Bone morphogenetic proteins induce cardiomyocyte differentiation through the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase TAK1 and cardiac transcription factors Csx/Nkx-2.5 and GATA-4.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have been shown to induce ectopic expression of cardiac transcription factors and beating cardiomyocytes in nonprecardiac mesodermal cells in chicks, suggesting that BMPs are inductive signaling molecules that participate in the development of the heart. However, the precise molecular mechanisms by which BMPs regulate cardiac development are largely unknown. In the present study, we examined the molecular mechanisms by which BMPs induce cardiac differentiation by using the P19CL6 in vitro cardiomyocyte differentiation system, a clonal derivative of P19 embryonic teratocarcinoma cells. We established a permanent P19CL6 cell line, P19CL6noggin, which constitutively overexpresses the BMP antagonist noggin. Although almost all parental P19CL6 cells differentiate into beating cardiomyocytes when treated with 1% dimethyl sulfoxide, P19CL6noggin cells did not differentiate into beating cardiomyocytes nor did they express cardiac transcription factors or contractile protein genes. The failure of differentiation was rescued by overexpression of BMP-2 or addition of BMP protein to the culture media, indicating that BMPs were indispensable for cardiomyocyte differentiation in this system. Overexpression of TAK1, a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase superfamily which transduces BMP signaling, restored the ability of P19CL6noggin cells to differentiate into cardiomyocytes and concomitantly express cardiac genes, whereas overexpression of the dominant negative form of TAK1 in parental P19CL6 cells inhibited cardiomyocyte differentiation. Overexpression of both cardiac transcription factors Csx/Nkx-2.5 and GATA-4 but not of Csx/Nkx-2.5 or GATA-4 alone also induced differentiation of P19CL6noggin cells into cardiomyocytes. These results suggest that TAK1, Csx/Nkx-2.5, and GATA-4 play a pivotal role in the cardiogenic BMP signaling pathway.

Cloning and expression of a cDNA encoding mouse indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase.

The depletion of an essential amino acid (aa), tryptophan, caused by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-mediated induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in mouse allografted tumor cells, has been suggested as a reason for the allograft rejection. To elucidate the mechanism of this IDO induction, attempts were made to isolate cDNA clones encoding mouse IDO. In seven of 25 mouse cell lines, IDO was induced by IFN-gamma, and the highest IDO induction was observed in the case of rectal cancer (CMT-93) cells, which were further stimulated two- to threefold by the simultaneous addition of dibutyryl cyclic AMP (Bt2cAMP). A cDNA library was prepared from poly(A)+ RNA isolated from CMT-93 cells treated with IFN-gamma/Bt2cAMP. The cDNA clones were isolated using the cDNA encoding human IDO as a probe. The mouse IDO cDNA encodes a 407-aa protein with an Mr of 45,639. The deduced aa sequence agreed with partial aa sequences derived from endopeptidase digestion of purified mouse IDO and revealed 61% homology with that of human IDO. Transient expression of the mouse IDO cDNA in COS-7 cells yielded a high level of IDO activity in the cells. Northern hybridization analysis of RNA in CMT-93 cells indicated that IFN-gamma induced the IDO mRNA, and that the level of RNA was increased by simultaneous addition of Bt2cAMP, while Bt2cAMP itself had no effect on mRNA induction.

Induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in tumor cells transplanted into allogeneic mouse: interferon-gamma is the inducer.

Tryptophan depletion observed during induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in cultured cells has been suggested to involve a mechanism identical to that employed in self-defense against inhaled microorganisms and tumor growth. We recently reported that a dramatic induction of IDO occurred in i.p. transplanted tumor (Meth-A) cells undergoing rejection from allogeneic mice (C57BL/6), and that soluble factor(s) released from infiltrated host cells was responsible for the IDO induction. Here we report on the characterization of the soluble factor. To assay the factor, we used a 35 mm special culture dish (Transwell), which consisted of two wells divided vertically with a membrane (0.4 micron pore). Host cells (mainly lymphocytes) that infiltrated into the transplantation loci were cultured in the upper well, and untreated Meth-A cells in the lower well. With this in vitro system, the membrane-permeable factor, released by the host cells (upper well), induced IDO in the tumor cells (lower well). The culture superna tants, obtained by centrifuging the culture media from the upper and lower wells, contained the IDO inducer. The inducer activity was completely neutralized by the addition of antibody against interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) but not by antibody against IFN-alpha/beta. The concentration of IFN-gamma in the medium after 1-day culture with a Transwell culture dish was found to be 2-3 U/ml based on the neutralization curve with the antibody. At this concentration, recombinant IFN-gamma induced IDO in Meth-A cells to the same extent as the inducer in the culture medium. These observations indicate that the in vivo factor for IDO induction in the allografted tumor cells is IFN-gamma.

Differentiation of beating cardiac muscle cells from a derivative of P19 embryonal carcinoma cells.

A clonal derivative named CL6 has been isolated from pluripotent P19 embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells, after long term culture under conditions for mesodermal differentiation. The CL6 subline has a morphology similar to P19 cells and grows exponentially in standard medium, but unlike P19 cells, it efficiently differentiates into beating cardiac muscle in adherent culture with 1% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). During differentiation, CL6 cells displayed the following general cardiac muscle properties: (1) alpha- and beta-cardiac myosin heavy chain (MHC) transcripts were first detected on day 10 after treatment with DMSO. (2) A sarcomere MHC protein also appeared on day 10, simultaneously with the initiation of contraction. (3) Immunofluorescence analysis showed that vigorously contracting cells have a striated structure. (4) Skeletal muscle specific transcripts, such as myogenin and MyoD, were not detected throughout differentiation. On the other hand, in suspension culture with 1 microM retinoic acid (RA), the condition for neural differentiation of P19 cells, the CL6 cells developed into neurons with poor outgrowth. Taken together, the CL6 subline seems not to be committed to a mesodermal lineage but to represent a developmental stage closer to differentiated cardiac muscle than the P19 cell line. Since CL6 cells directly differentiate into cardiac muscle in adherent culture, it is the most useful cell line for studying the differentiation of cardiac muscle in vitro.

IFN-gamma is the inducer of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in allografted tumor cells undergoing rejection.

The depletion of an essential amino acid, tryptophan, caused by induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), has been shown to be a mechanism involving self-defense against inhaled microorganisms and tumor growth. We recently reported that the IDO is dramatically (approximately 50-fold) induced in allografted tumor (3-methylcholanthrene-induced ascites type tumor cells) cells undergoing rejection, and that the enzyme is induced by factor(s) released through the interaction of allografted tumor cells with infiltrating leukocytes. The culture supernatant of infiltrating leukocytes, which were harvested on day 7 after tumor transplantation, induced the highest IDO activity in the tumor cells. The inducer activity was completely neutralized by the addition of antibody to IFN-gamma but not by antibody to IFN-alpha/beta. Approximately 6 U/ml of IFN-gamma was detected by an ELISA assay in the 12-h culture supernatant with 2 x 10(6) leukocytes/ml, and rIFN-gamma at 6 U/ml induced IDO in 3-methylcholanthrene-induced ascites type tumor cells to the same extent as IFN-gamma in the culture supernatant. Moreover, i.p. administration of antibody to IFN-gamma almost completely inhibited the induction of IDO in the allografted tumor cells. These observations indicate that the factor responsible for IDO induction in the allografted tumor cells is IFN-gamma.

Mononuclear phagocytes: a major population of effector cells responsible for rejection of allografted tumor cells in mice.

To understand the in situ mechanism of immunological response of recipient animals to allografted tumor cells, the types of cells that infiltrated into the rejection site were examined. When Meth A cells (H-2d) were given i.p. to an allogeneic [C57BL/6 (H-2b)] strain of mouse, the tumor cells ceased to grow on the 6th day, accompanied by an i.p. infiltration of leukocytes. The tumor cells were totally eliminated from the peritoneal cavity around the 12th day. The highest cytotoxic activity against Meth A cells was obtained with the peritoneal exudate cells harvested on day 8. On this day, the exudate cells consisted of three populations when examined by flow cytometry, and each was isolated by sorting. Each of them appeared to be homogeneous, and they were morphologically identified as lymphocytes; granulocytes; and medium-sized, mononuclear, less-granular cells. The cytotoxic activity was confined exclusively to the last population. The effector cells (H-2b) were cytotoxic against not only Meth A cells (H-2d) but also concanavalin A-stimulated allogeneic spleen cells [C3H/He (H-2k), CBA/N (H-2k), A/J (H-2a), BALB/c (H-2d), and DBA/2 (H-2d) strains of mouse]. The effector cells were totally inert against concanavalin A-activated syngeneic spleen cells [C57BL/6 (H-2b) and C57BL/10 (H-2b) strains of mouse]. The effector cells were phenotypically (Thy-1.2- CD3- Lyt-1- Lyt-2- L3T4- immunoglobulin- asialo GM1-), morphologically, and functionally distinct from cytotoxic T cells, natural killer cells, and lymphokine-activated killer cells but were adherent mononuclear phagocytes.

Establishment of an antitoxoplasma state by stable expression of mouse indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), a tryptophan-degrading enzyme, is inducible by various interferons (IFNs). IDO-mediated tryptophan degradation, but not the formation of IDO-catalyzed tryptophan metabolites, has been suggested as a mechanism for the antiparasitic action of IFN-gamma. To determine whether the IFN-gamma-induced IDO alone is sufficient for establishing the antiparasitic state, we constructed a mouse IDO expression plasmid containing a heavy metal-responsive metallothionein promoter and obtained a stable transformant (C6) by transfection of this plasmid into mouse rectal cancer (CMT-93) cells. In the presence of 100 microM ZnSO4, C6 cells yielded a high level of IDO; and after a 2-day culture period, the enzyme induction resulted in complete depletion of tryptophan from the culture medium. Under these conditions, the growth of Toxoplasma gondii in C6 cells infected with the organisms on day 3 after enzyme induction was completely blocked. In the absence of ZnSO4, however, IDO induction was negligible in C6 cells, and T. gondii continued to grow. Furthermore, in a transformant (CC10) carrying an antisense mouse IDO plasmid or in parental CMT-93 cells, IDO was not induced at all even in the presence of 100 microM ZnSO4, and T. gondii continued to grow in these cells as well. These results taken together indicate that complete depletion of tryptophan from the culture by IDO alone is sufficient to establish the antitoxoplasma state in mouse cells.