Nucleoside-mediated mitigation of 5-fluorouracil-induced toxicity in synchronized murine erythroleukemic cells.

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a chemotherapeutic agent known to retard embryonic growth and induce cleft palate and limb deformities. The predominant mechanism underlying its toxic action is thought to be inhibition of thymidylate synthetase (TS), and hence thymidine triphosphate (dTTP) synthesis, resulting in alteration of the balance of deoxynucleotide (dNTP) pools and disruption of DNA synthesis. Indeed, previously we demonstrated retarded cell-cycle progression concurrent with a 60% decrease in TS activity in rat whole embryos following maternal exposure to 40 mg/kg 5-FU on Gestational Day 14 and in the murine erythroleukemic cell (MELC) suspension culture following exposure to 5-25 microM 5-FU for 2 hr. In the study described herein, we used high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to demonstrate in both of these model systems that 5-FU exposure results in similar patterns of dNTP perturbations: a prolonged decrease in dTTP and dGTP levels and an increase in dCTP and dATP. In addition, we used centrifugal elutriation to synchronize MELC in the phases of the cell cycle (G0/G1 and early S) most sensitive to 5-FU to investigate the ability of nucleoside supplementation to mitigate 5-FU-induced toxicity. Our data indicate that following a 2-hr exposure to 5-25 microM 5-FU, supplementation with 1-10 microM thymidine (TdR) for 24 hr partially reverses 5-FU-induced toxicity as evidenced by increased cellular proliferation and cell-cycle progression and amelioration of 5-FU-induced perturbations of protein synthesis and cellular membrane permeability compared to unsupplemented 5-FU-exposed cells. However, TdR concentrations >/=100 microM inhibited growth or were cytotoxic. In comparison, supplementation with 10 microM-10 mM of deoxycytidine (CdR) was not toxic, but effected a dose-dependent recovery from 5-FU-induced toxicity. At 1-100 microM, neither deoxyadenosine nor deoxyguanosine supplementation reduced 5-FU-induced toxicity; at higher concentrations, both purine nucleotides inhibited cell growth. Although these results support the hypothesis that 5-FU disrupts the MELC cell cycle by depleting dTTP (a perturbation that is reversible by TdR supplementation), they also indicate that CdR supplementation offers an additional recovery pathway.

Limitations of the fluorescent probe viability assay.

In vitro assessment of the efficacy/capacity of toxicants (e.g., cancer chemotherapeutic agents, environmental pollutants, etc.) to damage/kill cells and/or inhibit growth (cell duplication) requires accurate measurement of target cell viability as a function of exposure. Rapid measurement of viability, such as can be achieved employing fluorescent probes of metabolic function in combination with instrumental analysis, is highly desirable. However, we observe that exposure to chemicals (of unrelated type) complicates the interpretation of viability data and, in the case of perturbed cells, questions the validity of viability growth assays based on intrinsic enzyme activity. Viability commonly is determined flow cytometrically (FCM) by the carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA)/propidium iodide (PI) assay. Nonfluorescent CFDA is taken up by diffusion and converted via cytoplasmic esterase-catalyzed hydrolysis to carboxyfluorescein (CF), a negatively charged fluorescent molecule that is retained (incompletely) by the cell. As such, if CF fluorescence intensity is a relative measure of enzyme activity, it also can be considered an index of cellular vigor (metabolic rate). It is generally accepted that the viable cell excludes both basic dyes, such as PI, and acidic dyes, such as trypan blue, and uptake is indicative of irreversible cellular injury presaging cell death. We observe that, following incubation for 4 h with 0.5-1.0 microM tributyltin (TBT), a potent environmental toxicant, murine erythroleukemic cells (MELC) exhibit enhanced (supranormal) CF fluorescence compared to control cells. Apparent cell volume (ACV) is unaltered, and because such cells exclude PI, they are considered viable in terms of the CFDA/PI assay. However, rate of growth (increase in cell number over 48 h) is depressed, suggesting that supranormal CF fluorescence, even in the absence of PI uptake, is indicative of cellular perturbation. In effect, although CF fluorescence is the product of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction and, therefore, an indicator of vital function (enzyme activity), it apparently is not a reliable index of cellular vigor. At higher TBT concentrations (greater than 1.0, but less than 50.0 microM), the cells exhibit both increased CF fluorescence and PI fluorescence and are growth inhibited. MELC exposed to the cancer chemotherapeutic agents adriamycin, m-AMSA, or crisnatol (Burroughs Wellcome 770U82) also exhibit increased cellular CF fluorescence. However, rate of growth is decreased and ACV increased. The latter, measured either as a function of electrical resistance (Coulter volume) or by the FCM parameter axial light loss could account for the increase in mean CF fluorescence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Short-term regulation of fatty acid synthesis in isolated alveolar type II cells from adult rat lung. Effects of free fatty acids and hormones.

We measured the total rate of fatty acid synthesis in alveolar type II cells freshly isolated from the lungs of adult rats. The rate of incorporation of 3H from 3H2O into cellular fatty acids was linear during 3-hr incubations and was very brisk [18 ng-atoms 3H/10(6) cells/hr +/- 2 (mean +/- SD, n = 23)]. When the nutrient medium (Minimum Essential Medium) was supplemented with various hormones or free fatty acids, the long-chain fatty acids (C14-C20) caused a decrease in the rate of 3H incorporation to a variable degree depending on the species of fatty acid. Stearate (10(-4) M) and palmitate (10(-4) M) caused the greatest inhibition of de novo cellular fatty acid synthesis, followed by myristate, arachidonate, and oleate. Insulin (10(-7) M), glucagon (10(-8) M), terbutaline (10(-5) M), 8-bromo-cyclic AMP (10(-3) M), the essential fatty acid linoleate (10(-4) M), and the medium-chain-free fatty acids laurate and octanoate (10(-4) M) did not alter the rate of fatty acid synthesis in type II cells. We demonstrated that the alveolar type II cell is a major lipogenic cell type in the rat. We also demonstrated that the availability of preformed fatty acids in the extracellular milieu is one factor regulating the rate of fatty acid synthesis in these cells.