Suramin, a protein kinase C inhibitor, impairs hepatic regeneration.

Previously we have shown that partial hepatectomy (PH) or exposure of the liver to the mitogen prolactin induces activation of hepatic protein kinase C (PKC). Here, we used suramin, an antitrypanosomal and chemotherapeutic drug which inhibits that enzyme, as a probe of PKC signal transduction in the regenerative response after PH in the rat. Suramin was administered i.p. in nonhepatotoxic doses of 20 to 160 mg/kg 14 days prior to PH. Three measures of hepatic DNA synthesis or cell division, thymidine kinase activity, [3H]thymidine incorporation, and mitotic index were inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion. Baseline PKC activity, in both the cytosolic and particulate fractions, was unchanged by suramin. After PH, PKC activation, signalled by an increase in activity in the particulate fraction, was observed in control rats at 30 and 60 min. However, rats which had previously received suramin demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of PKC activation. Suramin is known to also disrupt the binding of certain growth factors to their receptors. But if inhibition of PKC activation were conferred by interference with growth factor-receptor binding by suramin, then the generation of diacylglycerol, the second messenger for PKC activation, should likewise be impaired. However, we observed that the diacylglycerol mass generated at 15, 30, and 45 min after PH was not altered by suramin pretreatment. We conclude that the diminution in DNA synthesis after PH by suramin is likely the consequence of direct inhibition of PKC, suggesting that PKC activation is an important, perhaps obligatory, signal transduction event in liver regeneration.

A group III twintron encoding a maturase-like gene excises through lariat intermediates.

The 1605 bp intron 4 of the Euglena gracilis chloroplast psbC gene was characterized as a group III twintron composed of an internal 1503 nt group III intron with an open reading frame of 1374 nt (ycf13, 458 amino acids), and an external group III intron of 102 nt. Twintron excision proceeds by a sequential splicing pathway. The splicing of the internal and external group III introns occurs via lariat intermediates. Branch sites were mapped by primer extension RNA sequencing. The unpaired adenosines in domains VI of the internal and external introns are covalently linked to the 5' nucleotide of the intron via 2'-5' phosphodiester bonds. This bond is susceptible to hydrolysis by the debranching activity of the HeLa nuclear S100 fraction. The internal intron and presumptive ycf13 mRNA accumulates primarily as a linear RNA, although a lariat precursor can also be detected. The ycf13 gene encodes a maturase-like protein that may be involved in group III intron metabolism.