Cytotoxic Tigliane Diterpenoids from Croton damayeshu.

Chemical investigation of an EtOH extract of the twigs and leaves of Croton damayeshu afforded 10 new tigliane diterpenoids, crodamoids A-J (1-10), along with five known compounds. Their structures were elucidated by physical data analysis. Compounds 8, 9, and 15 displayed cytotoxic effects against two human tumor cell lines, A549 and HL-60 (IC50: 0.9-2.4 µM).

Epidermal proliferation of nude mouse skin, pig skin, and pig skin grafts. Failure of nude mouse skin to respond to the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate.

Human skin transplanted to nude mice offers a possible experimental system for the study of normal epidermal proliferation and differentiation, and for their pathological counterparts. Crucial to the development of such a system is the demonstration that such grafts retain the responsive features of donor skin. To document that donor proliferative characteristics are maintained in the grafts, a comparative analysis of agents that induce proliferation was made on skin of mice homozygous and heterozygous for nude, on pig skin, and on pig skin transplanted onto nude mice. A wave of epidermal proliferation could be induced in pig skin and pig skin grafted onto nude mice, but not in nude mouse skin after the topical application of 10 ng 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA). A 10-fold greater concentration of TPA or 5% croton oil induced proliferation in all species of epidermis studied. Mice, heterozygous for nude, showed a normal response to 10 ng TPA, suggesting that the ability to respond to TPA may be related, in part, to a recessive genetic trait. Nude mouse skin transplanted to a heterozygous littermate capable of responding to 10 ng TPA does not respond. These observations argue that: the graft retains its donor proliferative characteristics when transplanted to the nude, and the inability of the nude mouse to respond to lower doses of TPA may be related to absorption, the nude gene(s), or an inherent threshold to response. The lack of response to the promoter TPA provides a plausible explanation for the decreased incidence of tumors arising in nude mice during two-stage carcinogenesis experiments.

Accelerated onset of viral transcription in adenovirus-infected HeLa cells treated with the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate.

When adenovirus type 5-infected HeLa cells were exposed to the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate, short pulse-labeling with [3H]uridine in vivo and [3H]UTP incorporation by isolated nuclei in vitro were both consistent with a decreased latent period before initiation by RNA polymerase at early viral promoters. Acceleration was not dependent upon concurrent protein synthesis and could not be attributed to rapid entry of virus into the cell nucleus. 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate suppressed the transcription-delay phenotype of the E1a mutant, hr1, without restoring its ability to replicate.

Enhancement of two-stage skin carcinogenesis by exposure of distant skin to UV radiation.

Exposure of C3H/HeN mice to UV 280-320 nm (UVB) radiation induces a systemic, immunologic alteration that interferes with the rejection of highly antigenic UVB radiation-induced skin cancers. The effect of this systemic alteration, induced by ventral UVB irradiation of mice, was tested on the induction of dorsal skin tumors resulting from initiation with UVB radiation and promotion with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA). The systemic effect of UVB radiation markedly potentiated carcinogenesis at the distant site. More important, mice treated with TPA alone on the dorsal skin developed a significant number of dorsal tumors if the mice also had been exposed ventrally to UVB radiation. Treatment of dorsal skin with UVB radiation alone did not result in the development of cancers, regardless of whether the mice received ventral irradiation. These results suggest that the systemic effect of UVB radiation is exerted during the promotion phase of two-stage carcinogenesis. Furthermore, they imply that a systemic effect of UVB radiation interferes with a natural host control mechanism that ordinarily holds skin cancers in check.

Epidermal cell proliferation and promoting ability of phorbol esters.

Dose-response relationships on the abilities of several phorbol ester tumor promoters to promote skin tumors after 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene initiation and to bring about edema, inflammation, and epidermal hyperplasia were determined in female Charles River CD-1 mice. The promoting ability of the potent synthetic promoter, phorbol-12,13-dioctanoate (PdiC8), was determined over a dose range of 0.1-10 mug/application. Administration of PdiC8 two times weekly at dosages of 4, 6, 8, and 10 mug gave little variation in tumor response. A dose-dependent tumor response occurred at doses of 1-4 mug PdiC8. Only 1 papilloma was observed when PdiC8 was given twice weekly at a dose of 0.1 or 0.5 mug. A similar dose-response relation was observed for the ability of PdiC8 to stimulate epidermal hyperplasia. Investigations of other phorbol esters revealed an excellent correlation between their promoting ability and their ability to induce epidermal hyperplasia; however, that was not the case for compounds outside the phorbol ester series (i.e., acetic acid, cantharidin, and ethylphenylpropiolate).

