20-176 Sigma-Aldrich100X GTPγS, 10mM

Our recent discovery that testicular germ cells and epididymal sperm contain active P450 aromatase suggests that the reproductive tract may be a target for estrogen. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine if estrogen receptors (ER) are present in the avian epididymis using immunocytochemistry, northern blot analysis, and in situ hybridization. Immunoperoxidase staining for ER was found principally in nuclei of nonciliated epithelial cells of proximal and distal efferent ductules and the epididymis duct. The ciliated cells also appeared to be slightly positive in the efferent ductules. Week immunostaining was also observed in the connective tissue of the epididymis duct. Immunostaining was more intense in epithelial cells of the efferent ductules than in epithelial cells of the epididymal duct of connective tissue cells. Strong specific hybridization signals for ER mRNA corresponded to the same areas exhibiting immunocytochemical localization. The presence of ER mRNA in the epididymis was confirmed by northern blot analysis, which showed a single band corresponding to approximately 7.8 kb, similar to that found in chicken oviduct. Based on these data, we suggest that the efferent ducts of the rooster are a primary target for estrogen and that estrogen may have a role in the regulation of avian epididymal function.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or 4-hydroxy-2,3-trans-nonenal (HNE) treatment of rat vascular smooth muscle cells (A7r5) caused induction of aldose reductase mRNA. Induction was dose (10-100 microM H2O2, 1-10 microM HNE) and time dependent, reaching a maximum (three- to fourfold) after 7-12 h. Treatment of cells with actinomycin D confirmed de novo synthesis of aldose reductase mRNA. H2O2-induced expression was prevented by catalase but unaffected by Desferal, indicating that metal catalyzed degradation of peroxide was not involved. Induction of enzymatically active aldose reductase by H2O2 and HNE was confirmed using Western blotting and enzyme assays. Aldose reductase can metabolize several aldehyde compounds including HNE, a major toxic product of lipid peroxidation. Inclusion of Sorbinil, an aldose reductase inhibitor, in toxicity assays resulted in a significant (twofold) enhancement of HNE-mediated killing of A7r5 cells, suggesting a protective role of aldose reductase against HNE-induced cell death. These data indicate that the induction of aldose reductase during oxidative stress might represent an important cellular antioxidant defense mechanism.

Osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted, integrin-binding phosphoprotein that has been implicated in both normal and pathological processes; qualitative increases in OPN blood levels have been reported in a small number of patients with metastatic tumors of various kinds. We measured plasma OPN levels in 70 women with known metastatic breast carcinoma, 44 patient controls who were on follow-up after completion of adjuvant treatment for early breast cancer, and 35 normal volunteers. The median plasma OPN of patients with metastatic disease was 142 microgram/liter (range, 38-1312 microgram/liter) and was significantly different (P < 0.0001, Mann Whitney U test) from both control groups (medians, 60 and 47 microgram/liter; ranges, 15-117 and 22-122 microgram/liter). Furthermore, we found that increasing plasma OPN is associated with shorter survival (P < 0.001) when patients were grouped in terciles for plasma OPN. This was also demonstrated when using a Cox proportional hazards model. Median plasma OPN levels were significantly increased for three or more sites of involvement (median, 232 microgram/liter; n = 13) versus 1 or 2 metastatic sites (medians, 129 and 130 microgram/liter; n = 29 and 28, respectively). Plasma OPN levels were correlated with other biochemical markers related to the extent of disease, such as serum alkaline phosphatase, aspartate succinate aminotransaminase, and albumin (r = 0.81, 0.62, and -0.56, respectively; all P < 0.001). This study demonstrates a statistically significant elevation in plasma OPN in the majority ( approximately 70%) of a large series of patients with metastatic breast cancer when compared (95th percentile) to healthy women or patients who had completed adjuvant treatment for early-stage breast cancer. Furthermore, this is the first study to demonstrate that higher OPN levels in patients with metastatic breast cancer may be associated with an increased number of involved sites and decreased survival.

