Effect of VIP on the glycogen metabolism of human colon adenocarcinoma cells studied by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Real-time detection of 13C NMR labeling kinetics in perfused EMT6 mouse mammary tumor cells and betaHC9 mouse insulinomas

A method was developed for obtaining high signal-to-noise 13C NMR spectra of intracellular compounds in metabolically active cultured cells. The method allows TCA cycle labeling kinetics to be determined in real time without significant oxygen transport limitations. Cells were immobilized on the surface of nonporous microcarriers that were either uncoated or coated with polypeptides and used in a 12-cm3 packed bed. The methods were tested with two EMT6 mouse mammary tumor cell lines, one strongly adherent and the other moderately adherent, and a weakly adherent mouse insulinoma line (betaHC9). For both EMT6 lines, NTP and oxygen consumption measurements indicated that the number of cells in the spectrometer ranged from 6 x 10(8) to 1 x 10(9). During infusion of [1-13C]glucose, labeling in C-4 glutamate (indicative of flux into the first half of the TCA cycle) could be detected with 15-min resolution. However, labeling for C-3 and C-2 glutamate (indicative of complete TCA cycle activity) was fivefold lower and difficult to quantify. To increase TCA cycle labeling, cells were infused with medium containing [1,6-13C2]glucose. A 2.5-fold increase was observed in C-4 glutamate labeling and C-3 and C-2 glutamate labeling could be monitored with 30-min resolution. Citrate synthase activity was indirectly detected in real time, as [3,4-13C2]glutamate was formed from [2-13C]oxaloacetate and [2-13C]acetate (of acetyl-CoA). Cell mass levels observed with betaHC9 cells were somewhat lower. However, the 13C S/N was sufficient to allow real-time monitoring of the response of intracellular metabolite labeling to a step change in glucose and a combined glutamine/serum pulse.

Perturbations of glucose metabolism associated with HIV infection in human intestinal epithelial cells: a multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

OBJECTIVE

To analyse the effect of HIV-1 infection on the glucose metabolism of human intestinal epithelial cells.

METHODS

HT-29 cells were infected with HIV-1NDK and studied 3 weeks (acutely infected cells) or 9 months (chronically infected cells) post-infection. Perchloric acid extracts were analysed by high-resolution 1H, 31P and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Metabolite concentrations and specific 13C enrichments were quantified for chronically infected, acutely infected and control cells grown in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing natural-abundance or 1-13C-enriched glucose to determine significant differences between infected and non-infected cells.

RESULTS

Chronically HIV-infected cells showed alterations in glycerol-3-phosphate (+40%), fructose-1,6-diphosphate (-66%), uridine diphosphate glucuronic acid (-33%), lactate (+75%) and [1-13C]glucose (+181%) levels, and in specific lactate 3-13C enrichment (+19%) when compared with controls. Acutely infected cells exhibited decreased fructose-1,6-diphosphate (-58%) and increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (+33%) levels relative to controls.

CONCLUSION

HIV-1 infection results in a disturbance of glycolytic and oxidative activities in human intestinal epithelial cells. This finding supports the concept that HIV-1 may directly impair some metabolic functions of the intestinal epithelium, and that it can be considered a potential aetiological agent for HIV-associated enteropathy.

13C and 31P NMR investigation of effect of 6-aminonicotinamide on metabolism of RIF-1 tumor cells in vitro

The effect of 6-aminonicotinamide on the metabolism of RIF-1 tumor cells was investigated using 13C and 31P NMR spectroscopy. 6-Aminonicotinamide can be metabolized to 6-amino-NAD(P), a competitive inhibitor of NAD(P)-requiring processes. 40 microM 6-aminonicotinamide led to an inhibition of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and an accumulation of 6-phosphogluconate. A subsequent accumulation of the 6-phosphogluconate precursor 6-phosphoglucono-delta-lactone was observed in the 13C NMR spectrum. These metabolites were shown to be intracellular, although a small amount of leakage of 6-phosphoglucono-delta-lactone occurred. The intracellular concentrations of 6-phosphogluconate and 6-phosphoglucono-delta-lactone were 1.9 +/- 0.8 micromol/108 cells (+/-1 standard deviation) and 0.8 +/- 0.4 micromol/10(8) cells, respectively, after 15 h. Glucose utilization and lactate production were significantly inhibited by 6-aminonicotinamide (both p < 0.05), indicating inhibition of glycolysis. 31P NMR data showed that phosphocreatine was significantly depleted in cells exposed to 6-aminonicotinamide (p < 0.05). Exposure of RIF-1 cells to 6-aminonicotinamide prior to 3- or 6-Gy x-irradiation induced a supra-additive cell kill, indicating that 6-aminonicotinamide is acting as a radiosensitizer. There was no effect of 6-aminonicotinamide alone or when the drug was given postradiation, suggesting that its mechanism of action may be by inhibition of radiation-induced repair.

