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Biomedical subjects

T Watabe

Publications and source records attributed to T Watabe.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Lack of effect of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor on the rat aorta or human saphenous vein.

1. In order to assess whether the observed hypotensive response in some patients given human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is caused by a direct vascular effect of the GM-CSF, the effects of mouse and human GM-CSF were examined in rat aortic rings and human saphenous veins respectively. 2. No effects of GM-CSF were observed, either in the presence or absence of endothelium, on responses to the alpha-adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine. 3. These data suggest that GM-CSF does not have direct effects on either vascular endothelium or smooth muscle, and that a direct vascular effect of GM-CSF is not the explanation for the observed clinical response.

Animals

Crystallization of R-form lipopolysaccharides from Salmonella minnesota and Escherichia coli.

Salmonella minnesota Re and Ra lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) and Escherichia coli K-12 LPS formed three-dimensional crystals, either hexagonal plates (preferential growth along the a axis) or solid columns (preferential growth along the c axis), when they were precipitated by the addition of 2 volumes of 95% ethanol containing 375 mM MgCl2 and incubated in 70% ethanol containing 250 mM MgCl2 at 4 degrees C for 10 days. Analyses of crystals suggested that they consist of hexagonal lattices with the a axis (a side of the lozenge as a unit cell on the basal plane) of 0.462 nm for all these three kinds of LPSs and the c axes (perpendicular to the basal plane) of 5.85, 8.47, and 8.75 nm for S. minnesota Re and Ra LPSs and E. coli K-12 LPS, respectively, and that hydrocarbon chains of the lipid A portion play the leading part in crystallization, whereas the hydrophilic part of the lipid A (the disaccharide backbone) and R core exhibit a disordered structure or are in a random orientation. The phenomenon of doubling of the a axis to 0.924 nm was observed with crystals of S. minnesota Re LPS when they were incubated in 70% ethanol for an additional 180 days, but not with crystals of S. minnesota Ra LPS or E. coli K-12 LPS. S. minnesota S-form LPS possessing the O-antigen-specific polysaccharide and S. minnesota free lipid A obtained by acid hydrolysis of Re LPS did not crystallize under the same experimental conditions.

Carbohydrate Conformation

Regioselective N-acetylation as a route of nitro-9-phenylenediamine metabolism by rat liver cytosol.

Regioselectivity in N-acetylation of nitro-0-phenylenediamine, a widely used hair dye component, by rat liver cytosolic N-acetyltransferases was studied in relation to its substituent effects on enzymatic N-acetylation of mono-substituted anilines. Nitro-p-phenylenediamine was acetylated specifically at the N4-position to afford the N4-monoacetate, a major urinary metabolite in the rat, when incubated with rat liver cytosol fortified with acetyl-coenzyme A. N1-Acetylation of nitro-p-phenylenediamine did not take place even when the N4-monoacetate was used as a substrate, suggesting a strong steric hindrance effect of the ortho nitro group on the enzymatic N1-acetylation. The steric hindrance effect of the nitro group on the cytosolic N-acetylation of the ortho amino group was revealed by a comparative study carried out by using aniline, three respective regioisomers of nitroanilines and phenylenediamines as model substrates. The comparative study also indicated the enzymatic N-acetylation of the mono-substituted anilines to be strongly influenced by the electronic effect of the substituents. Regioselective N-acetylation in the hepatic cytosol was also investigated with N1- and N4-monoacetates of 1,2,4-triaminobenzene. The monoacetates yielded the N1,N4-diacetate, another major urinary metabolite of the hair dye component, in the rat, without concomitant formation of the N2,N4-diacetate or the N1,N2,N4-triacetate. The triacetate was formed only from the N1,N2-diacetate in the enzymatic reactions. A comparative study, carried out by using N-mono-acetates of three regioisomeric phenylenediamines, indicated that the N-acetyl group had a potent steric hindrance effect on the primary amino group at the ortho position.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetylation

Rat liver cytosolic hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase (sulfotransferase a) catalyzing the formation of reactive sulfate esters from carcinogenic polycyclic hydroxymethylarenes.

