Human growth hormone-stimulated mitogenesis of Nb2 node lymphoma cells is not mediated by an immediate acceleration of phosphoinositide metabolism

Development of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone (rhGH) sustained-release microspheres by a low temperature aqueous phase/aqueous phase emulsion method

A novel method has been developed to protect Recombinant Human Growth Hormone (rhGH) in poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres using an aqueous phase/aqueous phase emulsion and S/O/W multi-emulsion method. This method develops a novel rhGH sustained-release system, which is based on the combination of rhGH-loaded dextran microparticles and PLGA microspheres. The process to fabricate rhGH-loaded dextran microparticles involves an aqueous phase/aqueous phase emulsion system formed at the reduced temperature. RhGH was first dissolved in water together with dextran and polyethylene glycol, followed by stirring at the speed of 2000 rpm for 20-30s at 0°C, and then a freezing process could enable the dextran phase to separate from the continuous PEG phase and rhGH could preferentially be loaded with dextran. The sample after freezing and phase separation was then lyophilized to powder and washed with dichloromethane to remove the PEG. Once loaded in the dextran microparticles (1-4 μm in diameter), rhGH gained resistance to interface tensions and was encapsulated into PLGA microspheres without aggregation thereafter. RhGH released from PLGA microspheres was in a sustained manner with minimal burst and maximally reduced incomplete release in vitro. Single subcutaneous injection of rhGH-loaded PLGA microspheres to rats resulted in a stable plasma concentration for 30 days avoiding the drug concentration fluctuations after multiple injections of protein solutions. In a hypophysectomized rat model, the IGF-1 and bodyweight results showed that there were higher than the levels obtained for the sustained release formulation by W/O/W for 40 days. These results suggest that the microsphere delivery system had the potential to be an injectable depot for sustained-release of the biocompatible protein of rhGH.

Malignant progression of rat Nb2 lymphoma cells: chromosomal alterations and metastatic properties

Cultured rat pre-T Nb2 lymphoma cell lines have provided a useful model for tumor progression of T-cell cancers. Comparative analysis of the non-metastatic, prolactin (PRL)-dependent parental Nb2-U17 line and its PRL-independent and/or metastatic sublines, can be used in a search for progression-related genomic alterations. In the present study, the PRL-dependent, cloned Nb2-11C and PRL-independent Nb2-Sp sublines were used to examine development of metastatic ability and PRL independence relative to chromosomal alterations. Metastatic ability was determined using Noble rats carrying subcutaneous tumor transplants; PRL dependence/autonomy was checked in culture. Nb2-11C tumor transplants quickly gave rise to morbidity, associated with metastases in kidney and liver. Transplants of the slower growing Nb2-Sp cells showed variable tumorigenicity as metastases developed in only 40% of the rats (in lungs, kidney, stomach). G-banded chromosome analysis showed the Nb2-11C culture had the karyotype of the parental Nb2-U17 line plus an extra chromosome 19, thus, indicating an association between the development of metastatic ability in Nb2-11C cells and trisomy 19. The Nb2-Sp subline was not clonal. Its stemline showed two alterations in the parental karyotype: acquisition of an add(7)(q10) and loss of the extra chromosome add(15)(p12). Additional abnormalities, add(6)(q11) and trisomy 19, occurred in 15% and 5% of the Nb2-Sp population, respectively. Passaging of the Nb2-Sp subline in vivo resulted in generation and/or outgrowth of new sublines, a major one of which showed an apparent transient growth requirement for lactogens. Possible mechanisms underlying the PRL independence and in vivo properties of the Nb2-Sp cells are discussed.

Reduced calcium and inhibition of protein kinase C mimic the enhancement of ornithine decarboxylase activity of prolactin in Ambystoma tigrinum tissues

We previously reported that prolactin (PRL) could increase the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in liver slices taken from larval tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum). This action of the hormone was inhibited by oxytocin (OT), the calcium ionophore A23187, and diacyglycerol (DG) and was duplicated by 10 microM verapamil (VML), a calcium channel blocker. Here, we expand these results to show that 1) a higher dose of VML (50 microM) produces an additive effect with PRL; 2) addition of small amounts of calcium (0.1 mM) to the liver culture medium blocks PRL action; 3) neither nifedipine (NIF), a different type of calcium channel blocker, nor EDTA alter PRL action; and 4) gossypol, a reported inhibitor of protein kinase C, mimics PRL action. Additionally, we show that PRL increases ODC activity in tiger salamander tail skin in vitro, a tissue previously demonstrated to be a PRL target tissue in this species. The same set of treatments which we have shown to modify PRL effects on ODC in liver slices affects PRL action in the tail skin in a parallel manner. Thus, the mechanism whereby PRL enhances ODC activity appears to be the same in both these tissues. These results are discussed in conjunction with the findings from similar studies using mammalian tissues in an attempt to assess the current picture of the mechanism of PRL action and the possible role of inositol phospholipid turnover, calcium, and protein kinase C in the action of this hormone.