Limonene is a farnesyl transferase inhibitor that has shown antitumor properties. The drug had been given orally to cancer patients. Plasma and urine samples collected from the patients were examined by reversed-phase HPLC-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and electrospray ionization MS. The drug underwent rapid conversion to hydroxylated and carboxylated derivatives. Characterization and structural elucidation of the metabolites were achieved by LC/MS and NMR. Five major metabolites were detected in the plasma extracts, namely limonene-1,2-diol, limonene-8,9-diol, perillic acid, an isomer of perillic acid, and dihydroperillic acid. Urinary metabolites comprised the glucuronides of the two isomers of perillic acid, dihydroperillic acid, limonene-8,9-diol, and a monohydroxylated limonene.

We evaluated the analytical characteristics and clinical usefulness of a commercially available IRMA kit for measuring plasma concentrations of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in healthy subjects and in patients with heart failure. The method uses two monoclonal antibodies prepared against sterically remote epitopes of the ANP molecule; the first antibody is coated on the solid-phase beads, and the second is radiolabeled with 125I. Fifty-nine healthy subjects and 77 patients with heart failure were studied. After subjects had rested 20 min in a recumbent position, blood samples were collected from a brachial vein into ice-chilled disposable polypropylene tubes containing aprotinin and EDTA. Plasma samples were immediately separated by centrifugation and stored at -20 degrees C until assay. The working range (CV <15%) was 10-2000 ng/L. The detection limit (2.13 +/- 0.91 ng/L) was similar to those reported for other IRMAs but was much better than those of RIAs. For healthy subjects, the results of this method (18.0 +/- 10.6 ng/L, range 4.7-63 ng/L, median 16.7 ng/L, n = 59) were similar to those generally reported for the most accurate methods, i.e., those using preliminary extraction and chromatographic purification of plasma samples. Measured plasma ANP was significantly associated with the severity of clinical symptoms, i.e., NYHA class (ANOVA, P <0.0001), and with the left ventricular ejection fraction (n = 62, r = 0.618, P <0.0001). Patients with severe heart failure showed greatly increased values (NYHA III-IV: 257.4 +/- 196.6 ng/L, n = 23).

Proteases are known to be involved in regulation of macrophage activation and killing. We examined the effect of a serine protease inhibitor, 4-(2-aminoethyl)-benzenesulfonyl fluoride (AEBSF), on lysis of leukemic cells by human macrophages. Monocytes, isolated by Histopaque gradients and centrifugal elutriation, were cultured for 5 days in RPMI-1640 medium with 5% AB serum, and then activated with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma; 100 U/mL) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 ng/mL), with or without AEBSF, for 2 days. On day 7, macrophages were washed, fresh medium without AEBSF added, and target cells added for 2 days. Lytic activity against two leukemic cell lines (K562 and HL-60) was assessed by an 111indium-releasing assay. Macrophages treated with IFN-gamma + LPS lysed K562 and HL-60 cells. AEBSF (50-150 microM) blocked the killing of these leukemic cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Other protease inhibitors were not effective. AEBSF was nontoxic at the concentrations used, and did not inhibit tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) secretion from the macrophages. The lytic activity against leukemic cells was inhibited by anti-TNF-alpha antibody, but not by anti-IL-1 beta, nor by superoxide dismutase or catalase. However, the leukemic cells were resistant to being killed by recombinant TNF-alpha alone in the absence of macrophages, indicating that TNF-alpha was required for killing, but that other factors that were inhibited by AEBSF were also required. Serum-free culture supernatant of activated macrophages had significant cytotoxic activity against leukemic cells. This cytotoxic activity was not altered by addition of AEBSF to the culture supernatant, suggesting that AEBSF affected macrophage activation, rather than inhibiting cytotoxic proteases secreted by the macrophages, or affecting the target cells themselves. Thus, a protease, which is susceptible to AEBSF, might be involved in the activation of macrophages, and might regulate the secretion of antitumor effector molecules other than TNF-alpha.

