Liver adenine nucleotides: fructose-induced depletion and its effect on protein synthesis.

Intravenous administration of D-fructose to rats rapidly depletes liver adenosine triphosphate and inorganic phosphate; marked elevations of uric acid and allantoin in plasma follow. Concomitantly the incorporation of DL-leucine-1-(14)C into liver protein is almost completely inhibited.

Lesch-Nyhan syndrome: preventive control by prenatal diagnosis.

The Lesch-Nyhan syndrome was detected in a fetus at a time sufficiently early to allow termination of the pregnancy. The feasibility of a preventive program for control of a severe sex-linked neurological disease through prenatal diagnosis is thus demonstrated.

Studies on the defect underlying the lysosomal storage of sialic acid in Salla disease. Lysosomal accumulation of sialic acid formed from N-acetyl-mannosamine or derived from low density lipoprotein in cultured mutant fibroblasts.

Salla disease is a lysosomal storage disorder characterized by mental retardation and disturbed sialic acid metabolism. To study endogenous synthesis and breakdown of sialic acid, fibroblasts were incubated for 5 d in the presence and then in the absence of N-[3H]acetylmannosamine. Labeling of free sialic acid was 5-10 times higher in mutant than in normal cells. Radioactivity decreased in 4 d by 75% in normal but only by 30% in mutant fibroblasts. The labeling pattern was not normalized upon coculture of mutant and normal cells. To study the metabolism of extracellular sialic acid, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) was labeled in the sialic acid moiety (periodate-NaB3H4) or in the protein moiety (125I). Binding, internalization, lysosomal degradation, and exit of products of protein catabolism were similar in normal and mutant fibroblasts. Upon incubation with LDL labeled in the sialic acid moiety, mutant cells accumulated 2-3 times more free sialic acid radioactivity than normal fibroblasts, mostly in the lysosomal fraction. After a 24-h chase incubation, radioactivity in free sialic acid decreased by 70-80% in normal but only by 10-30% in mutant cells. In mutant fibroblasts, 40% of the radioactivity remained in lysosomes, whereas no labeled free sialic acid was detected in lysosomes from normal fibroblasts. We conclude that in Salla disease, fibroblast endogenous synthesis of sialic acid and lysosomal cleavage of exogenous glycoconjugates is normal, but free sialic acid cannot leave the lysosome. These findings suggest that the basic defect in Salla disease is deficient transport of free sialic acid through the lysosomal membrane.

Variant human phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase altered in regulatory and catalytic functions.

An inherited, structurally abnormal and superactive form of the enzyme 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate (PP-ribose-P) synthetase (EC 2.7.6.1) has been characterized in fibroblasts cultured from a 14-yr-old male (S.M.) with clinical manifestations of uric acid overproduction present since infancy. PP-ribose-P synthetase from the cells of this child showed four- to fivefold greater than normal resistance to purine nucleotide (ADP and GDP) feedback inhibition of enzyme activity and hyperbolic rather than sigmoidal inorganic phosphate (Pi) activation in incompletely dialyzed extracts. Excessive maximal velocity of the enzyme reaction catalyzed by the mutant enzyme was indicated by: enzyme activities twice those of normal at all concentrations of Pi in chromatographed fibroblast extracts; normal affinity constants for substrates and for the activator, Mg2+; and twofold greater than normal activity per immunoreactive enzyme molecule. The mutant enzyme thus possessed deficient regulatory and superactive catalytic properties, two mechanisms previously demonstrated individually to underlie the excessive PPRribose-P and uric acid synthesis of affected members of families with superactive PP-ribose-P synthetases. Increased PP-ribose-P concentration (4-fold) and generation (2.7-fold) and enhanced rates of PP-ribose-P dependent purine synthetic reactions, including purine synthesis de novo, in S.M. fibroblasts confirmed the functional significance of this patient's mutant enzyme. Diminished stability of the variant PP-ribose-P synthetase was manifested in vitro by increased thermal lability and in vivo by deficiency of enzyme activity at Pi concentrations greater than 0.3 mM in hemolysates and by an accelerated, age-related decrement in enzyme activity in lysates of erythrocytes separated by specific density. Despite the diminished amount of PP-ribose-P synthetase in the S.M. erythrocyte population, S.M. erythrocytes had increased PP-ribose-P concentration and increased rates of incorporation of [14C]adenine and hypoxanthine into acid-soluble nucleotides during incubation at 1 mM Pi. These findings provided further confirmation of the extent to which PP-ribose-P synthesis is modulated in the normal cell at physiological Pi concentration by purine nucleotide inhibition of PP-ribose-P synthetase. The activity and kinetic characteristics of PP-ribose-P synthetase from fibroblasts of the mother of patient S.M. indicated that this woman was a heterozygous carrier of the enzyme defect expressed in hemizygous manner by her son.

