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Biomedical subjects

M Orunesu

Publications and source records attributed to M Orunesu.

49 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Influence of the culture time on DNA damage and repair in isolated rat hepatocytes exposed to nitrochlorobenzene derivatives.

The induction of DNA damage on 1.5- and 24-h cultured hepatocytes was tested after a 3-h exposure to 5 and 50 microM mono-, di-, and trinitrochlorobenzene (100-00-5; 97-00-7; 88-88-0). DNA-repair synthesis, elicited by nitrochlorobenzene treatment, was also estimated 24 and 48 h after the withdrawal of the nitro-aryl halides. DNA damage and repair were evaluated by determining the DNA elution rate in alkali. A dose-related rate of DNA damage was obtained by exposure of 1.5-h-cultured hepatocytes to 5 and 50 microM nitrochlorobenzenes . DNA of 24-h-cultured cells was not affected by nitrochlorobenzene treatment. The data obtained by exposure to 5 microM methyl methanesulfonate (66-27-3) and nitrosodimethylamine (62-75-9), direct and indirect methylating agents, suggest that 24-h-cultured liver cells are still able to transform nitrosodimethylamine but not nitrochlorobenzenes . Isolated hepatocytes maintain their capability of repairing the induced DNA damage when cultured for 24 and 48 h in fresh medium. The system offers an interesting model to investigate the perturbations related to the metabolism of xenobiotics.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of triiodo-L-thyronine treatment on Ca2+ sequestration in rat liver microsomes.

T3 administration to rats exerts quite different effects on enzyme activities associated to liver microsomal membranes such as G-6-Pase, Mg ATPase and Ca2(+)-dependent ATPase: in fact G-6-Pase activity is significantly enhanced, Mg ATPase is not affected whereas Ca2(+)-dependent ATPase is drastically inhibited. The T3 induced decrease in Ca2(+)-dependent ATPase activity is associated with a net reduction (to about 50% with respect to controls) of the Ca2+ sequestration in liver microsomal vesicles. The enhanced level of inorganic phosphate in the endoplasmic reticulum due to the stimulation of G-6-Pase activity does not significantly affect the uptake of calcium in microsomal vesicles. The decreased Ca2(+)-dependent ATPase activity is associated to an enhanced level of the enzyme in the phosphorylated form (E-P). This suggests that in liver preparations from T3 treated rats the turnover of ATP and cleavage of E-P is reduced, thus resulting in the accumulation of the phosphorylated intermediate. The accumulation of E-P is in agreement with the inhibition of the calcium sequestration since the active transport of this cation in microsomal membranes requires the hydrolysis of the E-P complex.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activities in hepatopancreas nuclei from Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck.

It has been shown that RNA synthesis in isolated hepatopancreas nuclei from Mytilus galloprovincialis is catalyzed by three DNA-dependent RNA polymerases (I, II and III) which resemble those identified in nuclei from mammalian cells. RNA polymerase I is active at 50 mM (NH4)2SO4, catalyzes the synthesis of GMP-rich ribosomal-like RNA and is completely resistant to the toadstool toxin alpha-amanitin. RNA polymerase II and III are active at higher (NH4)2SO4 concentrations, catalyze the synthesis of DNA-like RNA and are inhibited by very low (0.5-1 microgram/ml) and high (200 microgram/ml) concentrations of alpha-amanitin, respectively. Hepatopancreas nuclei retain considerable RNAase activity. Nuclear RNA polymerase activity may be underestimated since a part of the synthetized RNA is degraded.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of glutathione on alterations of liver DNA structure and metabolic activities induced in vivo by 2-acetylaminofluorene.

The effect on liver tissue of glutathione administration to rats treated for 7-14 days with 2-acetylaminofluorene was investigated. The DNA damage induced by the hepatotoxic agent and evaluated by the alkaline elution technique was significantly reduced by glutathione. Furthermore, GSH administration maintained liver GSH level, prevented the increase in alkaline phosphatase and reduced the decrease in glucose-6-phosphatase activity. GSH did not significantly influence the increase in gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase and glutathione-S-transferase activities.

2-Acetylaminofluorene↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of aminothiols in 2-acetylaminofluorene-treated rats. I. Damage and repair of liver DNA, hyperplastic foci, and Zymbal gland tumors.

