Early ghrelin treatment attenuates disruption of the blood brain barrier and apoptosis after traumatic brain injury through a UCP-2 mechanism.

Ghrelin has been shown to be anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective in models of neurologic injury. We hypothesize that treatment with ghrelin will attenuate breakdown of the blood brain barrier (BBB) and apoptosis 24h following traumatic brain injury (TBI). We believe this protection is at least in part mediated by up-regulation of UCP-2, thereby stabilizing mitochondria and preventing up-regulation of caspase-3. A weight drop model was used to create severe TBI. Balb/c mice were divided into 3 groups. Sham: no TBI or ghrelin treatment; TBI: TBI only; TBI/ghrelin: 20µg (IP) ghrelin at the time of TBI. BBB permeability to 70kDa FITC-Dextran was measured 24h following injury and quantified in arbitrary integrated fluorescence (afu). Brain tissue was subjected to TUNEL staining and TUNEL positive cells were quantified. Immunohistochemistry was performed on injured tissue to reveal patterns of caspase-3 and UCP-2 expression. TBI increased cerebral vascular permeability by three-fold compared to sham. Ghrelin treatment restored vascular permeability to the level of shams. TUNEL staining showed that ghrelin mitigated the significant increase in apoptosis that follows TBI. TBI increased both caspase-3 compared to sham. Treatment with ghrelin significantly increased UCP-2 compared to TBI alone and this increase in UCP-2 expression was associated with a decrease in expression of caspase-3. Early ghrelin treatment prevents TBI induced BBB disruption and TBI mediated apoptosis 24h following injury. These results demonstrate the neuroprotective potential of ghrelin as a therapy in TBI.

Integrin and growth factor receptor crosstalk.

Crosstalk between integrins and growth factor receptors are an important signaling mechanism to provide specificity during normal development and pathological processes in vascular biology. Evidence from several model systems demonstrates the physiological importance of the coordination of signals from growth factors and the extracellular matrix to support cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vivo. Several examples of crosstalk between these two important classes of receptors indicate that integrin ligation is required for growth factor-induced biological processes. Furthermore, integrins can directly associate with growth factor receptors, thereby regulating the capacity of integrin/growth factor receptor complexes to propagate downstream signaling. Recent data suggest that antagonists of alpha(v) integrins can provide a therapeutic benefit in human cancer patients, whereas knockout mice lacking specific integrins can provide an interesting insight into the role of integrins during development. This review will focus on the biological importance of integrin and growth factor receptor crosstalk that occurs during cell growth, migration, and invasion as well as in endothelial cells during angiogenesis.

Adhesion events in angiogenesis.

Recent work from several laboratories indicates that the coordination of endothelial cell adhesion events with growth factor receptor inputs regulates endothelial cell responses during angiogenesis. Analyses of the signaling pathways downstream of integrins, cadherins and growth-factor receptors are providing an insight into the molecular basis of known anti-angiogenic strategies, as well as into the design of novel therapies.

Src deficiency or blockade of Src activity in mice provides cerebral protection following stroke.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), an angiogenic factor produced in response to ischemic injury, promotes vascular permeability (VP). Evidence is provided that Src kinase regulates VEGF-mediated VP in the brain following stroke and that suppression of Src activity decreases VP thereby minimizing brain injury. Mice lacking pp60c-src are resistant to VEGF-induced VP and show decreased infarct volumes after stroke whereas mice deficient in pp59c-fyn, another Src family member, have normal VEGF-mediated VP and infarct size. Systemic application of a Src-inhibitor given up to six hours following stroke suppressed VP protecting wild-type mice from ischemia-induced brain damage without influencing VEGF expression. This was associated with reduced edema, improved cerebral perfusion and decreased infarct volume 24 hours after injury as measured by magnetic resonance imaging and histological analysis. Thus, Src represents a key intermediate and novel therapeutic target in the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia where it appears to regulate neuronal damage by influencing VEGF-mediated VP.

Role of alpha v integrins during angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis depends on specific molecular interactions between vascular cells and components of the extracellular matrix. This review focuses on the recent advances in the understanding of the mechanism of action of integrins and integrin antagonists during angiogenesis. For example, angiogenesis induced with vascular endothelial growth/permeability factor but not with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) depends on integrin avb5 and Src kinase activity. In contrast, bFGF-induced angiogenesis requires integrin avb3 and functions independently of Src. Recent studies document a role for integrins and growth factor regulation of Src family kinases during angiogenesis. We also discuss the effect of av integrin antagonists on angiogenesis during tumor growth, inflammatory disease, and retinopathy and summarize recent clinical progress in using av integrin antagonists.

Selective requirement for Src kinases during VEGF-induced angiogenesis and vascular permeability.

