[Regulation of lipid metabolism in macrophages].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Horiuchi.
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High-frequency microsatellite instability (MSI-H) due to defective DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is a characteristic of the majority of tumors from kindreds with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) and a subset of sporadic cancers. To better understand the molecular characteristics of colon cancers with MSI-H, we analyzed these cancers for alterations of genes, such as APC, beta-catenin, and TCF-4 genes, involved in the Wnt signaling pathway. Following the National Cancer Institute (NCI) criteria, 385 unselected colon cancers were classified as follows: 50 (13%) MSI-H tumors, 36 (9%) low-frequency MSI (MSI-L) tumors, and 299 (78%) microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors. The frequency of APC mutations was significantly lower in MSI-H tumors (9 out of 50) than in MSI-L (12 out of 20) and MSS (66 out of 100) tumors (P = 0.0005 and P < 0.0001, respectively). In contrast, the frequency of exon 3 mutations in the beta-catenin gene was higher in MSI-H tumors (10 out of 50) than in MSI-L tumors (0 out of 30; P = 0.0110) and MSS tumors (3 out of 100; P = 0.0010). Frameshift mutations in a (A)9 tract of the TCF-4 gene were detected in 44% (22 out of 50) of MSI-H tumors, but not in any of the 20 MSI-L tumors or 40 MSS tumors. In total, 78% of MSI-H tumors and 84% of the remaining tumors had at least one alteration in APC, beta-catenin, or the TCF-4 genes. Although further analysis is needed to functionally characterize the consequences of each of these alterations on beta-catenin/TCF target gene expression, our results suggest that the activation of the Wnt signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in colon tumorigenesis, irrespective of MSI status.
Microscopic phase segregation by chemical doping and resultant anomalous dielectric response have been investigated for tetrathiafulvalene-p-chloranil complex doped with trichloro-p-benzoquinone ( QCl3). Beyond a critical QCl3 content, the system shows a behavior of relaxor ferroelectrics, as characterized by strong frequency dispersion and a rounded peak shape of gigantic dielectric susceptibility. The relaxor phase arises from one-dimensional ferroelectricity, as evidenced by a diffuse x-ray scattering, in which interchain ferroelectric coupling associated with neutral-ionic transition is interrupted by impurity-generated neutral microclusters.
Previous studies with peritoneal macrophages obtained from macrophage scavenger receptor class A (MSR-A) knock-out mice showed that the endocytic uptake of advanced glycation end products (AGE) by macrophages was mediated mainly by MSR-A. However, it is controversial whether the endocytic uptake of intravenously injected AGE proteins by liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LECs) is similarly explained by receptor-mediated endocytosis via MSR-A. The present study was conducted to compare the capacity to endocytose AGE proteins in LECs and peritoneal macrophages obtained from MSR-A knock-out and littermate wild-type mice. The endocytic degradation capacity of MSR-A knock-out LECs for AGE-BSA was indistinguishable from that of wild-type LECs, whereas that of MSR-A knock-out peritoneal macrophages for AGE-BSA was decreased to 30% of that in wild-type cells. Similarly, the endocytic degradation of MSR-A knock-out LECs for acetylated low-density lipoprotein (acetyl-LDL) did not differ from that of wild-type LECs, whereas the endocytic degradation of acetyl-LDL by MSR-A knock-out peritoneal macrophages was less than 20% of that in wild-type cells. Furthermore, formaldehyde-treated serum albumin (f-Alb), a ligand known to undergo scavenger-receptor-mediated endocytosis by LECs, was effectively taken up by MSR-A knock-out LECs at a capacity that did not differ from that of wild-type LECs. Moreover, the endocytic uptake of AGE-BSA by LECs was effectively competed for by unlabelled f-Alb or acetyl-LDL. These results indicate that the scavenger-receptor ligands AGE proteins, acetyl-LDL and f-Alb are endocytosed by LECs through a non-MSR-A pathway.