Production of a cytotoxin from phorbol myristate acetate-treated human promyelocytes.

Human promyelocytic leukemia cells, when differentiated into macrophages by treatment with phorbol myristate acetate, secrete a cytolytic factor. Enhanced production was achieved when the cultures were treated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Production of the factor was inhibited when cultures were treated with dactinomycin immediately after LPS treatment. Tritirachium alkaline proteinase treatment inactivated the factor, indicating that it has an essential protein moiety. The molecular weight was found to be approximately 40,000 by Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration. The factor was stable at 56 degrees C for 30 minutes, but 80% of the activity was inactivated at 70 degrees C in 30 minutes. The factor was destroyed (96%) by dialysis against 0.01 M HCl (pH 2) for 14 hours. The cytolytic factor had little activity on normal fibroblasts, but it was able to significantly kill transformed cells in vitro.

Increased persistence of induced mutants of Chinese hamster cells by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.

Hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase deficient mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells induced by ethyl methanesulfonate usually do not maintain their phenotype during growth in non-selective medium immediately following the induction. This phenomenon, called poor "persistence" of the induced mutation, is in most cases unrelated to growth rate but results from establishment of contact with wild type cells (Bradley, W. E. C. Exp. Cell Res., 129: 251, 1980). We report here that 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, a strong tumor promoter, increases the persistence of these mutants.

Effects of structural changes on the tumor-promoting activity of phorbol myristate acetate on mouse skin.

4a alpha-Phorbol-9,9a-didecanoate, 4a alpha-phorbol-9-myristate-9a-acetate, and phorbol-9-myristate-9a-acetate-3-aldehyde were tested for skin tumor-promoting activity by using 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene as the initiating agent. There were 30 female ICR/Ha mice/group, and tests were continued for 434 to 461 days. 4a alpha-Phorbol-9,9a-didecanoate and 4a alpha-phorbol-9-myristate-9a-acetate were devoid of tumor-promoting activity. Phorbol-9-myristate-9a-acetate-3-aldehyde resulted in 10 mice with papillomas, 2 of which also bore squamous carcinomas of the skin. The positive control group, in which phorbol myristate acetate was used as promoting agent, resulted in 30 mice bearing multiple papillomas and 15 bearing squamous carcinomas of the skin. The effects of structural and stereochemical changes on tumor-promoting activity suggest that a primary interaction of the phorbol ester series is binding at specific sites on the plasma membrane.

Tumor-promoting activity of 2,3-dihydrophorbol myristate acetate and phorbolol myristate acetate in mouse skin.

Phorbolol myristate acetate (PHMA) had been previously prepared from the potent mouse skin tumor promoter phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) by sodium borohydride reduction of the C-5 carbonyl group in PMA to a secondary alcohol. PHMA was shown to have an inflammatory effect in mouse skin equal to that of PMA. 2,3-Dihydrophorbol myristate acetate (DPMA), a new compound, was prepared from the 3-aldehyde of PMA by catalytic hydrogenation. DPMA exhibited no detectable inflammatory effect in mouse skin. Both DPMA and PHMA were tested on the dorsal skins of female ICR/Ha Swiss mice (30/group) for 433 and 380 days, respectively, in separate experiments. The tumor-promoting activity of both compounds was reduced significantly, compared with that of equimolar doses of PMA. For each treatment the number of mice with tumors per total number of tumors was: DPMA, 9/17; PMA, 29/553 at 10 microgram/mouse; PMA, 30/317; PHMA, 24/69 at 2.5 microgram/mouse. The results suggest that specific binding requirements influence the tumor-promoting and hyperplastic activity of PMA and its closely related derivatives in mouse skin.

Effects of tumor-promoting phorbol diesters on neoplastic progression of Syrian hamster embryo cells.

