技术资料

PD 098059 has been shown previously to inhibit the dephosphorylated form of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase-1 (MAPKK1) and a mutant MAPKK1(S217E,S221E),which has low levels of constitutive activity (Dudley,D. T.,Pang,L.,Decker,S. J.,Bridges,A. J.,and Saltiel,A. R. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92,7686-7689). Here we report that PD 098059 does not inhibit Raf-activated MAPKK1 but that it prevents the activation of MAPKK1 by Raf or MEK kinase in vitro at concentrations (IC50 = 2-7 microM) similar to those concentrations that inhibit dephosphorylated MAPKK1 or MAPKK1(S217E,S221E). PD 098059 inhibited the activation of MAPKK2 by Raf with a much higher IC50 value (50 microM) and did not inhibit the phosphorylation of other Raf or MEK kinase substrates,indicating that it exerts its effect by binding to the inactive form of MAPKK1. PD 098059 also acts as a specific inhibitor of the activation of MAPKK in Swiss 3T3 cells,suppressing by 80-90% its activation by a variety of agonists. The high degree of specificity of PD 098059 in vitro and in vivo is indicated by its failure to inhibit 18 protein Ser/Thr kinases (including two other MAPKK homologues) in vitro by its failure to inhibit the in vivo activation of MAPKK and MAP kinase homologues that participate in stress and interleukin-1-stimulated kinase cascades in KB and PC12 cells,and by lack of inhibition of the activation of p70 S6 kinase by insulin or epidermal growth factor in Swiss 3T3 cells. PD 098059 (50 microM) inhibited the activation of p42MAPK and isoforms of MAP kinase-activated protein kinase-1 in Swiss 3T3 cells,but the extent of inhibition depended on how potently c-Raf and MAPKK were activated by any particular agonist and demonstrated the enormous amplification potential of this kinase cascade. PD 098059 not only failed to inhibit the activation of Raf by platelet-derived growth factor,serum,insulin,and phorbol esters in Swiss 3T3 cells but actually enhanced Raf activity. The rate of activation of Raf by platelet-derived growth factor was increased 3-fold,and the subsequent inactivation that occurred after 10 min was prevented. These results indicate that the activation of Raf is suppressed and that its inactivation is accelerated by a downstream component(s) of the MAP kinase pathway. View Publication

Taxol stabilizes microtubules,prevents tubulin depolymerization,and promotes tubulin bundling and is one of the most effective drugs for the treatment of metastatic breast and ovarian cancer. Although its interaction with tubulin has been well characterized,the mechanism by which taxol induces growth arrest and cytotoxicity is not well understood. Herein,we show that taxol induced dose- and time-dependent accumulation of the cyclin inhibitor p21WAF1 in both p53 wild-type and p53-null cells,although the degree of induction was greater in cells expressing wild-type p53. In MCF7 cells,wild-type p53 protein was also induced after taxol treatment,and this induction was mediated primarily by increased protein stability. Taxol induced both p21WAF1 and wild-type p53 optimally in MCF7 cells after 20-24-h exposure with an EC50(3) of 5 nM. In p53-null PC3M cells,p21WAF1 was similarly induced after 24-h exposure to taxol. Coincident with these biochemical effects,taxol altered the electrophoretic mobility of c-raf-1 and stimulated mitogen activated protein kinase. Previous depletion of c-raf-1 inhibited both the p21WAF1- and p53-inducing properties of taxol,as well as the activation of MAP kinase. These data suggest that induction of p21WAF1 by taxol requires c-raf-1 activity,but that it is not strictly dependent on wild-type p53. Furthermore,the ability of taxol to both induce wild-type p53 in MCF7 cells and activate MAP kinase is also dependent on c-raf-1 expression. View Publication

