Different sensitivity of Zajdela hepatoma mitochondrial ATPase activity to uncouplers in digitonin-treated cells and isolated mitochondria

Digitonin-treated Zajdela hepatoma cells and rat hepatocytes devoid of almost all cytosol but retaining intact mitochondria were found to represent a suitable system for direct measurement of mitochondrial ATPase activity. The enzyme activity in digitonin-treated Zajdela hepatoma cells in contrast to that of isolated coupled mitochondria was stimulated by uncouplers. No difference in response of mitochondrial ATPase activity to uncouplers in digitonin-treated hepatocytes and isolated liver mitochondria was found. It is concluded that uncoupler-insensitive mitochondrial ATPase activity does not occur in intact in situ tumor mitochondria but is acquired during the isolation of the organelles.     

Mitochondrial ATPase of Zajdela hepatoma. II. Mitochondria of Zajdela hepatoma contain less adenosine triphosphatase than mitochondria of rat liver.

The specific activity and the content of ATPase in mitochondria of rat liver and Zajdela hepatoma were compared. The specific activity of ATPase in sonicated mitochondria and in mitochondrial membrane fraction of rat liver was almost two times higher than the specific activity in the corresponding fraction of Zajdela hepatoma. Accordingly, the autovertin binding capacity of rat liver mitochondrial membrane fraction as well as the yield of F1-ATPase from this fraction were about two times higher than those of the mitochondrial membrane fraction of Zajdela hepatoma. The results show that mitochondria of Zajdela Hapatoma possess about half amount of ATPase present in rat liver mitochondria.     

Mitochondrial ATPase of Zajdela hepatoma. V. Mitochondria of Zajdela hepatoma contain membrane sectors of ATPase complex unassociated with F1.

Relative content of membrane sectors of ATPase complex in rat liver and Zajdela hepatoma mitochondria and the ability of mitochondrial membrane of the two sources to bind isolated soluble (F1) ATPase were examined. Approximately equal concentrations of oligomycin were required for 50% inhibition of ATPase activity in submitochondrial particles of rat liver and Zajdela hepatoma indicating practically identical content of membrane sectors of ATPase complex in both types of mitochondria. As detected by the increase in oligomycin-sensitive ATPase activity of submitochondrial particles incubated with isolated F1, the submitochondrial particles of Zajdela hepatoma in contrast to those of rat liver were able to bind specifically considerable amounts of exogenously added F1. The results indicate that mitochondria of Zajdela hepatoma contain membrane sectors of ATPase complex unassociated with F1 but capable of association with this enzyme.     

Effect of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II), cyclophosphamide and tumor age on the rate of mitochondrial and overall cellular protein synthesis in Zajdela hepatoma

The effect of in vivo treatment with cis-Pt(II) and/or cyclophosphamide on overall cellular and mitochondrial protein synthesis in Zajdela hepatoma was examined. The rate of the overall cellular protein synthesis decreased by about 60-80%, whereas the rate of the process in mitochondria was affected only marginally upon the treatment. Qualitatively similar changes in the relative rates of the two processes were found in Zajdela hepatoma cells during the ageing of the tumor.     

Energy deprivation of Zajdela hepatoma cells upon in vivo treatment with thiamphenicol

In vivo inhibition of mitochondrial protein synthesis in Zajdela hepatoma by thiamphenicol accompanied by about 70% decrease in mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase activity resulted in a marked inhibition of the tumor growth. Under similar conditions liver regeneration was not appreciably affected. Although the glycolytic capacity of Zajdela hepatoma cells increased after in vivo thiamphenicol treatment, the cellular contents and ratios of adenine nucleotides indicated energy deprivation of the treated cells.     

On some similarity between membrane antigens of the cell of Zajdela hepatoma and liver of rats subjected to a single 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene injection

Zajdela ascitic hepatoma cells were tested with the organ specific immune serum against kidney cell ghosts in the reaction of immunofluorescence. On the surface of the hepatoma cells occurred heteroorganic antigens characteristic of the membranes of intact rat kidney but never observed in their liver. Similar antigens were found in the liver of rats 1-18 days following a single injection of a hepato-carcinogen--4-dimethylaminoazobenzene but not after 4-diethylaminoazobenzene, which is a noncarcinogenic structural analogue of 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene. Noteworthy is the transient nature of this alteration in antigenic structure, since from day 21 after carcinogen application it was no longer found.     

