K-252a promotes survival and choline acetyltransferase activity in striatal and basal forebrain neuronal cultures.

The organic molecule K-252a promoted cell survival, neurite outgrowth, and increased choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity in rat embryonic striatal and basal forebrain cultures in a concentration-dependent manner. A two- to threefold increase in survival was observed at 75 nM K-252a in both systems. A single application of K-252a at culture initiation prevented substantial (> 60%) cell death that otherwise occurred after 4 days in striatal or basal forebrain cultures. A 5-h exposure of striatal or basal forebrain cells to K-252a, followed by its removal, resulted in survival equivalent to that observed in cultures continually maintained in its presence. This is in contrast to results found with a 5-h exposure of basal forebrain cultures to nerve growth factor (NGF). Acute exposure of basal forebrain cultures to K-252a, but not to NGF, increased ChAT activity, indicating that NGF was required the entire culture period for maximum activity. Striatal cholinergic and GABAergic neurons were among the neurons rescued by K-252a. Of the protein growth factors tested in striatal cultures (ciliary neurotrophic factor, neurotrophin-3, NGF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, interleukin-2, basic fibroblast growth factor), only brain-derived neurotrophic factor promoted survival. The enhancement of survival and ChAT activity of basal forebrain and striatal neurons by K-252a defines additional populations of neurons in which survival and/or differentiation is regulated by a K-252a-responsive mechanism. The above results expand the potential therapeutic targets for these molecules for the treatment of neuro-degenerative diseases.

The effect of glucose and galactose toxicity on myo-inositol transport and metabolism in human skin fibroblasts in culture.

Myo-inositol transport and metabolism were studied in cultured human skin fibroblasts exposed to potentially toxic levels of glucose or galactose. Although variable among 11 different cell lines, the myo-inositol level in confluent cells, ranging from 10-50 nmol/mg protein, was constant with passage. A high-affinity transport system for myo-inositol had an apparent Kt of 55 microM and Vmax of 16 pmol/min/mg protein. No obvious relationship existed between cellular levels and transport capacity. Dependency on sodium was complex. When medium sodium was lowered to 23 mM, myo-inositol uptake ceased after about 1 h. However, the initial rate of myo-inositol uptake only showed a sodium dependence at low myo-inositol concentrations. Both phloretin and phloridzin inhibited myo-inositol uptake. Phloridzin had a Ki of 60 microM, and phloretin was either a noncompetitive or uncompetitive inhibitor. Glucose and galactose were only weak competitive inhibitors, with a Ki of 30 mM and 65 mM, respectively. After 24 h of incubation with myo-[2-3H]inositol, only 10% of the total cell label was incorporated into phospholipid. Compared with control media with 5 mM glucose, the incubation of confluent cells in media with 20 mM glucose had little effect on intracellular glucose and sorbitol, whereas cells incubated in control media supplemented with 5 mM galactose showed a large increase in galactose and polyol levels. In media with more than 200 microM of myo-inositol, neither treatment had an effect on myo-inositol levels after 24 h.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

myo-inositol transport and metabolism in fetal-bovine aortic endothelial cells.

The myo-inositol transport system in confluent fetal-bovine aortic endothelial cells was characterized after 7-10 days in subculture, at which time the myo-inositol levels and rates of myo-[2-3H]-inositol uptake and incorporation into phospholipid had reached steady state. Kinetic analysis indicated that the uptake occurred by both a high-affinity transport system with an apparent Kt of 31 microM and Vmax. of 45 pmol/min per mg of protein, and a non-saturable low-affinity system. Uptake was competitively inhibited by phlorhizin, with a Ki of 50 microM; phloretin was a non-competitive inhibitor, with half-maximal inhibition between 0.2 and 0.5 mM. Glucose was a weak competitive inhibitor, with a Ki of 37 mM; galactose failed to inhibit uptake. A weak dependence on Na+ for the initial rate of uptake was observed at 11 microM myo-inositol. When fetal-bovine-serum (FBS)-supplemented medium, which contained 225 microM myo-inositol, was used, the cells contained about 200 nmol of myo-inositol/mg of DNA. With adult-bovine-serum (ABS)-supplemented medium, which contained 13 microM myo-inositol, the cells contained about 110 nmol/mg of DNA. Transport of 11 microM myo-[2-3]inositol was 18 and 125 pmol/min per mg of DNA for cells grown in FBS and ABS respectively. Kinetic analysis showed that for the cells grown in FBS the Vmax. of the high-affinity system was decreased by 64%, whereas the Kt remained essentially unchanged. Increased cell myo-inositol levels were not associated with an increased rate of phosphatidylinositol synthesis. After prolonged exposure of fetal endothelial cells to a myo-inositol concentration which approximated to a high fetal as opposed to a low adult blood level, cell myo-inositol levels doubled and high-affinity transport underwent down-regulation.

