Lasting Adaptations in Social Behavior Produced by Social Disruption and Inhibition of Adult Neurogenesis.

UNLABELLED: Research on social instability has focused on its detrimental consequences, but most people are resilient and respond by invoking various coping strategies. To investigate cellular processes underlying such strategies, a dominance hierarchy of rats was formed and then destabilized. Regardless of social position, rats from disrupted hierarchies had fewer new neurons in the hippocampus compared with rats from control cages and those from stable hierarchies. Social disruption produced a preference for familiar over novel conspecifics, a change that did not involve global memory impairments or increased anxiety. Using the neuropeptide oxytocin as a tool to increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus of disrupted rats restored preference for novel conspecifics to predisruption levels. Conversely, reducing the number of new neurons by limited inhibition of adult neurogenesis in naive transgenic GFAP-thymidine kinase rats resulted in social behavior similar to disrupted rats. Together, these results provide novel mechanistic evidence that social disruption shapes behavior in a potentially adaptive way, possibly by reducing adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: To investigate cellular processes underlying adaptation to social instability, a dominance hierarchy of rats was formed and then destabilized. Regardless of social position, rats from disrupted hierarchies had fewer new neurons in the hippocampus compared with rats from control cages and those from stable hierarchies. Unexpectedly, these changes were accompanied by changes in social strategies without evidence of impairments in cognition or anxiety regulation. Restoring adult neurogenesis in disrupted rats using oxytocin and conditionally suppressing the production of new neurons in socially naive GFAP-thymidine kinase rats showed that loss of 6-week-old neurons may be responsible for adaptive changes in social behavior.

Role of resveratrol on the cytotoxic effects and DNA damages of iododeoxyuridine and megavoltage radiation in spheroid culture of U87MG glioblastoma cell line.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of resveratrol on cytogenetic damages of iododeoxyuridine (IUdR) and x-ray megavoltage radiation (6 MV) in spheroid model of U87MG glioblastoma cancer cell line using clonogenic and alkaline comet assay. Cells were cultured as spheroids (350 µm) that were treated with 20 µM resveratrol, 1 µM IUdR and 2 Gy of 6 MV x-ray. After treatment, viability of the cells, colony forming ability and the induced DNA damages were examined using trypan blue dye exclusion, colonogenic and alkaline comet assay, respectively. Our results showed that resveratrol could significantly reduce the colony number and induce the DNA damages of the cells treated with IUdR in combination with 6 MV x-ray radiation. That results indicated that resveratrol as an inhibitor of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) protein in combination with IUdR as a radiosensitizer enhanced the radiosensitization of glioblastoma spheroid cells.

Identification of lineage-uncommitted, long-lived, label-retaining cells in healthy human esophagus and stomach, and in metaplastic esophagus.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The existence of slowly cycling, adult stem cells has been challenged by the identification of actively cycling cells. We investigated the existence of uncommitted, slowly cycling cells by tracking 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IdU) label-retaining cells (LRCs) in normal esophagus, Barrett's esophagus (BE), esophageal dysplasia, adenocarcinoma, and healthy stomach tissues from patients. METHODS: Four patients (3 undergoing esophagectomy, 1 undergoing esophageal endoscopic mucosal resection for dysplasia and an esophagectomy for esophageal adenocarcinoma) received intravenous infusion of IdU (200 mg/m(2) body surface area; maximum dose, 400 mg) over a 30-minute period; the IdU had a circulation half-life of 8 hours. Tissues were collected at 7, 11, 29, and 67 days after infusion, from regions of healthy esophagus, BE, dysplasia, adenocarcinoma, and healthy stomach; they were analyzed by in situ hybridization, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemical analyses. RESULTS: No LRCs were found in dysplasias or adenocarcinomas, but there were significant numbers of LRCs in the base of glands from BE tissue, in the papillae of the basal layer of the esophageal squamous epithelium, and in the neck/isthmus region of healthy stomach. These cells cycled slowly because IdU was retained for at least 67 days and co-labeling with Ki-67 was infrequent. In glands from BE tissues, most cells did not express defensin-5, Muc-2, or chromogranin A, indicating that they were not lineage committed. Some cells labeled for endocrine markers and IdU at 67 days; these cells represented a small population (<0.1%) of epithelial cells at this time point. The epithelial turnover time of the healthy esophageal mucosa was approximately 11 days (twice that of the intestine). CONCLUSIONS: LRCs of human esophagus and stomach have many features of stem cells (long lived, slow cycling, uncommitted, and multipotent), and can be found in a recognized stem cell niche. Further analyses of these cells, in healthy and metaplastic epithelia, is required.

