNA of both NRK and ROS 17/2.8 cells. Furthermore, PCR amplification of the insert-containing region using genomic DNAs from both NRK and ROS 17/2.8 cells gave products of identical size and sequence. Since OP is a single copy gene, these data provide strong evidence for differential cell type-specific processing of OP transcripts. In addition, we demonstrate that, in contrast to most transformed cells, levels of OP expression are significantly reduced in KNRK cells as compared to NRK cells. (+info)
Senescence as a mode of tumor suppression.
(6/106)
Two independent lines of experimental evidence are presented in support of the hypothesis that senescence is a normal mechanism of tumor suppression, a homeostatic device designed through evolution to limit cell proliferation irreversibly and thereby to protect the organism against cancer. One set of experiments uses normal human foreskin fibroblasts, transfected at early passage with SV40 DNA and subsequently infected with the K-ras virus. If the cells are immortal prior to infection, they become tumorigenic and make large tumors in nude mice, whereas if they are not immortal, though expressing SV40 T-antigen, they make tiny tumors that senesce in the test mouse after as many doublings as similar cells make in culture. This result demonstrates that immortalization is essential for progressive tumor growth in vivo. The second set of experiments demonstrate that normal human mammary epithelial cells can be immortalized by transfection with viral DNA from human papilloma virus 16 or 18, although these viruses have not been associated with breast cancer. The effective immortalization and other premalignant changes induced by human papilloma virus transfection are accompanied by chromosome changes that may contribute to the partially transformed phenotypes. None of the cloned or pooled transfectants have been tumorigenic in the nude mouse assay. Here, too, immortalization is experimentally separable from tumor-forming ability. (+info)
Identification and molecular cloning of a novel mouse mucosal mast cell serine protease.
(7/106)
A novel 28,000 Mr serine protease, designated mouse mast cell protease-2 (MMCP-2), that is stored in the secretory granules of Kirsten sarcoma virus-immortalized mouse mast cells (KiSV-MC) has been identified and its NH2-terminal amino acid sequence has been determined. Analysis of a 953-base pair cDNA that encodes MMCP-2 revealed that this serine protease is a basically charged protein, possessing the histidine-aspartic acid-serine charge relay system that is characteristic of other serine proteases. DNA blot analysis using the full-length MMCP-2 cDNA indicated the existence of a family of highly related serine protease genes in the mouse genome. When the same DNA blot was probed with the 149-base pair KpnI----3' fragment of the cDNA, the probe hybridized to a single DNA fragment, thereby demonstrating that this 3' fragment could be used as a gene-specific probe. The presence of high levels of the MMCP-2 mRNA transcript in the intestines of nematode-infected mice, and its absence in mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells and peritoneal cavity-derived connective tissue mast cells, suggest that this member of the mouse mast cell protease family is preferentially expressed late in the differentiation of mucosal mast cells. (+info)
Alkalinization of the lysosomes is correlated with ras transformation of murine and human fibroblasts.
(8/106)
The pH of the intralysosomal compartment of fibroblasts in culture was monitored by measuring the fluorescence emission intensity at 530 nm of fluid phase pinocytosed fluorescein-conjugated dextrans (FITC-dextrans) excited at 488 and 457 nm. Following the procedure of Ohkuma and Poole (Ohkuma, S., and Poole, B. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. (1978) 75, 3327-3331), a relationship was established between the fluorescence emission intensity of the FITC-dextrans and pH. This correlation was used to determine the intralysosomal apparent pH (pHapp) of a series of fibroblast cultures. The mean intralysosomal pHapp values of nontransformed mouse 3T3 fibroblasts and an infinite life-span human fibroblast cell strain, designated MSU-1.1, was 5.0. In distinction that of 3T3 fibroblasts transformed to the malignant state by Kirsten murine sarcoma virus and MSU-1.1 cells transformed by transfection of the v-Ki-ras or T24 H-ras oncogene was 6.1. These measurements suggest that ras transformation results in a significant perturbation of lysosomal pH. (+info)