Female rat liver cytosol contained at least three sulfotransferases (STs) that were separable on a DEAE-Sephadex A-50 column and transformed the carcinogen 5-hydroxymethylchrysene (5-HCR) to the potent mutagen 5-HCR sulfate. The STs also catalyzed sulfation of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), a typical substrate for hydroxysteroid STs. Of these three isozymes, the one (STa) with the highest 5-HCR-sulfating activity was isolated and purified (100-fold) as a homogeneous protein, in 15% yield, by successive column chromatography on agarose modified with 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphate as an affinity ligand and on Sephadex G-100. Purified STa was classified as a hydroxysteroid ST because the 5-HCR- and DHA-sulfating activities were inseparable from each other throughout the purification steps. Sulfation of 5-HCR by purified STa was competitively inhibited by DHA. STa also catalyzed sulfation of other potent carcinogens, 7-hydroxymethylbenz[a]anthracene, 7-hydroxymethyl-12-methylbenz[a]anthracene, and 7,12-dihydroxymethylbenz[a], anthrocene, to produce sulfate esters with high reactivity and mutagenicity. However, STa had no activity with 4-nitrophenol, a typical substrate for phenol STs, or with N-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene. STa had a pl value of 6.4 and existed on a gel filtration column as a homooligomer of a subunit protein with Mr 30,500, determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of STa was as follows: Pro-Asp-Tyr-Thr-Trp-Phe-Glu-Gly-Ile-Pro-Phe-Pro-Ala-Phe-Gly-Ile- Pro-Lys-Glu-Thr-. Immunoblot analysis of female and male rat liver cytosol, carried out by using rabbit antiserum raised against the purified enzyme STa and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, indicated that the female liver contained a much higher level of the enzyme than did the male liver. The marked sex difference in STa level was in good accordance with the previous demonstration that cytosol from the liver of female rats catalyzed sulfation of 5-HCR to a greater extent than did cytosol from the liver of male rats.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene

Novel type of ornithine-glutathione double conjugate excreted as a major metabolite into the bile of rats administered clebopride.

Rats orally given radioactive Clebopride [[14C]CP; N-(1'-benzyl-4'-piperidyl)-2-[14C]methoxy-4-amino-5-chlorobenzamide++ +], an antiulcer agent, excreted a novel type of ornithine (Orn)-GSH double conjugate in the bile as a major metabolite [( 14C]BMCP), corresponding to 18% of the dose. The present study provides the first evidence for Orn conjugation of a xenobiotic in mammals and demonstrates that the structure of the radioactive conjugate differs fundamentally from those known in birds and reptiles. The structure of the biliary metabolite, [14C]BMCP, purified to homogeneity by silica gel thin layer and reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography, was elucidated as S-[2-ornithylamino-4-[14C]methoxy-5-(1'-methyl-4'-piperidylamin o) carboxyphenyl]glutathione, based mainly on the following facts: 1) BMCP showed a protonated molecular ion (M + H)+ peak at m/z 683 in the secondary ion mass spectrum and 2) [14C]BMCP afforded Orn, glutamic acid, glycine, S-(2-amino-4-[14C]methoxy-5-carboxyphenyl)cysteine [( 14C]AMCC), and 1-methyl-4-aminopiperidine (MAP) quantitatively, in an equal molar ratio, by complete hydrolysis with peptidase. Thus, BMCP was a metabolite with three enzymatically hydrolyzable amide bonds in addition to the one existing originally in the parent structure of the drug, which produces MAP by peptic digestion. Of the three additional amide bonds of BMCP, one was a novel type of bond formed by condensation of the alpha-carboxylic acid group of Orn with the primary aromatic amino group of the drug and the other two were in the S-glutathionyl residue, substituted for the chlorine atom vicinal to the Orn-conjugating primary amino group in the aromatic ring and affording glutamic acid, glycine, and the S-cysteine conjugate AMCC by hydrolysis of BMCP with the peptidase. Substitution of a methyl group for the benzyl group at the piperidine ring nitrogen atom, leading to the formation of MAP by peptic digestion, also occurred during metabolism of CP to BMCP.

Animals

Glutathione conjugation of styrene 7,8-oxide enantiomers by major glutathione transferase isoenzymes isolated from rat livers.