Mitochondrial ATPase of Zajdela hepatoma. VI. Effect of extramitochondrial ATP and pH on uncoupler-sensitivity of mitochondrial ATPase activity.

Coupled Zajdela hepatoma mitochondria were reported to exhibit uncoupler-insensitive ATPase activity. The results of this study show that under specific conditions the ATPase activity of Zajdela hepatoma mitochondria can be stimulated by uncouplers. These conditions include (a) the addition of ATP to the mitochondria before the uncoupler in the ATPase activity assay or (b) elevation of pH (above 8.5) of the ATPase activity assay medium.     

Biosynthesis of cholesteryl 14-methylhexadecanoate in the liver of rats bearing transplantable tumors and during chemical carcinogenesis.

Biosynthesis of cholesteryl 14-methylhexadecanoate, cholesteryl palmitate and cholesteryl stearate was studied in the liver of rats bearing the Walker 256 carcinoma. Zajdela hepatoma and during chemical carcinogenesis following the administration of benzo[a]-pyrene. An up to 9-fold enhanced production of all these esters was found in liver homogenate during the 10--16th day after Walker tumor transplantation. Only the enzyme system esterifying cholesterol in the cytosol at pH 6.5 was stimulated while the activity of similar enzymes in mitochondria, microsomes and cytosol at an acid pH were not affected. Activity of the cytosol enzyme esterifying cholesterol at pH 6.5 was also enhanced during the active growth of Zajdela hepatoma and during the period of chemical carcinogenesis characterized by the appearance of first palpable subcutaneous tumors. Enhanced activity of cholesterol esterifying enzymes in the liver exactly coincided with periods of elevated levels of cholesteryl 14-methylhexadecanoate in the liver and blood plasma as described earlier. An increased demand of the tumor-bearing host for this cholesteryl ester utilized as a co-factor for enhanced protein synthesis is obviously met by its stimulated production in the liver tissue.     

Mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase of Zajdela hepatoma. III. Effect of uncouplers on the hydrolysis of intramitochondrial ATP.

Hydrolysis of extramitochondrial ATP by coupled Zajdela hepatoma mitochondria is not stimulated by uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation. The results of the present study show that the hydrolysis of intramitochondrial ATP in these mitochondria is stimulated by DNP and CCCP. It is proposed that the uncoupler insensitivity of ATPase in coupled Zajdela hepatoma mitochondria with exogenous ATP as a substrate result from an altered functional relationship between ATPase and ADP, ATP translocase.     

Oxidative injury in rat fatty liver exposed to ischemia-reperfusion is modulated by nutritional status

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Oxidative stress contributes to ischemia-reperfusion injury in fatty livers. This study aimed to determine whether glycogen depletion influences this oxidative injury and whether the administration of glucose can be protective. METHODS: Rats with choline deficiency-induced fatty liver underwent hepatic ischemia-reperfusion. Experimental groups: (1) fed rats; (2) 18 h fasted rats; (3) 18 h fasted rats supplemented with glucose prior to surgery. The thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, protein carbonyls and total glutathione concentrations were measured in liver tissue and isolated mitochondria as parameters of oxidative stress before and after ischemia and during reperfusion. The mitochondrial F1-ATPase content and the serum alanine transaminase were also determined. RESULTS: With respect to fed rats, fasted rats exhibited an increased oxidative injury in both liver tissue and isolated mitochondria throughout the experiment with the only exception of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, which were not affected by the nutritional status in liver tissue. Fasted rats showed a significantly lower F1-ATPase content and higher alanine transaminase levels. Glucose supplementation significantly reduced the fasting-associated exacerbation of oxidative stress and liver injury and the F1-ATPase exhaustion. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that the pre-existing hepatic glycogen content modulates the oxidative damage in rat fatty livers exposed to ischemia-reperfusion injury and that the energetic substrate supplementation may represent a clinically feasible protective strategy.     

