Studies on ornithine decarboxylase activity in the isolated perfused rat liver

Involvement of ornithine decarboxylase in the control of proliferation of the HT29 human colon cancer cell line. Effect of vasoactive intestinal peptide on enzyme activity

Involvement of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in proliferation of the HT29 cell line and its control by either fetal calf serum (FCS) or vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) as an external signal increasing cAMP level were investigated. Activation of the polyamine-producing system appears to be a necessary step in the proliferative response of HT29 cells since cell growth is arrested by addition of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO, an inhibitor of ODC), then restored by further addition of putrescine into the culture medium. FCS deprivation results in decreased activity of ODC and arrest of cell growth. Addition of FCS induces reactivation of ODC peaking at 9 hr and re-initiates proliferation but does not affect cAMP level. VIP strongly and rapidly stimulated cAMP accumulation, which resulted in significant activation of ODC. When VIP-induced cAMP formation was hindered by the alpha 2-adrenergic agonist UK14304, activation of ODC was no longer observed. The dose-response curve for ODC activation by VIP indicates an EC50 value of 0.078 nM which falls within the range of physiological concentrations for this peptide. However, VIP fails to stimulate proliferation when cells are cultured either in an FCS-free medium or in the presence of a growth-limiting concentration of FCS. We conclude that the mechanisms of ODC activation by either FCS or VIP are different, the latter involving cAMP formation. Activation of ODC to produce polyamines is necessary to support the proliferative process in our model but the VIP-induced activation of the enzyme alone is not sufficient to promote cell growth.

Nonselective autophagy of cytosolic enzymes by isolated rat hepatocytes

Seven cytosolic enzymes with varying half-lives (ornithine decarboxylase, 0.9 h; tyrosine aminotransferase, 3.1 h; tryptophan oxygenase, 3.3 h; serine dehydratase, 10.3 h; glucokinase, 12.7 h; lactate dehydrogenase, 17.0 h; aldolase, 17.4 h) were found to be autophagically sequestered at the same rate (3.5%/h) in isolated rat hepatocytes. Autophagy was measured as the accumulation of enzyme activity in the sedimentable organelles (mostly lysosomes) of electrodisrupted cells in the presence of the proteinase inhibitor leupeptin. Inhibitors of lysosomal fusion processes (vinblastine and asparagine) allowed accumulation of catalytically active enzyme (in prelysosomal vacuoles) even in the absence of proteolytic inhibition, showing that no inactivation step took place before lysosomal proteolysis. The completeness of protection by leupeptin indicates, furthermore, that a lysosomal cysteine proteinase is obligatorily required for the initial proteolytic attack upon autophagocytosed proteins. The experiments suggest that sequestration and degradation of normal cytosolic proteins by the autophagic-lysosomal pathway is a nonselective bulk process, and that nonautophagic mechanisms must be invoked to account for differential enzyme turnover.

Different turnover of rat fetal and placental ornithine decarboxylases

The half-lives of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDC) have been studied in fetuses and placentas from 18-day-pregnant rats. While the turnover of fetal and placental SAMDC were slightly different (t1/2 = 38 and 75 min, respectively) the half-lives of fetal and placental ODC differed markedly. T1/2 of fetal ODC was 15 min, similar to other mammalian ODCs, but placental ODC showed a relatively high half-life, about 160 min. According to that, placental ODC was more resistant than the fetal enzyme to in vivo hyperthermic treatment (40 degrees C, 1 h). Our results suggest that the degradative mechanisms for ODC in rat placenta could be regulated differently to those in other mammalian tissues.

Suppression of diamine oxidase activity enhances postresection ileal proliferation in the rat

To assess the influence of diamine oxidase activity on the adaptive process of the small bowel after resection, we administered aminoguanidine, a potent diamine oxidase inhibitor, to rats for 10 days after either small bowel transection (n = 5) or 80% jejunoileal resection (n = 7). Five or more additional animals from each group received saline as controls. Ileal mucosal homogenates from the resection group receiving aminoguanidine, when compared with those from resection controls, showed no diamine oxidase activity with increased putrescine content and ornithine decarboxylase activity. Mucosal proliferation, as measured by mucosal mass, protein content, and deoxyribonucleic acid content, was greater in the resected animals receiving aminoguanidine when compared with that of resection controls. Sucrase activity per gram of mucosa was almost identical in both resection groups. These results show that the suppression of diamine oxidase during the postresection adaptive period results in enhanced mucosal proliferation with no effect on mucosal functional differentiation. Diamine oxidase may play a regulatory role in adaptive intestinal proliferation.