Sulfonylureas are used in the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Little is known, however, about their effects on cholesterol metabolism. We tested in the present study the effects of glibenclamide (GB) on cholesterol esterification (CE) in macrophage-derived cells. GB inhibited intracellular accumulation of CE induced by acetylated LDL or oxidized LDL in J774 cells, but no such effect on total cholesterol, suggesting that the target of GB was acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT). In the cell-free reconstitution ACAT assay, GB inhibited the ACAT activity with an IC(50) value of 20 microM. Furthermore, GB effectively inhibited the ACAT activity of PMA-stimulated THP-1 cells to the undifferentiated level of THP-1. In the whole-cell ACAT assay using CHO cells overexpressed with ACAT-1 or ACAT-2, GB inhibited the activity of both isozymes with similar potency. Our in vitro data suggest that sulfonylurea could be a potential seed for a new generation of ACAT inhibitors.
We investigated the effects of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) on the expression of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL) receptors in human monocyte-derived macrophages and THP-1 cells treated with PMA. Both RT-PCR procedure and Northern blot analysis revealed that AGEs induced not only the gene expression of two major OxLDL receptors, macrophage scavenger receptor (MSR) class A and CD36, but also MSR-B I and lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1. Also, as a result of gel shift assay, AGEs increased transcriptional activities of AP-1, NF-kappaB, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. These findings indicate that AGEs-induced enhancement of these transcriptional activities might be involved in increased levels of mRNA for some of OxLDL receptors in THP-1-cells treated with PMA. The upregulated surface expression of these receptors on macrophage membranes was closely associated with increased uptake of modified LDL, and culminated in enhanced foam cell transformation. Thus, AGEs may be involved in the cause of variable levels of foam cell formation via the increased numbers of OxLDL receptors in accelerated atherosclerotic lesions of individuals with diabetes.
Interaction of advanced glycation end products (AGE) with AGE receptors induces several cellular phenomena potentially relating to diabetic complications. Five AGE receptors identified so far are RAGE (receptor for AGE), galectin-3, 80K-H, OST-48, and SRA (macrophage scavenger receptor class A types I and II). Since SRA is known to belong to the class A scavenger receptor family, and the scavenger receptor collectively represents a family of multiligand lipoprotein receptors, it is possible that CD36, although belonging to the class B scavenger receptor family, can recognize AGE proteins as ligands. This was tested at the cellular level in this study using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells overexpressing human CD36 (CD36-CHO cells). Cellular expression of CD36 was confirmed by immunoblotting and immunofluorescent microscopy using anti-CD36 antibody. Upon incubation at 37 degrees C, (125)I-AGE-bovine serum albumin (AGE-BSA) and (125)I-oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL), an authentic ligand for CD36, were endocytosed in a dose-dependent fashion and underwent lysosomal degradation by CD36-CHO cells, but not wild-type CHO cells. In binding experiments at 4 degrees C, (125)I-AGE-BSA exhibited specific and saturable binding to CD36-CHO cells (K(d) = 5.6 microg/ml). The endocytic uptake of (125)I-AGE-BSA by these cells was inhibited by 50% by oxidized LDL and by 60% by FA6-152, an anti-CD36 antibody inhibiting cellular binding of oxidized LDL. Our results indicate that CD36 expressed by these cells mediates the endocytic uptake and subsequent intracellular degradation of AGE proteins. Since CD36 is one of the major oxidized LDL receptors and is up-regulated in macrophage- and smooth muscle cell-derived foam cells in human atherosclerotic lesions, these results suggest that, like oxidized LDL, AGE proteins generated in situ are recognized by CD36, which might contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic macrovascular complications.
