Bonnie E. Miller

FACS Quantitation of Leucine Aminopeptidase and Acid Phosphatase on Tumor‐Associated Macrophages From Metastatic and Nonmetastatic Mouse Mammary Tumors

Macrophages were isolated by adherence from tumors produced by a number of murine mammary carcinoma lines and were examined by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting for quantitation of leucine aminopeptidase and acid phosphatase. The tumors included three lines, 66, 67, and 168, which were originally derived from a single, spontaneously arising tumor in a BALB/cfC3H mouse and two other lines, D2A1 and D2F2, which were derived from a single tumor arising from the transplantable hyperplastic alveolar nodule line, D2. These five lines differ from one another in a number of characteristics, including the ability to metastasize spontaneously to the lung from subcutaneous implants and to form experimental metastases in lungs following intravenous injection. Line 67 is nonmetastatic under both circumstances, whereas lines 66, D2A1, and D2F2 are metastatic under the same conditions. Intermediate to these is line 168, which is nonmetastatic from the subcutaneous site but capable of colonizing the lung with an efficiency similar to 66 when injected IV. Tumor‐associated macrophages (TAM) from lines 66, D2A1, and D2F2 contained the greatest amounts of leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and those from line 67 the least, with TAM from 168 being intermediate. Conversely, the TAM from line 67 had the greatest amounts of acid phosphatase (APTase) and those from line 168 the least. In addition to differences among tumors in enzyme levels of the adherent TAM, the precentages of TAM that were adherent were also different among the tumors. Only 12% of TAM from line 67 were recovered in the adherent fraction as opposed to 35–38% of TAM from lines 66 and 168.

Tetracaine blocks the responses of isolated acinar cells from rat parotid to carbachol but not to substance P

Carbachol and substance P stimulated 45Ca2+ flux changes, 86Rb+ efflux, and amylase secretion from acinar cells isolated from rat parotid. The local anesthetic tetracaine blocked all of these measured responses to carbachol, but none of the responses to substance P. Tetracaine must act at either the cholinergic receptor or at a subsequent transducing step in the cholinergic stimulus-response sequence. If tetracaine acts at one of the transducing steps between cholinergic receptor occupation and the physiological responses then the action of tetracaine must be at a locus in the cholinergic reaction scheme not shared by substance P, because tetracaine did not block any response of the parotid to substance P.

Metabolic cooperation in vitro: Differential ability of ouabain to uncouple normal, preneoplastic, and neoplastic mouse mammary cells

We utilized two assays for metabolic cooperation in vitro, one in which cells were grown in monolayer and one in which the cells formed three-dimensional structures in a collagen gel matrix. Both assays required one of the test cell pair to be resistant both to ouabain and to thioguanine (deficient in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase). Normal mammary gland cells, cells from preneoplastic mouse hyperplastic alveolar nodules, and mouse mammary tumor cells were metabolically linked in vitro to the drug-resistant tumor cells. Ouabain abrogated communication between tumor cells and normal mammary gland cells and between tumor cells and preneoplastic cells but had no effect on communication between tumor cells.

Tumor Cell Interactions in Cancer Growth and Expression of the Malignant Phenotype

Publisher Summary A number of laboratories have begun to investigate the way interactions among genetically distinct subpopulations existing within tumors can alter aspects of tumor behavior, such as growth, metastasis, and response to chemotherapy. In some instances, these interactions have been shown to take place through diffusible mediators, such as known autocrine and paracrine growth factors. Contact-mediated mechanisms appear to facilitate other interactions. Factors provided by the tumor host such as extracellular matrix and/or stromal cells and factors provided by the immune system have also been shown to play a role in some instances of tumor cell interactions. In many cases, these interactions appear to take place by mechanisms similar to those known to occur in normal tissue, which appear to control tissue homeostasis. It should not be surprising if the normal mechanisms of cellular interaction continue to operate in tumors, albeit in aberrant form.

Calmodulin resolution of multiple peaks of activity by preparative electrofocusing

When the supernatant fractions from rat brain homogenates were subjected to preparative electrofocusing in a bed of Sephadex G75, several peaks of calmodulin were resolved. A minor peak representing free calmodulin migrated with a pI of 3.8 --4.4. Other peaks of calmodulin activity were observed with isoelectric points at pH 4.8, 5.2, 6.0 and 6.8. The peak of calmodulin activity at 5.2 co-migrated with phosphodiesterase activity which was stimulated 1.8-fold by calcium. A second peak of phosphodiesterase activity detected at pH 8.0 was stimulated 1.2-fold by calcium and occurred in an area where no calmodulin activity could be detected. If isoelectric focusing was done in the presence of 8 M urea only one peak of calmodulin activity was observed with a pI of 4.0--4.4. It is suggested that the multiple peaks of calmodulin resolved by electrofocusing represent calmodulin associated with various proteins which are subject to modulation by calmodulin and calcium.