A method for quantitating the proportion of cycling long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC) in heterogeneous populations of human hematopoietic cells is described. This procedure involves incubating the cells of interest for 16 to 24 hours in a serum-free medium containing 100 ng/mL Steel factor (SF),20 ng/mL interleukin-3 (IL-3),and 20 ng/mL granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF),with or without 20 microCi/mL of high specific activity 3H-thymidine (3H-Tdr) before plating the recovered cells in standard LTC-IC assays. The details of this procedure are based in part on the finding that the number of LTC-IC (regardless of their cycling status) remains constant for at least 24 hours under these culture conditions,as long as 3H-Tdr is not present. In addition,we have determined that a 16-hour period of exposure to the 3H-Tdr is sufficient to maximize the discrimination of cycling LTC-IC but not long enough to allow a detectable redistribution of LTC-IC between noncycling and cycling compartments. Finally,any isotope reutilization that may occur is not sufficient to affect the LTC-IC 3H-Tdr suicide values measured. Application of this methodology to normally circulating LTC-IC showed these to be a primarily quiescent population. However,within 72 hours of incubation in a serum-free medium containing SF,IL-3,and G-CSF,most had entered S-phase,although there was no net change in their numbers. This suggests that,under certain conditions in vitro,self-renewal divisions of LTC-IC can occur and,at least initially,balance any losses of these cells due to their differentiation or death. In contrast,many of the LTC-IC in freshly aspirated samples of normal marrow were found to be proliferating,although those that were initially quiescent could also be recruited into S-phase within 72 hours in vitro when incubated under the same conditions used to stimulate circulating LTC-IC. This modified 3H-Tdr suicide procedure should facilitate further investigation of the mechanisms regulating the turnover of the most primitive compartments of human hematopoietic cells and how these may be altered in disease states or exploited for a variety of therapeutic applications. View Publication

We examined the effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3],25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25OHD3),and vitamin D3 on human keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation in a serum-free or defined culture system. Concentrations greater than 10(-8) M 1,25-(OH)2D3 or 10(-7) M 25(OH)2D3 caused marked inhibition of cell growth. Growth inhibition with high doses of 1,25-(OH)2D3 was not stringent,but was mainly exerted in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Early release from the cell cycle block restored the proliferation of human keratinocytes. The calcium concentration in the medium had no significant effect on the antiproliferative action of 1,25-(OH)2D3,25OHD3,and vitamin D3. We also show that human keratinocyte proliferation is enhanced at doses of 1,25-(OH)2D3 and 25OH2D3 of 10(-9) M or less. Enhanced proliferation of human keratinocytes with physiological concentrations of 1,25-(OH)2D3 could only be shown in fully defined medium that contained no vitamin D3,related sterols,or bovine pituitary extract. Human keratinocyte differentiation was enhanced with higher doses of 1,25-(OH)2D3 when cells were grown in the presence of high calcium concentrations. These studies demonstrate that the lower,physiological concentrations of vitamin D3 metabolites are capable of stimulating the proliferation of epidermal keratinocytes grown under selected conditions that eliminate confounding or unidentified medium culture factors. Vitamin D3 metabolites are shown to exert mitogenic trophic effects in cultured human epithelial cells similar to their established activities in vivo. View Publication

The cell line described here was established for a 50-year-old male patient with rapidly progressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma whose marrow was diffusely infiltrated with large granular lymphocytes (LGL). Immunophenotyping of marrow blasts and peripheral lymphocytes was positive for CD56,CD2 and CD7,and negative for CD3. Cytotoxicity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells at an effector: target (E:T) cell ratio of 50:1 was 79% against K562 cells and 48% against Daudi cells. To establish the line,cells from the peripheral blood were placed into enriched alpha medium containing 12.5% fetal calf serum,12.5% horse serum,10(-4) M beta-mercaptoethanol and 10(-6) M hydrocortisone. Growth of the line (termed NK-92) is dependent on the presence of recombinant IL-2 and a dose as low as 10 U/ml is sufficient to maintain proliferation. Conversely,cells die within 72 h when deprived of IL-2; IL-7 and IL-12 do not maintain long-term growth,although IL-7 induces short-term proliferation measured by 3H-thymidine incorporation. None of the other cytokines tested (IL-1 alpha,IL-6,TNF-alpha,IFN-alpha,IFN-gamma) supported growth of NK-92 cells which have the following characteristics: surface marker positive for CD2,CD7,CD11a,CD28,CD45,CD54,CD56bright; surface marker negative for CD1,CD3,CD4,CD5,CD8,CD10,CD14,CD16,CD19,CD20,CD23,CD34,HLA-DR. DNA analysis showed germline configuration for T-cell receptor beta and gamma genes. CD25 (p55 IL-2 receptor) is expressed on about 50% of all cells when tested at 100 U/ml of IL-2 and its expression correlates inversely with the IL-2 concentration. The p75 IL-2 receptor is expressed on about half of the cells at low density irrespective of the IL-2 concentration. NK-92 cells kill both K562 and Daudi cells very effectively in a 4 h51-chromium release assay (84 and 86% respectively,at an E:T cell ratio of 5:1). The cell line described here thus displays characteristics of activated NK-cells and could be a valuable tool to study their biology. View Publication

