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Biomedical subjects

P Cerutti

Publications and source records attributed to P Cerutti.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Genotypic mutation analysis by RFLP/PCR.

In most cases somatic mutations in disease-related genes do not give rise to a functional change of the mutated cell which would allow its isolation or expansion in vitro. Therefore, selection of mutated cells on the basis of an altered phenotype has to be replaced by biochemical separation and detection of the altered sequence of the gene of interest. In the RFLP/PCR (RFLP, restriction fragment length polymorphism) approach of 'genotypic' mutation analysis base pair changes, small deletions and insertions are measured which are located in a restriction enzyme recognition sequence and render this site resistant to cleavage by the corresponding endonuclease. The resistant DNA sequence containing the mutated site is amplified by PCR only after wild-type DNA has been eliminated by restriction digestion. Amplified DNA is directly sequenced or cloned into lambda gt10 and mutants are quantitated by oligonucleotide plaque hybridization. Absolute mutation frequencies are estimated relative to an internal 'mutant standard'. The RFLP/PCR protocol has been developed with mixtures of plasmid constructs containing wild-type inserts of the human c-H-ras1 protooncogene or inserts with base pair changes in an MspI site, a PvuII site and a TaqI site of this gene. As few as 1-5 mutated copies could be rescued from 10(7)-10(9) copies of the corresponding wild-type sequence. The RFLP/PCR protocol was successfully applied to the determination of N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mutations in codon 12 of c-H-ras1 (MspI site 1695-1698) and codon 248 of the p53 tumor suppressor gene (MspI site 14067-14070) in human skin fibroblasts. The RFLP/PCR approach holds promise for molecular toxicology and epidemiology.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Mutagenesis of H-ras codons 11 and 12 in human fibroblasts by N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea.

Codon 12 of the ras protooncogenes represents a mutational hotspot in human cancer. A distinct pattern of base pair changes has been observed that may allow insight into the class of carcinogens that induced the mutations. In an attempt to identify candidate carcinogens we have studied the mutability of codons 11 (GCC) and 12 (GGC) of the c-H-ras1 gene in human foreskin fibroblasts to N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) by restriction fragment length polymorphism/polymerase chain reaction (RFLP/PCR). This genotypic mutation system allows the quantitation of low frequencies of mutated sequences without expansion and phenotypic selection of mutated cells. ENU induced the transition of G to A in the middle position of codon 12 with highest efficiency. This is the same mutation that is found predominantly in human tumors. These mutations are most likely the consequence of miscoding opposite O6-ethylguanine adducts and our data indicate strong bias for the coding strand. No evidence was obtained for spontaneous deamination of the CpG-dinucleotide despite its high content in 5-methylcytosine.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

UVB-induced DNA breaks interfere with transcriptional induction of c-fos.

Oxidative stress may play an important role in the carcinogenic action of UVB light (290 to 320 nm). UVB light induces the growth-related immediate-early gene c-fos in JB6 mouse epidermal cells, but at the same time it causes structural damage to DNA, in particular DNA strand breakage. We have studied the effect of the modulation of the frequencies of DNA breaks on the transcriptional induction of c-fos by changing the cellular antioxidant defense or by inhibiting break repair. Reduction of UVB-induced DNA breakage in a stable transfectant with an increased complement of glutathione peroxidase enhanced the induction of c-fos. In contrast, c-fos induction was diminished in stable transfectants with Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase. Increasing the stationary concentration of UVB-induced DNA breaks by inhibition of repair in the presence of the adenosine diphosphoribose (ADPR)-transferase inhibitor 3-amino-benzamide suppressed the induction of c-fos. We conclude that DNA breaks which are induced by UVB via oxidative processes interfere with the transcriptional induction of c-fos. DNA breaks appear to exert a long-range effect on chromatin conformation which is incompatible with efficient transcription. This notion is supported by the observation that inhibition of break rejoining by 3-amino-benzamide suppressed the UVB induction of the endogenous c-fos gene and of a stably integrated construct containing the c-fos regulatory sequences linked to a reporter gene. In contrast, the induction of the same construct was not inhibited when it remained extrachromosomal in transient transfection experiments.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Fat embolism syndrome.