An enzyme-spectrophotometric method to determine citrate in biological fluids is proposed, based on citrate lyase-catalyzed and phenylhydrazine reactions. The enzyme converts citrate into oxaloacetate, which, in the presence of phenylhydrazine, is transformed into the corresponding phenylhydrazone. The ultraviolet-absorbing product is determined by absorbance measurement at 330 nm. The method is more precise and twice as sensitive as the traditional citrate lyase method and, because it does not require the use of additional enzymes and coenzymes, is cheaper and simpler. Mean analytical recovery of citrate averaged 100.7% +/- 2.2%, imprecision (CV) of the assay for citrate at 0.96 mmol/L (urine) was 2.0%, and the lower limit of quantification was 0.08 mmol/L. Results correlated well with those by both ion-chromatographic and traditional citrate lyase methods.

We have developed a new procedure for purifying prostate-specific antigen (PSA) from human seminal fluid. The method is based on ammonium sulfate precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, gel filtration, and anion-exchange chromatography. It can be completed within 2 days with a recovery of intact PSA of 30%. By anion-exchange chromatography, five isoforms of PSA (A, B, C, D, and E) can be separated. The major form (PSA-B) consists of the intact enzyme, as shown by the occurrence of only one band of 33 kDa in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing or nonreducing conditions, and by amino acid sequencing, which reveals only one amino-terminal sequence corresponding to the reported amino-terminal sequence of intact PSA. The specific absorbance of 1 g/L PSA-B at 280 nm was 1.61, and 80% of the PSA-B formed a complex with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin, indicating that it is enzymatically active. Three cleaved forms of PSA with different nicking sites and low enzymatic activity were separated from intact PSA by ion-exchange chromatography. In addition, we isolated a glycosylation variant, PSA-A, which showed a higher isoelectric point (pI = 7.2) than PSA-B (pI = 6.9) but similar enzymatic activity; this form accounts for 5-10% of total PSA. After treatment with sialidase, PSA-A and B had the same isoelectric point value (pI = 7.7).

In a previous study we have shown that granulocytes enhance lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tissue factor (TF) activity in monocytes in a platelet-dependent reaction. The present investigation was undertaken to examine the role of a platelet activation product, platelet factor 4 (PF4), in LPS-induced TF activity in monocytes. Platelet lysate supernatant, purified PF4, and the COOH-terminal tridecapeptide of PF4, termed PF4(58-70), enhanced LPS-induced TF activity in monocytes of whole blood dose dependently. A monoclonal antibody against P-selectin eliminated the enhancing effect of PF4(58-70) on LPS-induced TF activity in monocytes, and PF4(58-70) was shown to act synergistically with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). However, PF4(58-70) did not enhance TNF-alpha secretion in LPS-stimulated whole blood. The major effect of PF4(58-70) was granulocyte dependent. Our results suggest that PF4 might play an important role in LPS-stimulated monocyte TF activity of whole blood.

Ethanol has been reported to interact with numerous voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels in central mammalian neurons. In particular, the type A gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptor/chloride ionophore complex has received considerable attention as a cellular substrate for ethanol and other sedative-hypnotic drugs. Direct electrophysiological evidence that ethanol modulates GABAA receptor function has been controversial. In this study, we investigated the effects of ethanol on the GABAA receptors that mediate fast inhibitory synaptic transmission in the rat hippocampus. Using the whole-cell patch-clamp recording technique in brain slices, we found that clinically relevant concentrations of ethanol (10-50 mM) potentiate pharmacologically isolated GABAA-mediated inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) recorded from rat hippocampal CA1 neurons. In addition, we demonstrate that ethanol- but not diazepam-mediated enhancement of GABAA IPSCs requires intracellular ATP and can be blocked by Ro-31-8220 or PKC19-31, specific inhibitors of protein kinase C. Furthermore, the active phorbol ester 4-beta-PDBu but not its inactive analog also interferes with ethanol enhancement of GABAA IPSCs. These results demonstrate that ethanol potentiation of pharmacologically isolated GABAA IPSCs can be modulated by protein kinase C.