The phosphogluconate pathway and synthesis of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate in human fibroblasts.

The phosphogluconate pathway (pentose phosphate cycle) of normal fibroblasts was stimulated 20-fold by methylene blue and inhibited to 14% of the baseline rate by 6-aminonicotinamide. In fibroblasts deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity (an average of 1.5% of normal mean), the pentose phosphate cycle was unaffected by either methylene blue or 6-aminonicotinamide. In normal cells, neither the intracellular concentration nor the rate of generation of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate was altered by the marked and opposite changes in the rate of the phosphogluconate pathway caused by methylene blue and 6-aminonicotinamide. Intracellular ribose 5-phosphate concentration was increase by methylene blue (an average increase of 83%) but not significantly altered by 6-aminonicotinamide. In fibroblasts deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, the 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate concentration and rate of generation were higher rather than lower in comparison to normal cells under all conditions studied. The data suggest a predominant role for the nonoxidative branch of the phosphogluconate pathway in supplying ribose 5-phosphate for nucleotide biosynthesis. Pentose phosphate supply cannot be considered an essential function of the oxidative branch in fibroblasts.

Regulation of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthesis in human fibroblasts by the concentration of inorganic phosphate.

During the growth cycle of normal fibroblasts and of fibroblasts deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, the concentration of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate and of Pi, as well as the activity of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthetase, decreased to stable values in confluent cultures. A high degree of correlation (0.89 and 0.91 for two normal and 0.69 for one glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient cell strain, respectively) was shown between intracellular Pi, and 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate concentrations under varying culture and incubation conditions. 5-Phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate concentrations were elevated in normal fibroblasts incubated with methylene blue only if intracellular Pi levels were high. Neither methylene blue nor 6-aminonicotinamide, singly, affected intracellular Pi concentrations. However, when normal cells were pretreated with 6-aminonicotinamide and then with methylene blue, intracellular Pi decreased, 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate was depleted, and its rate of generation decreased. Under similar conditions, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient fibroblasts maintained unaltered Pi levels, and 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate concentration and generation were slightly increased. The decrease in intracellular Pi in normal cells after the combined treatment was commensurate with an accumulation of 6-phosphogluconate, which did not take place in mutant cells. The changes in 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthesis, whether due to the stage of growth or various experimental manipulations, were always concordant with changes in intracellular Pi level. The regulatory role of Pi is consistent with the known enzymic properties of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthetase.

Mechanisms of adenine nucleotide depletion from endothelial cells exposed to reactive oxygen metabolites.