Twenty cases of clinically patent fat embolism syndrome (FES) were observed at the authors' institution between 1964 and 1989. There were 4 deaths (20%). The injury severity score (ISS) was computed for each patient upon admission and ranged from 9 to 50 (median, 17). The ISS was significantly higher in the 4 deceased patients (P = .014). The incidence of FES amounted to 0.26% of all patients hospitalized with at-risk fractures (femoral and tibial shaft fractures and pelvic fractures). The findings of the 25-year study indicate the following: (1) clinically patent postfracture FES is rare; (2) FES is significantly more frequent in patients with several at-risk fractures than in those with one at-risk fracture (P < .0003); and (3) prognosis appears to be more directly related to ISS than to FES itself.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Oxidant carcinogenesis and antioxidant defense.

Growth promotion by oxidants is observed with cultured human and mouse fibroblasts as well as epidermal cells. It is expected to play a role in inflammation, fibrosis, and tumorigenesis. Indeed, oxidants trigger (patho)physiological reactions that resemble those induced by growth and differentiation factors. For example, active oxygen activates protein kinases, causes DNA breakage, and induces the growth competence-related protooncogenes c-fos and c-myc. The cellular antioxidant defenses affect the consequences of oxidant exposure. Transfectants of mouse epidermal cells that overproduce Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) were sensitized to the toxic effects of an extracellular burst of O2-. plus H2O2, whereas overproducers of catalase (CAT) were protected. Transfection of SOD overproducers with CAT corrected their hypersensitivity. Inducibility of the protooncogene c-fos by oxidants was diminished in SOD and CAT overproducers, albeit probably for different reasons. It is concluded that a fine balance of the multiple components of the antioxidant defense determines the growth response of cells to oxidative stress. In studies of the mechanism of the transcriptional induction of c-fos by oxidants, we identified the joint DSE-AP1 elements (dyad symmetry element, DSE) as major enhancer motifs in the 5'-upstream regulatory sequences of c-fos. Oxidants also increased the de novo synthesis of protein factors that bind to the fos-AP1 enhancer motif. Protein kinase and ADPR transferase inhibitors suppressed the transcriptional induction of c-fos as well as the increase in factor binding to fos-AP1. We conclude that protein phosphorylation and protein polyADP-ribosylation are required for the transcriptional induction of c-fos and the synthesis of protein factors that bind to fos-AP1. It is likely that the FOS and JUN proteins are among these factors and that they participate in the regulation of c-fos expression by oxidants.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Immortalization of normal human bronchial epithelial cells by human papillomaviruses 16 or 18.

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are associated with papillomatosis of the larynx, trachea, and bronchi in decreasing order of frequency, and these papillomatosis lesions may become malignant. When the patients are not selected for a history of papillomatosis, the frequency of HPV in bronchogenic carcinoma tissue is 1-5%. In order to develop a model for investigating the role of HPV in human bronchogenic carcinogenesis, normal human bronchial epithelial cells were transfected with cloned full-length HPV16 or HPV18. Two HPV18-transformed cell lines (BEP1 and BEP2) and one HPV16-transformed cell line (BEP3) were established. These nontumorigenic epithelial cell lines have: (a) attained over 100 population doublings in vitro; (b) mutually exclusive human marker chromosomes; (c) HPV DNA in forms that are consistent with chromosomal integration by Southern analysis; (d) HPV E6, E7, and E6* mRNA transcripts by Northern and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis; and (e) diminished confluence-induced squamous differentiation. These cell lines should be useful for studying mechanisms involved in proliferation, differentiation, and neoplastic transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1991

The balance between Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase and catalase affects the sensitivity of mouse epidermal cells to oxidative stress.

