Pharmacologic modulation of serine/threonine phosphorylation highly sensitizes PHEO in a MPC cell and mouse model to conventional chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: The failure of cytotoxic cancer regimens to cure the most drug-resistant, well-differentiated solid tumors has been attributed to the heterogeneity of cell types that differ in their capacities for growth, differentiation, and metastases. We investigated the effect of LB1, a small molecule inhibitor of serine/threonine protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), on its ability to inhibit a low growth fraction and highly drug-resistant solid neuroendocrine tumor, such as metastatic pheochromocytoma (PHEO). Subsequently, we evaluated the increased efficacy of chemotherapy combined with LB1. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The effect of LB1 and temozolomide (TMZ), a standard chemotherapeutic agent that alone only transiently suppressed the growth and regression of metastatic PHEO, was evaluated in vitro on a single PHEO cell line and in vivo on mouse model of metastatic PHEO. In the present study, we show that metastatic PHEO, for which there is currently no cure, can be eliminated by combining LB1, thereby inhibiting PP2A, with TMZ. This new treatment approach resulted in long term, disease-free survival of up to 40% of animals bearing multiple intrahepatic metastases, a disease state that the majority of patients die from. Inhibition of PP2A was associated with prevention of G1/S phase arrest by p53 and of mitotic arrest mediated by polo-like kinase 1 (Plk-1). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The elimination of DNA damage-induced defense mechanisms, through transient pharmacologic inhibition of PP2A, is proposed as a new approach for enhancing the efficacy of non-specific cancer chemotherapy regimens against a broad spectrum of low growth fraction tumors very commonly resistant to cytotoxic drugs.

Royal jelly-induced neurite outgrowth from rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells requires integrin signal independent of activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases.

We showed earlier that neurite outgrowth of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells was stimulated by royal jelly extract (PERJ) or its unique component, AMP N(1)-oxide, via adenosine A2a receptors. In this study, we found that stimulated neurite outgrowth occurred in medium supplemented with serum, but not in serum-free medium. The pentapeptide GRGDS, which includes the RGD sequence commonly shared by extracellular matrix (ECM) components, could attenuate the effect of serum, suggesting that integrin receptor signaling was essential for the neurite outgrowth induced by PERJ or AMP N(1)-oxide. PERJ or AMP N(1)-oxide also activated extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 or 2 (ERK1/2); however, this activation was not associated with the neurite outgrowth. As it is known that Mn(2+) induces neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells and activates ERK1/2 through integrin signals and that activation of ERK1/2 is essential for Mn2+-induced neurite outgrowth, a difference in the mechanism between Mn(2+)-induced and PERJ- or AMP N(1)-oxide-induced neurite outgrowth is suggested. Furthermore, we demonstrated that PERJ contained no ECM component-like substances. These results demonstrate that AMP N(1)-oxide and its analogues were the only entities in PERJ with neurite outgrowth-inducing activity and that they required integrin signaling in addition to activation of A2a receptors to induce neurite outgrowth.

Isolation of a novel cDNA clone for human tyrosine hydroxylase: alternative RNA splicing produces four kinds of mRNA from a single gene.

Human tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) cDNA was isolated by molecular cloning. Lambda gt 11 cDNA library constructed from human pheochromocytoma was screened with a synthetic 23-mer oligonucleotide complementary to rat TH mRNA. We found a novel type of cDNA clone whose N-terminal sequence is similar to but clearly distinct from each of the three types (type 1, 2 and 3) of TH cDNA reported by Grima et al. [Nature (1987) 326, 707-711]. It contains both the 12-bp insert characteristic of type 2 cDNA and the 81-bp sequence of type 3. This novel cDNA clone was designated as type 4. Southern blot analysis of human genomic DNA indicated that TH is encoded by a single gene. This suggests that the four different forms of TH mRNA are produced by alternative RNA splicing from a single primary transcript.

A single human gene encoding multiple tyrosine hydroxylases with different predicted functional characteristics.

Catecholaminergic systems in discrete regions of the brain are thought to be important in affective psychoses, learning and memory, reinforcement and sleep-wake cycle regulation. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the first enzyme in the pathway of catecholamine synthesis. Its importance is reflected in the diversity of the mechanisms that have been described which control its activity; TH levels vary both during development and as a function of the activity of the nervous system. Recently, we deduced the complete amino-acid sequence of rat TH from a complementary DNA clone encoding a functional enzyme. Here we demonstrate that, in man, TH molecules are encoded by at least three distinct messenger RNAs. The expression of these mRNAs varies in different parts of the nervous system. The sequence differences observed are confined to the 5' termini of the messengers and involve alternative splicing events. This variation has clear functional consequences for each putative form of the enzyme and could represent a novel means of regulating catecholamine levels in normal and pathological neurons.