A fundamental question in aging research is whether humans and other species possess an immutable life-span limit. We examined the maximum age at death in Sweden, which rose from about 101 years during the 1860s to about 108 years during the 1990s. The pace of increase was 0.44 years per decade before 1969 but accelerated to 1. 11 years per decade after that date. More than 70 percent of the rise in the maximum age at death from 1861 to 1999 is attributable to reductions in death rates above age 70. The rest are due to increased numbers of survivors to old age (both larger birth cohorts and increased survivorship from infancy to age 70). The more rapid rise in the maximum age since 1969 is due to the faster pace of old-age mortality decline during recent decades.
A lot of effort has been put into increasing coal ash utilization; however, 50% of total amount is disposed of on land and in the sea. Several attempts have been reported recently concerning slurried coal fly ash use for civil engineering materials, such as for structural fill and backfill. The authors have studied this issue for more than 15 years and reported its potential for (1) underwater fills, (2) light weight backfills, and (3) light weight structural fills, through both laboratory tests and construction works. This paper is an overview of the results obtained for slurry, focusing on the following. (1) Coal fly ash reclaimed by slurry placement shows lower compressibility, higher ground density, and higher strength than by the other methods. This higher strength increases stability against liquefaction during earthquake. (2) Higher stability of the fly ash ground formed by slurry placement is caused by higher density and its self-hardening property. (3) Stability of fly ash reclaimed ground can be increased by increasing density and also by strength enhancement by cement addition. (4) Technical data obtained through a man-made island construction project shows the advantages of fly ash slurry in terms of mechanical properties such as higher stability against sliding failure, sufficient ground strength, and also in terms of cost saving. (5) Concentration in leachates from the placed slurry is lower than the Japanese environmental law. (6) In order to enlarge the fly ash slurry application toward a lightweight fill, mixtures of air foam, cement and fly ash were examined. Test results shows sufficient durability of this material against creep failure. This material was then used as lightweight structural fill around a high-rise building, and showed sufficient quality. From the above data, it can be concluded that coal fly ash slurry can be effectively utilized in civil engineering projects.
BACKGROUND: The preoperative diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) arising in mature cystic teratoma of the ovary remains difficult. The purpose of this study is to examine the usefulness of transvaginal color Doppler ultrasound (TV-CDU) in differentiating malignant (SCC) from benign cystic teratoma of the ovary. METHODS: Eighty-eight patients with an ovarian tumor showing gray scale sonographic appearances of mature cystic teratoma were preoperatively evaluated for the presence or absence of intratumoral blood flow by TV-CDU. The blood flow characteristics of the tumor vessels were analyzed using the resistance index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), and peak systolic velocity (PSV). The serum levels of SCC antigen were also randomly examined preoperatively in 50 patients. RESULTS: Intratumoral blood flow was significantly detected in malignant teratomas (SCCs) (80.0%; 4 of 5) compared with benign teratomas (20.5%; 17 of 83) (P < 0.01). All malignant teratomas with intratumoral blood flow showed both RI less than 0.4 and PI less than 0.6, whereas no benign teratomas showed any such value except for 1 case with struma ovarii. In addition, both the mean RI and the mean PI values in the tumor vessels were significantly lower in the malignant teratomas (RI: 0.31 +/- 0.07; PI: 0.40 +/- 0.16) than in the benign teratomas (RI: 0.62 +/- 0.13; PI: 1.06 +/- 0.44) (P < 0.001). However, the mean PSV value of the malignant teratomas (PSV: 20.6 +/- 8.33) was not significantly different from the benign teratomas (PSV: 18.1 +/- 9.9). Elevation of serum SCC was found in 4 of 5 patients (80%) with malignant teratomas, whereas the elevation was found in 11 of 45 patients (24.4%) with benign teratomas (P < 0.05). The diagnostic accuracy using the RI (cutoff value 0.4) as well as the PI (cutoff value 0.6) was thus 95.2%, which was significantly superior to that obtained by using the serum SCC (76%) (cutoff value, 1.5 ng/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Evaluating the presence or absence of intratumoral blood flow, together with blood flow resistance, in tumor vessels using TV-CDU thus may be more useful to differentiate malignant (SCC) from benign cystic teratomas of the ovary than by measuring serum SCC levels.