Production of a highly cytopathic HIV-1 isolate from a human mucosal epithelial cell line cultured on microcarrier beads in serum-free medium

The human colonic epithelial cell line HT-29 can be productively infected with various HIV-1 and HIV-2 isolates that are highly cytopathic for T lymphocytes. In each case, a chronically infected HT-29 cell line can be established, and progeny viruses retain their original properties including high cytopathogenicity for T cells. Inasmuch as AIDS vaccines should include viral isolates capable of infecting mucosal epithelial cells, it may be useful to produce these isolates in such cells at a large scale. We describe here a microcarrier-based culture system allowing the production of infectious viruses from HT-29 cells grown in a chemically defined serum-free medium (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/F12, HEPES 15 mM, pH 7.4, transferrin 5 micrograms/ml, selenium 10 ng/ml). The yield of HIV-1 from microcarrier cultures (275 ng of p24gag/ml) was greater than the yield from conventional culture flasks (122 ng of p24gag/ml). This virus, produced in serum-free medium, can be used either as a viral stock or as a source for HIV-1 proteins.

Energetic metabolism of glucose, mannose and galactose in glucose-starved rat insulinoma cells anchored on microcarrier beads. A phosphorus-31 NMR study

Insulin-secreting cells (RINm5F) have successfully been grown on a large scale on poly-L-lysine coated-polystyrene microcarriers, providing a high cell number in a restricted volume under conditions that respect the metabolic integrity of these anchorage-dependent cells. The energetic metabolism of the perfused cells has been followed non-invasively by phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Glucose starvation induced a rapid decrease in nucleoside triphosphates (mainly ATP) pools, correlated with an increase in Pi level. The initial ATP level was rapidly recovered when the cells were refed with glucose or with mannose, but not with galactose, even after 2 h of perfusion. These differential effects of hexoses on energetic metabolism might be related to their various insulin-release actions on tumor islet cells.

The influence of type I collagen on the growth and differentiation of the human colonic adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29 in vitro

HT-29 Human colonic adenocarcinoma cells when grown on a plastic substratum were anaplastic in appearance and failed to express any morphological or biochemical features that were characteristic of intestinal differentiation. Growth of HT-29 cells subcutaneously in the flank of immune deprived mice gave rise to morphologically heterogeneous tumors which were poorly differentiated but contained approximately 11% of cells with an intestinal phenotype: these showed features typical of cell polarization with well-developed microvilli, tight junctional complexes and desmosomes between adjacent cells. The transfer of cells from plastic onto either a fixed (designated 'non-released') or floating (designated 'released') type I collagen gel induced some morphological features typical of intestinal differentiation; for example goblet-like cells were observed after 9 days, but biochemical markers of differentiation were expressed only modestly. The continued subculture of HT-29 cells on collagen type I gels, which were either attached to the plastic or floating in the medium, induced some morphological features of intestinal differentiation and changes in the activity of brush border-associated enzymes. Alkaline phosphatase activity was enhanced from 1.3 x 10(-3) mumoles/mg/min for cells cultured on plastic substrata to 2.1 x 10(-3) mumoles/mg/min when gels were non-released, and 2.9 x 10(-3) mumoles/mg/min when gels were released after 12 days of culture. This was confirmed by electron microscopical visualization of alkaline phosphatase activity. Elevated levels of aminopeptidase activity were also observed on day 12 (plastic = 26 milliunits/mg; non-released gel = 41 milliunits/mg; released gel = 36 milliunits/mg). Similarly, changes occurred in the secretion of carcinoembryonic antigen from 0.96 x 10(-2) micrograms/mg/48 hours by cells cultured on plastic to 2.3 x 10(-2) micrograms/mg/48 hours by cells cultured on floating collagen gels. The effects of permitting HT-29 cells to undergo polarization were tested by culture on inert filter inserts: morphological features of intestinal differentiation were observed although this did not occur until after 21 days. These studies show that optimization of the growth conditions of anaplastic cells in vitro may provide cultures more representative of the tumor in vivo. This model system may be useful for cell biological and pharmacological studies of colon carcinoma.