Yael Bromberg

Unsaturated fatty acids stimulate NADPH-dependent superoxide production by cell-free system derived from macrophages.

Arachidonic acid (C20:4) and other unsaturated fatty acids are shown to activate superoxide (O2-) production in a cell-free system represented by sonically disrupted guinea pig peritoneal macrophages. The reaction requires a heat-sensitive cellular component and NADPH, is enhanced by flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), and is not linked to enzymatic oxidation of the fatty acid. C20:4-elicited O2- formation is dependent on the cooperation between a subcellular component sedimentable at 48,000g (probably containing the O2- -forming enzyme) and a cytosolic factor. This appears to be the first report of O2- generation being elicited in a cell-free system derived from unstimulated cells and supports the idea that unesterified unsaturated fatty acids act as second messengers of O2- formation in intact phagocytes.

Unsaturated fatty acids as second messengers of superoxide generation by macrophages.

Chemically elicited guinea pig peritoneal exudate macrophages respond by superoxide (O2-) production to a large number of unrelated stimulants. It has been found that 8 out of 10 stimulants also induce arachidonic acid (20:4) liberation and thromboxane synthesis. The elicitation of O2- production by most stimulants was reduced or totally suppressed by three procedures that inhibit the activity of endogenous phospholipases: the use of drug p-bromophenacyl bromide, elevation of the cellular cyclic AMP level, and the removal of extracellular Ca2+. O2- production in response to concanavalin A, wheat germ agglutinin, and fMet-Leu-Phe were exquisitely sensitive to inhibition of phospholipase activity. Exogenously applied 20:4 as well as other unsaturated fatty acids (linolenic, linoleic, and oleic) induced massive and instantaneous O2- production in a dose-dependent manner. Saturated fatty acids (stearic) and methyl esters of unsaturated acids were inactive. Lysophosphoglycerides were also inactive. Incubation of macrophages with inhibitors of cyclooxygenase or lipoxygenase did not prevent the elicitation of O2- production by stimulants or fatty acids. On the contrary, O2- formation was enhanced by indomethacin and indomethacin by itself was capable of evoking O2- generation. Treatment of 20:4 with soybean lipoxygenase did not abolish its capacity to induce O2- production; native and lipoxygenase-treated 20:4 exhibited similar dose-response ratios. Purified 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid also elicited O2- production by macrophages with a potency comparable to but not exceeding that of 20:4. Equimolar amounts of prostaglandin E2 were inactive. These findings suggest that liberation of unsaturated fatty acid (principally, 20:4) from membrane phospholipids, as a consequence of phospholipase activation, is a necessary step in the elicitation of an oxidative burst in macrophages. O2- generation is stimulated by unesterified 20:4 and, possibly, by certain metabolites of 20:4. It appears that the lipoxygenase pathway may generate metabolites with stimulating capacity while the cyclooxygenase pathway is abortive.

Oxidative stress activates transcription factor NF-κB-mediated protective signaling in primary rat neuronal cultures

Activation of transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) can result in enhanced de novo synthesis of both proteins that confer protection and those that cause death. The present study was undertaken to clarify in primary neuronal cultures the consequences of the oxidative stress-induced activation of NF-κB and mediation of death or survival signals. The neuronal cultures were exposed to chemical ischemia (iodoacetic acid), followed by reperfusion (I/R insult). This insult injured the neurons, as manifested in a 7- to 10-fold increase in LDH release, and decreased the cellular content of IκBα by 55–65 %, indicating NF-κB activation. The antioxidants LY231617, melatonin, and sodium salicylate and the antioxidant and inhibitor of NF-κB activation pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, protected the neurons against the insult and prevented the decrease in cellular IκBα content. In contrast, inhibition of NF-κB translocation by SN50 in both uninsulated and insulted neuronal cultures resulted in a 2.9- and 2.4-fold increase in LDH release, respectively. The results indicate that the insult-induced oxidative stress activates transcription factor NF-κB associated with induction of protection and suggest that constitutive activation of NF-κB under physiological conditions acts to protect the neurons against physiological injury.

Characterization of the Alterations in Purine Nucleotide Metabolism in Hypoxanthine‐Guardne Phosphoribosyltransferase‐Deficient Rat Neuroma Cell Line