The progression of normal Syrian hamster embryo cells to a neoplastic phenotype after treatment with a chemical carcinogen and continuous exposure to phorbol ester tumor promoters was studied in cell culture. Tumor promoters were able to rescue cell lines derived from individual carcinogen-treated colonies from a program of cellular senescence. In general, these cell lines did not grow in soft-agar medium or produce tumors in newborn hamsters at early passages but acquired these properties at later passages. These cell lines were used to study the temporal acquisition of a phenotypic characteristic of neoplastic rather than normal hamster embryo cells: the synergistic induction of the enzyme ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) by tumor promoter and serum growth factors (O'Brien, T. G., Saladik, D., and Diamond, L. Regulation of polyamine biosynthesis in normal and transformed hamster cells in culture. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 632: 270, 1980). All cell lines that acquired neoplastic status with passage in culture exhibited the synergistic induction of ODC prior to their acquisition of the ability to either grow in soft-agar medium or produce tumors in newborn hamsters. Cell lines that responded to promoters with the synergistic induction of ODC accumulated greater levels of polyamines, especially putrescine, after promoter treatment than did normal cells. Tumor promoters did not affect the percentage of cells labeled with [3H]thymidine in preneoplastic cell lines, a finding similar to previous results in normal and neoplastic hamster cells. These studies demonstrate that tumor promoters can affect the early stages of neoplastic progression in carcinogen-treated Syrian hamster embryo cells and that a particular phenotypic property found in neoplastic hamster cells, the synergistic induction of ODC by tumor promoters and serum growth factors, is acquired by cell lines before they acquire neoplastic potential.

Inhibition of queuine uptake in cultured human fibroblasts by phorbol-12,13-didecanoate.

The modified base queuine is inserted posttranscriptionally into the first position of the anticodon of tyrosine tRNA, histidine tRNA, asparginine tRNA, and aspartic acid tRNA. Phorbol-12,13-didecanoate (PDD) effects a decrease in the queuine content of tRNA in cultured human foreskin fibroblasts. The present data suggest that this results from a PDD-mediated inhibition of queuine uptake. Nonsaturable uptake was observed for tritiated dihydroqueuine (rQT3) for up to 2 hr at 10 to 1000 nM concentrations, while saturation of uptake was observed after 3 to 4 hr. Lineweaver-Burke analysis of concentration versus uptake revealed biphasic uptake kinetics with high and low Km components of approximately 350 and 30 nM, respectively. Competition by queuine of rQT3 uptake indicated that both compounds have equal affinity for the uptake mechanism. PDD inhibited rQT3 uptake but required 30 to 60 min of exposure before the uptake was completely blocked. The rQT3 efflux rate from cells was found to be 3 to 4 times greater than that of uptake, and PDD also inhibited the efflux reaction. The potential inhibitors furosemide, nitrobenzylthioinosine, ouabain, 7-methylguanine, 7-deazaguanine, guanine, guanosine, adenine, adenosine, hypoxanthine, and epidermal growth factor had no effect on rQT3 uptake. However, dipyridamole was immediately effective at reducing rQT3 uptake.

Induction of 5,6-ring-saturated thymine bases in NIH-3T3 cells by phorbol ester-stimulated macrophages: role of reactive oxygen intermediates.

Because oxygen intermediates secreted by inflammatory leukocytes are postulated to play a role in potentiating carcinogenesis, we investigated the ability of macrophages to induce oxidative DNA damage in eukaryotic cells. Murine macrophages, obtained from sites of inflammation and stimulated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-15-acetate, induced the formation of 5,6-ring-saturated thymine bases in the DNA of cocultured NIH-3T3 cells; macrophages or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-15-acetate alone did not induce such alterations. Reagent H2O2, at concentrations produced by macrophages in the ambient medium (i.e., approximately 10(-5) M), induced saturated thymines in the target cells in a dose-dependent manner. The reaction between reagent H2O2 and cellular DNA was rapid, reaching maximum levels in 30 min, and similar amounts of saturated thymines were induced at 4 degrees or 37 degrees. The 3T3 targets were able to repair the saturated thymines rapidly (i.e., over 70% of the lesion was removed in 2 hr). Catalase completely inhibited macrophage-mediated induction of saturated thymines, although superoxide dismutase enhanced induction. Taken together, the data indicate that macrophages exposed to phorbol diesters can induce a specific, quantifiable lesion in the DNA of bystander eukaryotic cells and that reactive oxygen species from the macrophages participate in producing the lesion.

Cutaneous changes during prolonged application of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate on mouse skin and residual effects after cessation of treatment.