Oxidants are toxic, but at low doses they can stimulate rather than inhibit the growth of mammalian cells and play a role in the etiology of cancer and fibrosis. The effect of oxidants on cells is modulated by multiple interacting antioxidant defense systems. We have studied the individual roles and the interaction of Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in transfectants with human cDNAs of mouse epidermal cells JB6 clone 41. Since only moderate increases in these enzymes are physiologically meaningful, we chose the following five clones for in-depth characterization: CAT 4 and CAT 12 with 2.6-fold and 4.2-fold increased catalase activities, respectively, SOD 15 and SOD 3 with 2.3-fold and 3.6-fold increased Cu,Zn-SOD activities, respectively, and SOCAT 3 with a 3-fold higher catalase activity and 1.7-fold higher Cu,Zn-SOD activity than the parent JB6 clone 41. While the increases in enzyme activities were moderate, the human cDNAs were highly expressed in the transfectants. As demonstrated for the clone SOD 15, this discordance between message concentrations and enzyme activities may be due to the low stability of the human Cu,Zn-SOD mRNA in the mouse recipient cells. According to immunoblots the content of Mn-SOD was unaltered in the transfectants. While the activities of glutathione peroxidase were comparable in all strains, the concentrations of reduced glutathione (GSH) were significantly lower in SOD 3 and SOD 15. This decrease in GSH may reflect a chronic prooxidant state in these Cu,Zn-SOD overproducers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1991

A genotypic mutation system measuring mutations in restriction recognition sequences.

The RFLP/PCR approach (restriction fragment length polymorphism/polymerase chain reaction) to genotypic mutation analysis described here measures mutations in restriction recognition sequences. Wild-type DNA is restricted before the resistant, mutated sequences are amplified by PCR and cloned. We tested the capacity of this experimental design to isolate a few copies of a mutated sequence of the human c-Ha-ras1 gene from a large excess of wild-type DNA. For this purpose we constructed a 272 bp fragment with 2 mutations in the PvuII recognition sequence 1727-1732 and studied the rescue by RFLP/PCR of a few copies of this 'PvuII mutant standard'. Following amplification with Taq-polymerase and cloning into lambda gt10, plaques containing wild-type sequence, PvuII mutant standard or Taq-polymerase induced bp changes were quantitated by hybridization with specific oligonucleotide probes. Our results indicate that 10 PvuII mutant standard copies can be rescued from 10(8) to 10(9) wild-type sequences. Taq polymerase errors originating from unrestricted, residual wild-type DNA were sequence dependent and consisted mostly of transversions originating at G.C bp. In contrast to a doubly mutated 'standard' the capacity to rescue single bp mutations by RFLP/PCR is limited by Taq-polymerase errors. Therefore, we assessed the capacity of our protocol to isolate a G to T transversion mutation at base pair 1698 of the MspI-site 1695-1698 of the c-Ha-ras1 gene from excess wild-type ras1 DNA. We found that 100 copies of the mutated ras1 fragment could be readily rescued from 10(8) copies of wild-type DNA.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Rapid detection of influenza virus H1 by the polymerase chain reaction.

We applied a combination of reverse transcription (RT) with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for a rapid detection of influenza virus H1 subtype. We amplified a 441 bp segment of relatively high genetic stability of the hemagglutinin gene. Experimental conditions were established using plasmid DNA and infected cell cultures. The test was applied to 28 nasopharyngeal lavages from patients, two of which were positive for influenza virus H1. When the amplified DNA of a positive sample was sequenced we found 97% homology with the recent strain A/USSR/70.

Base Composition↗
PubMed1990

Genetic modulation of the cellular antioxidant defense capacity.

