Anil K. Dudani

Human Fibroblasts Are Permissive for Porcine Cytomegalovirus In Vitro

Background. Xenotransplantation with pig organs is being considered to alleviate donor organ shortages; however, the risk of introducing porcine viruses into humans is heightened in this setting. The goal of this study was to determine the infectious potential of porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV), a xenozoonotic virus of interest, in human fibroblasts in vitro. Methods. Confluent human cells were incubated with live PCMV, heat-killed PCMV, or medium alone. Infection was investigated by testing for viral-induced cytopathic effect, assaying viral transcription by nested RT-PCR and subsequent sequencing, and detecting viral protein expression by Western blotting. Plaque neutralization experiments were also performed. Results. Cells incubated with PCMV demonstrated significant cytopathic effect by 7 days postinfection, and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction sequencing identified PCMV DNA polymerase in these infected cells. In Western blots, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to human CMV glycoprotein B and pig serum presumed to contain anti-PCMV antibodies detected characteristic proteins in experimentally infected human cells and positive controls but not in negative controls. Furthermore, one of these mAbs and the pig serum neutralized PCMV infection in vitro. Conclusions. These results are a first demonstration that PCMV can infect human fibroblasts in vitro.

Effect of chlorpromazine and trifluoperazine on cytoskeletal components and mitochondria in cultured mammalian cells.

Antipsychotic drugs such as chlorpromazine and trifluoperazine have been implicated to mediate their action by inhibiting calmodulin, the general calcium regulatory protein in eukaryotic cells. We observed that both these drugs were cytotoxic to different mammalian cell types at concentrations two- to three-fold lower than those required to inhibit calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterase activity. These drugs also caused shrinkage and rounding of chicken embryo fibroblast cells without affecting any of the cytoskeletal components, viz. microtubules, microfilaments and intermediate filaments. However, at physiological concentrations of these drugs, a major change was observed in mitochondria which assumed rounded and swollen shapes and concentrated towards the perinuclear region of cells. These studies provide evidence that in contrast to earlier reports, cytoskeletal components are not the primary targets of these drugs. It is suggested that mitochondria may be one of the first structures to be affected by these drugs and the consequent energy depletion may lead to the other observed effects.

The possible functional significance of phosphatidylinositol in G1 arrest of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Individual phospholipids were assayed in exponentially growing and G1‐arrested temperature‐sensitive cell division cycle (cdc) mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It was observed that cdc28 cells which are known to arrest at ‘start’ when shifted to their non‐permissive temperature, resulted in a 40% decrease in phosphatidylinositol (PI) level while the phosphatidylserine (PS) content was doubled in these cells. The reduced level of PI was restored in cdc4 and cdc7 mutants which are known to arrest past the ‘start’. The increase in PS level in cdc8 mutant which was probably to compensate the intrinsic charging of membrane environment, was also reduced in cdc4 and cdc7 mutants. Our results demonstrate that PI may play a role in yeast cell division and growth that the abnormalities of cdc28 could also be related to PI decrease.

Absence of gene amplification in human cell mutants resistant to cardiac glycosides

In HeLa cells, four different types of mutants resistant to cardiac glycosides viz. ouabain and SC4453, which differ from each other in cross resistance pattern, have been isolated after single-step selections [J Biol Chem 260 (1985) 6843–6850; J Biol Chem 261 (1986) 2034–2040]. Using cloned cDNA probes specific for the α and β subunits of Na+/K+ ATPase, these mutants have been investigated for amplification and/or increased transcription of Na+/K+ ATPase genes. Results from dot blots, Southern and Northern hybridizations provide evidence that these mutants do not involve any amplification or increased transcription or gross structural alterations in Na+/K+ ATPase genes or their transcripts. Similar results were obtained with the mutant cells grown either in the absence or presence of cardiac glycosides, the latter conditions of which cause 3–4-fold increase in the resistant form of the enzyme within the mutant cells. These results are consistent with the inference that resistance to cardiac glycosides in these mutants may be due to specific point mutations within the structural gene(s) of Na+/K+ ATPase leading to an altered enzyme that is resistant to inhibition by different cardiac glycosides.

Species‐specific differences in the toxicity of puromycin towards cultured human and Chinese hamster cells

The toxicity of the protein synthesis inhibitor puromycin towards a number of human and Chinese hamster cell lines has been examined. In comparison to cells of human origin, Chinese hamster cells exhibited about 25‐fold higher resistance towards puromycin. These differences appeared to be species related as all the cell lines from any one species showed similar sensitivity towards puromycin. The incorporation of [3H]leucine in the hamster cell lines was accordingly found to be more resistant to the inhibitory effects of puromycin as compared to human cells. Studies on the cellular uptake of [3H]puromycin showed that in comparison to human cells, the drug uptake/binding in the hamster cell lines was greatly reduced. However, protein synthesis in the extracts of hamster and human cells showed no significant differences in sensitivity towards puromycin. These results show that the observed species related differences in cellular toxicity to puromycin are due to differences in the cellular uptake/binding of the drug.