Effects of an antitumoural rhodium complex on thioacetamide-induced liver tumor in rats. Changes in the activities of ornithine decarboxylase, tyrosine aminotransferase and of enzymes involved in fatty acid and glycerolipid synthesis

Rats were injected daily for 8 weeks with 50 mg of thioacetamide per kg to produce liver tumours. Some of these rats were given three doses of 50 mg of an antitumoural Rh(III) complex/kg at 14, 9 and 5 days before the end of the thioacetamide treatment. Thioacetamide decreased the rate of weight gain of the rats and the Rh(III) complex partly restored it. The activities of ATP citrate lyase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthetase in the livers were decreased by thioacetamide treatment and the Rh(III) complex partly reversed this effect. By contrast the activity of malic enzyme was increased by both thioacetamide and the Rh(III) complex and this effect probably relates to NADPH production for detoxification rather than for lipogenesis. Treatment with thioacetamide increased the rate of synthesis of di- and triacylglycerols from glycerol phosphate by liver homogenates, the activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and the incorporation of [3H]glycerol into liver triacylglycerol in vivo. The Rh(III) complex did not produce a significant reversal of these effects of thioacetamide on glycerolipid synthesis. The total uptake of intraportally injected [3H]glycerol by the livers of thioacetamide treated rats was decreased and this was associated with a lowered activity of glycerol kinase. Thioacetamide increased the activity of hepatic ornithine decarboxylase by about 40-fold, but the Rh(III) complex did not reverse this effect. However, the decrease in tyrosine aminotransferase activity that was produced by thioacetamide was partly reversed by the Rh(III) complex. These results are discussed in relation to the tumour-promoting effects of thioacetamide and the antitumoural action of the Rh(III) complex.

Response of tissue diamine oxidase activity to polyamine administration

The administration to rats of putrescine (750 mumol/kg body wt.) caused in liver, kidney and heart an increase in putrescine at 1 h and in diamine oxidase (EC 1.4.3.6) activity within 3-6 h. An increase in spermidine was observed at 9 h in liver and at 6 h in kidney, whereas in heart there was no change. The increase in diamine oxidase activity by exogenous putrescine was prevented by the administration of actinomycin D and cycloheximide, suggesting that syntheses of mRNA and protein are involved. Equimolar doses of 1,3-diaminopropane, 1,5-diaminopentane and monoacetylputrescine stimulated, similarly to putrescine, hepatic, renal and cardiac diamine oxidase activity. After the injection of a non-toxic dose of spermidine (750 mumol/kg body wt.), the increase in diamine oxidase activity occurred at 9 h in all the tissues studied, when a substantial putrescine formation from spermidine occurred. sym-Norspermidine, which is unable to form putrescine, did not cause an increase in enzyme activity. The possibility that the tissue contents of putrescine might regulate diamine oxidase activity is discussed.

Dexamethasone restores hormonal inducibility of ornithine decarboxylase in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes

Induction of ornithine decarboxylase by various hormones was studied in quiescent primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes maintained in a chemically defined medium. The following results were obtained: Enzyme activity rose transiently during the first day of cultivation in hormone-untreated cells. During this phase, insulin increased ornithine decarboxylase activity. Inducibility by insulin was maintained for more than 40 h only after pretreatment with 0.1 microM dexamethasone. Enzyme activity could be induced by 1 nM insulin and peaked after 7 h. Inducibility by glucagon and growth hormone required pretreatment with the glucocorticoid hormone. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was maximal 5 h after glucagon addition. Concentrations down to 0.1 nM were effective. Pretreatment with dexamethasone was most effective, when the hormone was present during the first 20 h of cultivation. The effect of the glucocorticoid during the pretreatment phase was diminished by colchicine and to a lesser extent by cytochalasine B. We suggest that part of the permissive effect of dexamethasone could be mediated by changes in the cytoskeleton and the function of hormone receptors. The fact that induction of ornithine decarboxylase was exerted by several hormones despite the absence of cell proliferation and DNA synthesis may indicate that polyamine biosynthesis has an important role in the quiescent hepatocyte.