Src kinase activity was found to protect endothelial cells from apoptosis during vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-, but not basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-, mediated angiogenesis in chick embryos and mice. In fact, retroviral targeting of kinase-deleted Src to tumor-associated blood vessels suppressed angiogenesis and the growth of a VEGF-producing tumor. Although mice lacking individual Src family kinases (SFKs) showed normal angiogenesis, mice deficient in pp60c-src or pp62c-yes showed no VEGF-induced vascular permeability (VP), yet fyn-/- mice displayed normal VP. In contrast, inflammation-mediated VP appeared normal in Src-deficient mice. Therefore, VEGF-, but not bFGF-, mediated angiogenesis requires SFK activity in general, whereas the VP activity of VEGF specifically depends on the SFKs, Src, or Yes.

Integrin alphavbeta3 requirement for sustained mitogen-activated protein kinase activity during angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis depends on growth factors and vascular cell adhesion events. Integrins and growth factors are capable of activating the ras/MAP kinase pathway in vitro, yet how these signals influence endothelial cells during angiogenesis is unknown. Upon initiation of angiogenesis with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), endothelial cell mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (ERK) activity was detected as early as 5 min yet was sustained for at least 20 h. The initial wave of ERK activity (5-120 min) was refractory to integrin antagonists, whereas the sustained activity (4-20 h) depended on integrin alphavbeta3, but not beta1 integrins. Inhibition of MAP kinase kinase (MEK) during this sustained alphavbeta3-dependent ERK signal blocked the formation of new blood vessels while not influencing preexisting blood vessels on the CAM. Inhibition of MEK also blocked growth factor induced migration but not adhesion of endothelial cells in vitro. Therefore, angiogenesis depends on sustained ERK activity regulated by the ligation state of both a growth factor receptor and integrin alphavbeta3.

Quantitation of endogenous thyroid hormone receptors alpha and beta during embryogenesis and metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis.

Greater than 90% of the endogenous thyroid hormone receptor proteins TR alpha and TR beta in tissues of Xenopus laevis comigrate with their respective in vitro synthesized counterparts, and these major components are not phosphorylated detectably. Maternally inherited TR alpha protein is stable through early embryogenesis during a time in which there is no detectable TR alpha mRNA synthesis. At stage 35 when TR alpha mRNA is first detectable, the inherited TR alpha protein is present at about 100 molecules/cell. TR alpha protein subsequently increases to levels of about 1500 and 6000 molecules/cell in tail and head regions, respectively, in stage 52 tadpoles. Even though TR alpha mRNA gradually increases during metamorphosis (from stage 52 to 62), TR alpha protein remains constant, suggesting strongly that post-transcriptional events control the ultimate levels of TR alpha protein. In contrast, there is no detectable TR beta protein (less than 100 molecules/cell) throughout embryogenesis until stage 52. Both TR beta mRNA and protein rise along with the increase in endogenous thyroid hormone, reaching a maximum at the climax of metamorphosis, when TR beta protein exceeds TR alpha protein in concentration. As with TR alpha protein, TR beta protein in tail is consistently about one-fourth that of TR beta protein in the head region. The number of TR alpha protein molecules in extracts of premetamorphic tadpoles and cultured cells grown in the absence of thyroid hormone fully accounts for all of the sites to which 125I-T3 bind. We interpret this to mean that TR alpha protein must be a necessary, if not sufficient, component in the pathway toward metamorphosis triggered by thyroid hormone and required for the phenomenon of competence in tissues and cells.

Stable integration and expression in mouse cells of yeast artificial chromosomes harboring human genes.

We have developed a way to fit yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) with markers that permit the selection of stably transformed mammalian cells, and have determined the fate and expression of such YACs containing the genes for human ribosomal RNA (rDNA) or glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). The YACs in the yeast cell are "retrofitted" with selectable markers by homologous recombination with the URA3 gene of one vector arm. The DNA fragment introduced contains a LYS2 marker selective in yeast and a thymidine kinase (TK) marker selective in TK-deficient cells, bracketed by portions of the URA3 sequence that disrupt the endogenous gene during the recombination event. Analyses of transformed L-M TK- mouse cells showed that YACs containing rDNA or G6PD were incorporated in essentially intact form into the mammalian cell DNA. For G6PD, a single copy of the transfected YAC was found in each of two transformants analyzed and was fully expressed, producing the expected human isozyme as well as the heterodimer composed of the human gene product and the endogenous mouse gene product.

RNA synthesis and stability in UV-irradiated and nonirradiated mouse L cells.

In mouse L cells, relatively low doses of UV light (e.g., about 35 J/m2) induced the rapid breakdown of the molecules of many RNA species transcribed shortly before irradiation. This included 28S, 18S, 5.8S, and 5S rRNA, U1, U2, U3, U4, and U5 small nuclear RNA, but not the main band of transfer RNAs or 7SL RNA. At higher UV doses, an RNA band that contains tRNAleu was also degraded rapidly after UV irradiation. RNA molecules synthesized long before irradiation (e.g., 22 h for small RNAs, 4 h for large rRNAs) were not affected. Our results suggest that the maturation and/or assembly into fully mature ribonucleoprotein particles of several small RNA species is not completed 4 h after transcription. The effect of UV radiation occurred in mouse L cells, but not in human HeLa or KB cells. In a previous report, L cells were transformed by DNA transfection with two mouse U1b RNA genes, named U1.1 and U1.2. We observed now that, in L cells transformed with the U1.2 gene, the ratio of radioactivity in the apparent U1b and U1a RNA precursors after 5 min of labeling was about 20 times higher than a) this ratio in briefly labeled L cells that had been transformed with the U1.1 gene, and b) the ratio of radioactive mature U1b and U1a RNA after 20 h of chase in L cells transformed with the U1.2 gene. These results suggest that very high levels of U1b RNA are transcribed from the exogenous U1.2 gene copies, followed by the rapid degradation of most of these transcripts.

