Heterologous regulation of inositol lipid hydrolysis in human breast cancer cells by oestradiol 17 beta, bombesin and fluoroaluminate

Lithium-stimulated proliferation and alteration of phosphoinositide metabolites in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells

Lithium, which is used to treat bipolar psychiatric disorders, can stimulate proliferation of a number of cells in tissue culture. Proliferation of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, which also respond to EGF and estrogens, was stimulated by LiCl (1-5 mM) within the concentration range that is encountered during human therapy with lithium. Stimulation of growth was specific for lithium; rubidium, potassium, and sodium showed no such effect. In the presence of antiestrogen, lithium stimulated the growth of hormone-dependent breast cancer cells MCF-7, ZR-75-1, and T47D but not hormone-independent MDA-MB-231 cells or an estrogen-independent clone of MCF-7 cells. Lithium-stimulated proliferation was limited by cytotoxicity which could be moderated by added potassium chloride (5-20 mM) in the medium. Each of the mitogens lithium, 17 beta-estradiol, and EGF increased the rate of uptake of myo-inositol into MCF-7 cells. Whether normalized to inositol lipids, to protein, or to DNA, steady-state levels of inositol phosphates were elevated by each of the mitogens including lithium, which inhibits the breakdown of inositol phosphates in the phosphoinositide signaling pathway. These data indicate that therapeutic concentrations of lithium can stimulate the proliferation of human breast cancer cells by a mechanism that may involve the phosphoinositide pathway.

Relationship of growth stimulated by lithium, estradiol, and EGF to phospholipase C activity in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells

Lithium-stimulated MCF-7 cell proliferation was compared to proliferation stimulated by other mitogens for this cell line-estradiol (E2) and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-and lithium was found to be effective within a narrow concentration range. Mitogenic effects of lithium on proliferation stimulated by E2 and EGF were additive below maximum, but were not synergistic. The phosphoinositide pathway is a cell signaling system involved in cell proliferation, within which phospholipase C (PLC)-mediated hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P2] leads to the production of the second messengers inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P3] and diacylglycerol (DAG), as well as to calcium mobilization. At mitogen concentrations which maximally stimulated cell growth, estradiol stimulated both growth and PLC activity, while EGF and lithium stimulated cell growth but had little effect on the activity of the enzyme. Dose-responses with EGF revealed that a low concentration (0.1 ng/ml, 0.017 nM) of EGF appeared to stimulate both PLC activity and cell growth, but that higher concentrations of EGF which stimulated greater proliferation inhibited PLC activity. Steady-state levels of inositol phosphates including inositol trisphosphate were increased by all three mitogens. In growth assays, the phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), which mimics the actions of DAG, stimulated some cell growth, but dioctanoylglycerol, an additional DAG analog, and the calcium ionophore A23187, alone or with the DAG analogs, had no effect. These results suggest that PLC-mediated PtdIns(4,5)P2 hydrolysis is not primarily associated with signaling proliferation by lithium or EGF in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Endothelin-1 stimulates phospholipid hydrolysis and prostaglandin F2 alpha production in primary human decidua cell cultures

The regulation of prostaglandin (PG) production by the uterine decidua may be an important mechanism controlling the onset and maintenance of human parturition. The present in vitro study has evaluated the potential for endothelin-1 (ET-1) to activate cell signalling and PGE2 alpha production in human primary decidua cell cultures. ET-1 stimulated a dose-dependent increase in inositol phospholipid hydrolysis and PG precursor release as evidenced by respective increases in [3H] inositol monophosphate accumulation and [14C] arachidonate release from radiolabelled decidua cells. PGF2 alpha production was increased in some but not all cell preparations in response to ET-1 alone. Pretreatment of decidua cells with interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) enhanced PGF2 alpha production but not arachidonate release in response to ET-1. These in vitro observations support a possible role for ET-1 in the regulation of decidual PG production during parturition.