Temporal profiles of proteins responsive to transient ischemia

The responses of long and short half-lived proteins to ischemia were measured in rat brain during 6 days of recovery from 30 min of transient forebrain ischemia produced by four-vessel occlusion. At the end of the ischemic interval, the neocortical activities of four vulnerable enzymes [ornithine (ODC) and S-adenosylmethionine (SAMDC) decarboxylases, and RNA polymerases I and II] were unchanged, but within 30 min of reperfusion, their activities dropped by 25-50%. The loss of substance P in the striatum and substantia nigra was slower, reaching about 50% by 12 h. On the other hand, the activities of 5 long half-lived enzymes did not change in the neocortex at 5 and 15 h of reperfusion and regional protein concentrations were essentially unaffected over 6 days survival. The rate and extent of normalization of the amounts or activities of the vulnerable proteins varied. RNA polymerase II and ODC activities were restored within 4 h, and ODC showed a biphasic increase in activity, with peaks at 10 h and 2-3 days. RNA polymerase I and SAMDC activities were restored by 18 h and 5 days, respectively, whereas substance P concentrations did not completely recover, even at 6-15 days. The greater the regional reduction of blood flow during ischemia, the larger the net change (gain or loss) of SAMDC or ODC activity and the longer the time required to normalize the activities of these enzymes. The average rate of proteolysis, assessed by measuring the rate of clearance of 14C from protein prelabeled with [14C]bicarbonate, was abnormal during the first 2 days of reperfusion. Postischemic changes in both protein synthesis and degradation could affect the amounts of some of the proteins responsive to transient ischemia.

A role for ornithine in the regulation of putrescine accumulation and ornithine decarboxylase activity in Reuber H35 hepatoma cells

We investigated the ability of intracellular ornithine to alter both the biosynthesis of putrescine and the activity of ornithine decarboxylase in Reuber H35 hepatoma cells in culture incubated with 12-O- tetrade - canoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA). In confluent cultures of H35 cells, the addition of TPA (1.6 microM) caused the activity of ornithine decarboxylase to increase by more than 100-fold within 4 h. When exogenous ornithine (0.1-1.0 mM) was added to the culture medium with TPA, a marked dose-dependent increase in the production of putrescine was observed. The activity of ornithine decarboxylase in the same cultures incubated with ornithine decreased in a similar dose-dependent manner. The addition of arginine (0.1-1.0 mM) (but not lysine or histidine) to the H35 cells in culture concomitant with TPA also led to a relative increase in putrescine biosynthesis and a decrease in ornithine decarboxylase activity compared to cultures not receiving the amino acids. A similar response to exogenous ornithine and TPA was observed in a series of less confluent rapidly growing cultures which were in culture for a shorter period of time. The confluent cultures possessed a basal level of arginase (55 units/mg protein) which increased approx. 2-fold upon treatment with TPA. The intracellular concentration of ornithine in the unstimulated cells was in the order of 0.02-0.03 mM. Upon incubation of the cells with exogenous ornithine or arginine, the intracellular pools of these amino acids increased 4- to 8-fold.

Effect of 1,3-diaminopropane on ornithine decarboxylase enzyme protein in thioacetamide-treated rat liver

A radioimmunoassay for ornithine decarboxylase was used to study the regulation of this enzyme in rat liver. The antiserum used reacts with ornithine decarboxylase from mouse, human or rat cells. Rat liver ornithine decarboxylase enzyme activity and enzyme protein (as determined by radioimmunoassay) were measured in thioacetamide-treated rats at various times after administration of 1,3-diaminopropane. Enzyme activity declined rapidly after 1,3-diaminopropane treatment as did the amount of enzyme protein, although the disappearance of enzyme activity slightly preceded the loss of immunoreactive protein. The loss of enzyme protein after cycloheximide treatment also occurred rapidly, but was significantly slower than that seen with 1,3-diaminopropane. When 1,3-diaminopropane and cycloheximide were injected simultaneously, the rate of disappearance of enzyme activity and enzyme protein was the same as that seen with cycloheximide alone. These results show that the rapid loss in enzyme activity after 1,3-diaminopropane treatment is primarily due to a loss in enzyme protein and that protein synthesis is needed in order for 1,3-diaminopropane to exert its full effect. A macromolecular inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase that has been termed antizyme is induced in response to 1,3-diaminopropane, but our results indicate that the loss of enzyme activity is not due to the accumulation of inactive ornithine decarboxylase-antizyme complexes. It is possible that the antizyme enhances the degradation of the enzyme protein. Control experiments demonstrated that the antiserum used would have detected any inactive antizyme-ornithine decarboxylase complexes present in liver since addition of antizyme to ornithine decarboxylase in vitro did not affect the amount of ornithine decarboxylase detected in our radioimmunoassay. Anti-(ornithine decarboxylase) antibodies may be useful in the purification of antizyme since the antizyme-ornithine decarboxylase complex can be immunoprecipitated, and antizyme released from the precipitate with 0.3 M-NaCl.

Non-metabolizable amino acids are potent stimulators of hepatic and renal ornithine decarboxylase activity

The non-metabolizable amino acids alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) and cycloleucine and the poorly metabolizable amino acid D-alanine potently stimulated hepatic ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in starved rats. The stimulation by AIB was shown to have several of the characteristics of stimulation by a protein meal and occurred in hypophysectomized animals. AIB also stimulated renal, but not brain or heart, ODC activity.

Purification, properties and regulation of the level of bovine S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase during lymphocyte mitogenesis

S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase was purified from the livers of calves treated with methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) to elevate the level of the enzyme. Purified bovine S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase was similar in specific activity and subunit molecular weight (32,000) to the enzymes previously isolated from rat and mouse. The bovine liver enzyme immunologically crossreacted with S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase from resting and mitogenically activated bovine lymphocytes. The rate of enzyme synthesis in activated lymphocytes was determined by labeling the cells with [3H]leucine and isolating the radioactive decarboxylase by affinity chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. The rate of enzyme synthesis was increased 10-fold by 9 h after mitogen treatment, which accounts for the initial increase in cellular enzymatic activity. There was no further increase in the rate of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase synthesis that correlated with a second elevation of activity occurring at approx. 24 h after mitogenic activation. It was concluded that the second increase in enzyme activity was due to lengthening the intracellular half-life of the enzyme by 2-fold.

Cellular control of ornithine decarboxylase activity by its antizyme

Conditions have been established under which the antizyme of ornithine decarboxylase (E.C. 4.1.1.17, L-ornithine carboxy-lyase, ODC) a non-competitive protein inhibitor of ODC, can be detected in cells in response to as little as 10(-7) M putrescine. The maintenance of intracellular antizyme activity depends upon the continued presence of putrescine in the medium. Removal of putrescine results in a rapid decline of antizyme activity. These phenomena are unaffected by the presence of cycloheximide and are comparable to the requirement of L-asparagine for the maintenance of ODC activity. The extent to which the antizyme level is increased is inversely related to the preexisting level of intracellular ODC at the time of addition of putrescine. The time of appearance of free antizyme is delayed in cells that have high levels of ODC; the amount of free antizyme that can be assayed for in these cells, at any particular time is correspondingly less. The converse is also true. In cells that have high levels of antizyme, the delay in appearance of ODC is greater and the amount of ODC that can be assayed for is correspondingly less than in cells with low levels of antizyme. These experiments, as well as others, indicate that the ODC antizyme and ODC interact in vivo with each other to modify their respective activities.

Hormonal control of ornithine decarboxylase in isolated liver cells and the effect of ethanol oxidation

The regulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity was studied in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes incubated in a chemically defined medium for 5 h. Glucagon, dibutyryl cyclic AMP, insulin and dexamethasone produced dramatic increases in ornithine decarboxylase activity, 6--100-times the basal activity. Actinomycin D inhibited completely the stimulatory action of these substances. With glucagon, dibutyryl cyclic AMP and insulin, the rise in ornithine decarboxylase activity was rapid but transient, peaking at 200 min and then declining rapidly. By contrast, the response to dexamethasone was gradual and sustained in the 5 h incubation. The transient nature of the response to glucagon was unaltered by repeated additions of optimally effective doses of glucagon suggesting the development of 'refractoriness' to the actions of this hormone. Ethanol oxidation inhibited by 50% the stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase by glucagon and dexamethasone and this effect was blocked by 4-methylpyrazole, an inhibitor of alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetate (2.5--20 mM), the metabolic product of hepatic ethanol oxidation, was also effective. The data indicate that glucagon, insulin and glucocorticoids are all effective in stimulating the activity of ornithine decarboxylase in isolated hepatocytes but they differ in their duration and time of peak of action. Additionally, the inhibitory effect of ethanol on the hormonal stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase is dependent on its oxidation and may be mediated by acetate.