Characterization of pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase of Mycoplasma hyorhinis: implications for the clinical efficacy of nucleoside analogues.

In the present paper we demonstrate that the cytostatic and antiviral activity of pyrimidine nucleoside analogues is markedly decreased by a Mycoplasma hyorhinis infection and show that the phosphorolytic activity of the mycoplasmas is responsible for this. Since mycoplasmas are (i) an important cause of secondary infections in immunocompromised (e.g. HIV infected) patients and (ii) known to preferentially colonize tumour tissue in cancer patients, catabolic mycoplasma enzymes may compromise efficient chemotherapy of virus infections and cancer. In the genome of M. hyorhinis, a TP (thymidine phosphorylase) gene has been annotated. This gene was cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli and kinetically characterized. Whereas the mycoplasma TP efficiently catalyses the phosphorolysis of thymidine (Km=473 µM) and deoxyuridine (Km=578 µM), it prefers uridine (Km=92 µM) as a substrate. Our kinetic data and sequence analysis revealed that the annotated M. hyorhinis TP belongs to the NP (nucleoside phosphorylase)-II class PyNPs (pyrimidine NPs), and is distinct from the NP-II class TP and NP-I class UPs (uridine phosphorylases). M. hyorhinis PyNP also markedly differs from TP and UP in its substrate specificity towards therapeutic nucleoside analogues and susceptibility to clinically relevant drugs. Several kinetic properties of mycoplasma PyNP were explained by in silico analyses.

Chemical induction of endogenous retrovirus particles from the vero cell line of African green monkeys.

Endogenous retroviral sequences are present in high copy numbers in the genomes of all species and may be expressed as RNAs; however, the majority are defective for virus production. Although virus has been isolated from various Old World monkey and New World monkey species, there has been no report of endogenous retroviruses produced from African green monkey (AGM) tissues or cell lines. We have recently developed a stepwise approach for evaluating the presence of latent viruses by chemical induction (Khan et al., Biologicals 37:196-201, 2009). Based upon this strategy, optimum conditions were determined for investigating the presence of inducible, endogenous retroviruses in the AGM-derived Vero cell line. Low-level reverse transcriptase activity was produced with 5-azacytidine (AzaC) and with 5'-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IUdR); none was detected with sodium butyrate. Nucleotide sequence analysis of PCR-amplified fragments from the gag, pol, and env regions of RNAs, prepared from ultracentrifuged pellets of filtered supernatants, indicated that endogenous retrovirus particles related to simian endogenous type D betaretrovirus (SERV) sequences and baboon endogenous virus type C gammaretrovirus (BaEV) sequences were induced by AzaC, whereas SERV sequences were also induced by IUdR. Additionally, sequence heterogeneity was seen in the RNAs of SERV- and BaEV-related particles. Infectivity analysis of drug-treated AGM Vero cells showed no virus replication in cell lines known to be susceptible to type D simian retroviruses (SRVs) and to BaEV. The results indicated that multiple, inducible endogenous retrovirus loci are present in the AGM genome that can encode noninfectious, viruslike particles.

A DNA repair pathway can regulate transcriptional noise to promote cell fate transitions.

Stochastic fluctuations in gene expression ("noise") are often considered detrimental, but fluctuations can also be exploited for benefit (e.g., dither). We show here that DNA base excision repair amplifies transcriptional noise to facilitate cellular reprogramming. Specifically, the DNA repair protein Apex1, which recognizes both naturally occurring and unnatural base modifications, amplifies expression noise while homeostatically maintaining mean expression levels. This amplified expression noise originates from shorter-duration, higher-intensity transcriptional bursts generated by Apex1-mediated DNA supercoiling. The remodeling of DNA topology first impedes and then accelerates transcription to maintain mean levels. This mechanism, which we refer to as "discordant transcription through repair" ("DiThR," which is pronounced "dither"), potentiates cellular reprogramming and differentiation. Our study reveals a potential functional role for transcriptional fluctuations mediated by DNA base modifications in embryonic development and disease.