Oxidized low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) can induce macrophage proliferation in vitro. To explore the mechanisms involved in this process, we reported that activation of protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in its signaling pathway (Matsumura, T., Sakai, M., Kobori, S., Biwa, T., Takemura, T., Matsuda, H., Hakamata, H., Horiuchi, S., and Shichiri, M. (1997) Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 17, 3013-3020) and that expression of granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and its subsequent release in the culture medium are important (Biwa, T., Hakamata, H., Sakai, M., Miyazaki, A., Suzuki, H., Kodama, T., Shichiri, M., and Horiuchi, S. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 28305-28313). However, a recent study also demonstrated the involvement of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) in this process. In the present study, we investigated the role of PKC and PI3K in Ox-LDL-induced macrophage proliferation. Ox-LDL-induced macrophage proliferation was inhibited by 90% by a PKC inhibitor, calphostin C, and 50% by a PI3K inhibitor, wortmannin. Ox-LDL-induced expression of GM-CSF and its subsequent release were inhibited by calphostin C but not by wortmannin, whereas recombinant GM-CSF-induced macrophage proliferation was inhibited by wortmannin by 50% but not by calphostin C. Ox-LDL activated PI3K at two time points (10 min and 4 h), and the activation at the second but not first point was significantly inhibited by calphostin C and anti-GM-CSF antibody. Our results suggest that PKC plays a role upstream in the signaling pathway to GM-CSF induction, whereas PI3K is involved, at least in part, downstream in the signaling pathway after GM-CSF induction.
To clarify the biological significance of the neuronal Lewy body-like hyaline inclusions and astrocytic hyaline inclusions characteristically found in patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) gene mutations and in transgenic mice expressing human SOD1 with G85R mutation, the detailed protein composition in both types of inclusions was immunohistochemically analyzed using 45 different antibodies. Both types of inclusions had very strong immunoreactivity for SOD1. The SOD1-positive inclusions in both cell types were also immunoreactive for the insoluble advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) such as Nepsilon-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML), pyrraline and pentosidine: both inclusions in both conditions were ultrastructurally composed of the granule-coated fibrils that had immunoreactivities to CML and pyrraline. Both types of inclusions were negative for stress-response proteins (SRPs), 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), acrolein, nitric oxide synthases (NOSs) and nitrotyrosine as representative markers of oxidative stress. The neurons and astrocytes of the normal individuals and non-transgenic mice showed no significant immunoreactivity for SOD1, AGEs, SRPs, HNE, acrolein, NOSs or nitrotyrosine. Our results suggest that a portion of the SOD1 composing both type of inclusions, probably toxic mutant SOD1, is modified by the AGEs, and that the formation of the AGE-modified SOD1 is one of the mechanisms responsible for the aggregation involving no significant oxidative mechanisms.
To assess a role for oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we analyzed the immunohistochemical localization of 8-hydroxy2'-deoxyguanosine (OHdG) as a nucleic acid oxidation product, acrolein-protein adduct and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE)-protein adduct as lipid peroxidation products, Nepsiloncarboxymethyl-lysine (CML) as a lipid peroxidation or protein glycoxidation product, pentosidine as a protein glycoxidation product, and imidazolone and pyrraline as nonoxidative protein glycation products in the spinal cord of three familial ALS patients with superoxide dismutase(SOD 1) A4V mutation, six sporadic ALS patients, and six age-matched control individuals. The spinal cord sections of the control cases did not show any distinct immunoreactivities for these examined products. In the familial ALS cases, intense immunoreactivities for pyrraline and CML were confined to the characteristic Lewy body-like hyaline inclusions, and imidazolone immunoreactivity was located in the cytoplasm of the residual motor neurons. No significant immunoreactivities for other examined products were detected in the familial ALS spinal cords. In the sporadic ALS cases, intense immunoreactivities for pentosidine, CML and HNE-protein adduct were seen in the cytoplasm of the degenerated motor neurons, and OHdG immunoreactivity was located in the cell nuclei of the residual neurons and glial cells. The present results indicate that oxidative reactions are involved in the disease processes of sporadic ALS, while there is no evidence for increased oxidative damage except for CML deposition in the familial ALS spinal cords. Furthermore, it is likely that the accumulation of pyrraline and imidazolone supports a nonoxidative mechanism in SOD1-related motor neuron degeneration.