The epidermal and dermal effects of protracted 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) treatment (2 micrograms TPA twice weekly) of Sencar mouse skin were studied using cell kinetics and morphometric techniques. In addition, regression of TPA-induced changes was evaluated after cessation of 56 topical applications. During the first week of treatment a reactional hyperplasia, characterized by cell damage, edema, and acute inflammation in both epidermis and dermis, occurred. This picture changed gradually during the following 3 weeks: an epidermal hyperplasia devoid of involutional or inflammatory features was accompanied by a moderate to mild chronic inflammation of the dermis and a hyperplasia of the hair follicles. This remained throughout the experimental period until the topical TPA treatment ceased. Although TPA induced papillomas in only 5% of the animals (maximum = 2 papillomas/animal and no carcinomas), all sustained marked epidermal hyperplasia of approximately 4 to 5 times the normal thickness, and increased the number and volume of hair follicles. The [3H]thymidine pulse-labeling index of the basal layer was approximately 32% (normal congruent to 6%). The level of dark keratinocytes remained constant; i.e., 8% of the basal cells were identified as dark cells during the entire experiment. At the subepidermal level the dermal thickness and total cellularity increased, although the proportion of the different cell types changed during the treatment. The mast cell population increased remarkably. After TPA treatment ceased, most of these parameters regressed abruptly during the first 2 weeks. Two to 4 months later, the epidermis was slightly thinner, and the labeling index was 50% lower than normal (2.8%). This study shows that prolonged repetitive TPA applications induced a steady-state hyperplasia without tachyphylaxis, and that this alteration regressed rapidly after treatment ceased. In addition, labeling-index values lower than normal were reached soon after normalization, suggesting that a possible selection of keratinocytes, dependent on TPA for proliferation, took place during the chronic administration of topical TPA. The number of hair follicle, capillary vessels, mast cells, and the dermal thickness never reached normal values after treatment. These important changes in the dermis and hair follicles indicate that the target cells for tumor promoters are not confined to the epidermis alone, and that these tissues could participate actively in carcinogenesis directly, either as tumor-originating tissues (hair follicles), or as inducers or helpers of neoplastic growth (connective tissue cells).

Induction of maturation in cultured human monocytic leukemia cells by a phorbol diester.

Suspension cultures of a human monocytic leukemia cell line, THP-1, were treated with 0.16 to 160 nM 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). In an original cell line, THP-1-O, cultured again from -80 degrees cryopreservation, more than 80% of the cells adhered to the glass substrate with marked morphological change within 3 hr of TPA treatment. Adherent cells became flat and amoeboid in shape, and many microvilli and flaps of the cell surface disappeared. Well-developed Golgi apparatus, rough endoplasmic reticula, and a large amount of free ribosomes were seen in the cytoplasm. On the other hand, in THP-1-R cells cultured continuously without cryopreservation for 26 months, approximately 80% of the cells adhered to the substrate 48 hr after TPA treatment. Round and ovoid shapes were kept in THP-1-R cells treated with TPA. Surface Fc receptors for immunoglobulin G were present on more than 90% of THP-1-O and THP-1-R cells and were little affected by treatment with TPA. Sixty to 70% of the TPA-treated THP-1-O and THP-1-R cells were able to phagocytize yeasts and immunoglobulin G-coated sheep erythrocytes. Less than 20% of the untreated THP-1 cells were able to phagocytize yeasts and immunoglobulin G-coated sheep erythrocytes. In histochemical staining, alpha-naphthyl butyrate esterase was enhanced after treatment with TPA. Lysozyme activity in culture supernatants was not affected by TPA treatment. When exposed to latex beads and TPA, increased 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glucose in THP-1-O cells was observed. These results indicate that, after treatment with TPA, human monocytic leukemia cells may be converted into mature cells with functions of macrophages.

Tumor promoter actions on rat embryonic development in culture.