K-252a and staurosporine promote choline acetyltransferase activity in rat spinal cord cultures.

The protein kinase inhibitor K-252a increased choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity in rat embryonic spinal cord cultures in a dose-dependent manner (EC50 of approximately 100 nM) with maximal stimulatory activity at 300 nM resulting in as much as a fourfold increase. A single application of K-252a completely prevented the marked decline in ChAT activity occurring over a 5-day period following culture initiation. Of 11 kinase inhibitors, only the structurally related inhibitor staurosporine also increased ChAT activity (EC50 of approximately 0.5 nM). Effective concentrations of K-252a were not cytotoxic or mitogenic and did not alter the total protein content of treated cultures. Insulin-like growth factor I, basic fibroblast growth factor, ciliary neurotrophic factor, and leukemia inhibitory factor yielded dose-dependent increases in ChAT activity in spinal cord cultures. The combination of K-252a with insulin-like growth factor-I or basic fibroblast growth factor increased ChAT activity up to eightfold over that of untreated controls, which was greater than that observed with each compound alone. K-252a combined with ciliary neurotrophic factor or leukemia inhibitory factor demonstrated no additive or synergistic effects on ChAT activity. These results suggest that there are multiple mechanisms for the regulation of ChAT activity in spinal cord cultures. The enhancement of spinal cord ChAT activity by K-252a and staurosporine defines a new neurotrophic activity for these small organic molecules and raises the possibility that they may activate some regulatory elements in common with the ciliary neurotrophic factor and leukemia inhibitory factor family of neurotrophic proteins.

Increase in numbers of 6-thioguanine-resistant human lymphocytes in short-term culture.

Lymphocytes from healthy young adults and from adolescent patients with cancer were examined for their ability to incorporate [3H]thymidine in short-term culture in the presence of phytohemagglutinin and 6-thioguanine (6-TG). The numbers of labeled nuclei after 72 h in culture were compared to numbers of labeled nuclei after 30 h in culture. The numbers of labeled nuclei in the presence of 6-TG increased 6-65-fold between 30 and 72 h. The increases in number could be accounted for by 3-6 cycles of cell division. The data suggest that 6-TG-resistant peripheral blood lymphocytes are capable of reproduction in short-term culture, but factors other than reproduction may also contribute to increases in numbers of 6-TG-resistant cells.

The emergence of 6-thioguanine-resistant lymphocytes in pediatric cancer patients.

This paper describes a prospective study and a simultaneous longitudinal study of the frequency of 6-thioguanine- (6TG-) resistant peripheral blood lymphocytes in children with cancer and in controls. Thioguanine resistance was measured autoradiographically by the ability of phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes to incorporate tritiated thymidine in the presence or absence of 2 x 10(-4) or 2 x 10(-5) M 6TG. 5 of 29 untreated cancer patients had higher frequencies of 6TG-resistant lymphocytes than any of 116 controls. Patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy showed significantly higher numbers of 6TG-resistant lymphocytes than controls, and in rare patients abnormally high frequencies of 6TG-resistant cells persisted after therapy was discontinued. Among 22 patients studied prospectively before and during therapy, the frequency of 6TG-resistant lymphocytes was significantly higher during therapy. From these results we conclude (1) that some cancer patients have abnormally high frequencies of 6TG-resistant lymphocytes, and (2) cancer therapy either causes selection of 6TG-resistant cells or causes a phenotypic or genotypic change leading to further increases in frequencies of 6TG resistance.