Male Sprague-Dawley rat liver cytosol mediated regioselective conjugation of styrene 7,8-oxide (STO) enantiomers with glutathione in completely trans-ring-opening manner to afford (1S)-S-(1-phenyl-2-hydroxyethyl)glutathione and (2R)-S-(2-phenyl-2-hydroxyethyl)glutathione in the ratio 22:1 for (R)-STO and also to afford (1R)-S-(1-phenyl-2-hydroxyethyl)glutathione and (2S)-S-(2-phenyl-2-hydroxyethyl)glutathione in the ratio 12:1 for (S)-STO. In the above cytosolic reactions, (R)-STO was conjugated 1.8 times faster than (S)-STO, while the (R)- to (S)-ratio in rate of the conjugation was 2.7 when racemic STO was used as a substrate. A kinetic study, carried out by using six major glutathione transferase (GST) isoenzymes isolated from the cytosol, indicated that GSTs 3-3, 3-4 and 4-4 (class mu enzymes) had much higher Kcat/Km values towards both STO enantiomers than the other three major isoenzymes, GSTs 1-1, 1-2 and 2-2 (class alpha enzymes). All the class mu enzymes mediated preferential glutathione conjugation of (R)-STO to (S)-STO. On the contrary, the class alpha enzymes catalysed the conjugation of (S)-STO preferentially to (R)-STO. The kinetic study strongly suggested that GSTs determining the higher enantioselectivity towards (R)-STO in the rat liver cytosol were the class mu enzymes, especially GST 3-3, which had the highest Kcat/Km value towards (R)-STO as well as the highest (R) to (S) ratio in the enantioselectivity among the six isoenzymes examined. GST 7-7, isolated as a major enzyme from the liver cytosol of the animals bearing hepatic hyperplastic nodules which were induced by chemical carcinogens, catalysed preferential GSH conjugation of (S)-STO to (R)-STO.

Animals

Cloning and sequence analysis of a rat liver cDNA encoding hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase.

Nothing has been known of the cDNAs encoding sulfotransferases (STs) that catalyze sulfation of steroids and xenobiotics. In the present study, a female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat liver cDNA library was screened with rabbit anti-serum raised against hydroxysteroid ST a (STa) purified from female SD rat liver cytosol. The cDNA isolated from the library consisted of 1,028 base pairs which had an open reading frame of 852 base pairs encoding the entire rat ST subunit of 284 amino acids. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of STa and the rat liver hydroxysteroid ST, bile acid ST I, both elucidated previously by the chemical method, had a strong homology with that deduced from the cDNA. Northern blot analysis of total RNAs from female and male rat livers showed a marked sex difference (female much greater than male) in the expressed level of the mRNA for the predicted ST subunit protein. A remarkable sex difference (female much greater than male) was also observed by immuno-blot analysis in the level of the hydroxysteroid ST protein(s) cross-reacting with the anti-serum in the rat liver cytosols.

Amino Acid Sequence

Sulphotransferase-mediated activation of the carcinogen 5-hydroxymethyl-chrysene. Species and sex differences in tissue distribution of the enzyme activity and a possible participation of hydroxysteroid sulphotransferases.

Sulphation of the carcinogen 5-hydroxymethyl-chrysene (5-HCR) to the active metabolite 5-HCR sulphate occurred at significant rates in all of hepatic cytosols prepared from the male and female experimental animals, rats, mice, guinea-pigs and hamsters. The 5-HCR-sulphating activity was also found in kidney cytosols of all the experimental animals used, while their activities were much less than those of hepatic cytosols. In the male mice, the enzyme activity of testis was higher than any other examined tissue. Small intestine and adrenal of male and female guinea-pigs had relatively high enzyme activities. Small enzyme activities were also found in a variety of extrahepatic tissues of some of these animals. Marked species and sex differences (female much greater than male in the rat and mouse) were observed in the hepatic enzyme activity. In the female rat liver which showed the highest 5-HCR-sulphating activity among the examined tissues of all the animals, a typical hydroxysteroid sulphotransferase inhibitor, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) sulphate (1 mM), potently and competitively inhibited the sulphation of 5-HCR as well as that of DHA, a typical substrate for hydroxysteroid sulphotransferases. On the contrary, the phenol sulphotransferase inhibitors, pentachlorophenol and 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol, had only a little effect on these enzyme activities even at a concentration of 50 microM that showed a potent inhibition of the phenol sulphotransferase activity. These results suggest that 5-HCR be sulphated in the female rat liver by hydroxysteroid sulphotransferases, but not by phenol sulphotransferases.

Animals

Glutathione conjugation of the fluorophotometric epoxide substrate, 7-glycidoxycoumarin (GOC), by rat liver glutathione transferase isoenzymes.

