Establishment of an androgen-responsive prostatic cell line "PEA5" from a p53-deficient mouse.

BACKGROUND: We demonstrated that p53-deficiency is sufficient for the establishment of clonal cell lines from the uterus and prostate. In the present study, we improved cloning methods to establish androgen-responsive cell lines. METHODS: In our previous study, a prostatic cell line was established from the ventral prostate of a p53-deficient mouse and was maintained in a medium containing heat-inactivated fetal calf serum at 10% supplemented with insulin (10 microg/ml), transferrin (10 microg/ml), cholera toxin (10 ng/ml) and selenium (10(-8) M). In the present study, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (10(-8) M) was added to the medium from the beginning of cloning procedures. RESULTS: We succeeded in the establishment of an androgen receptor positive prostatic cell line, designated PEA5. PEA5 cells exhibited a typical epithelial morphology in culture and growth was stimulated by androgens in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, they grew and formed three-dimensional structures in collagen gel, in which growth was also stimulated by androgen. CONCLUSIONS: Although PEA5 lacks p53 gene, it still retains androgen sensitivity. In collagen gel culture, PEA5 cells can grow and form three-dimensional structures similar to those of the primary cultures reported previously. Furthermore, prostates of p53-deficient mice are shown to be useful sources for obtaining androgen-responsive cells lines.

Effects of tea catechins on the ERE-regulated estrogenic activity.

Tea catechins exert many biological effects, including anticancer and antibacterial activities. Also, it is reported that some plant flavonoids exhibit estrogenic activity. In this study, we investigated estrogenic or antiestrogenic activities of catechins in HeLa cells transiently transfected with an estrogen response element (ERE)-regulated luciferase reporter and an estrogen receptor (ER) alpha or ERbeta expression vector. Catechins alone did not induce luciferase (luc) activity in either of the ERs. Addition of 17beta-estradiol (E2) plus epicatechin gallate (ECG) or epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) at 5 x 10(-6) M resulted in significant decreases in the ERalpha-mediated luc activity compared with that of E2 alone. On the contrary, lower concentrations significantly increased the E2-induced luc activity. Similar effects were observed with tamoxifen. The ERbeta-mediated estrogenic activities were stimulated by catechins. In conclusion, some catechins, particularly EGCG, were antiestrogenic for ERalpha at higher doses, and co-estrogenic for ERalpha at lower doses and for ERbeta. The lower doses were found in human plasma after tea-drinking. In addition, some catechins may be antiendocrine disruptors because they suppressed bisphenol A-induced luc activities.

Expression of calcitonin receptors on human myeloid leukemia cells.

Certain osteoclastic markers (multinucleation and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) were induced in human leukemia HL-60 cells by treatment with 10(-7) M 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] for 10 days. However, no formation of pits on a bone substrate by vitamin-treated HL-60 cells was detected. Expression of calcitonin receptors (CTR), another osteoclastic marker, was examined by means of the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The human CTR-cDNA (T47D isotype) was amplified from untreated HL-60 cells, but not from cells treated with 1,25(OH)2D3. The CTR mRNA disappeared within 24 h after the treatment. Thus, 1,25(OH)2D3-differentiated HL-60 cells failed to show two intrinsic characteristics of osteoclasts, pit formation on a bone substrate and expression of CTR. We then examined the expression of CTR on established human leukemia cell lines. The CTR mRNA was expressed in myeloblastic ML-1 and promyelocytic HL-60 leukemia cells but not in more mature macrophage-like cell lines, U-937 and THP-1 cells. Neither B cell leukemia BALL-1, T cell leukemia Jurkat, promegakaryoblastic leukemia Meg-J, nor cervix uteri carcinoma HeLa S3 cells amplified the CTR products. The cDNA of BIN67-isotype CTR, that has an additional 16-amino acid insert in the putative first intracellular loop of T47D-type CTR [Kuestner et al. (1994) Mol. Pharmacol. 46, 246-255], was amplified by neither strain tested. It was suggested that the T47D-type CTR is a novel differentiation antigen of immature myeloid lineage cells.

Susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to the selenium-containing compound 2-phenyl-1,2-benzoisoselenazol-3(2H)-one (PZ51).

The growth of Staphylococcus aureus 209P was inhibited by 0.20 micrograms of 2-phenyl-1,2-benzoisoselenazol-3(2H)-one (PZ51) per ml, while strains of the family Enterobacteriaceae were more resistant to the drug. The MIC for 90% of methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains was 1.56 micrograms/ml, and the drug was bactericidal. The selenium in PZ51 was essential, since its sulfur analog (PZ25) lost the antibacterial activity.

Amino acid sequences of 60B8 antigens induced in HL-60 cells by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. The antigens are identical with macrophage-related protein-14 and -8.

A differentiation antigen 60B8 appeared in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells which had been induced to differentiate into macrophage-like cells by treatment with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. The antigen was purified by immunoaffinity chromatography and separated into two proteins, 60B8-A and -B antigens, by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Both proteins were digested with proteases, and the resulting peptides were subjected to amino acid sequence analysis after purification by reverse-phase HPLC. The amino acid sequences of 60B8-A and -B antigens were identical with those of the proteins MRP-14 and -8, respectively, which were recently predicted from the nucleotide sequences of their complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) clones by Odink et al. (Nature (London), 330, 80 (1987)). Although they did not characterize the chemical properties of the two proteins, our results clearly indicate that macrophage-related protein (MRP)-14 and -8 are expressed without post-translational modification, except that the amino-terminus of MRP-14 is blocked, in differentiated HL-60 cells.

Rapid drug susceptibility testing of mycobacteria in tissue culture medium.

Mycobacteria grew rapidly in FST medium (tissue culture medium F12 supplemented with 5% serum and 0.05% Tween 80). Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other niacin-negative mycobacteria in flat-bottomed, 96-well tissue culture plates was estimable by the naked eye within 3 to 5 days when mycobacteria were inoculated at 0.1 to 0.01 Klett units (5 X 10(4) to 0.5 X 10(4) CFU) per well. Spontaneous resistant variants of M. tuberculosis to isoniazid arose and grew in the medium within 2 weeks of culture. A total of 56 clinically isolated mycobacteria whose drug susceptibilities had been tested by a conventional method were tested in FST medium for minimal inhibitory concentrations of streptomycin, ethambutol, rifampin, and isoniazid. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of these drugs in FST medium strictly coincided with the drug susceptibility patterns obtained by a conventional method, except for 3 of 224 estimations.