Oxidants are ubiquitous in our aerobic environment. While they are always toxic, they can also exert pathophysiological effects at low concentrations and play an etiological role in human disease. For example, oxidants can stimulate cell growth and act as tumor promoters. The cellular antioxidant defense system attenuates the effect of oxidants and consists of low molecular weight components and several enzymes. Most important are catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutases (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase. We are attempting to elucidate the role of CAT and Cu,Zn-SOD in oxidant tumor promotion of mouse epidermal cells JB6. We have found that the promotable clone 41 possesses 2- to 3-fold higher levels of activity, protein, and stationary mRNA of CAT and Cu,Zn-SOD than does the nonpromotable clone 30. We propose that the growth-stimulatory effect of oxidants is more pronounced in promotable clone 41 because it is better protected from oxidant toxicity. In order to corroborate this model, we have constructed JB6 cells with higher levels of Cu,Zn-SOD and CAT by transfection with expression vectors containing cDNA for these genes. On the other hand, cells with decreased amounts of Cu,Zn-SOD have been obtained by their stable transfection with a vector containing SOD-cDNA in the antisense orientation. These cell clones with modified antioxidant enzyme complements are being characterized. In particular, their promotability by oxidants and their sensitivity to killing and oxidative macromolecular damage are being measured. Certain tumor promoters that lack oxidizing properties may generate a cellular prooxidant state by a variety of mechanisms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Hydrogen peroxide insult in cultured mammalian cells: relationships between DNA single-strand breakage, poly(ADP-ribose) metabolism and cell killing.

We examined the effect of exposure to H2O2 at 37 degrees C on Chinese hamster ovary cell survival, DNA single-strand break (SSB) induction and rejoining, and activation of poly(ADP-ribose) (ADPR) polymerase. The effect of the ADPR polymerase inhibitor 3-aminobenzamide on each of these processes was also determined. SSB induction increased progressively with increasing H2O2 concentration. SSB levels were maximal after approx. 5 min of exposure to H2O2 (100 microM) and then decreased at longer times. This decrease, which paralleled the time-dependent depletion of H2O2, was due to the rejoining of SSBs. 3-Aminobenzamide enhanced the level of SSBs at each time point. H2O2 increased the level of both ADPR synthesis and NAD+ depletion (both measures of ADPR polymerase activity) in a concentration-dependent fashion, with the maximum effect being reached after approx. 20 min. After 100 microM H2O2, the effects on both ADPR and NAD+ were reversible. 3-Aminobenzamide completely blocked the effects of the oxidant on both NAD+ and ADPR levels. Thus, SSB induction by H2O2 at 37 degrees C was accompanied by a marked but reversible stimulation of ADPR polymerase. However, cell killing by H2O2 was only slightly enhanced in the presence of 3-aminobenzamide (5 mM), so the above-mentioned effects do not appear to be relevant to the cytotoxic effect of H2O2 under these conditions. Comparing these results with data obtained previously for cells treated with H2O2 at 4 degrees C suggests that the mechanisms of DNA strand breakage and cell killing may be quite different at the two temperatures, and that DNA damage at 37 degrees C may be indirectly mediated by temperature-dependent metabolic events.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Translocation and enhancement of phosphotransferase activity of protein kinase C following exposure in mouse epidermal cells to oxidants.

We have studied changes in intracellular localization and phosphorylating activity of protein kinase C (PKC) in mouse epidermal JB6 cells treated with oxidants. Exposure to hydrogen peroxide, reagent grade or generated enzymatically by glucose/glucose oxidase, at concentrations known to result in elevated intracellular free Ca2+ resulted in an increase in binding of [3H]phorbol dibutyrate to intact cells. Ca2+ chelation, either intracellularly by quin 2 or extracellularly by ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, abolished the increase in radioligand binding. In contrast to H2O2, superoxide generated extracellularly by xanthine/xanthine oxidase or intracellularly by menadione was inactive. Scatchard plot analysis revealed that the enhancement in binding resulted from both increased receptor affinity and increased maximal binding capacity. Treatment of cells with superoxide, generated extracellularly by xanthine/xanthine oxidase or intracellularly by menadione, diminished the [3H]phorbol dibutyrate-binding capacity of the cytosol fractions prepared at low Ca2+ concentration. This decrease was not accompanied by a compensatory increase in the binding to membrane components. In contrast to superoxide, reagent H2O2, H2O2 produced by glucose/glucose oxidase, and the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 had no significant effect on the [3H]phorbol dibutyrate-binding capacities of either cellular fraction. Exposure of cells to low concentrations of extra- or intracellular superoxide resulted in an increase in the Ca2+- and phospholipid-dependent phosphorylating activity of cytosolic extracts towards adenosine diphosphoribose transferase which has been reported to be a specific substrate for PKC. The increase in phosphorylation could be diminished by the extracellular addition of copper-zinc-containing superoxide dismutase but not catalase suggesting that superoxide rather than H2O2 represents the active oxygen species in this reaction. The observation that reagent H2O2 or glucose/glucose oxidase failed to increase the phosphorylating activity of cytosolic preparations supports this conclusion. Treatment of cells or cytosolic extracts with the sulfhydryl reagent diamide stimulated the Ca2+/phospholipid-dependent phosphorylating activity toward adenosine diphosphoribose transferase. In a reconstituted system containing purified PKC, diamide induced a 25-30% increase in phospholipid-dependent phosphorylation of H1 whereas no change in activity was observed with the reducing agent dithiothreitol. It is concluded that H2O2 but not superoxide induces an increase in the phorbol ester binding, presumably to PKC, of intact JB6 cells. On the other hand