The fluorophotometric substrate, 7-glycidoxycoumarin (GOC), was examined for the assay of epoxide-glutathione (GSH)-conjugating activities of seven major GSH transferases (GSTs) isolated from rat liver cytosols. GST 7-7 (GST-P), isolated from the liver cytosol of rats bearing hepatic hyperplastic nodules, catalysed the GSH conjugation of GOC at a higher rate than any other examined GST isolated from the normal rat liver cytosol. GSTs 3-3, 3-4 and 4-4 (group 3-4 enzymes) had specific activities towards GOC by one fifth to one third of that of GST 7-7. GSTs 1-1, 1-2 and 2-2 (group 1-2 enzymes) had very low activities towards this epoxide. A kinetic study indicated that GST 7-7 showed the largest kappa cat/Km value for the catalytic reaction of GOC-GSH conjugation among the GSTs. In spite of their much smaller kappa cat values, group 3-4 enzymes showed much larger kappa cat/Km values for GOC than the group 1-2 enzymes, because GOC had a much higher affinity for group 3-4 enzymes than for group 1-2 enzymes. A comparative study was also done with GSH conjugations of styrene 7,8-oxide (STO) and 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene by the GSTs. Unlike GOC, the conjugation of STO was mediated at rates about twice as high by group 3-4 enzymes than by GST 7-7. STO was also a very poor substrate for group 1-2 enzymes.

Animals

Enzymic conversion of 11,12-leukotriene A4 to 11,12-dihydroxy-5,14-cis-7,9-trans-eicosatetraenoic acid. Purification of an epoxide hydrolase from the guinea pig liver cytosol.

(11S,12S)-Epoxy-5,14-cis-7,9-trans-eicosatetraenoic acid (11,12-leukotriene A4) was nonenzymically converted to seven compounds: two diastereomers of (12S)-hydroxyeicosatetraeno-delta-lactones (major products), two diastereomers of (5,12S)-dihydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid and three stereoisomers of (11,12S)-dihydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. Among these compounds, (11R,12S)-dihydroxy-5,14-cis-7,9-trans-eicosatetraenoic acid proved to be the only enzymic product. This hydrolysis activity was present in the cytosol fractions of various tissues of guinea pig such as liver, adrenal gland, small intestine, and brain. We purified the epoxide hydrolase to an apparent homogeneity from the guinea pig liver. The enzyme had a molecular weight of 60,000 as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and an isoelectric point of 7.3. The partial amino acid sequence was different from that of the microsomal enzyme. Km and Vmax values for 11,12-leukotriene A4 were 18 microM and 2.4 mumol/min/mg protein, respectively. These results indicate that 11,12-dihydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid is enzymically synthesized from 11,12-leukotriene A4 by the action of the cytosolic epoxide hydrolase in vitro.

Animals

7-ethenyloxycoumarin as a new substrate for fluorophotometric assay of hepatic microsomal epoxidizing activities.

7-Ethenyloxycoumarin (7-vinyloxycoumarin, VOC) was metabolized by rat liver microsomes in the presence of a reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-generating system to 7-hydroxycoumarin (HOC) and glycolaldehyde via the unstable epoxide, 7-(epoxyethoxy)coumarin, as an obligatory intermediate which had a half life of 5.4 min in 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, at 37 degrees C. The epoxide of VOC accumulated in the microsomal incubation mixture in the presence of the epoxide hydrolase inhibitor, 3,3,3-trichloropropene 1,2-oxide, was isolated and identified. HOC and glycolaldehyde were auto-decomposition products of the putative highly unstable intermediate, 7-(1',2'-dihydroxyethoxy)coumarin, mostly formed by microsomal epoxide hydrolase from the epoxide. Direct fluorophotometry of HOC made it possible to determine epoxidizing activities of very small quantities of the microsomes from untreated rat liver (greater than or equal to 5 micrograms protein). VOC was epoxidizied by rat liver microsomal cytochrome P-450, inducible by 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) and phenobarbital (PB), and the microsomal epoxidation reactions were inhibited by IgG preparations raised against the major cytochrome P-450 components isolated from 3-MC- and PB-pretreated rat liver microsomes. In the untreated, 3-MC- and PB-pretreated rat liver microsomes, at least two monooxygenase components with different affinity were strongly suggested by a kinetic study, carried out using the antibodies, to be involved in the epoxidation of VOC.