Mechanism of liver-selective thyromimetic activity of SK&F L-94901: evidence for the presence of a cell-type-specific nuclear iodothyronine transport process

The thyromimetic compound SK&F L-94901 shows more potent thyromimetic activity in the liver than in the pituitary gland or heart when administered to rats. The mechanisms of liver-selectivity of SK&F L-94901 were examined using cultured rat hepatoma cells (dRLH-84) and rat pituitary tumor cells (GH3), both of which showed saturable cellular uptake of tri-iodothyronine (T(3)). When isolated nuclei with partial disruption of the outer nuclear membrane were used, SK&F L-94901 competed for [(125)I]T(3) binding to nuclear receptors almost equally in dRLH-84 and GH3 cells. SK&F L-94901 also did not discriminate thyroid hormone receptors (TR) alpha1 and beta1 in terms of binding affinity and activation of the thyroid hormone responsive element. In intact cells, however, SK&F L-94901 was a more potent inhibitor of nuclear [(125)I]T(3) binding in dRLH-84 cells than in GH3 cells at an early phase of the nuclear uptake process and after binding equilibrium. These data suggest that SK&F L-94901 is more effectively transported to nuclear TRs in hepatic cells than in pituitary cells and therefore shows liver-selective thyromimetic activity. In conclusion, SK&F L-94901 discriminates hepatic cells and pituitary cells at the nuclear transport process. The cellular transporters responsible for this discrimination were not evident.     

Some antigenic similarity between nonhistone protein-DNA complexes from chromatin of the cells of Zajdela hepatoma and liver of rats subjected to a single 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene injection

A comparative study of the antigenic properties of the nonhistone protein (NHP)-DNA complexes, isolated from liver and kidney chromatin of intact rats and from Zajdela hepatoma cells, revealed in the latter the presence of an antigenic component characteristic of kidney chromatin but never occurring in the liver chromatin of intact rats. A similar antigenic component is found in rat liver 4--7 days following a single injection of the hepatocarcinogen 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene and is not observed after an injection of the non-carcinogenic analogue 4-diethylaminoazobenzene. It is noteworthy, that this chromatin alteration resulting from carcinogen treatment is temporary, since on the 11th day following such treatment the kidney antigen is no longer found.     

High aerobic glycolysis of rat hepatoma cells in culture: Role of mitochondrial hexokinase

A tumorigenic anchorage-dependent cell line (H-91) was established in culture from an azo-dye-induced rat ascites hepatoma. When grown in a glucose-containing medium the cells exhibit high rates of lactic acid production characteristic of rapidly growing tumor cells. However, when glucose is replaced with galactose the cells grow equally well but exhibit only moderately elevated rates of lactic acid production. The molecular basis for this observation cannot be attributed to differences in permeability because initial rates of glucose and galactose entry into hepatoma cells are identical. Rather, the activity of hexokinase (ATP:D-hexose 6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.1) is found to be high in hepatoma cells, about 20-fold higher than that of control and regenerating rat liver. Moreover, tumor hexokinase activity is not inhibited by low concentrations (<0.6 mM) of the reaction product glucose 6-phosphate. Additionally, 50% of the hexokinase activity of hepatoma cells is found associated with the mitochondrial fraction. This fraction is 3-fold enriched in hexokinase activity relative to the homogenate and 4-fold enriched relative to the nuclear and postmitochondrial fractions. Tumor mitochondrial hexokinase appears to be coupled directly to oxidative phosphorylation, because addition of glucose to respiring hepatoma mitochondria (after a burst of ATP synthesis) results in stimulation of respiration. In contrast, glucose has no effect on the respiration of mitochondria from control and regenerating liver. These results suggest that the high glycolytic capacity of H-91 hepatoma cells is due, at least in part, to an elevated form of hexokinase concentrated in the mitochondrial fraction of the cell.     

Spiperone: evidence for uptake into secretory granules.