Decarboxylation of ornithine and lysine in rat tissues

The possibility that arginine and lysine might be decarboxylated by rat tissues was investigated. No evidence for decarboxylation of arginine could be found. Lysine decarbosylase (L-lysine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.18) activity producing CO2 and cadaverine was detected in extracts from rat ventral prostate, androgen-stimulated mouse kidney, regenerating rat liver and livers from rats pretreated with thioacetamide. These tissues all have high ornithine decarboxylase (L-ornithine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.17) activities. Lysine and ornithine decarboxylase activities were lost to similar extents on inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide and on exposure to alpha-difluoromethylornithine. A highly purified ornithine decarboxylase preparation was able to decarboxylate lysine and the ratio of ornithine to lysine decarboxylase activities was constant throughout purification. Kinetic studies of the purified preparation showed that the V for ornithine was about 4-fold greater than for lysine, but the Km for lysine (9 mM) was 100-times greater than that for ornithine (0.09 mM). These experiments indicate that all of the detectable lysine decarboxylase activity in rat and mouse tissues was due to the action of ornithine decarboxylase and that significant cadaverine production in vivo would occur only when ornithine decarboxylase activity is high and lysine concentrations substantially exceed those of ornithine.

Two distinct mechanisms for ornithine decarboxylase regulation by polyamines in rat hepatoma cells

Exogenous diamines and polyamines added to rat hepatoma (HTC) cells in culture rapidly decrease ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity. Previous evidence has suggested that these amines set either at the level of blocking new enzyme synthesis or by the induction of a non-competitive protein inhibitor, termed antizyme, which complexes with ODC to form an inactive complex. Wth the use of HMOA cells, a recently cloned rat hepatoma cell line that has a greatly stabilized ODC, it has been possible to demonstrate that 10(-5) M of exogenous putrescine blocks the increase in ODC activity, but unlike in the parent HTC cell line, without induction of the antizyme or formation of any inactive ODC-antizyme complex. However, complete blockade of ODC at 10(-2) M putrescine is effected by induction of antizyme and formation of the ODC-antizyme complex, as now evidenced by the isolation of the active enzyme and antizyme components after Sephadex column chromatography in the presence of 250 mM NaCl. These findings indicate clearly that two polyamine-regulatory mechanisms for ODC exist and are separable in this cell line.

Effect of urethan on the induction of ornithine decarboxylase in regenerating rat liver

The effect of urethan on the induction of ornithine decarboxylase in the early stage of the regeneration of rat liver was studied. The induced activity of ornithine decarboxylase was suppressed by administration of urethan immediately after partial hepatectomy. Although ornithine decarboxylase was induced biphasically by partial hepatectomy, a single intraperitoneal injection of urethan resulted in the reduction of both phases. However, the ornithine decarboxylase activity induced by glucocorticoids and growth hormone was not suppressed by urethan. The increased level of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate induced by partial hepatectomy was also reduced by urethan and this suppression was proportional to the suppression of ornithine decarboxylase activity. Reversal of the urethan-induced suppression of ornithine decarboxylase by administration of dibutyryl 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate was also observed.

Effects of aliphatic diamines on rat liver ornithine decarboxylase activity

Rat liver ornithine decarboxylase activity was decreased by administration of putrescine (1,4-diaminobutane) or other diamines, including 1,3-diaminopropane, 1,5-diaminopentane and 1,6-diaminohexane. This effect was seen in control rats and in rats in which hepatic ornithine decarboxylase activity had been increased by administration of growth hormone (somatotropin) or thioacetamide. Loss of activity was not dependent on the conversion of putrescine into polyamines and was short-lived. Within 6h after intraperitoneal administration of 0.8 mmol/kg body wt., ornithine decarboxylase activity had returned to normal values. This return correlated with the rapid loss of the diamines from the liver, and the decrease in activity could be slightly prolonged by treatment with aminoguanidine, a diamine oxidase inhibitor. A decrease in ornithine decarboxylase activity by these diamines was accompanied by the accumulation in the liver of a nondiffusible inhibitor that decreased the activity of a purified ornithine decarboxylase preparation. The possibility that administration of non-physiological diamines that are not converted into polyamines might be useful for the inhibition of polyamine synthesis is discussed.