Animals

[Case report: hemiballism due to a putaminal cavernous hemangioma].

A rare case of reversible hemiballism due to putaminal pathological process in a 51-year-old woman is described. She was hospitalized for evaluation of hemiballism and muscle weakness on the left side. A cranial computed tomography scan demonstrated a high density lesion in the right putamen with enhancement on delayed scan. Angiographic examination revealed no apparent abnormalities. Magnetic resonance imaging with T1 weighted showed a isodense lesion in the right putamen, while T2 weighted image revealed a ring like low signal area around a high signal lesion. These findings were compatible with the diagnosis of cavernous hemangioma. In order to establish the final diagnosis, CT-guided stereotaxic biopsy was carried out. But histological specimen showed only gliosis and calcification. Immediately after the biopsy, a small hemorrhage took place in the right putamen extending to the head of caudate nucleus head. Following this episode, hemiballism ceased, however, it gradually returned along with absorption of hemorrhage. The speculated pathophysiology of this on-and-off hemiballism was as follows; it initially developed as the result of suppression of inhibitory fibers from the striatum to the pallidum by a minor hemorrhage of putaminal cavernous hemangioma, and ceased by declining the activities of the pallidum due to interruption of excitatory fibers from the thalamus and the cortex to the striatum.

Brain Neoplasms

Covalent binding of 4-nitrobenzyl mercaptan S-sulfate to the sulfhydryl groups of hepatic cytosolic proteins and bovine serum albumin with mixed disulfide bond formation.

4-Nitrobenzyl [35S]mercaptan S-sulfonic acid ([35S]NBM S-sulfate), a new type of reactive metabolite of the thiol [35S]NBM in rat liver cytosol fortified with 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate, bound rapidly and covalently at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C to the sulfhydryl groups of rat liver cytosolic proteins with formation of disulfide bonds. From the radioactive proteins was isolated and identified the sole amino acid adduct, S-([35S]NBM)cysteine, after their acid hydrolysis under the anaerobic conditions. Bovine serum albumin (BSA), a model protein with a single SH group, also reacted readily with radioactive NBM S-sulfate to form a disulfide bond in stoichiometric manner. S-([35S]NBM)-cysteine was also isolated and identified as the sole amino acid adduct from the well-washed, radioactive BSA after the same anaerobic acid hydrolysis. A normal hepatic level of GSH not only retarded the BSA-NBM adduct formation completely, but also detached the radioactivity from BSA by the reduction of the disulfide bond with formation of [35S]NBM and its disulfide. Of twenty-one amino acids examined at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C, only cysteine reacted with NBM S-sulfate and afforded S-(NBM)cysteine with concomitant formations of S-sulfocysteine, cystine, NBM, and its disulfide.

Animals

Effect of subcutaneous injection of a long-acting analogue of somatostatin (SMS 201-995) on plasma thyroid-stimulating hormone in normal human subjects.

SMS 201-995 (SMS), a synthetic analogue of somatostatin (SRIF) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of the hypersecretion of hormones such as in acromegaly. However, little is known about the effects of SMS on the secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in normal subjects. In this study, plasma TSH was determined with a highly sensitive immunoradiometric assay, in addition to the concentration of SMS in plasma and urine with a radioimmunoassay, following subcutaneous injection of 25, 50, 100 micrograms of SMS (4 subjects/dose) or a placebo (6 subjects) to normal male subjects, at 0900 h after an overnight fast. The plasma concentrations of SMS were dose-responsive and the peak levels were 1.61 +/- 0.09, 4.91 +/- 0.30 and 8.52 +/- 1.18 ng/ml, which were observed at 30, 15 and 45 min after the injection of 25, 50 and 100 micrograms of SMS, respectively. Mean plasma disappearance half-time of SMS was estimated to be 110 +/- 3 min. Plasma TSH was suppressed in a dose dependent manner and the suppression lasted for at least 8 hours. At 8 hours after the injection of 25, 50 and 100 micrograms of SMS, the plasma TSH levels were 43.8 +/- 19.4, 33.9 +/- 9.4 and 24.9 +/- 3.2%, respectively, of the basal values. The results suggest that SMS suppresses secretion of TSH from the normal thyrotrophs in man and thus also that attention should be paid to possible hypothyroidism during the long-term treatment of patients such as those with acromegaly with this potent analogue of SRIF.