Prolactin activates protein kinase C and stimulates growth-related gene expression in rat liver

We have examined the effect of prolactin (PRL) on growth-related gene expression, protein kinase C (PKC) activity and diacylglycerol (DAG) mass in rat liver. Hepatic levels of messenger (m)RNA for c-myc, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and beta-actin increased in a dose-dependent manner within 1 h after PRL administration. Prolactin also caused a transient elevation of liver DAG levels and particulate-associated PKC activity. The PRL-provoked increases in DAG mass and particulate PKC activity were coincident and maximal at 20 min and began declining toward control levels by 30 min. These results suggest a temporal relationship between PRL-stimulated DAG accumulation and PKC activation. Furthermore, the subsequent rapid induction of growth-related gene expression provides new information on the role of PRL as a hepatic mitogen.

Lactating goat mammary gland cells in culture

1. Isolated mammary gland cells were cultured embedded in collagen gels or as monolayers on floating collagen gels. Under these conditions the cells were able to grow for at least 6 weeks during five passages. Growth was sustained in M199/F12 (1:1) supplemented with insulin, hydrocortisone, epidermal growth factor, tri-iodothyronine, estradiol and bovine serum albumin. 2. The cells secreted lactose into the medium in significant amounts throughout the culture period. 3. Prolactin had a slightly stimulatory effect as had fetal bovine serum on growth and protein synthesis, but none of these factors were obligatory in this respect. Insulin-like growth factor I (Somatomedin C) could replace high concentrations of insulin whereas bovine growth hormone had no detectable effect. 4. Depending on the hormone content of the medium and the age of the culture, different labelling patterns of the arachidonic acid-containing phospholipids were observed. The effect of prolactin on phosphatidyl inositol and arachidonic acid metabolism was studied.

Lactogen-induced protein phosphorylation in Nb2 cells

Lactogenic hormones are potent mitogenic agents in the Nb2 rat lymphoma cell line. Because selective phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of specific proteins by many polypeptide hormones appears to be important in regulating cell growth, the effect of lactogenic hormones on protein phosphorylation was studied in Nb2 cells. Human growth hormone (hGH) promoted the phosphorylation of many proteins (2- to 3-fold) and an Mr 29,000 species (pp29) (greater than or equal to 10-fold). In growth-arrested cells phosphorylation of pp29 peaked 4 h after addition of hGH whereas that of other phosphoproteins increased steadily. Ovine prolactin, another potent mitogenic hormone, caused a concentration-dependent increase in pp29 phosphorylation with an EC50 = 10-20 pM. Other agents which are not mitogenic in this cell line, i.e., 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (200 nM), 8-Br-cAMP (1 mM), and 8-Br-cGMP (1 mM), did not affect pp29 phosphorylation. Dexamethasone (100 nM), which inhibits lactogen-stimulated growth, reduced hGH-stimulated pp29 phosphorylation to control levels. Fractionation of detergent-treated extracts of hGH-treated cells showed that pp29 is associated with the ribosomal fraction. Taken together, these results show that pp29 phosphorylation is selective and is related to cell growth.

Inhibition of hormone-stimulated ornithine decarboxylase activity by lithium chloride

Effects of Li+ on hormone-stimulated ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity were determined in kidney and liver of rats treated with dexamethasone or prolactin (PRL) and also in cultured, PRL-stimulated Nb2 lymphoma cells. In both systems, LiCl led to rapid and marked decreases in ODC activity. The inhibitory effect of Li+ in exponentially growing Nb2 lymphoma cell cultures, measured at 45 min, was dose-dependent, ranging from 10% at 0.1 mM LiCl to 95% at 10 mM LiCl. Surprisingly, on continued incubation with 10 mM LiCl, the lymphoma cells partially overcame the inhibition, showing ODC activities which reached a maximal value of ca 50% of the control at 4.5 h. The inhibition by Li+ could not be reduced by adding myo-inositol to the culture medium. LiCl did not inhibit ODC activity when added to cell-free extracts of rat tissues and Nb2 lymphoma cells indicating it did not act directly on the enzyme; however, there is evidence that, in intact cells, Li+ enhances the rate of inactivation of the enzyme.

Phosphatidylethanolamine turnover is an early event in the response of NB2 lymphoma cells to prolactin

The effect of prolactin on phospholipid metabolism in the prolactin-dependent rat lymphoma cell line Nb2 was investigated in cells prelabeled with [3H]arachidonic acid or [3H]ethanolamine. Prolactin (20 ng/ml) caused (a) a 20-60% loss of radiolabeled phosphatidylethanolamine within 0.5 to 2 min, (b) a loss of [3H]ethanolamine-labeled phosphatidylethanolamine from crude membranes, (c) a rapid accumulation of [3H]phosphoethanolamine and [3H]ethanolamine, and (d) a transient increase (15 s to 2 min) in prostaglandin F2 alpha and E2. Arachidonic acid (1-2 micrograms/ml) induced Nb2 cell growth but prostaglandin F2 alpha, E2, ethanolamine, and phosphoethanolamine did not. Prostaglandin E2 inhibited while prostaglandin F2 alpha enhanced growth in the presence of prolactin or arachidonic acid. These results suggest that stimulation of Nb2 cell growth by prolactin is linked to activation of a phosphatidylethanolamine-specific phospholipase C. Arachidonic acid and prostaglandin F2 alpha may participate in regulating the mitogenic action of prolactin.

Nb2 cell mitogenesis: effect of lactogens on cAMP and protein phosphorylation

Rat lymphoma cells (Nb2) are exquisitely sensitive to lactogenic hormones and are an ideal system to study receptor-mediated signal transduction. The effect of human growth hormone (hGH) on macromolecular synthesis, intracellular cAMP concentrations and protein phosphorylation was investigated in Nb2 cells maintained in serum-free medium. hGH stimulated the incorporation of radiolabeled precursors into protein, RNA and DNA in a time-dependent manner. The concentration of hGH inducing half-maximal DNA synthesis was 11 pM, indicating that Nb2 cells cultured in serum-free medium maintain the same sensitivity to lactogen as cells in horse serum-containing medium. hGH over a period of 4 h had no effect on intracellular cAMP regardless of the presence or absence of isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX). IBMX (250 microM), increased intracellular cAMP levels 2-fold indicating that the cAMP assay was sufficiently sensitive to detect relatively small changes in intracellular cAMP. Cyclic AMP had no effect on protein phosphorylation. However, hGH, prolactin and placental lactogen enhanced phosphorylation of many protein targets, as well as that of a specific protein (Mr = 29,000). Rat growth hormone, which is not mitogenic, had no effect on protein phosphorylation. These results suggest that lactogen-mediated Nb2 mitogenesis does not involve modulation of intracellular cAMP concentration and that cAMP-independent protein phosphorylation may play a role.

Prolactin differentially affects bacterial toxin-induced ADP-ribosylation of Nb2 lymphoma cell membrane proteins

Exposure of lactogen-dependent Nb2 lymphoma cells to prolactin for up to 72 hr caused time- and dose-dependent changes in the ability of specific 38 kDa and 41.5 kDa membrane proteins from these cells to be subsequently ADP-ribosylated by pertussis and cholera toxins, respectively. Whereas the sensitivity of the 41.5 kDa substrate to cholera toxin was already reduced after 1 hour, that of the 38 kDa substrate for cholera toxin was increased for up to 72 hours. These findings suggest that membrane G-proteins may mediate the effects of prolactin binding to its receptor, leading to the proliferation of Nb2 lymphoma cells.

Inhibition of the proliferation of Nb2 cells by femtomolar concentrations of cholera toxin and partial reversal of the effect by 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate

One hour of exposure to cholera toxin is sufficient to elicit a significant delay in the initiation of DNA synthesis and cell division in lactogenic hormone-dependent Nb2-11C lymphoma cells. The inhibitory effect occurs already at very low concentrations of cholera toxin (5-50 fM), at which it is not accompanied by a detectable increase in intracellular cAMP, or ADP-ribosylation of the alpha subunit of Gs, the stimulatory guanine nucleotide binding protein of adenylate cyclase; IBMX, the phosphodiesterase inhibitor, acts synergistically to cholera toxin, indicating that a minute increase in cAMP may be sufficient for the inhibition. This indication is substantiated by the finding that dibutyryl cAMP also inhibits cell proliferation. Phorbol diester reverses partially the inhibitory activity of cholera toxin. It is most likely that this effect does not result from blocking the increase in cAMP, but rather from some subsequent, yet unidentified, events. The inhibitory effect of cholera toxin is not dependent on the concentration of the proliferation-stimulating lactogenic hormone and cannot be abolished or reduced by excess of the hormone. Cholera toxin also inhibits the autonomous proliferation of a lactogenic hormone-independent cell line (Nb2-SP); however, in this case the inhibition is not affected by TPA.

