Phenotypic characterization of the 3/A/1D-1M osteogenic cell line derived from in vivo transplantation of 3/A/1D-1 chondroprogenitor murine teratocarcinoma cells

Tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase is activated in enterocytes by oxidative stress via changes in glycosylation

BACKGROUND

Intestinal inflammation produces an induction of alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity that is attributable in part to augmented expression, accompanied by a change in isoform, in epithelial cells.

METHODS

This study focuses on induction of AP in intestinal epithelial cells in vitro.

RESULTS

Treatment with the oxidants H2O2, monochloramine, or tButOOH increases AP activity in vitro in Caco-2, HT29, and IEC18 cells. We selected IEC18 cells for further testing. Basal AP activity in IEC18 cells is of the tissue-nonspecific (bone-liver-kidney) type, as indicated by Northern and Western blot analysis. Oxidative stress augments AP activity and the sensitivity of the enzyme to levamisole, homoarginine, and heat in IEC18 cells. Increased immunoreactivity to tissue-nonspecific AP antibodies suggests an isoform shift from liver to either kidney or bone type. This effect occurs without changes at the mRNA level and is sensitive to tunicamycin, an inhibitor of N-glycosylation, and neuraminidase digestion. Saponin and deoxycholate produce similar effects to oxidants. Butyrate but not proinflammatory cytokines or LPS can induce a similar effect but without toxicity. The AP increase is not prevented by modulators of the MAPK, NF-κB, calcium, and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) pathways, and is actually enhanced by actinomycin D via higher cell stress.

CONCLUSIONS

Oxidative stress causes a distinct increase in enterocyte AP activity together with cell toxicity via changes in the glycosylation of the enzyme that correspond to a shift in isotype within the tissue-nonspecific paradigm. We speculate that this may have physiological implication for gut defense.

Induction of alkaline phosphatase in the inflamed intestine: a novel pharmacological target for inflammatory bowel disease

This study demonstrates the upregulation of alkaline phosphatase and the mechanisms involved in experimental colitis. All models of ileal and colonic inflammation examined, which were characterized by significant oxidative stress and neutrophil infiltration, resulted in an increase in alkaline phosphatase activity which was attributable to both epithelial cells and cells of the lamina propria, mainly leukocytes. The increase in alkaline phosphatase sensitivity to the inhibitors levamisole and homoarginine, together with changes in the apparent molecular size and in the sialization of the enzyme, indicated a change in the isoform expressed. An increase in tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase expression was observed by Western blotting. Treatment with the bone/kidney alkaline phosphatase inhibitor levamisole or a monoclonal antibody resulted in significant protection from colonic inflammation. Taken together, these results indicate that the kidney isoform is a marker of intestinal inflammation and that it might even constitute a target for pharmacological intervention.

Periosteally derived osteoblast-like cells differentiate into chondrocytes in suspension culture in agarose

Pluripotent cells from the periosteal layer adjacent to cortical bone attain an osteoblast-like phenotype in culture when reaching confluence in monolayer. It is unknown whether such newly differentiated osteoblast-like cells preserve the chondrogenic potential characteristics for stem cells derived from the periosteum. Primary osteoprogenitor cells derived from bovine metacarpal periosteum were differentiated into alkaline phosphatase-positive osteoblast-like cells by an established monolayer culture protocol. After transfer into suspension culture in agarose gels, the cells differentiated into chondrocytes demonstrated by the production of collagen II, but not of collagen I, as well as alkaline phosphatase activity was abated. Contrarily, with continuation of monolayer culture, the cells maintained their osteoblast-like phenotype and secreted large amounts of collagen I and a minor quantity of collagen III and V. The alkaline phosphatase activity steadily increased during the entire culture period of 2 weeks. Thus, our culture techniques can serve as useful tools to study mechanisms of differentiation by modulating the phenotypic potential of osteogenic cells. The results presented here support the notion that the extracellular environment strongly influences the cell type and its metabolism.

Retinoic acid suppresses the osteogenic differentiation capacity of murine osteoblast-like 3/A/1D-1M cell cultures

Bone is a target tissue for action of retinoids though their precise role remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of retinoic acid (RA) on the marrow stromal 3/A/1D-1M osteoblast-like cells, derived from the in vivo transplantation of 3/A/1D-1 chondroprogenitor cells. Long-term treatment with 1 microM RA for 7 weeks induced a marked decrease in bone-like nodule number and ultrastructural alterations in the striation and the size of the collagen fibres. RA at concentrations varying from 10 nM to 3.16 microM had a dose-dependent inhibition effect on alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity with an IC50 of 0.7 microM. Treatment with 1 microM RA for up to 17 days induced a time-dependent inhibition of AP activity, while the beginning of RA treatment (4 or 52 h of culture) produced a differential magnitude of inhibition. These variations were unrelated to modifications of the expression of RAR receptor at the protein level, as assessed by Western blot analysis. Exposure to 1 microM RA for 6 or 24 h administered at day 14 produced an inhibition of AP activity, which reached a maximum after 48 h, with a recovery time of 8 days in both cases. Long-term treatment with RA at 1 microM completely abolished the level of osteocalcin mRNA on both days 12 and 16, as revealed by Northern blot analysis. However, such RA-treated cells retained the constitutive expression of type II procollagen transcripts. These results suggest that RA inhibits several aspects of osteogenic differentiation capacity, a loss of phenotype, which, in association with the maintenance of type II procollagen cartilage-related characteristic, could be a prerequisite step for cellular plasticity.