Adult

Cryoelectron microscopy of vitrified Sendai virions.

Morphology of vitrified Sendai virions was studied by transmission type electron microscopy. Almost all the virions appeared to be completely spherical, although their diameters differed. A possibly continuously long nucleocapsid was seen running helically in an envelope. Spikes were seen on the virion surfaces. The results indicate pleomorphism of Sendai virions in size but not in shape.

Freezing

Role of endogenous arginine vasopressin in potentiating corticotropin-releasing hormone-stimulated corticotropin secretion in man.

Exogenously administered vasopressin (VP) augments ACTH secretion stimulated by CRH. This study was performed to elucidate the role of endogenous VP in potentiating CRH-induced ACTH secretion in man. Synthetic human CRH (100 micrograms) was injected iv into seven normal men after they had been water loaded (20 mL/kg; 60 and 30 min before CRH injection; WL-CRH test) and water deprived (water restriction for 18 h before CRH injection; WD-CRH test). Blood samples were obtained before and 5, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after CRH injection at 0900 h for determination of plasma ACTH, cortisol, arginine vasopressin (AVP), CRH, and catecholamine levels and osmolality. Urine was obtained immediately before and 120 min after CRH injection for determination of osmolality. The mean plasma AVP levels were significantly higher during the WD-CRH test [1.8 +/- 0.4 (+/- SE) to 1.9 +/- 0.4 pmol/L] than during the WL-CRH test (0.6 +/- 0.1 to 0.9 +/- 0.1 pmol/L). The mean plasma ACTH and cortisol levels rose significantly from basal (4.5 +/- 0.6 pmol/L and 320 +/- 20 nmol/L, respectively) to peak values of 14.0 +/- 2.1 pmol/L at 30 min and 700 +/- 50 nmol/L at 60 min, respectively, during the WD-CRH test. During the WL-CRH test, mean basal plasma ACTH and cortisol levels were 3.5 +/- 0.7 pmol/L and 420 +/- 50 nmol/L, respectively, and reached peak values of 7.7 +/- 1.1 pmol/L at 60 min and 550 +/- 40 nmol/L at 30 min, respectively. Both the mean peak levels and integrated ACTH and cortisol responses were significantly higher during the WD-CRH than during the WL-CRH test. There was no significant difference between the plasma CRH and catecholamine concentrations in both tests. These results suggest that endogenous AVP potentiates CRH-stimulated ACTH secretion and, thus, plays a physiologically significant role in regulating CRH-stimulated ACTH and cortisol secretion in man.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and 3', 5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) production in a cultured human adrenocortical carcinoma cell line (SW-13).

Very little has been known of the biochemical function of a human adrenocortical carcinoma cell line, SW-13. In this study, the production of several adrenal steroids and 3', 5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) were investigated in this cell line. The cells were incubated in L-15 medium containing 0.1% bovine serum albumin with several reagents in an atmosphere of 5% CO2 and 95% air for 2 hours at 37 degrees C. Aldosterone (Ald), corticosterone (B), cortisol (F), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and cAMP were simultaneously assayed by specific radioimmunoassays in the medium and cells. Significant increases in cAMP production were observed by cholera toxin (10 ng/ml) and forskolin (10 nM), both direct stimulators of adenylate cyclase, in the cAMP concentration without an increase in the steroids. The DHEA-S concentration in the medium was significantly increased by angiotensin-II (10(-7)M), noradrenalin (3 X 10(-5) M), adrenalin (3 X 10(-5) M) or alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH, 10(-7) M), none of which was associated with cAMP production. Neither adrenocorticotropin (10(-10) M) nor human chorionic gonadotropin (500 mIU/ml) stimulated the release of the steroids or cAMP production. A calcium ionophore, A23187 (10(-7) M), and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (10(-8) M), a direct stimulator of protein kinase C, stimulated the release of DHEA-S, but not those of Ald, B and F. The results suggest that SW-13 retains functioning adenylate cyclase which, however, is not linked with steroidogenesis and that DHEA-S is produced probably by the mechanisms which involve protein kinase C system or calcium ion. This report provides the first demonstration of cAMP and DHEA-S production in SW-13 and suggests that this cell line is potentially useful for investigating the mechanisms of steroidogenesis in the human adrenal cortex.

Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms