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P Lebrun

Publications and source records attributed to P Lebrun.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Secretory characteristics and viability of human term placental tissue after overnight cold preservation.

Collection of human term placentae for research purposes is generally limited during working hours. Preserving placental tissue overnight might help to postpone experiments and, by extent, to increase material availability. In this study, fragments from normal placentae were incubated at 37 degrees C either immediately after delivery or after preservation at 4 degrees C in a HEPES-buffered solution or in a Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 culture medium. Protein, human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), human placental lactogen (HPL) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) contents within preserved explants were similar to those within freshly delivered ones. In contrast, HCG and HPL amounts released during incubation of preserved tissue were lower than with freshly delivered tissue. Differences were significant only during the first 3 h of incubation. Hormone releases were similarly Ca(2+)-stimulated, and Co(2+)- and low temperature-inhibited in preserved and freshly delivered tissues. After preservation, LDH leakage was also reduced. Furthermore, before and after 37 degrees C incubation during 6 h, preserved tissue was morphologically indistinguishable from freshly delivered tissue and showed neither higher incidence of DNA fragmentation, nor elevated caspase-3 activity, both of which are markers of apoptosis. This study validates an original, useful and rapid method to preserve placental tissue. Consequently, this preservation model may facilitate the study of physiological processes regulating placental hormone secretion in normal and pathological conditions.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed1999

Preparation and pharmacological evaluation of the R- and S-enantiomers of 3-(2-butylamino)-4H- and 3-(3-methyl-2-butylamino)-4H-pyrido[4,3-e]-1,2,4-thiadiazine 1,1-dioxide, two tissue selective ATP-sensitive potassium channel openers.

The preparation and the pharmacological evaluation of the R- and S-isomers of 3-(2-butylamino)-4H-pyrido[4,3-e]-1,2,4-thiadiazine 1,1-dioxide (BPDZ 42) and 3-(3-methyl-2-butylamino)-4H-pyrido[4,3-e]-1,2,4-thiadiazine 1,1-dioxide (BPDZ 44), two potassium channel openers, is described. Their optical purity was estimated by means of capillary electrophoresis (R- and S-BPDZ 42) and chiral HPLC (R- and S-BPDZ 44). The absolute configuration of each isomer of BPDZ 44 was deduced from crystallographic data. Pharmacological assays performed with the R- and S-isomers of BPDZ 44 revealed only slight differences in their activity on pancreatic B-cells but significant differences in their activity on vascular smooth muscle cells: the R-isomer being sixfold more potent than its corresponding S-isomer. The R-isomer of BPDZ 42 was shown to be more potent than its corresponding S-isomer on the endocrine pancreas. S-BPDZ 44 as well as R- and S-BPDZ 42 were found to exhibit tissue selectivity for the pancreatic versus the vascular smooth muscle tissue.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1999

Apoptosis in human term placenta is not increased during labor but can be massively induced in vitro.

Apoptosis in human placental villi is reported to increase until close to delivery. However, the involvement of the apoptotic process in the initiation of labor, and more particularly in relation to the decrease in placental perfusion during uterine contractions, remains unknown. The purpose of the study was to examine the reactivity of the apoptotic machinery in term placentae obtained before or after the onset of labor and after in vitro incubations. The incidence of apoptotic nuclei (< 1%) as evidenced by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method, and the histological distribution of immunoreactive Bcl-2, Bax, and Bcl-x proteins, were similar in placentae collected after delivery and before the onset of labor and in placental explants maintained overnight at 4 degrees C in a minimal salt-Hepes medium. By contrast, 28% of nuclei contained fragmented DNA when placental explants were incubated overnight at 37 degrees C. This marked increase was associated with a decrease in the intensity of the Bcl-2 immunostaining and an increase in the intensity of Bax and Bcl-x immunostaining. In conclusion, the present study clearly evidences the presence of an active apoptotic machinery in term placental cells that is not involved in normal parturition.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed1999

Insulinotropic effect of new glibenclamide isosteres.