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Calcium chelator Quin 2 prevents hydrogen-peroxide-induced DNA breakage and cytotoxicity.

Exposure of cultured Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to hydrogen peroxide results in the production of extensive DNA breakage which can be prevented by the intracellular calcium chelator Quin 2. This effect occurs at Quin 2 AM concentrations as low as 0.1 microM and is maximal at 1 microM. Addition of the extracellular calcium chelator, EGTA, does not affect the level of DNA breakage generated by H2O2. Quin 2 also significantly reduces cellular toxicity caused by the oxidant. Experiments with spin-trapping techniques demonstrate that Quin 2 does not affect the formation of hydroxyl radicals generated by the action of Fe2+ on H2O2. Quin 2 at high concentrations, similar to those reached within the cell, actually enhanced generation of hydroxyl radical in the absence of other iron chelators under our experimental conditions. These results suggest that H2O2 or H2O2-derived radicals do not directly induce DNA strand breakage in intact mammalian cells; rather, these radicals may disturb intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis which results in secondary reactions ultimately leading to DNA strand breakage. In addition to strand breakage, membrane and protein oxidation probably contribute to the cytotoxic effect of H2O2.

Aminoquinolines↗
PubMed1989

Poly(ADP-ribosylation) of histones in intact human keratinocytes.

The poly(ADP-ribosylation) of chromosomal proteins is an epigenetic consequence of clastogenic DNA damaging agents which affects chromatin structure and function. We studied the poly(ADP-ribosylation) of the major classes of histones in response to DNA breakage induced by an extracellular burst of active oxygen (AO) or the alkylating agent N-methyl-N'-nitrosoguandine (MNNG) in the immortalized human keratinocytes HaCa T using a combination of affinity chromatography on phenylboronate resin and immunoblotting with polyclonal antibodies against histones H1, H2B, H2A, H3, and H4. The following findings characterized the poly(ADPR) reaction: (1) pretreatment of nuclear extracts with snake venom phosphodiesterase which removes poly(ADPR) chains strongly reduced the material which was retained by phenylboronate; (2) the ADPR transferase inhibitor benzamide (100 microM) suppressed AO-induced poly(ADP-ribosylation); (3) poly(ADP-ribosylation) reduced the electrophoretic mobility of the modified histones. Several histones were constitutively poly(ADP-ribosylated) in untreated controls: 0.03% of H2A, 0.04-0.06% of H2B, and 0.04% of H3.1 carried at least one poly(ADPR) chain of undetermined length. AO transiently increased the poly(ADPR) levels of all major histones with the exception of H1. The extent of substitution 30 min after exposure to AO generated by 50 micrograms/mL xanthine and 5 micrograms/mL xanthine oxidase was 0.8% for A24 greater than 0.3% for H4 greater than 0.1% for H3.1 = 0.1% for H3.2 = 0.1% for H2B.2 greater than 0.09% for H2A. Within 60 min, poly(ADPR) substitution had decreased to control levels for H3 and H4 and below control levels for H2A and H2B.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cells, Cultured↗