Total Mineral Content in Raw Materials of Ten Medicinal Plants from Roadside Biotopes of Voronezh Oblast.

The total mineral content was studied in medicinal plants from roadside and railside biotopes of the Voronezh region. Pharmacopoeial plant raw materials of 10 species were evaluated: roots of Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg and Arctium lappa L.; herb of Polygonum aviculare L., Artemisia absinthium L., Leonurus quinquelobatus Gilib., and Achillea millefolium L.; leaves of Urtica dioica L. and Plantago major L.; and flowers of Tanacetum vulgare L. and Tilia cordata Mill. Plant raw materials were collected near roads and railways of various types in the periods specified in regulatory documents. The total ash content in plant material was used to determine the minimum allowable distances from various roads and railways for collecting plant material. The minimum allowable distance from heavy-traffic motorways was recommended to be 210 m in the forest zone, 240 m in the forest-steppe zone, and 380 m in the steppe zone. A distance of at least 80 m was recommended for secondary low-speed roads and railways.

Changes in the balance between membrane-bound and soluble forms of CD95 (Fas) during selection of tumor cells in vivo.

Studies concerning the expression of the receptor CD95 (Fas) by tumor cells and the role of this protein in apoptosis induced by the effector host cells that bear Fas-ligand are mainly focused on the membrane-bound form of Fas. There are only a few data about the production of the soluble form of Fas by the tumor cells, its role in the interaction with the effector host cells, and the possible changes in the synthesis of this protein during tumor progression. In the present work, three in vitro transformed parental cell lines of different origin and 24 of their variants isolated after a short cycle of natural selection in vivo were studied. It was demonstrated for the first time that: 1) production of the soluble Fas by all selected in vivo variant tumor cell lines increased significantly (2-10-fold) in comparison to the initial (parental) cell lines and did not depend on the origin of the parental lines. At the same time, the expression of the membrane-bound form of Fas decreased considerably; 2) variations of the balance between membrane-bound and soluble forms of Fas in selected in vivo variant cells and the expression of the [H(2)O(2)(CA) + PGE(S)]-phenotype by these cells (this phenotype determines one of the essential mechanisms of the protection of a tumor cell in vivo) possibly represent independent secondary changes acquired during tumor progression in vivo.

Nonactivated macrophage-induced nitric oxide production by tumor cells differing in tumorigenic and spontaneous metastatic activities.

The ability of nonactivated peritoneal macrophages to induce nitric oxide (NO) secretion in transformed and tumor cells of the same origin differing in tumorigenic (TGA) and spontaneous metastatic activities (SMA) was examined. Low tumorigenic and nonmetastatic spontaneously transformed in vitro hamster embryo cells of the STHE strain in contact with macrophages, or their non-purified soluble product were the highest producers of NO. In vivo selected STHE cell variants characterized by middle or high TGA demonstrated low, or no NO production, respectively (independently of SMA- or SMA+). Two highly tumorigenic RSV-SR (v-src) transformed cell strains (SMA- and SMA+) were both negative in NO production. Thus, NO production by tumor cells appeared to be inversely correlated with TGA level and less dependent on SMA.

Cell transforming genes and tumor progression: in vivo unified secondary phenotypic cell changes.

We have earlier shown that Syrian hamster cells spontaneously transformed in vitro during in vivo progression, acquire in 1 step, along with highly increased tumorigenicity, 2 new properties characterizing the [H2O2CA + tPGE(S)] phenotype, i.e., a high H2O2 catabolizing (antioxidant) activity and the ability to release PGE2 upon contact with NK cells. In contrast, RSV-SR-(v-src)-transformed cells acquire the [H2O2CA + PGE(S)] phenotype and high tumorigenicity during in vitro transformation, i.e., without preliminary in vivo selection. In the present study, the possible influence of different transforming genes on the rates of subsequent in vivo tumor progression was studied using cells in vitro transformed by SV40, BAV-3, or transduced by activated genes Ha-ras, p53, myc and bcl-2. The expression of the [H2O2CA + PGE(S)] phenotype, the extent of tumorigenic and spontaneous metastasizing activities were examined before and during in vivo cells selection in s.c. growing tumors. Our results demonstrate that: (1) after in vitro transformation all cell lines (except v-src) were negative for the expression of [H2O2CA + PGE(S)] phenotype and remained equally low-tumorigenic; (2) independently of the types of genes initially transforming the cells, in vivo tumor progression was consistently leading to the replacement of parental cells by cells expressing the [H2O2CA + PGE(S)] phenotype, to 30-200 times increased tumorigenicity and less frequently to metastasizing; (3) the time necessary for selection of cells expressing this phenotype was the same (about 180 days in vivo) for all transformants, except bcl-2; the latter reaching similar values after a significant delay. Thus, common secondary src-like phenotypic cell changes, regardless of initially cell transforming genes are necessarily selected during tumor progression in vivo.