The many embryonic and developmental features associated with tumor promotion have prompted us to investigate the effects of a series of phorbol esters and related diterpene tumor promoters on mammalian embryogenesis. A culture system which supports the normal development of 10.4 day organogenesis-phase rat conceptuses was utilized. In this system, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), a potent Stage I and II promoter, disrupted the morphology and function of the embryonic visceral yolk sac (dose required to affect 50% of conceptuses, 18 nM). The effect was characterized by an abnormal, progressive separation of the two cellular layers of the yolk sac, but cellular differentiation appeared to be uninterrupted. Parallel log dose-response lines for this effect were produced by phorbol-12,13-dibenzoate (dose required to affect 50% of conceptuses, 200 nM) and phorbol-12,13-diacetate (dose required to affect 50% of conceptuses, 300 nM) which are consistent with structure-activity relationships for other promotional actions of these compounds. In addition, the weak Stage I promoter, 4-O-methyl-12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, produced identical effects but was 1400 times less potent than was TPA, while mezerein, a potent Stage II promoter, was as potent as was TPA. These observations support the hypothesis that embryonic cells may be differentially sensitive to early- and late-stage promoters. Ethylphenylpropiolate, a nonpromoting hyperplastic agent in mouse skin, had no effect on yolk sac morphology or function at its maximum solubility (1.85 mM). Yolk sac disruption by TPA was potentiated by heat inactivation (56 degrees, 30 min) or 0.45-micron filtration of the culture medium. A more advanced stage of yolk sac development was less sensitive to TPA disruption since 11.4 day conceptuses, which were cultured for 30 hr, developed identical lesions, but TPA was at least 5-fold less potent. Thus, the tumor promoter-induced lesions of the rat yolk sac have some features consistent with late-stage tumor promotion and do not appear to be associated with general toxicity, hyperplasia, or alterations in cellular differentiation. We postulate that rat conceptuses maintained in vitro may provide an important model system for the study of the proposed mechanisms involved in chemical tumor promotion.

Glycosaminoglycan synthesis during differentiation of HL60/HGPRT-leukemia cells induced by dimethyl sulfoxide and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are polyanionic components of the cell surface that have been shown to play an important role in the cellular differentiation of many embryonic systems, as well as in the maturation of the developing human leukocyte. For this reason, the production of GAGs during the induction of myelocytic and macrophage-like differentiation of the human promyelocytic leukemia cloned cell line HL60/HGPRT- was studied. The major GAG component of HL60/HGPRT- was chondroitin 4-sulfate. This molecule has been reported to be the major GAG constituent of normal granulocytes and myeloid leukemia cells as well. Treatment of HL60/HGPRT- cultures with dimethyl sulfoxide, which initiates myeloid maturation, or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13- acetate, which induces the formation of macrophage-like cells, resulted in a 43 and 34% reduction, respectively, of the incorporation of [35S]sulfate into total GAGs at a time when greater than 80% of the cells were morphologically immature and were unable to reduce nitroblue tetrazolium dye. This reduction occurred primarily in GAGs associated with the cells, which decreased by 75% after exposure to these agents. Therefore, the distribution of GAGs between the cellular and medium compartments was altered by exposure to inducers. A phorbol ester with no capacity to induce differentiation, 4 alpha-phorbol-12, 13-didecanoate, elicited a reproducible but less dramatic decrease in cell-associated GAGs. The reduction in [35S]-sulfate incorporation into GAGs, therefore, may be an important step in leukocyte differentiation and may provide a useful biochemical probe of the maturation process.

Cell-free system studies on the phosphorylation of the 17,000-20,000 dalton protein induced by phorbol ester in human leukemic cells and evidence for a similar event in virally transformed murine fibroblasts.

We have shown previously that a prominent early signal in the phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) effect on leukemic cells as well as on other malignant cells is a rapid and dramatic increase in the turnover of phosphate in a Mr 17,000 to 20,000 cytosolic protein and a moderate increase in turnover of phosphate in a Mr 27,000 protein, as detected in the intact cells by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. To further elucidate the mechanism of this phosphorylation event, we have examined the protein kinases which can reconstitute this event in a cell-free system. Activation of the endogenous Ca2+-activated phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (Ca-PL-PK) as well as addition of purified Ca-PL-PK to the cytosol of HL-60 leukemic cells resulted in enhanced phosphorylation of phosphoprotein Mr 27,000 (PP27) but did not affect the phosphorylation of phosphoprotein Mr 17,000 to 20,000 (PP17-20). In contrast, PP17-20 was heavily phosphorylated under cell-free conditions by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAMP-PK). Exposure of intact cells to dibutyryl-cAMP resulted in increased phosphorylation of PP17-20. These conditions also enhanced the phosphorylation of PP27, showing that PP27 can act as a substrate for both Ca-PL-PK and cAMP-PK under cell-free conditions. Tryptic digest analysis of PP17-20 showed that one of four phosphopeptides is preferentially phosphorylated in PMA-induced PP17-20. An additional phosphopeptide was phosphorylated in cAMP-PK-catalyzed PP17-20. Thus, cAMP-PK alone mimics the effect of PMA on phosphorylation of PP17-20, but it introduces additional modifications. The precise role of this kinase in PMA-induced phosphorylation of PP17-20 remains to be clarified. We found further that enhanced phosphorylation of PP17-20 is also associated with malignant transformation of NIH/3T3 cells transformed by V-rasKi oncogene of Kirsten sarcoma virus. The tryptic phosphopeptide map of PP17-20 (phosphorylated in vivo) in the transformed cells was similar to that of PP17-20 in PMA-treated HL-60 cells but not to that induced by cAMP-PK, suggesting that the process activated by PMA which leads to phosphorylation of PP17-20 resembles an intrinsic cellular process which is enhanced in certain malignant cells.