Ultraviolet light-induced inhibition of small nuclear RNA synthesis.

Two apparently distinct types of inhibition of the synthesis of U1, U2, U3, U4, and U5 small nuclear RNA, induced by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, have been described before: immediate and delayed. Our present observation can be summarized as follows: a) neither the immediate nor the delayed inhibition appear to be mediated by the formation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers, since they were not prevented by photoreactivating light, in ICR 2A frog cells; b) the inhibition of U1 RNA synthesis, monitored in HeLA cells within the first few minutes after irradiation, extrapolated to a substantial suppression at time zero of postirradiation cell incubation, providing further support for the proposal that the immediate inhibition is a reaction separate from the delayed UV light-induced inhibition of U1 RNA synthesis; c) the transition from the pattern of the immediate inhibition to that of the delayed inhibition (disappearance of the UV-resistant fraction of U1 RNA synthesis and increased rate of inhibition) occurred gradually, without an apparent threshold, within the first 2 hr of incubation after irradiation; and d) the incident UV dose that resulted in a 37% level of residual U1 RNA synthesis (D37) during the delayed inhibition was about 7 J/m2, with an apparent UV dose threshold, and was about 60 J/m2 for the immediate inhibition.

Adenovirus infection retards ribosomal RNA processing.

Eight hours after infection of KB cells with adenovirus type 12, the rate of conversion from the 32S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) precursor to mature 28S and 5.8S rRNA decreased. An additional RNA species was detected, which appears to be novel, on the basis of its estimated size (about 6.5 kilobases) and its high level of radiolabeling early after infection at low multiplicity.

Effect of UV light on small nuclear RNA synthesis: increased inhibition during postirradiation cell incubation.

It has been shown previously that the synthesis of small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) U1, U2, U3, U4, and U5, in contrast to that of all other RNA species tested, decreases markedly within 2 h of cell incubation after exposure to UV light (254 nm), while pyrimidine dimers are being removed from DNA. We examined the possibility that the postirradiation cell incubation-dependent, UV light-induced inhibition of snRNA synthesis might reflect hypersensitivity of the snRNA transcriptional domains to single-stranded DNA nicks or relaxation of DNA torsional stress or both that occur during DNA repair. This late suppression of snRNA biosynthesis was as pronounced in UV light-irradiated (DNA incision-deficient) xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblasts (complementation group A) as in irradiated normal human fibroblasts. The synthesis of snRNAs was not preferentially sensitive to gamma radiation (which produces single-stranded DNA breaks) or novobiocin or nalidixic acid (which induce DNA relaxation). Neither of these two drugs prevented the UV light-induced inhibition of snRNA synthesis observed during postirradiation cell incubation. These results suggest that the late suppression of snRNA synthesis does not result from hypersensitivity of snRNA transcriptional domains to single-stranded DNA cleavages or relaxation of DNA torsional strain. The UV light-induced late inhibition of snRNA synthesis: shows an inactivation curve whose slope differs from that observed immediately after irradiation; is seen in untransformed cells as well as established cells lines; and has been conserved between birds and mammals.

Inhibition of small nuclear RNA synthesis by ultraviolet radiation.

It was reported earlier that the biosynthesis of small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) (U1, U2, U3, U4, and U5) shows an unexpected great sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) radiation (254 nm). In this "early" inhibition, snRNA formation is suppressed immediately after exposure to UV light. There is also a second "late" inhibition of snRNA biosynthesis which requires lower doses of UV radiation and 1-2 h of postirradiation cell incubation to develop fully. In the present work we asked which step, within the metabolic pathway leading to the accumulation of newly made snRNA, is affected by UV light. Both for the early and late UV radiation-induced inhibitions: (a) similar results were obtained after pulse labeling or pulse chasing the radiolabel, implying that UV light did not decrease the stability of newly made snRNA; and (b) gel electrophoretic analysis of radiolabeled RNA that had been hybrid selected with cloned snRNA genes showed no accumulation of putative snRNA precursors, suggesting that UV radiation did not block snRNA processing. Instead, when transcription was carried out in isolated nuclei from irradiated cells, the effects of "early" and "late" inhibition were reproduced, indicating that transcription was affected. The early suppression appears to be a separate reaction from the late inhibition, since U1 snRNA transcription in isolated nuclei was inhibited in the absence of postirradiation cell incubation. There is a small fraction of snRNA synthesis that is resistant to high UV light doses (greater than or equal to 870 J/m2) right after irradiation, but is sensitive to lower doses (less than or equal to 36 J/m2) when the cells are incubated for 2 h after irradiation.