When human umbilical vein endothelial cells were prelabeled with [14C]-adenine and then exposed to xanthine oxidase (40 mU/ml) and hypoxanthine (100 microM) for 4 h, cellular adenine nucleotides were depleted (18 +/- 3% of total radioactivity vs. 61 +/- 10% in controls), nucleotides appeared in the culture medium (8 +/- 3% vs. 4 +/- 3%) together with the catabolic products inosine, hypoxanthine, and uric acid (74 +/- 4% vs. 35 +/- 11%). In the presence of H2O2 (100 microM) for 30 min, cellular nucleotides were depleted (46 +/- 25%) and catabolic products appeared in the medium (40 +/- 26%), but radioactive nucleotides in the medium were unaltered. In the presence of an inhibitor of ecto-5'-nucleotidase [alpha, beta-methylene-adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP), 0.5 mM], exposure to xanthine oxidase and hypoxanthine resulted in the appearance of three times more nucleotides in the culture medium than in the absence of the inhibitor, but there was no change in medium nucleotides after H2O2 exposure. In the presence of an inhibitor of adenosine deaminase (2-deoxycoformycin, 2 microM), both exposures caused an accumulation of adenosine in the medium, calculated to represent a minimum of 25% of nucleotide catabolism. We conclude that exposure to both a superoxide-generating system (hypoxanthine plus xanthine oxidase) and H2O2 induce catabolism of adenine nucleotides, which mainly takes place through adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) deaminase. However, superoxide but not H2O2 also causes membrane damage and leakage of nucleotides into the medium.

Irreversible conversion of xanthine dehydrogenase into xanthine oxidase by a mitochondrial protease.

Irreversible conversion of xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) to its oxygen free radical producing oxidase (XO) form occurs through an uncharacterized proteolytic process, which was studied in human liver. Upon incubation of fresh unfrozen liver cytosol, XDH remained intact. When recombinant human XDH was coincubated with subcellular fractions of human liver, the mitochondrial intermembrane space was shown to contain a heat-labile activity that converted XDH irreversibly to XO. This activity is resistant to inhibitors of all major groups of proteases. We postulate that this novel type of proteolytic enzyme is released into the cytosol upon mitochondrial damage.

Nuclear factor Y activates the human xanthine oxidoreductase gene promoter.

To study the regulation of the human xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) gene, we cloned 1.9 kb of the promoter region. In reporter gene assays, a construct encompassing nucleotides between 142 to +42 conferred maximal basal activity of the XOR promoter in 293T cells, in comparison with shorter (-92 to +42) or longer (up to -1937 to +42) constructs. The promoter activity was low in NIH-3T3 cells. The most active construct contained a putative CCAAT motif at -119 to -123. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that this sequence binds the ubiquitous nuclear factor Y (NF-Y). Mutation of the CCAAT motif (CTGAT) abolished the NF-Y binding and considerably reduced the promoter activity. Our data suggest an important functional role for NF-Y in the transcriptional activation of the human XOR gene.

Cytotoxicity of oxidants and asbestos fibers in cultured human mesothelial cells.

The authors investigated the mechanisms caused by oxidants (superoxide and hydrogen peroxide) and asbestos (amosite) fibers in human mesothelial cells. Immortalized human pleural mesothelial cells (MET 5A) were exposed in vitro to one of the following: hypoxanthine (100-200 microM) plus xanthine oxidase (10-20 mU/ml) as a superoxide-generating system, H2O2 (50 microM-5 mM); or amosite (1-100 micrograms/cm2). Cellular adenine nucleotide depletion, DNA single strand breaks, extracellular release of nucleotides, and their catabolites and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were assessed as markers of cell damage after 4-6 h exposure to the oxidants or fibers. The effect of intracellular antioxidant enzymes and exogenous antioxidants on cell damage were investigated during oxidant and amosite exposure. Superoxide radical and H2O2 exposure resulted in the depletion of adenine nucleotides, accumulation of the products of nucleotide catabolism, induction of DNA single strand breaks, and extracellular LDH release. Amosite exposure did not cause nucleotide depletion or induction of DNA single strand breaks. Inactivation of the intracellular antioxidant enzymes glutathione reductase or catalase augmented cell damage during H2O2 exposure but not during amosite exposure.

Neutrophil and asbestos fiber-induced cytotoxicity in cultured human mesothelial and bronchial epithelial cells.

