Disruption of p53 in human cancer cells alters the responses to therapeutic agents

We have examined the effects of commonly used chemotherapeutic agents on human colon cancer cell lines in which the p53 pathway has been specifically disrupted by targeted homologous recombination. We found that p53 had profound effects on drug responses, and these effects varied dramatically depending on the drug. The p53-deficient cells were sensitized to the effects of DNA-damaging agents as a result of the failure to induce expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21. In contrast, p53 disruption rendered cells strikingly resistant to the effects of the antimetabolite 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), the mainstay of adjuvant therapy for colorectal cancer. The effects on 5-FU sensitivity were observed both in vitro and in vivo, were independent of p21, and appeared to be the result of perturbations in RNA, rather than DNA, metabolism. These results have significant implications for future efforts to maximize therapeutic efficacy in patients with defined genetic alterations.     

Sphingolipids in food and the emerging importance of sphingolipids to nutrition.

Eukaryotic organisms as well as some prokaryotes and viruses contain sphingolipids, which are defined by a common structural feature, i.e. , a "sphingoid base" backbone such as D-erythro-1,3-dihydroxy, 2-aminooctadec-4-ene (sphingosine). The sphingolipids of mammalian tissues, lipoproteins, and milk include ceramides, sphingomyelins, cerebrosides, gangliosides and sulfatides; plants, fungi and yeast have mainly cerebrosides and phosphoinositides. The total amounts of sphingolipids in food vary considerably, from a few micromoles per kilogram (fruits) to several millimoles per kilogram in rich sources such as dairy products, eggs and soybeans. With the use of the limited data available, per capita sphingolipid consumption in the United States can be estimated to be on the order of 150-180 mmol (approximately 115-140 g) per year, or 0.3-0.4 g/d. There is no known nutritional requirement for sphingolipids; nonetheless, they are hydrolyzed throughout the gastrointestinal tract to the same categories of metabolites (ceramides and sphingoid bases) that are used by cells to regulate growth, differentiation, apoptosis and other cellular functions. Studies with experimental animals have shown that feeding sphingolipids inhibits colon carcinogenesis, reduces serum LDL cholesterol and elevates HDL, suggesting that sphingolipids represent a "functional" constituent of food. Sphingolipid metabolism can also be modified by constituents of the diet, such as cholesterol, fatty acids and mycotoxins (fumonisins), with consequences for cell regulation and disease. Additional associations among diet, sphingolipids and health are certain to emerge as more is learned about these compounds.     

Preceramic maize from Paredones and Huaca Prieta, Peru

Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) is among the world's most important and ancient domesticated crops. Although the chronology of its domestication and initial dispersals out of Mexico into Central and South America has become more clear due to molecular and multiproxy archaeobotanical research, important problems remain. Among them is the paucity of information on maize's early morphological evolution and racial diversification brought about in part by the poor preservation of macrofossils dating to the pre-5000 calibrated years before the present period from obligate dispersal routes located in the tropical forest. We report newly discovered macrobotanical and microbotanical remains of maize that shed significant light on the chronology, land race evolution, and cultural contexts associated with the crop's early movements into South America and adaptation to new environments. The evidence comes from the coastal Peruvian sites of Paredones and Huaca Prieta, Peru; dates from the middle and late preceramic and early ceramic periods (between ca. 6700 and 3000 calibrated years before the present); and constitutes some of the earliest known cobs, husks, stalks, and tassels. The macrobotanical record indicates that a diversity of racial complexes characteristic of the Andean region emerged during the preceramic era. In addition, accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon determinations carried out directly on different structures of preserved maize plants strongly suggest that assays on burned cobs are more reliable than those on unburned cobs. Our findings contribute to knowledge of the early diffusion of maize and agriculture and have broader implications for understanding the development of early preindustrial human societies.     