We report that embryonic stem cells efficiently undergo differentiation in vitro to mesoderm and hematopoietic cells and that this in vitro system recapitulates days 6.5 to 7.5 of mouse hematopoietic development. Embryonic stem cells differentiated as embryoid bodies (EBs) develop erythroid precursors by day 4 of differentiation,and by day 6,more than 85% of EBs contain such cells. A comparative reverse transcriptase-mediated polymerase chain reaction profile of marker genes for primitive endoderm (collagen alpha IV) and mesoderm (Brachyury) indicates that both cell types are present in the developing EBs as well in normal embryos prior to the onset of hematopoiesis. GATA-1,GATA-3,and vav are expressed in both the EBs and embryos just prior to and/or during the early onset of hematopoiesis,indicating that they could play a role in the early stages of hematopoietic development both in vivo and in vitro. The initial stages of hematopoietic development within the EBs occur in the absence of added growth factors and are not significantly influenced by the addition of a broad spectrum of factors,including interleukin-3 (IL-3),IL-1,IL-6,IL-11,erythropoietin,and Kit ligand. At days 10 and 14 of differentiation,EB hematopoiesis is significantly enhanced by the addition of both Kit ligand and IL-11 to the cultures. Kinetic analysis indicates that hematopoietic precursors develop within the EBs in an ordered pattern. Precursors of the primitive erythroid lineage appear first,approximately 24 h before precursors of the macrophage and definitive erythroid lineages. Bipotential neutrophil/macrophage and multilineage precursors appear next,and precursors of the mast cell lineage develop last. The kinetics of precursor development,as well as the growth factor responsiveness of these early cells,is similar to that found in the yolk sac and early fetal liver,indicating that the onset of hematopoiesis within the EBs parallels that found in the embryo. View Publication

BACKGROUND: At therapeutic concentrations,the antineoplastic agent taxol selectively perturbs mitotic spindle microtubules. Taxol has recently been shown to induce apoptosis,similar to the mechanism of cell death induced by other antineoplastic agents. However,taxol has shown efficacy against drug-refractory cancers,raising the possibility that this pharmacological agent may trigger an alternative apoptotic pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The kinetics and IC50 of mitotic (M) block,aberrant mitosis,and cytotoxicity following taxol treatment were analyzed in human cell lines as well as normal mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) and MEFs derived from p53-null mice. Apoptosis was followed by DNA gel electrophoresis and by in situ DNA end-labeling (TUNEL). RESULTS: Taxol induced two forms of cell cycle arrest: either directly in early M at prophase or,for those cells progressing through aberrant mitosis,arrest in G1 as multimininucleated cells. TUNEL labeling revealed that DNA nicking occurred within 30 min of the arrest in prophase. In contrast,G1-arrested,multimininucleated cells became TUNEL positive only after several days. In the subset of cells that became blocked directly in prophase,both wt p53-expressing and p53-null MEFs responded similarly to taxol,showing rapid onset of DNA nicking and apoptosis. However,p53-null MEFs progressing through aberrant mitosis failed to arrest in the subsequent G1 phase or to become TUNEL positive,and remained viable. CONCLUSIONS: Taxol induces two forms of cell cycle arrest,which in turn induce two independent apoptotic pathways. Arrest in prophase induces rapid onset of a p53-independent pathway,whereas G1-block and the resulting slow (3-5 days) apoptotic pathway are p53 dependent. View Publication

