Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C Chandrasekaran

Publications and source records attributed to C Chandrasekaran.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Bi-transgenic mice reveal that K-rasVal12 augments a p53-independent apoptosis when small intestinal villus enterocytes reenter the cell cycle.

Studies in cell culture systems have indicated that oncogenic forms of Ras can affect apoptosis. Activating mutations of Ras occur in approximately 30% of all human tumors and 50% of colorectal carcinomas. Since these mutations appear at early or intermediate stages in multistep journeys to neoplasia, an effect on apoptosis may help determine whether initiated cells progress towards a more neoplastic state. We have tested the effects of K-rasVal12 on apoptosis in transgenic mice. A lineage-specific promoter was used to direct expression of human K-rasVal12, with or without wild-type (wt) or mutant SV-40 T antigens (TAg), in postmitotic villus enterocytes, the principal cell type of the small intestinal epithelium. Enterocytes can be induced to reenter the cell cycle by TAgWt. Reentry is dependent upon the ability of TAg to bind pRB and is associated with a p53-independent apoptosis. Analyses of K-rasVal12 x TAgWt bi-transgenic animals indicated that K-rasVal12 can enhance this apoptosis threefold but only in cycling cells; increased apoptosis does not occur when K-rasVal12 is expressed alone or with a TAg containing Glu107,108two head right arrow Lys107, 108 substitutions that block its ability to bind pRB. Analysis of bi-transgenic K-rasVal12 x TAgWt mice homozygous for wild-type or null p53 alleles established that the enhancement of apoptosis occurs through a p53-independent mechanism, is not attributable to augmented proliferation or to an increase in abortive cell cycle reentry (compared to TAgWt mice), and is not associated with detectable changes in the crypt-villus patterns of expression of apoptotic regulators (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bak, and Bax) or mediators of epithelial cell-matrix interactions and survival (e.g., alpha5beta1 integrin and its ligand, fibronectin). Coexpression of K-rasVal12 and TAgWt produces dysplasia. The K-rasVal12-augmented apoptosis is unrelated to this dysplasia; enhanced apoptosis is also observed in cycling nondysplastic enterocytes that produce K-rasVal12 and a TAg with a COOH-terminal truncation. The dysplastic epithelium of K-rasVal12 x TAgWt mice does not develop neoplasms. Our results are consistent with this finding: (a) When expressed in initiated enterocytes with a proliferative abnormality, K-rasVal12 facilitates progression to a dysplastic phenotype; (b) by diminishing cell survival on the villus, the oncoprotein may impede further progression; and (c) additional mutations may be needed to suppress this proapoptotic response to K-rasVal12.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Use of normal and transgenic mice to examine the relationship between terminal differentiation of intestinal epithelial cells and accumulation of their cell cycle regulators.

A spatially well organized continuum of proliferation, differentiation, and death is displayed along crypt-villus units in the adult mouse small intestine. This continuum provides an opportunity to examine in vivo the mechanisms by which proliferative status changes as a function of cellular differentiation. Immunohistochemical studies of normal FVB/N mice revealed that as epithelial cells complete their terminal differentiation during a 48-72-h migration up villi, there is a marked and rapid fall in the levels of two important regulators of the G1/S transition, cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) 2. However, cellular levels of their partners, cdk4 and cyclin E, remain unchanged as does the level of pRB. Adult FVB/N transgenic mice were studied that contained an intestinal fatty acid binding protein gene promoter (Fabpi) linked to wild type Simian virus 40 large T antigen (SV40 TAgWt) or a mutant TAg with Lys for Glu substitutions at residues 107 and 108 (SV40 TAgK107/8) that fails to bind pRB and related pocket proteins. Both transgenes are expressed only in villus enterocytes. SV40 TAgWt causes these terminally differentiated cells to re-enter the cycle. Re-entry is accompanied by a reduction in un/hypophosphorylated pRB, an induction of cyclin D1 and cdk2, but no change in cdk4, cyclin E, or E2F-1. In contrast, SV40 TAgK107/8 fails to induce re-entry and does not produce changes in un/hypophosphorylated pRB, cyclin D1, or cdk2 accumulation. These results suggest that un/hypophosphorylated pRB is an important mediator of the cell cycle arrest that normally occurs as enterocytes exit the crypt and complete their differentiation. Fabpi-directed expression of E2F-1 does not cause villus enterocytes to return to the cell cycle, alter their suppression of cyclin D1 or cdk2, or affect their state of differentiation, emphasizing the insensitivity of these cells to the effects of E2F-1. Analyses of p53(-/-) and p53(+/+) mice containing Fabpi-SV40 TAgWt and Fabpi-SV40 TAgK107/8 established that the proliferation induced by SV40 TAgWt does not require p53 and is associated with increased (p53-independent) apoptosis. The presence of cyclin E and cdk4 in differentiating villus enterocytes emphasizes that these cells retain part of their proliferative heritage expressed 24-72 h earlier in the crypt. The data suggest that down-regulation of cdk2 and/or cyclin D1 expression may be important for control of proliferative status and/or execution of terminal differentiation.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Radiation-induced cell cycle arrest compromised by p21 deficiency.