The aim of the present study was to characterize the effects of BM 208 (N-[4-(5-chloro-2-methoxybenzamidoethyl)benzenesulfonyl]-N'-cyano- N"- cyclohexylguanidine) and BM 225 (1-[4-(5-chloro-2-methoxybenzamidoethyl)benzene sulfonamido]-1-cyclohexylamino-2-nitroethylene), two newly synthesized isosteres of glibenclamide, on ionic and secretory events in rat pancreatic islet cells. Both compounds inhibited 86Rb (42K substitute) outflow from rat pancreatic islets perifused throughout at low (2.8 mM) D-glucose concentration. In excised inside-out membrane patches, BM 208 and BM 225 reduced the frequency of KATP+ channel openings. The inhibition of 86Rb outflow induced by BM 208 and BM 225 coincided with an increase in 45Ca outflow. The latter phenomenon was abolished in islets exposed to Ca2+-free media. Both isosteres of glibenclamide increased the [Ca2+]i in single pancreatic islet cells. This effect was counteracted by verapamil, a Ca2+ entry blocker. In islets exposed to 2.8 mM glucose and extracellular Ca2+, BM 208 and BM 225 stimulated insulin output. The secretory capacity of BM 225 was more marked than that of BM 208, but the time courses of the cationic and secretory responses exhibited obvious dissociations. These data suggest that the secretory capacity of BM 208 and BM 225 results, at least in part, from the inhibition of ATP-sensitive K+ channels with subsequent increase in Ca2+ inflow. The dissociation between cationic and secretory variables further suggests that the modifications in Ca2+ handling are not solely attributable to a primary inhibition of the ATP-sensitive K+ channels.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1998

Insulin receptor substrate-1 as a signaling molecule for focal adhesion kinase pp125(FAK) and pp60(src).

Insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) is a major substrate of insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I receptors, which upon phosphorylation on tyrosine docks several signaling molecules. Recently, IRS-1 was found to interact with alphav beta3 integrins upon insulin stimulation. Integrins are transmembrane proteins that play an important role in adhesion between cells and between cells and extracellular matrix. One of the major proteins implicated in integrin signaling is pp125(FAK), a cytosolic tyrosine kinase, which upon integrin engagement becomes tyrosine-phosphorylated and subsequently binds to c-Src. Here, we established a mammalian two-hybrid system to show that pp125(FAK) binds to IRS-1. This association depends largely on the C terminus of pp125(FAK) but not on pp125(FAK) tyrosine kinase activity. Furthermore, we observed co-immunoprecipitation of pp125(FAK) with IRS-1 in 293 cells, suggesting a possible biological function of this association. When IRS-1 was expressed in 293 cells together with pp125(FAK) or Src, we found extensive IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation. In pp125(FAK)-expressing cells, this was concomitant with increased association of IRS-1 with Src homology 2-containing proteins such as growth factor receptor-bound protein 2, phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase p85alpha subunit, and Src homology 2-containing protein-tyrosine phosphatase-2. In addition, pp125(FAK)-induced association of IRS-1 with PI 3-kinase resulted in increased PI 3-kinase activity. In contrast, no change in mitogen-activated protein kinase activity was observed, indicating that pp125(FAK)-induced association between IRS-1 and growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 does not affect the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Moreover, we found that engagement of integrins induced IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation. Considering our results together, we suggest that integrins and insulin/insulin-like growth factor-I receptor signaling pathways converge at an early point in the signaling cascade, which is the IRS-1 protein.

Amino Acid Substitution↗
PubMed1998

4H-1,2,4-Pyridothiadiazine 1,1-dioxides and 2,3-dihydro-4H-1,2, 4-pyridothiadiazine 1,1-dioxides chemically related to diazoxide and cyclothiazide as powerful positive allosteric modulators of (R/S)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazol-4-yl)propionic acid receptors: design, synthesis, pharmacology, and structure-activity relationships.