Induction of mRNA for tyrosine hydroxylase by cyclic AMP and glucocorticoids in a rat pheochromocytoma cell line: evidence for the regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase synthesis by multiple mechanisms in cells exposed to elevated levels of both inducing agents.

When rat pheochromocytoma PC18 cells are exposed to the cyclic AMP analog, 8-bromocyclic AMP, and/or the synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, there is a marked increase in the level of a single RNA species that hybridizes to the recombinant plasmid pTH.4, which contains sequences complementary to the RNA coding for tyrosine hydroxylase. This RNA species is 1800-1900 nucleotides in length and is presumably identical to an RNA species of similar size, isolated from rat pheochromocytoma PC8b cells and shown to code for tyrosine hydroxylase. Using RNA dot hybridization to quantitate the relative level of this tyrosine mRNA species, time course studies show that this mRNA increases relatively rapidly in PC18 cells treated with either 8-bromocyclic AMP or dexamethasone. A new steady state level of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA is achieved after 6 hr or 12-24 hr of treatment with either 8-bromocyclic AMP or dexamethasone, respectively. The changes in the level of the mRNA slightly precede the changes in the rate of synthesis of tyrosine hydroxylase in cells treated with these inducing agents. After 24 hr of treatment with either 8-bromocyclic AMP or dexamethasone, the increases in the level of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA are identical to the increases in the rate of synthesis of the enzyme in the cells. In cells treated simultaneously with both 8-bromocyclic AMP and dexamethasone, the increases in the enzyme level and rate of synthesis of tyrosine hydroxylase are approximately equal to the sum of the increases in these parameters observed in cells treated with either inducing agent alone. In contrast, there is not an additive increase in the level of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA in cells treated with both inducing agents. This lack of an additive increase in mRNA for tyrosine hydroxylase is observed in total cellular RNA samples or in cytoplasmic RNA samples. Our results suggest that in cells exposed to elevated levels of either cyclic AMP or glucocorticoids, tyrosine hydroxylase is induced by a mechanism which increases the level of its mRNA, resulting in an increased rate of synthesis of the enzyme. However, in cells exposed to elevated levels of both cyclic AMP and dexamethasone, tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme levels are regulated by multiple mechanisms, one of which regulates the rate of synthesis of the enzyme without affecting the level of its mRNA.

Regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA by glucocorticoid and cyclic AMP in a rat pheochromocytoma cell line. Isolation of a cDNA clone for tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA.

Treatment of a subclone of the PC12 pheochromocytoma cell line, PC8b, with either dexamethasone or 8-bromo cyclic AMP resulted in increased translational activity of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA (mRNATH). Poly(A+)-containing RNA from cells treated with both inducers was used to construct a cDNA library. Double-stranded cDNA was inserted into the PstI site of pBR322 using GC tailing, and plasmids were used to transform Escherichia coli HB101. Colonies containing plasmids with inserted sequences were initially screened by DNA dot hybridization, and those positive colonies were then screened by hybrid selected translation. One plasmid, pTH.4, was identified as containing a 400-base pair sequence complementary to mRNATH. Nick-translated pTH.4 DNA was used to identify mRNATH as containing approximately 1800 nucleotides by Northern blot analysis. PC8b cells treated with either dexamethasone or 8-bromo cyclic AMP yielded greater mRNATH hybridization on Northern blot analysis and accumulated higher molecular weight tyrosine hydroxylase RNA species. Following treatment of cells with inducers, the temporal increase in tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme activity was associated in all cases with an increase in the translational activity and relative amount of mRNATH, and the fold increase in the latter two parameters was equal to or greater than the increase in enzyme activity.

Nerve growth factor-mediated stimulation of tyrosine hydroxylase activity in a clonal rat pheochromocytoma cell line.

In order to confirm the multiple neurotransmitter biosynthetic ability, the possibility to separation of the activities of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), choline acetyltransferase and glutamic acid decarboxylase was tested by subcloning of a clonal rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cell line. All of 9 subclones obtained showed significant activities of above 3 enzymes, indicating that the PC12 cell has multi-functional properties of neurotransmitter syntheses. One of the subclones, designated PC12h, was demonstrated to have nerve growth factor- (NGF) responsive TH activity. The ED50 value of NGF to increase the TH activity was 1.7 ng/ml (6.5 X 10-11 M). A simultaneous addition of saturating amounts of NGF (50 ng/ml) and dexamethasone (10-6 M) resulted in the increase of TH activity that is equal to the sum of those achieved when either effector was added separately, indicating that the NGF- mediated increase of TH activity in PC12h cells was independent upon the effect of dexamethasone. And also, the TH activity increased by NGF was somewhat potentiated in PC12h cells cultured in a hormone- supplemented serum-free medium.