Mechanisms of unusually high antioxidant activity of RSV-SR-transformed cells and of its suppression by activated p21ras.

We have previously demonstrated that hamster embryo fibroblasts (HEFs) transformed by Rous Sarcoma virus, Schmidt-Ruppin strain (RSV-SR) are highly resistant to damage by H202 (H2O2R), (in contrast to HEFs transformed spontaneously, or by bovine adenovirus and SV40), while N-ras transfection of RSV-SR transformants leads to suppression of pp6Ov-scr and of H2O2R. In this study we have examined (1) mechanisms of antioxidant activity (AOA) of HEFs transformed by these agents and (2) the possible role of the v-src gene in unusually high AOA of RSV-SR transformants and of activated ras oncogenes in its suppression. All transformants exhibit increased catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GP) activities, while SOD, glutathione and glutathione reductase (GR) were reduced. As compared with other transformants, the significantly higher catalase and the low SOD activities were characteristic of RSV-SR-transformants, while an increase in GP was observed in all types of transformants. Correspondingly, RSV-SR-transformants showed an extremely high H202-catabolizing activity (H2O2CA) and no lipid peroxidation chain reaction (LPCR). N-ras-induced suppression of pp60v-scr of RSV-SR-transformed HEFs coincided with the suppression of catalase, GP, H202 and H202CA. However, suppression of catalase and GP was also observed in N-ras- and Ha-ras-transfected, spontaneously transformed HEFs. Thus, extremely high catalase activity and suppression of LPCR are apparently the main mechanisms of the unusually high H202R of RSV-SR transformants, while its suppression by activated ras oncogenes may also take place in some transformants, free of v-src activity.

Accumulation in "normal" lungs of live tumorigenic cells during sub-cutaneous growth of weakly and highly metastasizing tumors and their in vitro sensitivity to growth regulation by normal fibroblasts.

The main purposes of the study were: (1) in vivo comparison of accumulation of live tumorigenic cells (LTC) in macroscopically normal lungs of animals bearing 6 s.c. Syrian hamster sarcomas differing in spontaneous metastasizing activity (SMA); (2) in vitro examination of the sensitivity of these cell strains to the growth-regulating signals of normal fibroblasts. Cell strains used differed in SMA from very weak (WM) to extremely high (HM). The numbers of LTC doses in "normal" lung tissue of tumor-bearing animals were determined in s.c. transplantation tests by titrating single-cell suspensions prepared from the lung tissues of 5 tumor-bearing animals, for each cell strain, every 5 days during 30 days of s.c. tumor growth, until the appearance of the first spontaneous lung metastases. The sensitivity of WM and HM cells to growth-regulating signals of normal hamster embryo fibroblasts (HEFs) was examined by in vitro co-culturing during 6 days with daily determination of 3H-TdR incorporation in the WM and HM cells grown with or without contact with HEFs. The data presented demonstrate (1) the surprisingly similar efficiency in the occupation of macroscopically normal lung tissues by live tumorigenic cells of WM and HM strains, disseminating spontaneously from the s.c. tumors; (2) the significantly lower sensitivity of HM cells, in contrast to WM, to growth inhibition by contact with HEFs and especially their marked ability to usurp the growth-stimulating signals of normal HEFs.