One hundred and seventy-nine male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups and fed with a standard diet supplemented with 0.05% 2-acetylaminofluorene (2AAF) and/or 0.1% glutathione (GSH) or N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). Each treatment cycle lasted for 3 weeks, followed by 1 week of standard meal. After 4 cycles, survival was 100% in the 3 control groups, and 86.0, 100 and 91.7%, in the groups receiving 2AAF, 2AAF plus GSH, and 2AAF plus NAC, respectively. After an additional 4-8 weeks, all the 5 surviving rats fed with 2AAF exhibited deforming ear tumors, which on histological examination were classified as sebaceous squamocellular carcinomas of Zymbal glands. No such tumors were detectable in control groups, nor in the 16 surviving rats fed with 2AAF plus GSH or NAC. In the liver, 2AAF produced significant DNA damage at the 3rd week of each cycle, which was partially repaired during the week of standard meal feeding. Moreover, 2AAF determined the appearance of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-positive foci, which tended to increase with time both in number and in size. GSH and NAC exerted similar protective effects on these phenomena, but only at early stages of the experimental model used.

2-Acetylaminofluorene↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of aminothiols in 2-acetylaminofluorene-treated rats. III. Metabolic activation of aromatic amines.

Six groups of Wistar rats received a standard diet supplemented with 0.05% 2-acetylaminofluorene and/or 0.1% natural (reduced glutathione) or synthetic (N-acetyl-L-cysteine) aminothiols. The discontinuous feeding regimen consisted of 4 cycles, each composed of 3 weeks of treatment followed by withdrawal for 1 week. At the 3rd and 4th week of each cycle, the liver was removed from 4-5 rats within each group, and pools of S-12 fractions were assayed for the ability to activate 2-acetylaminofluorene and other aromatic amines, either structurally related (i.e. 4-acetylaminofluorene and 2-aminofluorene) or unrelated (i.e. 2-naphtylamine and benzidine) to mutagenic metabolites in strain TA98 of S. typhimurium. In untreated rats, there was a consistent and marked trend to an age-dependent loss of metabolic activation of all test compounds during the 16 weeks of the experiment. Feeding of 2-acetylaminofluorene resulted in an evident autoinduction of metabolism which was continuously amplified with time, even during the withdrawal weeks. In the same animals, activation of the other amines was initially inhibited but then progressively shifted to a mild cross-induction which, in the case of the structurally related compounds, became significant at the end of the 4-cycle treatment with 2-acetylaminofluorene. The metabolic effects of the two aminothiols were broadly variable, depending on the thiol, on its co-administration with 2AAF, on the week and cycle of treatment, and on promutagens tested.

2-Acetylaminofluorene↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Functional state of rat liver RNA polymerase IA and IB.

Phosphocellulose chromatography has been employed to characterize RNA polymerase I present in two different functional states in rat liver cells. The actively transcribing enzyme solubilized from nuclei appears to belong both to the IA and IB classes, whereas the non-transcribing enzyme present in the cytoplasmic fraction has been found to belong only to the IA class. Indirect and direct evidence indicates, however, that in isolated nuclei only the IB form is to be regarded as the physiological form of the enzyme, the IA form arising as a procedural artefact during the extraction process. It may, therefore, be concluded that rat liver IA and IB RNA polymerase are to be strictly regarded as the non-transcribing and transcribing form of the enzyme, respectively.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

In vitro effect of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine on poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of DNA topoisomerase I.

DNA topoisomerase I activity (topo I) is known to be inhibited by poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation. Both poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (pADPRP) and DNA topoisomerase I participate to major biological events, such as DNA transcription, repair and synthesis. It has been shown that thyroid hormones, such as 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3), stimulate DNA transcription and down-regulate pADPRP activity. Using an in vitro model, we have studied the poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of topo I, in vitro, in the presence of T3. T3 treatment of pADPRP inhibits the enzyme up to 75-80% of control activity. DNA topoisomerase I relaxing activity was determined on supercoiled plasmid DNA, and topoisomers were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis. Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation completely inhibits the relaxing activity of topo I, with respect to non-ribosylated controls, but the activity remains unaffected when pADPRP is inactivated by heat or treated with specific inhibitors, such as 3-aminobenzamide (3ABA). In this study we show that treatment of pADPRP with T3 reduces the inhibition on topo I. In this system 10(-8) M T3 was effective in maintaining almost all topo I activity, even though modifications in processivity and distributivity of the reaction were noted. These data support a close relationship between pADPRP and topo I in hormone-stimulated DNA transcription.

DNA Topoisomerases, Type I↗