Genetic mapping of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-inducing loci in five mouse strains.

A single mendelian gene was identified for induction of the endogenous xenotropic murine leukemia virus in five mouse strains (C57BL/10, C57L, C57BR, AKR, and BALB/c). This locus, designated Bxv-1, mapped to the same site on chromosome 1 in all strains: Id-1-Pep-3-[Bxv-1-Lp]. Thus, inducibility loci for xenotropic virus are more limited in number and chromosomal distribution than ecotropic inducibility loci. Virus expression in mice with Bxv-1 was induced by treatment of fibroblasts with 5-iododeoxyuridine or by exposure of spleen cells to a B cell mitogen, bacterial lipopolysaccharide. An analysis of the hamster X mouse somatic cell hybrids indicated that chromosome 1, alone, was sufficient for virus induction.

Genetic factors influencing C-type RNA virus induction.

Genetic factors were studied which affect the inducibility of C-type RNA viruses from embyro cultures of mouse strains with high and low incidence of spontaneous leukemia. Virus was inducible by chemical treatment from secondary embryo cultures of several inbred strains. Both virus inducibility and the capacity of the virus to persist in cells from which it was activated were found to be inherited as dominant genetic characteristics. The results show that the factors controlling virus activation and persistence in culture also play an important role in spontaneous virus expression in the animal.

Structure and expression of endogenous ecotropic murine leukemia viruses in RF/J mice.

High leukemic mouse strains possess proviral genomes that are more inducible for virus expression by halogenated pyrimidines than the proviral genomes harbored by low leukemic mice. We investigated the induction and arrangement of ecotropic proviruses in RF mice, a strain of mouse that develops a moderate incidence of leukemia late in life. We found that RF mice, unlike either high or low leukemic inbred strains, carried both a gene for high efficiency virus induction (Rjv-1) and a gene for low efficiency virus induction (Rjv-2). Virus induction from mice that contained Rjf-2 alone was observed only in crosses with two other strains that carried ecotropic proviruses, i.e., DBA/2 and C57BL/6, and not in crosses performed with mice that lacked ecotropic proviruses, i.e., 129, SWR, and NFS. Inheritance of the Rjv-1 gene frequently resulted in viremia when a virus-suppressive gene(s) of RF (most likely Fv-1) was not present in the same individual. Rjv-1 and Rjv-2 virus induction genes co-segregated with ecotropic proviruses integrated in different cellular DNA sequences. Rjv-2, the less inducible ecotropic provirus in RF mice, is located in cellular DNA sequences very similar to those found adjacent to the ecotropic provirus of BALB/c. These results document a second system of virus interaction or complementation and demonstrate that ecotropic proviruses of different phenotypes can be found within an individual mouse strain.

Biological and biochemical characterization of a cloned Leu-3- cell surviving infection with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome retrovirus.

Leu-3- cells that survive infection with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) retrovirus can be induced with IUdR to express infectious virus. A cellular clone (8E5), isolated by limiting dilution of a mass culture of survivor cells, was found to contain a single, integrated provirus that was constitutively expressed. Although IUdR treatment of 8E5 cells failed to induce infectious virus, cocultivation with Leu-3+ cells generated the characteristic syncytia associated with acute AIDS retrovirus infection. The single integrated copy of proviral DNA directs the synthesis of all major viral structural proteins except p64, as monitored by immunoblotting. The relationship of the 8E5 clone to viral latency and persistence is discussed.

Synergistic antimicrobial activities of folic acid antagonists and nucleoside analogs.