A series of 4H-1,2,4-pyridothiadiazine 1,1-dioxides and 2, 3-dihydro-4H-1,2,4-pyridothiadiazine 1,1-dioxides bearing various alkyl and aryl substituents on the 2-, 3-, and 4-positions was synthesized and tested as possible positive allosteric modulators of the (R/S)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazol-4-yl)propionic acid (AMPA) receptors. Many compounds were found to be more potent than the reference compounds diazoxide and aniracetam as potentiators of the AMPA current in rat cortex mRNA-injected Xenopus oocytes. The most active compound, 4-ethyl-2,3-dihydro-4H-pyrido[3,2-e]-1,2, 4-thiadiazine 1,1-dioxide (31b), revealed an in vitro activity on Xenopus oocytes not far from that of cyclothiazide, the most potent allosteric modulator of AMPA receptors reported to date. Moreover, 31b, but not cyclothiazide, was found to potentiate the duration and the amplitude of the excitatory postsynaptic field potentials induced by electric stimulation in rat hippocampal slices. Such an effect could indicate, for 31b, but not for cyclothiazide, a possible interaction with postsynaptic AMPA receptor binding sites located on hippocampal CA1 neurons. Structure-activity relationships indicated that the structural requirements responsible for a biological activity on AMPA receptors are different from those responsible for an inhibitory activity on the insulin releasing process (putative ATP-sensitive K+-channel openers). For instance, 31b and other related dihydropyridothiadiazines were found to be ineffective as inhibitors of insulin release from rat pancreatic B-cells, in contrast to diazoxide and known pyridothiadiazines reported as ATP-sensitive K+-channel openers. Conversely, the pyridothiadiazines active on B-cells were found to be ineffective as potentiators of the AMPA currents in Xenopus oocytes. Thus, 31b appeared to be more specific than diazoxide as an AMPA receptor modulator. This compound may be considered as a new pharmacological tool, different from diazoxide and cyclothiazide, for studying AMPA receptors. Moreover, 31b can also constitute a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of cognitive disorders.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1998

Differential expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor subtypes during the differentiation of human keratinocytes.

The expression of mRNA encoding peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) subtypes in human keratinocytes was determined by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. When normal human keratinocytes were induced to differentiate by shifting the culture medium to high Ca2+ concentration, the expression of PPAR-alpha and -gamma mRNA was increased, whereas that of PPAR-delta remained unchanged. At the protein level, the expression of PPAR in cultured human keratinocytes was demonstrated by a DNA mobility shift assay and the functionality of the receptor subtypes was assessed by transactivation experiments. In epidermis reconstructed in vitro, the level of PPAR-alpha and -gamma mRNA was also associated with keratinocyte differentiation. In lesional compared with nonlesional psoriatic epidermis, the expression of PPAR-alpha and -gamma mRNA was reduced, indicating that these two subtypes are tightly linked to the epidermal differentiation process.

Cell Differentiation↗
PubMed1997

3-Morpholinosydnonimine as instigator of a glibenclamide-sensitive reduction in the insulin secretory rate.

The nitric oxide (NO) donor SIN-1 (3-morpholinosydnonimine) induced a concentration-dependent inhibition of the secretory response to glucose. The negative insulinotropic action of SIN-1 was attenuated by the hypoglycemic sulfonylurea glibenclamide. Moreover, the NO donor enhanced 86Rb outflow from perfused islets and reduced the glucose-induced increase in 45Ca outflow. The present data provide further evidence that NO donors impair the secretory response to glucose, at least in part, by activating the ATP-sensitive K+ channels.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Verapamil, a phenylalkylamine Ca2+ channel blocker, inhibits ATP-sensitive K+ channels in insulin-secreting cells from rats.