Spiperone, a dopamine antagonist widely used as a specific ligand for dopamine and serotonin receptors, is actively accumulated into the F4C1 strain of rat pituitary tumor cells. The accumulation of 10 nM [3H]spiperone was linear for 3 min and reached a steady state after 10 min. Spiperone accumulation was reduced 50% by preincubation with 5 microM reserpine, an inhibitor of biogenic amine transport into secretory granules, and was also blocked by monensin and ammonium chloride, both of which increase the pH of intracellular storage organelles. Uptake was not affected by replacing sodium in the buffer with lithium at equimolar concentrations. Spiperone at 1 microM inhibited by over 50% serotonin transport into membrane vesicles isolated from platelet dense granules; this concentration inhibited the Na+-dependent plasma membrane transport system less than 10%. The data indicate spiperone specifically interacts with the secretory granule amine transport system and suggest that this transport system is found in the F4C1 pituitary cell strain as well as in platelets and neurons. The data also suggest that experiments utilizing spiperone to measure dopamine and serotonin receptors be interpreted with caution.     

A further study on the number of silver stained granules of active nucleolus organizer regions in mitotic Yoshida and Zajdela rat experimental tumor cells

Yoshida ascitic sarcoma and Zajdela ascitic hepatoma were investigated in Norway rats to provide more information on active nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) represented by silver stained granules (SSGs). Diploid Yoshida sarcoma cells were characterized by the presence of 6 (3 doublets) of SSGs in the metaphase and 3 + 3 SSGs in future daughter nuclei in the anaphase or telophase. In contrast Zajdela hepatoma cells (frequently hypoploid) possessed 6 SSGs less frequently in the metaphase and the number of anaphasic or telophasic cells with 3 SSGs in future daughter nuclei was also reduced. The number of SSGs in future nuclei of anaphasic or telophasic Yoshida sarcoma cells was usually the same, i.e. such anaphases or telophases were symetric. In Zajdela hepatoma cells the number of symetric anaphases and telophases was substantially reduced in favor of asymetric anaphases or telophases which contained different number of SSGs in future nuclei.     

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 inhibition slows mitochondrial adenine nucleotide transport and regulates voltage-dependent anion channel phosphorylation

Inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 reduces ischemia/reperfusion injury by mechanisms that involve the mitochondria. The goal of this study was to explore possible molecular targets and mechanistic basis of this cardioprotective effect. In perfused rat hearts, treatment with GSK inhibitors before ischemia significantly improved recovery of function. To assess the effect of GSK inhibitors on mitochondrial function under ischemic conditions, mitochondria were isolated from rat hearts perfused with GSK inhibitors and were treated with uncoupler or cyanide or were made anoxic. GSK inhibition slowed ATP consumption under these conditions, which could be attributable to inhibition of ATP entry into the mitochondria through the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) and/or adenine nucleotide transporter (ANT) or to inhibition of the F(1)F(0)-ATPase. To determine the site of the inhibitory effect on ATP consumption, we measured the conversion of ADP to AMP by adenylate kinase located in the intermembrane space. This assay requires adenine nucleotide transport across the outer but not the inner mitochondrial membrane, and we found that GSK inhibitors slow AMP production similar to their effect on ATP consumption. This suggests that GSK inhibitors are acting on outer mitochondrial membrane transport. In sonicated mitochondria, GSK inhibition had no effect on ATP consumption or AMP production. In intact mitochondria, cyclosporin A had no effect, indicating that ATP consumption is not caused by opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore. Because GSK is a kinase, we assessed whether protein phosphorylation might be involved. Therefore, we performed Western blot and 1D/2D gel phosphorylation site analysis using phos-tag staining to indicate proteins that had decreased phosphorylation in hearts treated with GSK inhibitors. Liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis revealed 1 of these proteins to be VDAC2. Taken together, we found that GSK-mediated signaling modulates transport through the outer membrane of the mitochondria. Both proteomics and adenine nucleotide transport data suggest that GSK regulates VDAC and that VDAC may be an important regulatory site in ischemia/reperfusion injury.     