Recombinant retroviruses offer many advantages for the genetic modification of human hematopoietic cells,although their use in clinical protocols has thus far given disappointing results. There is therefore an important need to develop new strategies that will allow effectively transduced primitive hematopoietic target populations to be both rapidly characterized and isolated free of residual nontransduced but biologically equivalent cells. To address this need,we constructed a murine stem cell virus (MSCV)-based retroviral vector containing the 228-bp coding sequence of the murine heat-stable antigen (HSA) and generated helper virus-free amphotropic MSCV-HSA producer cells by transfection of GP-env AM12 packaging cells. Light density and,in some cases,lineage marker-negative (lin-) normal human marrow or mobilized peripheral blood cells preactivated by exposure to interleukin-3 (IL-3),IL-6,and Steel factor in vitro for 48 hours were then infected by cocultivation with these MSCV-HSA producer cells for a further 48 hours in the presence of the same cytokines. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis of the cells 24 hours later showed 21% to 41% (mean,27%) of those that were still CD34+ to have acquired the ability to express HSA. The extent of gene transfer to erythroid and granulopoietic progenitors (burst-forming unit-erythroid and colony-forming unit-granulocyte-macrophage),as assessed by the ability of these cells to form colonies of mature progeny in the presence of normally toxic concentrations of G418,averaged 11% and 12%,respectively,in 6 experiments. These values could be increased to 100% and 77%,respectively,by prior isolation of the CD34+HSA+ cell fraction and were correspondingly decreased to an average of 2% and 5%,respectively,in the CD34+HSA- cells. In addition,the extent of gene transfer to long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC) was assessed by G418 resistance. The average gene transfer to LTC-IC-derived colony-forming cells in the unsorted population was textless or = 7% in 4 experiments. FACS selection of the initially CD34+HSA+ cells increased this value to 86% and decreased it to 3% for the LTC-IC plated from the CD34+HSA- cells. Transfer of HSA gene expression to a phenotypically defined more primitive subpopulation of CD34+ cells,ie,those expressing little or no CD38,could also be shown by FACS analysis of infected populations 24 hours after infection. These findings underscore the potential use of retroviral vectors encoding HSA for the specific identification and non-toxic selection immediately after infection of retrovirally transduced populations of primitive human hematopoietic cells. In addition,such vectors should facilitate the subsequent tracking of their marked progeny using multiparameter flow cytometry. View Publication

Here,we have studied the activity of a novel protein-tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is selective for the Src family of tyrosine kinases. We have focused our study on the effects of this compound on T cell receptor-induced T cell activation,a process dependent on the activity of the Src kinases Lck and FynT. This compound is a nanomolar inhibitor of Lck and FynT,inhibits anti-CD3-induced protein-tyrosine kinase activity in T cells,demonstrates selectivity for Lck and FynT over ZAP-70,and preferentially inhibits T cell receptor-dependent anti-CD3-induced T cell proliferation over non-T cell receptor-dependent phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate/interleukin-2 (IL-2)-induced T cell proliferation. Interestingly,this compound selectively inhibits the induction of the IL-2 gene,but not the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor or IL-2 receptor genes. This compound offers a useful new tool for examining the role of the Lck and FynT tyrosine kinases versus ZAP-70 in T cell activation as well as the role of other Src family kinases in receptor function. View Publication