Abstract: A rat neuroma cell line (B103 4C), deficient of hypoxanthine‐guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT), was utilized as a model tissue in search for the biochemical basis of the Lesch‐Nyhan syndrome (LNS). The HGPRT‐deficient neurons exhibited the following properties: an almost complete absence of uptake of guanine and of hypoxanthine into intact cell nucleotides (0.92% and 0.69% of normal, respectively); a significant increase in the availability of 5′‐phosphoribosyl‐1‐pyrophosphate; a three‐ to fourfold acceleration of the rate of de novo nucleotide synthesis; a normal excretion of xanthine, but 15‐fold increase in the excretion of hypoxanthine into the culture media; a normal cellular purine nucleotide content, including the absence of 5‐amino‐4‐imidazole carboxamide nucleotides (Z‐nucleotides), but enhanced turnover of adenine nucleotides (loss of 86% of the radioactivity of the prelabeled pool in 24 h, in comparison to 73% in the normal line), and an elevated UTP content. The results suggest that, under physiological conditions, guanine salvage does not occur in the normal neurons, but that hypoxanthine salvage is of great importance in the homeostasis of the adenine nucleotide pool. The finding of the normal profile of purine nucleotides in the HGPRT‐deficient neurons indicates that the lack of hypoxanthine salvage is adequately compensated by the enhanced de novo nucleotide synthesis. These results did not furnish evidence in support of the possibility that GTP or ATP depletion, or Z‐nucleotide accumulation, occurs in HGPRT‐deficient neurons and that these are etiological factors causing the neurological abnormalities in LNS. On the other hand, the results point to the possibility that elevated hypoxanthine concentration in the brain may have an etiological role in the pathogenesis of LNS.

Reactive oxygen species play an important role in iodoacetate-induced neurotoxicity in primary rat neuronal cultures and in differentiated PC12 cells

The role of reactive oxygen species in the pathogenesis of the neurotoxicity associated with ischemia-reperfusion, was investigated in a model of primary rat neuronal cultures and of differentiated PC12 cells, subjected to chemical ischemia by iodoacetic acid (IAA, 2.5 h) followed by a short period of reperfusion (1 h). The injury to the cells was assessed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release into the culture media. The PC12 cells exhibited relative resistance to IAA cytotoxicity. Therefore these cells were studied at a 4-fold higher IAA concentration (400 microM instead of 100 microM for the neurons). The injury to both cell types was significantly greater in the short post-insult reperfusion (PIR) period than during the insult period. The presence, during the combined insult and PIR periods, of alpha-tocopherol (100 microM), melatonin (1 mM) and LY231617 (5 microM), conferred to both cell types considerable protection against the injury occurring during the insult and during the PIR periods (assessed separately). Superoxide dismutase (SOD; 500 IU/ml) conferred protection to the neurons, but not to the PC12 cells. When exposure to the antioxidants was limited to the short (15 min) pre insult period, only LY231617 conferred protection. In the neurons the protection occurred only during the insult period, whereas in the PC12 cells during both the insult and PIR periods. When the exposure to the antioxidants was limited to the PIR period, only SOD conferred protection and only in the neuronal cultures. These findings suggest that neuronal damage caused during ischemia-reperfusion can be diminished markedly by co-presence of antioxidants during the insult period. Certain antioxidants may protect the neurons even when present only before or after the insult.

DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN PURINE NUCLEOTIDE METABOLISM IN CULTURED RAT ASTROGLIA

The present study was conducted in order to clarify the role of the glia in brain purine metabolism. This, in connection with the clarification of the etiology of the neurological manifestations associated with some of the inborn errors of purine metabolism in man. Purine nucleotide content, the capacity for de novo and salvage purine synthesis and the activity of several enzymes of purine nucleotide degradation, were assayed in primary cultures of rat astroglia in relation to culture age. The capacity of the intact cells to produce purine nucleotides de novo exhibited a marked decrease with the culture age, but the activity of hypoxanthine‐guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT), catalyzing salvage nucleotide synthesis, increased. Aging was also associated with a marked increase in the activity of the degradation enzymes AMP deaminase, purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) and guanine deaminase (guanase). The activity of adenosine deaminase and of AMP‐5′‐nucleotidase, increased markedly during the first 17 days in culture, but decreased thereafter.

Developmental Changes in the Activity of Enzymes of Purine Metabolism in Rat Neuronal Cells in Culture and in Whole Brain

Abstract: The activities (Vmax) of several enzymes of purine nucleotide metabolism were assayed in premature and mature primary rat neuronal cultures and in whole rat brains. In the neuronal cultures, representing 90% pure neurons, maturation (up to 14 days in culture) resulted in an increase in the activities of guanine deaminase (guanase), purine‐nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), IMP 5′‐nucleotidase, adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT), and AMP deaminase, but in no change in the activities of hypoxanthine‐guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT), adenosine deaminase, adenosine kinase, and AMP 5′‐nucleotidase. In whole brains in vivo, maturation (from 18 days of gestation to 14 days post partum) was associated with an increase in the activities of guanase, PNP, IMP 5′‐nucleotidase, AMP deaminase, and HGPRT, a decrease in the activities of adenosine deaminase and IMP dehydrogenase, and no change in the activities of APRT, AMP 5′‐nucleotidase, and adenosine kinase. The profound changes in purine metabolism, which occur with maturation of the neuronal cells in primary cultures in vitro and in whole brains in vivo, create an advantage for AMP degradation by deamination, rather than by dephosphorylation, and for guanine degradation to xanthine over its reutilization for synthesis of GMP. The physiological meaning of the maturational increase in these two ammonia‐producing enzymes in the brain is not yet clear. The striking similarity in the alterations of enzyme activities in the two systems indicates that the primary culture system may serve as an appropriate model for the study of purine metabolism in brain.