This study investigates reactive oxygen species generation and oxidant-related cytotoxicity induced by amosite asbestos fibers and polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) in human mesothelial cells and human bronchial epithelial cells in vitro. Transformed human pleural mesothelial cells (MET 5A) and bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS 2B) were treated with amosite (2 micrograms/cm2) for 48 h. After 24 h of incubation, the cells were exposed for 1 h to nonactivated or amosite (50 micrograms) activated PMNs, washed, and incubated for another 23 h. Reactive oxygen species generation by the PMNs and the target cells was measured by chemiluminescence. Cell injury was assessed by cellular adenine nucleotide depletion, extracellular release of nucleotides, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Amosite-activated (but also to a lesser degree nonactivated) PMNs released substantial amounts of reactive oxygen metabolites, whereas the chemiluminescence of amosite-exposed mesothelial cells and epithelial cells did not differ from the background. Amosite treatment (48 h) of the target cells did not change intracellular adenine nucleotides (ATP, ADP, AMP) or nucleotide catabolite products (xanthine, hypoxanthine, and uric acid). When the target cells were exposed to nonactivated PMNs, significant adenine nucleotide depletion and nucleotide catabolite accumulation was observed in mesothelial cells only. In separate experiments, when the target cells were exposed to amosite-activated PMNs, the target cell injury was further potentiated compared with the amosite treatment alone or exposure to nonactivated PMNs. In conclusion, this study suggests the importance of inflammatory cell-derived free radicals in the development of amosite-induced mesothelial cell injury.

DNA single strand breaks and adenine nucleotide depletion as indices of oxidant effects on human lung cells.

The comet assay (single cell gel electrophoresis) is a novel method to assess DNA strand breaks in single cells. We studied the oxidant sensitivity of cultured primary and transformed (MeT-5A) human pleural mesothelial cells, as well as primary and transformed (BEAS 2B) human bronchial epithelial cells, and compared the results obtained with the Comet assay to other markers of oxidant effects on cells, such as depletion of intracellular high-energy nucleotides (ATP, ADP, AMP), accumulation of products of nucleotide catabolism (xanthine, hypoxanthine, uric acid), and release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The cells were exposed for 5 min to 4 h to 50-500 microM H2O2 or to 5-50 microM menadione. Significant tail moment increase, which is a marker of DNA strand breaks in the Comet assay, and intracellular nucleotide depletion occurred simultaneously in MeT-5A and BEAS 2B cells during the first 30-60 min of exposure to H2O2 and menadione. In the Comet assay variation between the individual cells could be detected. LDH release, a marker of cell injury, showed that mesothelial cells were far more sensitive than epithelial cells to oxidant-induced lytic cell injury. MeT-5A and BEAS 2B cells contained similar intracellular antioxidant enzyme activities, which may explain their similar oxidant sensitivity in the Comet assay. A significant increase (164%) in the tail moment was detectable in MeT-5A cells exposed to 50 microM H2O2 for 30 min. This returned to control level during the 4 h of continuing exposure. A 30 min exposure of 25 microM menadione caused a 61% increase in the mean tail moment but, unlike with H2O2, the change was irreversible during the following 4 h incubation. We conclude that human pleural mesothelial cells and bronchial epithelial cells show similar oxidant sensitivity when assessed by the Comet assay, but various oxidants differ in their potency in causing DNA breaks in these cells.

"Salla disease": a new lysosomal storage disorder.

Severe mental retardation, coarse facial features, clumsiness, and speech failure were common findings in three brothers and one female third-cousin of a family from northern Finland. All the patients had vacuolated lymphocytes in peripheral blood smears, and electron microscopy of fresh skin biopsy specimens showed abundant cytoplasmic inclusions in various types of cells of the skin. Eight lysosomal hydrolases were assayed in peripheral blood lymphocytes and cultured skin fibroblasts, but no enzyme deficiency was detected. Urinary excretion of mucopolysaccharides, amino acids, glycoasparagines, and oligosaccharides was normal. Clinical findings, course of the disease, and the presence of cytoplasmic inclusions, indicating lysosomal storage phenomenon, suggest that the patients suffer from a genetic lysosomal storage disorder not described earlier. The eponym "Salla disease" was introduced, referring to the geographically restricted area where the family resides.