Radioisotopic and electrophysiological techniques were used to assess the effects of verapamil, a phenylalkylamine Ca2+ channel blocker, on K+ permeability of insulin-secreting cells. Verapamil provoked a concentration-dependent inhibition of 86Rb (42K substitute) outflow from prelabelled and perifused rat pancreatic islets. This property appears to be inherent to the phenylalkylamine Ca2+ channel blockers since gallopamil, a methoxyderivative of verapamil, but not nifedipine, a 1,4-dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel blocker, inhibited 86Rb outflow. The experimental data further revealed that verapamil interacted with a Ca2+-independent, glucose- and glibenclamide-sensitive modality of 86Rb extrusion. Moreover, verapamil prevented the increase in 86Rb outflow brought about by BPDZ 44; a potent activator of the ATP-sensitive K+ channel. Single-channel current recordings by the patch clamp technique confirmed that verapamil elicited a dose-dependent inhibition of the ATP-dependent K+ channel. Lastly, under experimental conditions in which verapamil clearly inhibited the ATP-sensitive K+ channels, the drug did not affect 45Ca outflow, the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration or insulin release. It is concluded that the Ca2+ entry blocker verapamil inhibits ATP-sensitive K+ channels in pancreatic beta cells. This effect was not associated with stimulation of insulin release.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1997

Treatment with dsDNA-anti-dsDNA antibody complexes extends survival, decreases anti-dsDNA antibody production and reduces severity of nephritis in MRLlpr mice.

Lupus nephritis results from the deposition on the glomerular basement membrane of antibodies cross-reacting with dsDNA. In an attempt to suppress the production of such antibodies in the MRLlpr mouse strain, mice were treated by injections of dsDNA-anti-dsDNA antibody complexes formed in an excess of syngeneic polyclonal antibodies to increase the immunogenicity of idiotypes. A first group of mice was treated after the onset of high-affinity anti-dsDNA IgG antibodies (3 months). We show here that fortnightly injections of dsDNA-anti-dsDNA antibody complexes significantly extend mouse survival over that of two control groups treated with either the carrier buffer or with sham complexes. Treated mice produced 5-fold less anti-dsDNA antibodies than control mice and presented a reduced nephritis activity index at the age of 7 months. Specific anti-idiotypic antibody levels were not modified in the treated group, while showing a sharp decrease in the control group between months 6 and 7. Mice of a second group were started on injections of dsDNA-anti-dsDNA complexes at the age of 4 months when nephritis was already ongoing, and were followed until death while receiving fortnightly injections. Forty percent of the treated mice were still alive after one year, while none of the control mice survived. dsDNA-anti-dsDNA complexes have therefore the potential of reducing the production of anti-dsDNA antibody production and the severity of nephritis in MRLlpr mice. These findings could be relevant for the treatment of human lupus.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Hydroxylamine, a nitric oxide donor, inhibits insulin release and activates K+ATP channels.

The present study was undertaken to assess the effects of hydroxylamine, a nitric oxide (NO) donor, on ionic and secretory events in rat pancreatic islets. Hydroxylamine provoked a concentration-dependent inhibition of the glucose-induced insulin release. This inhibitory action was counteracted by glibenclamide. Moreover, hydroxylamine increased the rate of 86Rb outflow from perifused islets. This effect persisted in the absence of external Ca2+ but was impaired by glibenclamide. Hydroxylamine decreased 45Ca outflow, [Ca2+]i and insulin output from islets exposed to 16.7 mM glucose and extracellular Ca2+. By contrast, hydroxylamine did not affect the increase in 45Ca outflow and [Ca2+]i evoked by K+ depolarization. These experimental results suggest that the negative insulinotropic action of the NO donor results, at least in part, from the activation of ATP-sensitive K+ channels leading to a decrease in Ca2+ influx and [Ca2+]i. Additional mechanisms, however, could also be involved in the NO donor modulation of the secretory process.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1996

3-and 4-substituted 4H-pyrido[4,3-e]-1,2,4-thiadiazine 1,1-dioxides as potassium channel openers: synthesis, pharmacological evaluation, and structure-activity relationships.