The protein p21 is a dual inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases and proliferating-cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), both of which are required for passage through the cell cycle. The p21 gene is under the transcriptional control of p53 (ref. 5), suggesting that p21 might promote p53-dependent cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. p21 has also been implicated in cell senescence and in cell-cycle withdrawal upon terminal differentiation. Here we investigate the role of p21 in these processes using chimaeric mice composed partly of p21-/- and partly of p21+/+ cells. Immunohistochemical studies of the p21+/+ and p21-/- components of adult small intestine indicated that deletion of p21 has no detectable effect on the migration-associated differentiation of the four principal intestinal epithelial cell lineages or on p53-dependent apoptosis following irradiation. However, p21-/- mouse embryo fibroblasts are impaired in their ability to undergo G1 arrest following DNA damage.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Cell lineage-specific and differentiation-dependent patterns of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha expression in the gut epithelium of normal and transgenic mice.

The proliferation and differentiation programs of gut epithelial cells are expressed rapidly and perpetually along an anatomically well defined pathway. The mouse intestine thus provides an excellent in vivo model system to define the contributions of CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBP alpha) and related bZIP proteins to these processes. Immunocytochemical studies revealed that C/EBP alpha is produced in villus-associated enterocytes located in the duodenum and jejunum of adult mice. The protein is located in the cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments of these cells. C/EBP alpha is not detectable in proliferating and nonproliferating epithelial cells situated in small intestinal crypts nor is it evident in any gut epithelial cell lineage located in the ileum and colon. The related C/EBP beta and C/EBP delta proteins are not detectable by sensitive immunocytochemical methods in epithelial cells distributed along the duodenal-to-colonic axis. Developmental surveys indicate that C/EBP alpha is confined to postmitotic, villus-associated epithelial cells during conversion of the polyclonal intervillus epithelium to monoclonal crypts. Analyses of intestinal isografts reveal that these developmental stage-specific, lineage-specific, differentiation-dependent, and regional patterns of C/EBP alpha expression can be established and maintained in the absence of exposure to luminal contents. Transgenic mice containing nucleotides -1178 to +28 of the rat intestinal fatty acid binding protein gene (I-FABP-1178 to +28) linked to the simian virus 40 large tumor antigen (T antigen) gene express T antigen in villus-associated enterocytes. This results in reentry of enterocytes into the cell cycle and a silencing of C/EBP alpha expression without an apparent effect on the accumulation of several markers of this lineage's terminal differentiation program or on gut morphogenesis. These findings indicate that there is a relationship between expression of C/EBP alpha in enterocytes and their exit from the cell cycle and suggest that I-FABP-1178 to +28/simian virus 40 T antigen transgenic mice could provide a screening assay for examining the role of C/EBP alpha in regulating the activity of genes known to be transcribed during differentiation of this gut epithelial cell lineage.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Evidence for sterol-independent regulation of low-density lipoprotein receptor activity in Hep-G2 cells.

The relationship between the serum factor(s)-mediated induction of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activity and changes in cellular cholesterol metabolism was examined in the human hepatoma cell line Hep-G2. Relative to incubation with serum-free media [Eagle's minimal essential medium (MEM) control], short-term (less than 8 h) incubation with medium containing 15% of either calf serum (MEM + serum) or the d greater than 1.25 fraction of calf serum (MEM + d greater than 1.25) produced a time- and concentration-dependent increase in the uptake of 125I-LDL. Immunoblotting with anti-(LDL receptor) antibodies demonstrated that this was correlated with a 2-fold increase in the amount of the mature 136,000 Da LDL receptor protein in detergent-solubilized Hep-G2 cell membranes. Incubation with MEM + serum, but not MEM + d greater than 1.25, increased the efflux of radiolabelled cholesterol from Hep-G2 cells. However, the induction of 125I-LDL uptake by MEM + d greater than 1.25 (2.3-fold) and MEM + serum (2.2-fold) was virtually identical. Addition of the d less than 1.063 lipoproteins of calf serum to MEM + d greater than 1.25 at their original or three times their serum concentration decreased the induction of 125I-LDL uptake by MEM + d greater than 1.25 by only 20-30%. Together, these results suggest that the stimulation of 125I-LDL uptake was not due to the presence of high-density lipoprotein, the absence of LDL or the stimulation of cholesterol efflux. MEM + serum stimulated 125I-LDL uptake in cells cholesterol-loaded by incubation with rat very-low-density lipoprotein with beta electrophoretic mobility (beta-VLDL). Compared to incubation with the MEM control, either MEM + serum or MEM + d greater than 1.25 produced time-dependent increases in the activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase which also occurred in cholesterol-loaded cells. However, cholesterol biosynthesis, whether measured from 3H2O, [14C]acetate or [3H]mevalonic acid, was not increased. Incubation with MEM + serum or MEM + d greater than 1.25 did not affect [3H]oleate incorporation into cellular cholesteryl esters, hydrolysis of intracellular [3H]cholesteryl esters or the cellular mass of unesterified or esterified cholesterol. Incubation with MEM + serum or MEM + d greater than 1.25 produced a transient increase in the level of LDL receptor mRNA, reaching a maximum of 5-10-fold by 2 h and decreasing to near baseline levels by 4 h. Actinomycin D blocked the serum-factor-mediated induction of LDL receptor mRNA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Acetates↗
PubMed1986

The Mysore study.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Achievement↗
PubMed1986

Assessing the effect of mortality change in an age group on the expectation of life at birth.

"This article compares four procedures in assessing the effect of the change in mortality conditions in an age group between two periods on the expectation of life at birth. The differences and similarities are pointed out. The outcome of applying the different approaches on the difference in the expectation of life at birth of the life tables of Sweden for the periods 1901-10 and 1936-40 is also discussed."

Age Factors↗