Targeting of hexokinase 1 to liver and hepatoma mitochondria.

The proportion of hexokinase (HK; EC 2.7.1.1) isozyme 1 (HK1) that is bound to the outer mitochondrial membrane is tissue specific and developmentally regulated. HK activity is known to be markedly elevated in many cancer cells and a significant fraction is mitochondrial bound. This study examined the role of the 15-amino acid N-terminal domain of HK1 in binding to liver and hepatoma mitochondria. A chimeric reporter construct, pCMVHKCAT, encoding this HK1 domain coupled to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene was electroporated into mouse Hepa 1-6 hepatoma cells. After digitonin treatment, cell fractions were assayed for HK, lactate dehydrogenase, and CAT activities. Digitonin (75 micrograms/mg of protein) caused cytosolic leak but 70% of HK remained with the pellet. HKCAT, like HK, remained predominantly with the pellet; CAT form the control, pCMVCAT, remained mostly unbound. Binding of membrane-free cell extracts to rat liver mitochondria in vitro showed 91% of the HKCAT bound, whereas only 12% of CAT bound. Specificity of HKCAT binding to mitochondria was demonstrated by competition of HK1 for HKCAT binding sites on rat liver mitochondria as well as by blockage of HKCAT binding by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, which covalently binds to porin and blocks HK1 binding. Deletional mutant constructs of HKCAT showed reduced binding with increasing deletion size. In summary, these studies demonstrate that the 15-amino acid N-terminal domain of HK1 is necessary and sufficient to confer mitochondrial binding properties to CAT and that there is specificity for this binding to the mitochondria.     

Cytoplasmically made subunits of yeast mitochondrial F1-ATPase and cytochrome c oxidase are synthesized as individual precursors, not as polyproteins.

At least three subunits of yeast mitochondrial F1-ATPase (ATP phosphohydrolase, EC 3.6.1.3) and at least two subunits of cytochrome c oxidase (ferrocytochrome c:oxygen oxidoreductase, EC 1.9.3.1) are synthesized outside the mitochondria and imported into the organelles as individual precursors that are between 2000 and 6000 daltons larger than the mature subunits. These precursors were shown to be primary translation products. Therefore, neither the five F1 subunits nor the four small cytochrome c oxidase subunits are synthesized as a single polyprotein.     

Regulation of glucose metabolism by insulin: dual role of protein kinase C

The role that protein kinase C (PKC) may play on insulin regulation of glucose metabolism was investigated in rat adipocytes and Zajdela hepatoma cultured (ZHC) cells which are two cell types highly responsive to insulin. In rat adipocytes, 4 beta-phorbol 12 beta-myristate, 13 alpha-acetate (PMA, 0.1-1,000 ng/ml), a potent tumor promoter acting as a substitute for diacylglycerol which directly activates PKC, stimulated basal 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) transport in a time- and dose-dependent manner, but decreased the activation of this process elicited by submaximal concentrations of insulin. PMA (0.1-1,000 ng/ml) also stimulated basal lipogenesis from [3-3H] glucose in a dose-dependent manner. Maximal PMA and insulin effects on both processes were not additive. The specificity of the insulin-like effects of PMA was assessed by the finding that 4 beta-phorbol 12, 13 dibutyrate (PDBu), mezerein, 1-oleyl-2-acetyl glycerol (OAG) and 1, 2 diolein, know as PKC activators, also markedly stimulated glucose metabolism whereas 4 alpha-phorbol 12, 13 didecanoate (4 alpha-PDD) and 4 beta-phorbol 13-monoacetate, shown not to activate PKC, were ineffective. PMA and insulin biological effects exhibited several similarities: both agents stimulated glucose transport and lipogenesis in a calcium-dependent manner, both activated glucose transport through an energy-requiring process, and the effects of both were markedly decreased by mellitin, a PKC inhibitor. Finally, fat cells made PKC-deficient by a chronic treatment with PMA exhibited a marked decrease in insulin responsiveness for stimulation of glucose transport and lipogenesis, with no change in either the hormone sensitivity or the insulin receptor affinity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)