Prolactin induces the formation of inositol bisphosphate and inositol trisphosphate in cultured mouse mammary gland explants

The effect of prolactin on [3H]inositol metabolism in cultured mouse mammary gland explants derived from 12-14-day pregnant mice was determined. In mammary gland explants that were prelabeled by culturing the tissues with 3 microCi/ml myo-[3H]inositol for 48 h, the levels of 3H in inositol derivatives were determined. The temporal effect of prolactin on the quantity of 3H present in phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylinositol monophosphate (PIP), phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2) and various inositol phosphate containing fractions were examined. Prolactin significantly stimulated the accumulation of 3H label in inositol monophosphate (IP1), inositol bisphosphate (IP2) and inositol trisphosphate (IP3) 1-3 h after addition of prolactin. An effect of prolactin on the accumulation of inositol derivatives was not apparent at prolactin-exposure periods of less than 60 min; nor was an effect of prolactin apparent when exposure periods of 4 h or longer were employed. Prolactin did not significantly decrease the 3H label in PI, PIP or PIP2 except at 1 and 2 h. These data when considered with other apropos studies are compatible with the conclusion that the turnover of inositol lipid derivatives may be involved in the mechanism by which prolactin regulates metabolic processes in the mammary gland. The primary action of prolactin on mammary cells, however, would not appear to involve its action on the metabolism of the inositol derivatives in view of the extended time required (1 h) before effects of prolactin on perturbations of inositide metabolism are manifested.

Stimulation of growth of Nb2 lymphoma cells by interleukin-2 in serum-free and serum-containing media

The human recombinant alanine-125 analogue of interleukin-2 (IL-2) causes a dose-dependent mitogenic response in rat lymphoma Nb2-11C cloned cells when tested in serum-containing medium and serum-free medium. IL-2 and hGH elicit their growth stimulation through different receptors since IL-2 does not compete with 125I-hGH for binding to Nb2 cells and Met14hGH, an antagonist of hGH, inhibits the hGH-stimulated growth of Nb2 cells but not that caused by IL-2. The tumor promoter, 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) potentiates the action of hGH on Nb2 cells grown in both serum-containing and in serum-free medium. TPA to a variable degree also potentiates IL-2-stimulated growth of Nb2 cells when cultured in medium containing serum but has no effect on cells grown in serum-free medium. In conclusion, IL-2 is a potent mitogen for Nb2-11C cells.

Phospholipid turnover during cell-cycle traverse in synchronous Chinese-hamster ovary cells. Mitogenesis without phosphoinositide breakdown

The turnover of phospholipids was investigated in quiescent serum-starved Chinese-hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells stimulated to progress through the cell cycle by the addition of dialysed bovine serum. A variety of radiolabelling techniques were employed to study the rapid effects of serum on phospholipids and later events during G1 and S phases of the cell cycle. Pulse-labelling studies using [32P]Pi revealed that there was a stimulation of the synthesis rate of all phospholipids investigated during the initial few hours after serum addition. The greatest stimulation (20-fold) was observed in phosphatidylcholine, and the smallest in the polyphosphoinositides (PPIs). Mock stimulation with serum-free medium caused a similar increase in PPI turnover, but little or no effect on turnover of other phospholipids. This effect could be accounted for by a stimulation of the turnover of cellular ATP pools increasing [32P]ATP specific radioactivity. Late G1 and S phases were associated with a decrease in the rate of synthesis of all phospholipids. Phosphatidic acid was the only phospholipid whose labelling fell below that in mock-stimulated cells during the period of the cell cycle. Stimulation of serum-starved cells that had been prelabelled with myo-[2-3H]inositol caused no change in the amounts of inositol trisphosphate, but both serum-stimulated and mock-stimulated cells exhibited similar small decreases in both inositol bisphosphate and inositol monophosphate, of approx. 30% after 30 s. When cells were serum-stimulated in the presence of 10 mM-Li+, there was no increase in the size of the total inositol phosphate pool. We conclude that mitogenic stimulation and cell-cycle traverse cause profound and complex effects on phospholipid turnover in CHO-K1 cells, but there is no evidence for a role of inositol lipid turnover in the proliferative response to serum in this cell line.