Cyclic GMP metabolism in macrophages: I. Regulation of cyclic GMP levels by calcium and stimulation of cyclic GMP synthesis by NO-generating agents☆

Abstract Levels of guanosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) were determined by radioimmunoassay in adherence-purified, oil-induced guinea pig peritoneal exudate macrophages, after extraction of the cells with perchloric acid, purification on Dowex AG1-X8, and acetylation. We found that: (i) Basal cGMP levels were strictly dependent on the concentration of extracellular Ca2+ (0.33 ± 0.03 pmol/mg macrophage protein in Ca2+-free medium and 2.49 ± 0.42 pmol/mg in 1.8 mM Ca2+). (ii) The stimulatory effect of Ca2+ on cGMP levels was prevented by tetracaine. (iii) The cGMP content of macrophages was not elevated by incubation with the ionophore A23187 at extracellular Ca2+ concentrations varying between 0 and 1.8 mM. (iv) Macrophage cGMP levels were increased markedly (up to 40-fold) by incubation of the cells with the nitric oxide (NO)-generating agents, sodium azide, hydroxylamine, sodium nitrite, and sodium nitroprusside. (v) Stimulation of cGMP accumulation by NO-generating agents occurred within 30 sec, was Ca2+-independent, and developed in the presence and absence of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor, isobutyl-methylxanthine. (vi) A minimal elevation in the macrophage cGMP level (less than 2-fold) was induced by ascorbic acid but no significant increases were induced by the following agents, found effective in other cells: serotonin, acetylcholine, carbamylcholine, phorbol myristate acetate, arachidonic acid, Superoxide dismutase, and nitrate reductase.

Neuroprotection by NMDA Preconditioning Against Glutamate Cytotoxicity is Mediated Through Activation of ERK 1/2, Inactivation of JNK, and by Prevention of Glutamate-Induced CREB Inactivation

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) preconditioning is a major endogenous brain protective mechanism, activated by sub-lethal stimulation of the NMDA glutamate receptors. Selective drug activation of this mechanism is considered to be a promising neuroprotective treatment against stroke and other traumatic brain insults. We have established an experimental in vitro model of NMDA preconditioning in primary rat neuronal cultures composed of three consecutive periods: preconditioning (NMDA 50 9M for 18 h), insult (glutamic acid 200 9M for 1 h), and reperfusion (regular medium for 24 h). The insulted neuronal cultures exhibited a 2.8-fold increase in LDH release into the media during the post-insult reperfusion period, which was completely abolished in the preconditioned cultures. The alterations in the activity level of the pro-survival kinase extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, the death machine activator c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and the pro-survival transcription factor cAMP responsive element binding (CREB) were monitored in preconditioned neuronal cultures in comparison to non-preconditioned cells during the three periods of the experimental model. The preconditioned neurons exhibited increased activity levels of ERK 1/2 and decreased activity levels of JNK during all periods of the model. In addition, the non-preconditioned neurons exhibited a marked reduction in the activity level of CREB during the insult period, which was totally prevented in the preconditioned cultures. These results suggest that the neuroprotection conferred by NMDA preconditioning against glutamate cytotoxicity is mediated (at least in part) through activation of ERK 1/2, inactivation of JNK and by prevention of glutamate-induced CREB inactivation.

Effects of differentiation-inducing agents on purine nucleotide metabolism in an ovarian cancer cell line

The effects of the differentiation-inducing agents sodium butyrate (NaOBt), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and mycophenolic acid (MA), on purine nucleotide metabolism, was studied in an ovarian carcinoma cell line (GZL-8). Exposure to these agents inhibited cell proliferation, but did not affect cell viability. Three hours following exposure, NaOBt and DMSO moderately decelerated purine synthesis de novo, but MA accelerated it three-fold, this being associated with a two-fold increase in the excretion of hypoxanthine and xanthine into the incubation medium. NaOBt and DMSO did not affect the cellular nucleotide content, but MA caused a 73% decrease in GTP content and about a 50% increase in the cellular content of UTP. The following alterations in cellular enzyme activity were observed 72 h following exposure: NaOBt decreased the activity of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase and increased the activity of IMP and of IMP 5′-nucleotidases, DMSO increased the activity of IMP 5′-nucleotidase, and MA increased the activity of the two nucleotidases. The results suggest that, in the carcinoma cell line studied, the differentiation process induced by NaOBt and DMSO may be associated with a general shift in the direction of purine metabolism from anabolism to catabolism, whereas that induced by MA is associated with a specific decrease in the production of GTP.