Toxicologic and immunologic evaluations of N-(all-trans-retinoyl)-DL-leucine and N-(all-trans-retinoyl)glycine

Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed by gavage daily for 28 days with 5, 15, or 50 mg/kg of N-(all-trans-retinoyl)-DL-leucine (RL), N-(all-trans-retinoyl)glycine (RG), or all-trans-retinoic acid (RA). On the basis of mortality incidence, fracture incidence, body weight, and histopathologic effects, RG was slightly to moderately less toxic than RA, and RL was significantly less toxic than RA or RG. Doses that had no effect on weight loss and produced no bone fractures were approximately 5 and 15 mg/kg/day for RA administered to males or females, respectively; greater than 15 mg/kg/day for RG administered to males or females; and greater than 50 mg/kg/day for RL administered to males or females. At these doses, RA and RG produced effects, detectable at the microscopic level, of lymphoid hyperplasia and hematopoietic cell proliferation in the spleen, lymphoid hyperplasia in lymph nodes, necrosis of the cortex of the thymus, hypertrophy of the zona fasciculata of the adrenal, a periportal pattern of cytoplasmic vacuolization in hepatocytes, hematopoietic cell proliferation in the liver, epithelial hyperplasia and subacute inflammation in the forestomach, and osteodystrophy. Serological alterations consisted of reduced serum albumin levels and elevated levels of triglycerides and alkaline phosphatase. For RL, similar microscopic effects, dependent on dose level and sex, were observed in spleen, thymus, adrenal, and liver. In vitro, RL was as active as RA in potentiating pokeweed mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation; RG was inactive. This study indicates that, relative to RA and RG, RL has less toxicity but similar immunological effects. Since RL and RG expressed little or no binding affinity for cellular RA-binding protein, the immunological effects of these retinoids may be expressed by mechanisms not linked to this protein.     

Effects of retinoids on macrophage function and IL-1 activity

The effects of three retinoids, all-trans-retinoic acid (RA), 13-cis-retinoic acid (cRA), and N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide (4-HPR), on macrophage function were evaluated. In vitro, RA, cRA, and 4-HPR caused a greater than twofold increase in phagocytosis of IgG-sensitized bovine erythrocytes (IgG-ORBC) by a mouse macrophage cell line (RAW). Significant increases in phagocytosis were produced by retinoid concentrations as low as 2 x 10(-10) M. RA also significantly increased phagocytosis of IgG-sensitized ORBC by BALB/c peritoneal macrophages in vitro. The ability of RAW macrophages to bind IgG-ORBC was significantly increased by 10(-6) to 10(-14) M RA. The potentiation of mitogenic responses of spleen cells to Con A and PWM by RA was relatively independent of macrophage function, i.e., splenocytes that were macrophage-depleted were responsive to the potentiating effects of RA. The effects of retinoids on T-cell-dependent B-cell mitogenesis induced by PWM appeared not to be dependent on their previously reported capacity to alter prostaglandin synthesis. Treatment of spleen cells with 10(-6) M indomethacin did not abolish the potentiating effects of RA. However, RA in a dose-dependent fashion increased IL-1 activity at the level of the target T-cell. The greatest potentiation of IL-1 activity was at 10(-8) M RA. These results show that retinoids can modulate macrophage function at two different levels: potentiation of phagocytosis and potentiation of IL-1 activity at the level of the T-cell.     

Retinoic acid-mediated growth inhibition of small cell lung cancer cells is associated with reduced myc and increased p27Kip1 expression

Human lung cancer cells, including small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), frequently lose expression of retinoic acid receptor beta (RAR-beta) and are resistant to the growth inhibitory activity of all-trans retinoic acid (RA). To elucidate the role of RAR-beta in the growth regulation of SCLC by retinoids, we restored RAR-beta expression in RAR-beta-negative H209 SCLC cells by retroviral transduction (H209-RAR-beta). We found that H209-RAR-beta, but not parental H209 cells, underwent growth inhibition upon RA treatment. RA-treated H209-RAR-beta cells arrested in G1 and displayed reduced L-myc expression and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (cdk2) activity compared with untreated cells. RA treatment of H209-RAR-beta cells was also accompanied by increased expression of the cdk inhibitor p27Kip1, whereas no differences in the expression of L-myc or p27Kip1 were detected upon RA treatment of parental H209 cells. The RA-induced growth arrest of H82 SCLC cells, which express endogenous RAR-beta, was also associated with reduced c-myc and increased p27Kip1 expression. We found that ectopic expression of p27Kip1 induced growth inhibition in both H209 and H82 cells, and that sustained myc expression in H209-RAR-beta cells promoted the induction of apoptosis upon RA addition. Our observations indicate that RAR-beta gene transfer can restore RA sensitivity in SCLC cells and suggest that myc and p27Kip1 may represent critical mediators of the RA-induced cell cycle arrest in SCLC cells expressing RAR-beta.