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Biomedical subjects

G Cossu

Publications and source records attributed to G Cossu.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Differential cytotoxic effect of gossypol on human melanoma, colon carcinoma, and other tissue culture cell lines.

Gossypol, a yellow pigment from the cotton plant (Gossypium) was found to have anti-tumor cell effects against several tumor cell lines grown in tissue culture. Most sensitive to the drug were melanoma and colon carcinoma cells. After 24 hr of treatment with 10 microM gossypol, over 90% of these cells were killed. A rough correlation existed between very rapidly growing cells and their sensitivity to the drug. For example, slow growing cells, such as normal embryonic lung fibroblasts and mammary adenocarcinoma, were least sensitive, requiring over 30 microM gossypol in order to kill 90% of cells after 48 hr of treatment. These results indicate that gossypol has differential cytotoxic effects against certain tumor cell types, such as melanoma and colon carcinoma, and suggest that it might be of potential therapeutic value. The drug appears to act as a metabolic poison rather than as an agent interfering with DNA synthesis at the concentrations used in the study. Cells sensitive to the drug contain the more cathodic forms of lactate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenases I to III.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1983

Transformation by Rous sarcoma virus induces similar patterns of glycosaminoglycan synthesis in chick embryo skin fibroblasts and vertebral chondroblasts.

Chick embryo skin fibroblasts and vertebral chondroblasts were infected with a temperature-sensitive mutant of Rous sarcoma virus, LA24A, and were grown at permissive (36 degrees C) and nonpermissive (41 degrees C) temperatures. During exponential growth, infected and parallel uninfected cultures were labeled with D-[3H]glucosamine, and newly synthesized glycosaminoglycans were identified by anion exchange chromatography and by selective enzymatic and chemical degradations. Control fibroblasts synthesized low levels of hyaluronic acid (HA), and dermatan sulfate (DS), moderate levels of heparan sulfate (HS), and high levels of chondroitin sulfate (CS). In contrast, control chondroblasts synthesized very low levels of HA and DS, no HS, and very high levels of CS. Following transformation and growth at 36 degrees C, both cell types showed a dramatic increase in HA synthesis and a significant decrease in CS synthesis. In addition, transformed chondroblasts initiated the synthesis of HS and increased their synthesis of DS to levels that matched those of transformed fibroblasts. The CS chains synthesized by control chondroblasts were partially undersulfated, while those synthesized by both normal and transformed fibroblasts were fully sulfated. Upon transformation, chondroblasts grown at 36 degrees C initiated the synthesis of fully sulfated CS chains. Most of the above biosynthetic alterations were completely reversed when infected cells were grown at 41 degrees C, indicating that they were dependent on the transforming gene product of LA24A. Clearly, the profound differences that distinguish normal fibroblasts from normal chondroblasts are lost upon transformation, and these two types of terminally differentiated cells converge toward a common, though not identical, biosynthetic program for glycosaminoglycans.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Isolation and chemical characterization of a melanoma-associated proteoglycan antigen.

Many melanoma-associated antigens have been identified by monoclonal antibodies. One of these monoclonal antibodies, O1-94-45, binds only to melanomas, nevus cells, some astrocytomas, and fetal epitheloid cells. There are approximately 100,000 cell surface antigens per melanoma cell with an association constant of 3 X 10(8) M-1. The antigen is efficiently extracted from the membrane only in the presence of detergent and is, therefore, bound by hydrophobic forces. However, it is also shed into the culture supernatant during normal cell growth. The two components of the O1-95-45 antigen are a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSP, greater than 500,000 Da) and a glycoprotein gp260 (260,000 Da, pI 6.9). CSP contains chondroitin sulfate and N-linked and O-linked oligosaccharides. Only N-linked saccharides were associated with gp260. The antigenic site is expressed on both components and is heat-sensitive. Since the CSP was converted to gp260 by chondroitinase, the protein cores of the two molecules are the same or similar. For more detailed study the O1-95-45 antigen was purified by immunoaffinity chromatography. The amino acid composition of the purified antigen was relatively polar with an unusually high Leu content and low Lys content. Initial attempts to sequence the antigen were unsuccessful probably due to a blocked N-terminus. CSP and gp260 were partially separated by gel filtration chromatography, and both were found to carry the O1-95-45 antigenic determinant. Three other monoclonal antibodies were found to bind the purified antigen at a site or sites different from the O1-95-45 epitope and one other monoclonal antibody may bind at the same site. Two of these antibodies were used for a double determinant immunoassay.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1983

Differential response of satellite cells and embryonic myoblasts to a tumor promoter.

Treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) reversibly suppressed myotube formation and expression of acetylcholine receptors in cultures of Day 15 mouse embryo presumptive myoblasts, but was totally ineffective in cultures of adult mouse satellite cells. A subpopulation of TPA-resistant myogenic cells became apparent in cultures prepared from older embryos or newborn mice. Thus, limb presumptive myoblasts are a heterogeneous population, and part of the distinct TPA-resistant subpopulation may represent satellite cell precursors.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1982

Neonatal screening of beta-thalassemias by thin layer isoelectric focusing.