4-N-Substituted and -unsubstituted 3-alkyl- and 3-(alkylamino)-4H-pyrido[4,3-e]-1,2,4-thiadiazine 1,1-dioxides were synthesized and tested vs diazoxide and selected 3-alykl- and 3-(alkylamino)-7-chloro-4H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxides as potassium channel openers on pancreatic and vascular tissues. Several 4-N-unsubstituted 3-(alkylamino)pyridothiadiazines and some 3-(alkylamino)-7-chlorobenzothiadiazines were found to be more potent than diazoxide for the inhibition of the insulin-releasing process. Moreover, the 3-(alkylamino)pyridothiadiazines appeared to be more selective for the pancreatic than for the vascular tissue. By means of the pharmacological results obtained on pancreatic B-cells, structure--activity relationships were deduced and a pharmacophoric model for the interaction of these drugs with their receptor site associated to the pancreatic K(ATP) channel was proposed. According to their selectivity for the B-cell (endocrine tissue) vs the vascular (smooth muscle tissue) ionic channel, selected 3-(alkylamino)-4H-pyrido[4,3-e]-1,2,4,-thiadiazine 1,1-dioxides may serve as pharmacological tools in studying the K(ATP) channels ("pancreatic-like" K(ATP) channels) in other tissues.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

The riddle of formycin A insulinotropic action.

Formycin A augments insulin release evoked by glucose (5.6 mm or more), this effect not being rapidly reversible. The mechanism responsible for the insulinotropic action of formycin A was investigated in isolated pancreatic islets. It could not be ascribed to facilitation of glucose metabolism. On the contrary, formycin A inhibited glucose oxidation, lowered ATP content, and impaired glucose-stimulated protein biosynthesis. The insulinotropic action of formycin A was apparently attributable to its conversion to formycin A 5'-triphosphate, both this process and the secretory response to formycin A being abolished by the inhibitor of adenosine kinase 5-iodotubercidin. In agreement with the latter view, adenosine receptor antagonists such as 8-cyclopentyl-1, 3-dipropylxanthine and 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine failed to suppress and, instead, augmented the insulinotropic action of formycin A. Unexpectedly, however, formycin A failed to decrease 86Rb efflux, this coinciding with a low efficiency of formycin A 5'-triphosphate to inhibit KATP-channel activity in excised membranes and with the fact that formycin A increased gliben-clamide-stimulated insulin release. The secretory response to formycin A represented a Ca2+-dependent process suppressed in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ or presence of verapamil and associated with an increased net uptake of 45Ca. Nevertheless, the view that formycin A exerts any major effect upon intracellular Ca2+ redistribution, protein kinase C activity, or cyclic AMP net production also met with objections such as the minor secretory effect of formycin A in islets exposed to a high concentration of K+ in the presence of a diazoxide analog, the resistance of formycin A insulinotropic action to bisindolylmaleimide, the poor increase of cyclic AMP content in formycin A-stimulated islets, and the pronounced enhancement by forskolin or theophylline of insulin release from islets exposed to formycin A. It is concluded, therefore, that the mechanism of action of formycin A in the pancreatic beta-cell remains to be elucidated.

Adenosine↗
PubMed1996

Dynamics of the cationic, bioelectrical and secretory responses to formycin A in pancreatic islet cells.

The dynamics of the cationic, bioelectrical and secretory responses to formycin A were monitored in pancreatic islet cells in order to assess whether this adenosine analogue, which is known to be converted to formycin A 5'-triphosphate in isolated islets, triggers the same sequence of ionic events as that otherwise involved in the process of nutrient-stimulated insulin release and currently attributed to an increase in adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) generation rate. Unexpectedly, formycin A first increased 86Rb outflow, decreased 45Ca outflow and inhibited insulin release from prelabelled islets perifused at physiological or higher concentrations of D-glucose. This early inhibitory effect of formycin A upon insulin release coincided, in perforated patch whole-cell recordings, with an initial transient increase of ATP-sensitive K+ channel activity. A positive secretory response to formycin A, still not associated with any decrease in K+ conductance, was only observed either immediately after formycin A administration to islets already exposed to glibenclamide or during prolonged exposure to the adenosine analogue. This coincided with an increase of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration in intact B-cells and a greater increase of membrane capacitance in response to depolarization in B-cells examined in the perforated patch whole-cell configuration. The latter stimulation of exocytotic activity could not be attributed, however, to any increase in peak or integrated Ca2+ current. Thus, the mode of action of formycin A, or its 5'-triphosphate ester, in islet cells obviously differs from that currently ascribed to endogenous ATP in the process of nutrient-stimulated insulin release.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