Tumor promoter receptors regulating neurite formation in cultured human neuroblastoma cells.

The mouse skin tumor promoter phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDBU) reversibly enhanced neurite outgrowth in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells, whether serum was present or absent. The half-maximum response in serum occurred at 10 nM. The binding of [20-3H]phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate [( 3H]PDBU) was studied. Five mouse skin tumor promoters, which included teleocidin, mezerein, and three structural congeners of phorbol, enhanced neurite outgrowth and inhibited binding of [3H]PDBU, but two nonpromoting phorbol congeners did neither. Saccharin and cyclamate, promoters in rat bladder, did not inhibit [3H]PDBU binding. Binding of 10 nM [3H]PDBU at 37 degrees was maximal within 5 min and stable for at least 5 hr. Down modulation of binding was not detected. Following binding at 37 degrees, the dissociation rate in excess PDBU was biphasic, whether measured at 37 degrees or at 4 degrees. The Scatchard curve was also consistent with two types of sites, about 2.5 X 10(5) sites/cell with Kd = 8.5 nM and 1.2 X 10(6) sites with Kd = 125 nM. Negative cooperativity was not observed. In short-term assays, nerve growth factor (NGF) did not alter [3H]PDBU binding, and phorbol ester promoters did not alter 125I-NGF binding. Furthermore, [3H]PDBU binding was unaltered following growth of cells for 1 week in PDBU or NGF, conditions under which neurite outgrowth was continuously enhanced, and other phenotypic expressions of differentiation are known to be increased. Specific [3H]PDBU binding sites were present in five neuroblastoma cell lines, two of which are responsive and three unresponsive by neurite outgrowth to promoters and NGF, suggesting the possibility of a common lesion in distal steps in the unresponsive lines.

Phorbol ester-mediated inhibition of intercellular communication in BALB/c 3T3 cells: relationship to enhancement of cell transformation.

Tumor-promoting phorbol esters reversibly inhibit intercellular communication between BALB/c 3T3 cells. In order to study the possible role of blocked intercellular communication in the promotion step in cell transformation, we investigated the effect of phorbol ester tumor promoters on cell transformation and intercellular communication in BALB/c 3T3 A31-1-1 cells by a dye-transfer method. When the cells are in the growing phase, inhibition of dye transfer by phorbol esters is complete but transient; more than 90% inhibition was observed 4 h after treatment of the cells with either 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate or phorbol-12,13-didecanoate, but the extent of dye transfer returned to the control level after 24 h of treatment. However, when these phorbol ester-treated cells were cultured beyond confluence in the presence of tumor promoters, the capacity to transfer dye decreased again and was inhibited continuously for at least 5 weeks of culture. In control cultures, the extent of dye transfer between cells did not decrease at their confluence. The ability of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and phorbol-12,13-didecanoate to induce continuous inhibition of dye transfer between these cells correlated well with their capacity to promote transformation of BALB/c 3T3 cells initiated with 20-methylcholanthrene. These results suggest that the continuously blocked intercellular communication after confluence, rather than its transient inhibition during the growing phase, might play an important role in the promotion of in-vitro two-stage transformation of BALB/c 3T3 cells.

Prevention of interferon-induced augmentation of cellular antitumor effector mechanisms by phorbol esters.

Both natural killer cell- and macrophage-mediated spontaneous in vitro cytotoxicity for tumor targets is rapidly and strongly augmented by interferon. Macrophage-activating lymphokines considerably enhance macrophage-tumoricidal activity but did not affect natural killer cell-type cytotoxicity. Augmentation of cytolytic capacity by interferon and by macrophage-activating lymphokines is prevented by the tumor-promoting phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. However, the classical antiviral activity and the specific binding of interferon to cell surface receptors remains unaffected by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.