Aspirin prevention of NMDA-induced neuronal death by direct protein kinase Czeta inhibition.

Abstract Aspirin has been shown to protect against glutamate neurotoxicity via the nuclear factor kappaB pathway. Some studies have implicated the atypical protein kinase C (PKC) zeta (zeta) isoform in cell protection, but the mechanism involved remains unclear. We show here that aspirin exerts at least some of its effects through PKCzeta, decreasing the NMDA-induced activation, cleavage and nuclear translocation of this molecule. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) directly inhibited the protein kinase activity of PKCzeta, whereas salicylic acid did not. This direct effect of aspirin on purified human PKCzeta is consistent with PKCzeta inhibition preventing the NMDA-induced death of cortical neurones. Caspase-3 inhibition blocked the cleavage and nuclear translocation of PKCzeta, whereas caspase-1-inhibition did not. Thus, PKCzeta (protein kinase Mzeta) regulates nuclear events essential for the initiation of the apoptotic pathway. Aspirin protects cells against NMDA-induced apoptosis by means of a novel mechanism targeting PKCzeta, a key molecule in inflammatory responses and neurodegeneration.

Biochemical basis for a cholesterol-lowering activity of 2-[2"-(1",3"-dioxolane)]-2-methyl-4-(2'-oxo-1'-pyrrolidinyl)-6- nitro-2H-1-benzopyran (SKP-450), a novel antihypertensive agent.

Administration (p.o.) of SKP-450, 2-[2"-(1",3"-dioxolane)]-2-methyl-4-(2'-oxo-1'-pyrrolidinyl)-6-nitro-2H- 1-benzopyran, a novel antihypertensive agent, to hypercholesterolemic Syrian hamsters led to a significant reduction in plasma lipids in a dose-dependent manner, i.e., a 10.8% to 29% reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol at doses of 0.3 to 10 mg/kg of SKP-450. SKP-450 was found to specifically inhibit the hepatic microsomal lanosterol 14alpha-methyl demethylase (14alpha-DM) in a competitive manner (Ki:2.65 microM). Furthermore, a dose-dependent decrease in the 14alpha-DM activity by SKP-450 parallelled the cholesterol synthetic rate in vitro in both the rat hepatic S10 fractions (supernatants at 10,000 g; IC50:20 microM) and Chinese hamster ovary cells (IC50:23 microM). However, this phenomenon was not seen in AR45 cells, which are deficient in 14alpha-DM, suggesting that 14alpha-DM is the major target for the inhibitory action of SKP-450 in regard to cholesterol biosynthesis.

The synthesis and in vitro activity of some delta 7,9(11)-lanostadienes.

The synthesis of delta 7,9(11)-lanostadiene derivatives functionalized at C(32) starting from 3 beta-acetoxy-7 alpha,32-epoxylanostan-11-one has been presented. The delta 7,9(11) moiety was efficiently introduced in three steps in 71% yield by the regioselective abstraction of allylic 8 beta hydrogen. The formyl group of the key intermediate, 3 beta-benzoyloxylanosta-7,9(11)-dien-32-al, has been stereoselectively alkylated into (32S) derivative, whereas its oxidation unexpectedly afforded 3 beta-benzoyloxy-7-oxolanost-8-ene-32,11 alpha-lactone and not the corresponding acid. delta 7,9(11)-lanostadienes possessing HC(32)=O, C(32) [symbol: see text] N, HC(32S)CH3OH, H2C(32)OH, as well as some 11-keto lanostenes, were tested in vitro against several purified cholesterogenic enzymes showing moderate activity, with most the active aldehyde 16 having IC50 = 86 microM.

Cholesterol biosynthesis from lanosterol: regulation and purification of rat hepatic sterol 14-reductase.

We have previously characterized the membrane-bound sterol 14-reductase (14-reductase) that catalyzes anaerobically NADPH-dependent reduction of the 14-double bond of delta 8,14-diene or delta 7,14-diene sterols that are sterol intermediates in cholesterol biosynthesis in mammals (Paik et al. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 13413-13423). To elucidate the regulatory mechanism as well as molecular characteristics of the 14-reductase, we extended our investigation on the consequences of alteration of the enzymic activity under various physiological conditions. The enzymic activity of rat hepatic sterol 14-reductase was induced more than 11-fold by feeding 5% cholestyramine plus 0.1% lovastatin (the CL-diet) for 7 days but was severely suppressed by feeding 5% cholesterol or 0.01% AY-9944 (an inhibitor of 14-reductase) for the same period. The increase or decrease in the 14-reductase activity also parallels the same change in the cholesterol synthetic rate in hepatocytes from rats that had been fed either the CL-diet or 0.01% AY-9944. In vitro inhibition studies revealed that AY-9944 acts as a competitive inhibitor of the 14-reductase (Ki = 0.26 microM). A diurnal variation was observed for the 14-reductase with peak activity near the middle of the dark cycle (10 p.m.), which was abolished by administration of cycloheximide. With induced enzyme conditions 14-reductase has been further purified with chromatographic procedures to near homogeneity. Purified 14-reductase appears to be a M(r) = 70,000 protein that is composed of two equally-sized subunits having a M(r) = 38,000. All properties of the purified 14-reductase suggest that the solubilized enzyme is the principal 14-reductase of microsomes. Taken together, our results provide the first evidence in support of a previously unknown regulatory role for the 14-reductase in the overall cholesterol synthetic pathway.