The antimicrobial activities of folic acid antagonists are supposed to be antagonized by elevated extracellular thymidine concentrations in damaged host tissues. Therefore, this study was aimed at screening for nucleoside analogs that impair bacterial thymidine utilization and analyzing the combined antimicrobial activities of nucleoside analogs and folic acid antagonists in the presence of thymidine. Our screening results revealed that different nucleoside analogs, in particular halogenated derivatives of 2'-deoxyuridine, substantially impaired the bacterial utilization of extracellular thymidine in Staphylococcus aureus. Time-kill methods showed that 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine enhanced the extent of killing of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) at 24 h against S. aureus in the presence of thymidine (200 microg/liter). While SXT (40 mg/liter) alone did not kill bacteria in the presence of thymidine, its combination with the nucleoside analog at a concentration of 8 mumol/liter showed a bactericidal effect. Moreover, 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine combined with SXT in the presence of thymidine showed a broad spectrum of activity against several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In conclusion, these data provide evidence that the in vitro antimicrobial activity of SXT in the presence of thymidine can be significantly improved by combination with a nucleoside analog.

5-iododeoxyuridine potentiation of the replication in vitro of several unrelated RNA and DNA viruses.

Enhancement of the replication of unrelated viruses (three RNA viruses and one DNA virus), representative of four major virus groups, occurs in human, rodent, or avian cells treated in vitro with 5-iododeoxyuridine (IdU). The results suggest that the potentiation of viral replication by IdU is a widespread phenomenon.

Genetic mapping of a murine leukemia virus-inducing locus of AKR mice.

The chromosomal location of one of the two murine leukemia virus-inducing loci of AKR mice has been determined. The locus, which appears to be the integrated genome of the virus, is designated Akv-1, and is on linkage group 1, 12 map units from Gpi-1, with gene order c-Gpi-1-Akv-1. This identification of a closely linked gene whose phenotype is independent of virus expression should facilitate analysis of the biologic importance of the Akv-1 locus.

Genetic mapping of xenotropic leukemia virus-inducing loci in two mouse strains.

In genetic studies of C57BL/10 and BALB/c mice, inducibility of xenotropic murine leukemia virus from tissue cultures by treatment with 5-iododeoxyuridine shows single gene segregation ratios. In both strains, the virus-inducing loci are on chromosome 1, linked to the Dip-1/isozyme locus, but the two may not be at allelic sites.

Induction of HTLV-III/LAV from a nonvirus-producing T-cell line: implications for latency.

When the human T-cell line A3.01 is infected with HTLV-III/LAV, the virus associated with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), most of the cells are killed. However, a small number of cells that lack the Leu-3 surface marker survive. Under normal conditions these surviving cells do not produce virus, nor can they be infected by the virus, but they can be induced to produce virus by treatment with 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine. This response can be induced for as long as 3 months after the initial infection, suggesting that the cells may harbor a latent form of HTLV-III/LAV.

Cytomegalovirus: conversion of nonpermissive cells to a permissive state for virus replication.

Human embryonic kidney cells are epithelioid cells which are normally nonpermissive for in vitro replication of human cytomegalovirus. These cells were converted to a permissive state for the virus by prior treatment with 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine. When this method was used, a nonpermissive cell was made permissive to an infecting virus.

Murine leukemia virus: high-frequency activation in vitro by 5-iododeoxyuridine and 5-bromodeoxyuridine.

Cells of embryos of the high leukemic mouse strain AKR can be grown in culture as virus-negative cell lines. However, these lines and clonal sublines uniformly have the capacity to initiate synthesis of murine leukemia virus. Exposure of the cells to 5-iododeoxyuridine or 5-bromodeoxyuridine induced synthesis of virus in as high as 0.1 to 0.5 percent of the cells; many of the cells were producing virus as soon as 3 days after initiation of treatment. Induction of virus by these drugs is several orders of magnitude greater than that obtained with any other treatment tested. These studies indicate that the full genome of murine leukemia virus is present in an unexpressed form in all AKR cells and provide a potentially powerful technique for activating leukemia virus genomes in other cell systems.

Adenovirus multiplication: inhibition by methisazone.

Methisazone (5 to 40 microM) inhibited the multiplication of types 3, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, 21, and 28 adenovirus; SV15 (a simian adenovirus) was also inhibited. A study of adenovirus 11 under single-cycle conditions showed that multiplication of the virus, was completely inhibited by 30 microM methisazone when addition of the compound was delayed until 13 hours after infection. A survey showed that the structure-activity relations of the action of methisazone against adenoviruses and pox viruses are similar.

Mammalian cells in culture frequently release type C viruses.

Cell cultures commonly used in animal cell research, both cell strains and continuous cell lines from various mammalian species, spontaneously produce type C RNA viruses.