As an alternative to the recently proposed screening for beta-thalassemias by isoelectric focusing (IEF) of denatured globin chains in urea-detergent gels [6], IEF of intact hemoglobins, obtained from umbilical cord blood in neonatal units, is reported here. For maximum separation, IEF should be performed in nonlinear pH gradients, in gels containing 0.2 M beta-alanine and 0.2 M 6-amino caproic acid, which flatten the pH gradient around pH 7, thus increasing the resolution between HbA and HbFac. The method can unambiguously detect homozygous and heterozygous beta-thalassemic conditions. A bimodal distribution of HbA at birth has been found: In heterozygous patients, HbA values of 9.02% (range 6.8-9.98%) have been found while in normal newborns HbA levels of 20.34% (range 11.02-30.6%) have been demonstrated.

Fetal Blood↗
PubMed1982

Variation of the carbohydrates of glycoproteins of cells growing on different surfaces.

The carbohydrate components of some glycoproteins of hamster cells differ as a function of their growth on various substrates; glass, plastic, or plastic coated with collagen. This observation is interpreted as an effect of the environment on cellular structure at the molecular level. The basis of the change and its possible significance are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Glycopeptide alterations induced by 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate in chick embryo cultured myotubes.

The tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) specifically inhibits the expression of differentiative traits in cultured chick embryo myotubes, without inducing them to reenter the cell cycle. We evaluated the effect of TPA on glycoconjugate synthesis in cultured myotubes under various experimental conditions. Radioactively labelled glycoconjugates were obtained by labelling control and TPA treated cultured myotubes with radioactive monosaccharides. After chloroform-methanol extraction and extensive pronase digestion, the glycoconjugates were separated on the basis of size on Sephadex G 50 columns. A relative enrichment in larger glycopeptides was induced by TPA treatment of myotubes for 24 or 48 h. Glycopeptide groups were further analyzed by affinity chromatography on ConA Sepharose columns. A marked and reproducible decrease in the affinity of medium size glycopeptides for ConA was observed as a result of TPA treatment of cultured myotubes. These modifications are reversible upon removal of the tumor promoter from the culture medium of pretreated myotubes. The reported effects of TPA, closely resembling those occurring in transformed cells, appear to be due to structural modifications of glycopeptides whose mechanism and role in transformation and modulation of differentiation are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

TPA-induced inhibition of the expression of differentiative traits in cultured myotubes: dependence on protein synthesis.

The tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) dramatically modifies the differentiative program of myotubes, developed in culture from chick embryo skeletal myogenic cells. In fact TPA selectively decreases the expression of differentiative parameters with a lag of 8-10 h from its administration to the cultures. We have tested whether the reported effect of TPA depends on the synthesis of specific products during the lag phase of TPA action. The data presented indicate that inhibition of protein synthesis by the use of cycloheximide prevents the appearance of TPA induced inhibition of the expression of differentiative products, such as creatine phosphokinase (CPK) activity and acetylcholine receptors (AChR). Following removal of cycloheximide and reinitiation of normal protein synthesis, the TPA induced inhibitory effect on CPK and AChR appears after a delay of about the same length as the time lag of TPA action. Our results indicate that inhibition of protein synthesis during the lag phase of TPA action prevents the effect of this tumor promoter on myotube differentiative parameters, and suggest that the expression of differentiative traits in cultured myotubes is affected by TPA via a regulatory step implying protein synthesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Decreased synthesis of high-molecular-weight glycopeptides in human promyelocytic leukemic cells (HL-60) during phorbol ester-induced macrophage differentiation.

The human promyelocytic leukemia ell line, HL-60, synthesized a class of high-molecular-weight (M.W. 5000 to 7000), N-linked glycopeptides as the major class of protein-bound carbohydrates. Small glycopeptides (M.W. 2500 to 3500), typical of most mammalian cells except erythrocytes, represented a minor component in these cells. The large glycopeptides were labeled efficiently with fucose, glucosamine, and galactose but only poorly with mannose. They were found not to be glycolipids, glycosaminoglycans, or mucin-type glycopeptides and were not susceptible to exoglycosidases, but they were partially degraded by endo-beta-galactosidases. These characteristics are similar to those of the large glycopeptides synthesized by erythrocytes, by another human myeloid leukemia cell line (K562), and by human and murine teratocarcinoma cells. High-molecular-weight glycopeptides predominated on another human myeloid leukemia cell line KG1, but they were expressed at low levels on both a human monocytic leukemia cel line (THP-1) and a human T-lymphoblastoid cell line (Jurkat). When HL-60 cells were induced to differentiate into macrophage-like cells with phorbol esters, the proportion of large glycopeptides decreased, and the production of small glycopeptides predominated. This shift was observed within the first several hr after exposure to phorbol esters and was temporally related to the acquisition of adherent properties by the induced cells. In contrast, when HL-60 cells were induced to differentiate into granulocytes by dimethyl sulfoxide, hypoxanthine, or retinoic acid, they continued to synthesize glycopeptides similar to uninduced cells. Human peripheral blood granulocytes synthesized primarily large glycopeptides, whereas monocytes and lymphocytes synthesized mostly small glycopeptides. These results indicate that the synthesis of high-molecular-weight glycopeptides is a property of human myeloid leukemia cell lines and that it persists throughout myeloid differentiation. A proportionate decrease in the synthesis of these large glycopeptidase is a part of the differentiation program for monocytes and macrophages.

Cell Adhesion↗