A major goal of experimental and clinical hematology is the identification of mechanisms and conditions that support the expansion of transplantable hematopoietic stem cells. In normal marrow,such cells appear to be identical to (or represent a subset of) a population referred to as long-term-culture-initiating cells (LTC-ICs) so-named because of their ability to produce colony-forming cell (CFC) progeny for textgreater or = 5 weeks when cocultured with stromal fibroblasts. Some expansion of LTC-ICs in vitro has recently been described,but identification of the factors required and whether LTC-IC self-renewal divisions are involved have remained unresolved issues. To address these issues,we examined the maintenance and/or generation of LTC-ICs from single CD34+ CD38- cells cultured for variable periods under different culture conditions. Analysis of the progeny obtained from cultures containing a feeder layer of murine fibroblasts engineered to produce steel factor,interleukin (IL)-3,and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor showed that approximately 20% of the input LTC-ICs (representing approximately 2% of the original CD34+ CD38- cells) executed self-renewal divisions within a 6-week period. Incubation of the same CD34+ CD38- starting populations as single cells in a defined (serum free) liquid medium supplemented with Flt-3 ligand,steel factor,IL-3,IL-6,granulocyte colony-stimulating factor,and nerve growth factor resulted in the proliferation of initial cells to produce clones of from 4 to 1000 cells within 10 days,approximately 40% of which included textgreater or = 1 LTC-IC. In contrast,in similar cultures containing methylcellulose,input LTC-ICs appeared to persist but not divide. Overall the LTC-IC expansion in the liquid cultures was 30-fold in the first 10 days and 50-fold by the end of another 1-3 weeks. Documentation of human LTC-IC self-renewal in vitro and identification of defined conditions that permit their extensive and rapid amplification should facilitate analysis of the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes and their exploitation for a variety of therapeutic applications. View Publication

Retinoids exert pleiotropic effects on the development of vertebrates through the action of retinoic acid receptors (RAR) and retinoid X receptors (RXR). We have investigated the effect of synthetic retinoids selective for RXR and RAR on the development of Xenopus and zebrafish embryos. In Xenopus,both ligands selective for RAR and RXR caused striking malformations along the anterior-posterior axis,whereas in zebrafish only ligands specific for RAR caused embryonic malformations. In Xenopus,RAR- and RXR-selective ligands regulated the expression of the Xlim-1,gsc,and HoxA1 genes similarly as all-trans-retinoic acid. Nevertheless,RXR-selective ligands activated only an RXR responsive reporter but not an RAR responsive reporter introduced by microinjection into the Xenopus embryo,consistent with our failure to detect conversion of an RXR-selective ligand to different derivatives in the embryo. These results suggest that Xenopus embryos possess a unique response pathway in which liganded RXR can control gene expression. Our observations further illustrate the divergence in retinoid responsiveness between different vertebrate species. View Publication

The PDE2,cyclic GMP-stimulated,and the PDE4,cyclic AMP-specific enzymes provide the major,detectable cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activities in murine thymocytes. In the absence of the cyclic GMP,PDE4 activity predominated (approximately 80% total) but in the presence of low (10 microM) cyclic GMP concentrations,PDE2 activity constituted the major PDE activity in thymocytes (approximately 80% total). The PDE4 selective inhibitor rolipram dose-dependently inhibited thymocyte PDE4 activity (IC50 approximately 65 nM). PDE2 was dose-dependently activated (EC50 approximately 1 microM) by cyclic GMP and inhibited by erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)-adenine (EHNA) (IC50 approximately 4 microM). EHNA was shown to serve as a selective inhibitor of PDE-2 activity as assessed from studies using separated PDE1,PDE2,PDE3 and PDE4 species from hepatocytes as well as human PDE2 and PDE4 enzymes. EHNA completely ablated the ability of cyclic GMP to activate PDE2 activity,whilst having a much smaller inhibitory effect on the unstimulated PDE2 activity. EHNA exhibited normal Michaelian kinetics of inhibition for the cyclic GMP-stimulated PDE2 activity with Hill plots near unity. Apparent negative co-operative effect were seen in the absence of cyclic GMP with Hill coefficients of approximately 0.3 for inhibition of PDE2 activity. Within 5 min of challenge of thymocytes with the lectin phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) there was a transient decrease (approximately 83%) in PDE-4 activity and in PDE2 activity (approximately 40%). Both anti-TCR antibodies also caused an initial reduction in the PDE4 activity which was followed by a sustained and profound increase in activity. In contrast to that observed with PHA,anti-TCR/CD3 antisera had little effect on PDE2 activity. It is suggested that,dependent upon the intracellular concentrations of cyclic GMP,thymocyte cyclic AMP metabolism can be expected to switch from being under the predominant control of PDE4 activity to that determined predominantly by PDE2 activity. These activities may be rapidly and differentially regulated following ligation of different cell surface receptors. View Publication