scholarly journals Mechanisms of hepatic phosphatidylcholine synthesis in adult rat: effects of pregnancy

1994 ◽  
Vol 303 (3) ◽  
pp. 941-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
G C Burdge ◽  
A N Hunt ◽  
A D Postle

Late pregnancy in the rat (gestational ages 16-21 days) was accompanied by a specific increase in hepatic phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) molecular species containing C16:0 at the sn-1 position and polyunsaturated essential fatty acids (PUFA), in particular C22:6(n-3), at the sn-2 position. Incorporation of either CDP:[Me-14C]choline or CDP:[1,2-14C]-ethanolamine into hepatic microsomal sn-1 C16:0 PC or PE molecular species in vitro was greater at term than in non-pregnant animals, suggesting modifications to the composition of specific diacylglycerol (DAG) pools destined for synthesis of either PC or PE. Also, incorporation of [Me-14C]choline or [Me-14C]methionine into hepatic PC in vivo over 6 h in term pregnant rats was consistent with decreased phospholipase A1-dependent acyl remodelling of sn-1 C16:0 to sn-1 C18:0 molecular species. There was, however, no evidence to support any change to the specificity of acyl remodelling. The rate of PC synthesis by the de novo pathway in vivo was increased in term liver compared with non-pregnant animals, accompanied by increased choline-phosphotransferase activity in vitro in d21 liver microsomes. The rate of PC synthesis by PE N-methylation did not appear to change during pregnancy. Changes in composition of plasma PC species at term reflected those of newly synthesized hepatic PC. Our data suggest supply of PUFA to the developing fetal rat is the result of specific adaptations to maternal hepatic phospholipid biosynthesis rather than passive transfer from the maternal diet.

2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (3) ◽  
pp. R879-R888 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Andres Melendez ◽  
James M. Vinci ◽  
John J. Jeffrey ◽  
Brian D. Wilcox

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) has been implicated as a participant in preterm labor that is induced by bacterial infection. Previously, we showed that serotonin-induced production of IL-1α by myometrial smooth muscle cells in vitro is also essential for the synthesis of interstitial collagenase. It is therefore likely that IL-1α production in uterine tissues has implications for both the normal physiology of involution and for the pathophysiological mechanisms of preterm labor. The objective of this study was to characterize the serotonin-induced production of IL-1α by myometrial cultures in vitro and to assess the production of IL-1α and its relationship to collagenase production in vivo during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated IL-1α protein in the nuclei and cytoplasm of serotonin-treated myometrial cells. IL-1α levels were decreased by treatment with progesterone or IL-1-receptor antagonist but were unaffected by lipopolysaccharide. Western analysis of myometrium from pregnant rats showed low levels of IL-1α during midpregnancy with increased concentrations at days 21 and 22 and postpartum. IL-1α mRNA levels also increased from days 15to 22. Levels of mRNA for IL-1β also increased, although to a lesser degree than IL-1α. Both mRNAs decreased postpartum. Conversely, mRNA for interstitial collagenase was barely detectable at term but increased postpartum. Together, these data show that serotonin stimulates IL-1α production in vitro and indicate that normal myometrium from pregnant rats is an identifiable source of IL-1 during late pregnancy. The findings are consistent with the possibility that myometrial IL-1α participates in normal labor as well as the postpartum production of interstitial collagenase.


1984 ◽  
Vol 224 (2) ◽  
pp. 685-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Leturque ◽  
M Guerre-Millo ◽  
M Lavau ◽  
J Girard

Under basal conditions (zero insulin), paraovarian adipocytes from 19-day-pregnant rats exhibited the same rates of [U-14C]glucose conversion into CO2 and total lipids as did those from age-matched virgin rats. The dose-response curves for insulin stimulation of glucose metabolism were similar in both groups: maximal response (+100% over basal values) and high sensitivity (half-maximal effect at 0.05 nM-insulin). The present results suggest that the insulin resistance in vivo that occurs during late pregnancy may involve circulating factors lost in vitro.


1976 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. GOLDMAN ◽  
R. D. EAVEY ◽  
MARY K. BAKER

SUMMARY Two new synthetic steroid analogues, (I) 16β-bromo-3β,17α-dihydroxy-5α-pregnane-11,20-dione and (II) 17β-ureido-1,4-androstadien-3-one have been shown to give kinetic patterns consistent with active-site-directed irreversible inhibition of adult rat testicular microsomal steroid 17α-hydroxylase and C17-20 lyase in vitro. Administration of both analogues to adult male rats for 24 h produced potent inhibition of these testicular enzymes in vivo. Given to pregnant rats during the critical period of male organogenesis they produced hypospadias: a characteristic of the syndrome in man in which these enzymes are defective genetically. Given to male rat pups during the first 9 days of life, inhibitor II produced significantly smaller prostates and seminal vesicles in adulthood, indicating the usefulness of this inhibitor in studies on the role of testosterone in neonatal programming of target organ size in adulthood. Thus, two new enzyme inhibitors have been shown to block testosterone production in the foetal and neonatal rat selectively at the site of the hydroxylase without other apparent hormonal effects or influence on adrenal size.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moein Dehbashi ◽  
Zohreh Hojati ◽  
Majid Motovali-bashi ◽  
Mazdak Ganjalikhani-Hakemi ◽  
Akihiro Shimosaka ◽  
...  

AbstractCancer recurrence presents a huge challenge in cancer patient management. Immune escape is a key mechanism of cancer progression and metastatic dissemination. CD25 is expressed in regulatory T (Treg) cells including tumor-infiltrating Treg cells (TI-Tregs). These cells specially activate and reinforce immune escape mechanism of cancers. The suppression of CD25/IL-2 interaction would be useful against Treg cells activation and ultimately immune escape of cancer. Here, software, web servers and databases were used, at which in silico designed small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), de novo designed peptides and virtual screened small molecules against CD25 were introduced for the prospect of eliminating cancer immune escape and obtaining successful treatment. We obtained siRNAs with low off-target effects. Further, small molecules based on the binding homology search in ligand and receptor similarity were introduced. Finally, the critical amino acids on CD25 were targeted by a de novo designed peptide with disulfide bond. Hence we introduced computational-based antagonists to lay a foundation for further in vitro and in vivo studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii98-ii98
Author(s):  
Anne Marie Barrette ◽  
Alexandros Bouras ◽  
German Nudelman ◽  
Zarmeen Mussa ◽  
Elena Zaslavsky ◽  
...  

Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) remains an incurable disease, in large part due to its malignant infiltrative spread, and current clinical therapy fails to target the invasive nature of tumor cells in disease progression and recurrence. Here, we use the YAP-TEAD inhibitor Verteporfin to target a convergence point for regulating tumor invasion/metastasis and establish the robust anti-invasive therapeutic efficacy of this FDA-approved drug and its survival benefit across several preclinical glioma models. Using patient-derived GBM cells and orthotopic xenograft models (PDX), we show that Verteporfin treatment disrupts YAP/TAZ-TEAD activity and processes related to cell adhesion, migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In-vitro, Verteporfin impairs tumor migration, invasion and motility dynamics. In-vivo, intraperitoneal administration of Verteporfin in mice with orthotopic PDX tumors shows consistent drug accumulation within the brain and decreased infiltrative tumor burden, across three independent experiments. Interestingly, PDX tumors with impaired invasion after Verteporfin treatment downregulate CDH2 and ITGB1 adhesion protein levels within the tumor microenvironment. Finally, Verteporfin treatment confers survival benefit in two independent PDX models: as monotherapy in de-novo GBM and in combination with standard-of-care chemoradiation in recurrent GBM. These findings indicate potential therapeutic value of this FDA-approved drug if repurposed for GBM patients.


1985 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Mann ◽  
Diane Evans ◽  
Festus Edoimioya ◽  
Freja Kamel ◽  
George M. Butterstein

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Huang ◽  
Chang Xu ◽  
Liang Deng ◽  
Xue Li ◽  
Zhixuan Bian ◽  
...  

AbstractPhosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase, phosphoribosylaminoimidazole succinocarboxamide synthetase (PAICS), an essential enzyme involved in de novo purine biosynthesis, is connected with formation of various tumors. However, the specific biological roles and related mechanisms of PAICS in gastric cancer (GC) remain unclear. In the present study, we identified for the first time that PAICS was significantly upregulated in GC and high expression of PAICS was correlated with poor prognosis of patients with GC. In addition, knockdown of PAICS significantly induced cell apoptosis, and inhibited GC cell growth both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistic studies first found that PAICS was engaged in DNA damage response, and knockdown of PAICS in GC cell lines induced DNA damage and impaired DNA damage repair efficiency. Further explorations revealed that PAICS interacted with histone deacetylase HDAC1 and HDAC2, and PAICS deficiency decreased the expression of DAD51 and inhibited its recruitment to DNA damage sites by impairing HDAC1/2 deacetylase activity, eventually preventing DNA damage repair. Consistently, PAICS deficiency enhanced the sensitivity of GC cells to DNA damage agent, cisplatin (CDDP), both in vitro and in vivo. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that PAICS plays an oncogenic role in GC, which act as a novel diagnosis and prognostic biomarker for patients with GC.


1988 ◽  
Vol 254 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Rüstow ◽  
Y Nakagawa ◽  
H Rabe ◽  
K Waku ◽  
D Kunze

1. Phosphatidylinositol (PI) is a minor component of lung surfactant which may be able to replace the functionally important phosphatidylglycerol (PG) [Beppu, Clements & Goerke (1983) J. Appl. Physiol. 55, 496-502] without disturbing lung function. The dipalmitoyl species is one of the main species for both PI (14.4%) and PG (16.9%). Besides the C16:0--C16:0 species, the C16:0--C18:0, C16:0--C18:1, C16:0--C18:2 and C18:0--C18:1 species showed comparable proportions in the PG and PI fractions. These similarities of the species patterns and the acidic character of both phospholipids could explain why surfactant PG may be replaced by PI. 2. PI and PG were radiolabelled by incubation of microsomal fractions with [14C]glycerol 3-phosphate (Gro3P). For 11 out of 14 molecular species of PI and PG we measured comparable proportions of radioactivity. The radioactivity of these 11 species accounted together for more than 80% of the total. The addition of inositol to the incubation system decreased the incorporation in vitro of Gro3P into PG and CDP-DG (diacylglycerol) of lung microsomes (microsomal fractions), but did not change the distribution of radioactivity among the molecular species of PG. These results supported the idea that both acidic surfactant phospholipids may be synthesized de novo from a common CDP-DG pool in lung microsomes.


e-Neuroforum ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Fester ◽  
Janine Prange-Kiel ◽  
Gabriele M. Rune

ZusammenfassungUnsere Untersuchungen der letzten Jahre haben gezeigt, dass nicht das Ovar die Quelle für Estrogen induzierte synaptische Plastizität im Hippokampus ist, sondern dieses aus dem Hippokampus selber stammt und haben damit einen Paradigmawechsel eingeleitet, der Estrogen als Neuromodulator unabhängig vom Geschlecht identifiziert. Hippokampale Neurone von Ratten beiderlei Geschlechts sind in der Lage, aus Cholesterol Estrogene de novo zu synthetisieren. Diese hippokampale Estrogensynthese ist sowohl für den Erhalt von Spinesynapsen in vivo als auch in vitro essenziell. Die Hemmung der Estrogensynthese zieht einen Synapsenverlust nach sich und Langzeitpotenzierung ist nicht mehr induzierbar. Die Effekte von hippokampalem Estrogen sind auto-/parakriner Natur, die über die bekannten Estrogenrezeptor-Subtypen, ERα und ERβ, vermittelt werden. Die Regulation der hippokampalen Estrogensynthese erfolgt über GnRH und erklärt die Korrelation der Spinesynapsendichte mit dem weiblichen genitalen Zyklus, die für den Hippokampus spezifisch ist.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mylène Tajan ◽  
Marc Hennequart ◽  
Eric C. Cheung ◽  
Fabio Zani ◽  
Andreas K. Hock ◽  
...  

AbstractMany tumour cells show dependence on exogenous serine and dietary serine and glycine starvation can inhibit the growth of these cancers and extend survival in mice. However, numerous mechanisms promote resistance to this therapeutic approach, including enhanced expression of the de novo serine synthesis pathway (SSP) enzymes or activation of oncogenes that drive enhanced serine synthesis. Here we show that inhibition of PHGDH, the first step in the SSP, cooperates with serine and glycine depletion to inhibit one-carbon metabolism and cancer growth. In vitro, inhibition of PHGDH combined with serine starvation leads to a defect in global protein synthesis, which blocks the activation of an ATF-4 response and more broadly impacts the protective stress response to amino acid depletion. In vivo, the combination of diet and inhibitor shows therapeutic efficacy against tumours that are resistant to diet or drug alone, with evidence of reduced one-carbon availability. However, the defect in ATF4-response seen in vitro following complete depletion of available serine is not seen in mice, where dietary serine and glycine depletion and treatment with the PHGDH inhibitor lower but do not eliminate serine. Our results indicate that inhibition of PHGDH will augment the therapeutic efficacy of a serine depleted diet.


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