To investigate the distribution of acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase-1 (ACAT-1) in various human tissues, we examined tissues of autopsy cases immunohistochemically. ACAT-1 was demonstrated in macrophages, antigen-presenting cells, steroid hormone-producing cells, neurons, cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, mesothelial cells, epithelial cells of the urinary tracts, thyroid follicles, renal tubules, pituitary, prostatic, and bronchial glands, alveolar and intestinal epithelial cells, pancreatic acinar cells, and hepatocytes. These findings showed that ACAT-1 is present in a variety of human tissues examined. The immunoreactivities are particularly prominent in the macrophages, steroid hormone-producing cells, followed by hepatocytes, and intestinal epithelia. In cultured human macrophages, immunoelectron microscopy revealed that ACAT-1 was located mainly in the tubular rough endoplasmic reticulum; immunoblot analysis showed that the ACAT-1 protein content did not change with or without cholesterol loading; however, on cholesterol loading, about 30 to 40% of the total immunoreactivity appeared in small-sized vesicles. These vesicles were also enriched in 78-kd glucose-regulated protein (GRP 78), a specific marker for the endoplasmic reticulum. Immunofluorescent microscopy demonstrated extensive colocalization of ACAT-1 and GRP 78 signals in both the tubular and vesicular endoplasmic reticulum before and after cholesterol loading. These results raise the possibility that foam cell formation may activate an endoplasmic reticulum vesiculation process, producing vesicles enriched in the ACAT-1 protein.
Although there have been suggestions that the glycation and oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) might increase its atherogenic potential, little is known about the presence of glycoxidative LDL in human atherosclerotic lesions. We developed specific antibodies against different immunological epitopes of AGE structures, including N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)lysine-protein adduct (CML), a glycoxidation product, and structure(s) other than CML (nonCML), and a monoclonal antibody against oxidized phosphatidylcholine (oxPC), as an epitope of oxidized LDL. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that the CML- and oxPC-epitopes were accumulated mainly in macrophage-derived foam cells in atherosclerotic lesions, including fatty streaks and atherosclerotic plaques. On the other hand, the nonCML-epitope and apolipoprotein B were localized mainly in extracellular matrices of atherosclerotic lesions. The CML- and oxPC-epitopes were characterized by a model antigen-generating system using the copper ion-induced peroxidation and/or glucose-induced glycation of LDL. The glycoxidation of LDL caused the formation of CML-epitope with increasing concentrations of copper ion and glucose. It was also formed to some extent in LDL incubated with high concentrations (500 mM) of glucose. However, no CML-epitope was observed in oxidized LDL induced by copper ion alone. On the other hand, the formation of oxPC-epitope in LDL was dependent on copper ion-induced peroxidation, but independent of glucose-induced glycation. The addition of chelators, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, reduced the increase in electrophoretic mobility and TBARS caused by the peroxidation and glycoxidation of LDL, but had no effects on the formation of fructosamine caused by the glycation and glycoxidation of LDL. Chelators as well as aminoguanidine protected the formation of CML-epitope in glycated or glycoxidative LDL. Although the formation of oxPC-epitope was completely inhibited by the addition of chelators, it was partially protected by aminoguanidine. These in vitro results suggest that the glycoxidative modification of LDL may occur in the arterial intima, and may contribute to the development of human atherosclerotic lesions.