Salla disease: a new lysosomal storage disorder with disturbed sialic acid metabolism.

Salla disease is a lysosomal storage disorder associated with increased urinary excretion of free sialic acid. The main clinical features in 34 patients were severe psychomotor retardation of early onset, ataxia, athetosis, rigidity, spasticity, and impaired speech. Growth retardation, thick calvarium, and exotropia were present in about half the patients. The amplitude of EEG decreased progressively with increasing age. Life span appears to be normal; the age range of the patients was 3 to 63 years. Genealogic studies suggest an autosomal mode of inheritance. A thin-layer method is described for the detection of increased urinary free sialic acid excretion. The basic defect is so far unknown.

[3H]-adenine metabolism and radiation damage during in vitro development of the kidney.

We followed the early post-induction changes in nucleic acid synthesis of the metanephric kidney anlage in vitro. Enhanced incorporation of [3H]-thymidine and [3H]-adenine was detected, but several factors were shown to influence the interpretation of such in vitro experiments. The incorporation is dependent not only on the stage of development of the target organ but also on its transfer to organ culture, as early rudiments require an "adaptive" pre-cultivation to stabilize their metabolism; at more advanced stages growth and DNA synthesis proceed without delay. Another potential artifact is radiation damage which is caused by the incorporated radioisotope and can be detected in prolonged cultures. A [3H]-adenine pulse of more than 1 microCi/ml for 2 hr leads to definite growth retardation, and a 10-microCi/ml pulse causes extensive cell death and atrophy on a 4- to 6-day subculture. The radiation damage is dose-dependent and of variable severity in the different cell lineages within the organ. Since the radioisotope doses were in the range of those commonly used for monitoring cell proliferation and metabolism, we stress the risk of obtaining artifactual results, especially in prolonged cultures after pulse-labeling.

Similarities between TNF and exogenous oxidants on the cytotoxic response of c-Myc-expressing fibroblasts in vitro.

Normal fibroblasts are resistant to the cytotoxic activity of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, but are rendered TNF-sensitive upon oncogenic expression of c-Myc. Free radical generation has been implicated in non-cytotoxic TNF-signaling but also as a mediator of TNF-induced cell death. In this study we used Rat1 fibroblasts containing a conditionally active form of oncogenic c-Myc (MycER) to investigate single cell line TNF-induced free oxygen radical formation during the non-cytotoxic TNF-response (inactive c-Myc) and cytotoxic response (active c-Myc). The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assayed using a fluorescent probe, dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCFH-DA), and the following cellular injury by measuring the high energy nucleotide (ATP, ADP and AMP) depletion. We found that TNF treatment of Rat1 cells containing c-Myc in an inactive form did not induce a detectable level of ROS generation. In contrast, TNF treatment of Rat1 cells containing activated c-Myc caused fluorescence reaction indicative of ROS generation within 80 min after DCFH-DA exposure of the cells. The nucleotide depletion likely reflected the action of ROS, since the nucleotide depletion caused by TNF or oxidants such as menadione or H2O2 in cells with active c-Myc was partly inhibited by the anti-oxidant N-acetylcysteine.

Activities of key enzymes of purine degradation and re-utilization in human trophoblastic cells.

Using density gradient centrifugation, human trophoblastic cells were enriched from mixed cell populations of enzymatically dispersed first- and third-trimester placentae. Over 95 per cent of the cells recovered were of epithelial (i.e., trophoblastic) origin, as evidenced by their cytokeratin intermediate filament positivity and vimentin negativity, examined using indirect immunofluorescence, and also by their high content of human chorionic gonadotrophin. The activities of key enzymes involved in purine degradation and re-utilization (5'-nucleotidase; AMP-deaminase; hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT); xanthine dehydrogenase/oxidase) as well as the total activity of alkaline phosphatase were measured in the trophoblastic cells. A six-fold increase in the trophoblastic alkaline phosphatase activity was noted between the first and third trimester. A 40 per cent decrease was noted in the activity of 5'-nucleotidase, which, on the basis of kinetic properties, appears to have a dominant role in the dephosphorylation of placental nucleoside-5'-monophosphates. The trophoblastic activities of AMP-deaminase, HPRT, and xanthine dehydrogenase/oxidase did not change as a function of the gestational age. In view of the relative activities of the latter two enzymes, hypoxanthine formed in the trophoblast appears more likely to be re-utilized than degraded to uric acid.

Purine re-utilization in normal and malignant cells of human placental origin.

The metabolism of the purine compounds adenine, hypoxanthine and adenosine, was studied in cultured human choriocarcinoma cells (BeWo) and in term human placental cells in primary culture. Both preparations retained at least some specific placental functions, as shown by secretion of human chorionic gonadotrophin, which was less in the malignant cell line than in the primary culture. In contrast, choriocarcinoma cells incorporated substantially more purine bases (adenine and hypoxanthine) and nucleoside (adenosine) into nucleotides, mainly ATP. Adenosine metabolism was concentration-dependent, with a higher proportion metabolized to hypoxanthine at higher substrate concentration. The term placental cells, which do not divide in culture, have a less active purine metabolism, but they retain a degree of specialized function higher than that of malignant cells of placental origin.

Glutamine requirements for purine metabolism in leukemic lymphoblasts.

The two pathways of purine metabolism that include glutamine-dependent reactions, purine synthesis de novo and guanine nucleotide synthesis, were studied in cultured lymphoblasts derived from patients with T cell (JM), B cell (BALL) or null cell (NALL) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). When glutamine was omitted from the incubation medium, purine synthesis de novo, measured by the incorporation of 14C-formate into purine compounds, was depressed to barely measurable rates in BALL and NALL cells, but proceeded at moderate though reduced rates in JM cells, when compared to synthesis in the presence of 2 mM glutamine. Similarly, the incorporation of 14C-hypoxanthine into guanine nucleotides was arrested at the glutamine-requiring XMP-aminase reaction in the BALL and NALL lines but not in the JM line, when exogenous glutamine was absent. The data suggest that glutamine deprivation, whether by omission from the culture medium in vitro or by glutaminase treatment in vivo, will have more profound biochemical consequences in B and null cell-derived ALL than in T All.

Regional generation of free oxygen radicals during cardiopulmonary bypass in children.

Studies on free radical generation during cardiopulmonary bypass have focused mainly on the heart and the lungs. However, low pumping pressure, nonpulsatile perfusion, and hypothermia affect the entire circulation, resulting in decreased splanchnic blood flow, increased intestinal permeability, and endotoxemia. To evaluate regional phenomena, we studied 16 children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. Free radical production, granulocyte activation, and hypoxanthine metabolism were assessed separately in the circulations drained by the inferior and superior venae cavae, as well as in the oxygenator. Three minutes after the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass, significant gradients between the inferior vena cava and the arterial line of the oxygenator existed in malondialdehyde (+0.60 +/- 0.12 mumol/L, lactoferrin (+18.21 +/- 7.65 micrograms/L), myeloperoxidase (+53.75 +/- 16.50 micrograms/L), hypoxanthine (-0.62 +/- 0.15 mumol/L), and urate (+8.87 +/- 4.03 mumol/L). These gradients decreased in parallel with decreasing body temperature. Except for a transient gradient in malondialdehyde at 3 minutes after the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass (+0.23 +/- 0.08 mumol/L), no changes were detected between the superior vena cava and the arterial line. In the oxygenator, granulocyte activation was observed only after aortic declamping. We conclude that during cardiopulmonary bypass, significant free radical generation, granulocyte activation, hypoxanthine elimination, and urate production take place in the region drained by the inferior vena cava. In the oxygenator, granulocyte activation occurs only after aortic declamping.