Cell Growth & Differentiation : the Molecular Biology Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research

In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the calmodulin-binding protein Spc110p/Nuf1p facilitates mitotic spindle formation from the fungal centrosome or spindle pole body (SPB). The human Spc110p orthologue kendrin is a centrosomal, calmodulin-binding pericentrin isoform that is specifically overexpressed in carcinoma cells. Here we establish an evolutionary and functional link between Spc110p and kendrin through identification and analysis of similar calmodulin-binding proteins in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe (Pcp1p, pole target of calmodulin in S...

The architectural factor HMGI-C is of considerable interest for its recognized roles in mammalian development and tumorigenesis. As a result, the identification of downstream target genes of HMGI-C is the present focus of active research. In vitro evidence from macrophage cell lines has previously suggested that Hmgi-c is necessary for the inducible activation of MuRantes expression. To attempt to verify this hypothesis, an in vivo analysis was performed that took advantage of the existence of the Hmgi-c null mouse strain...

Macrophages form a crucial bridge between the innate and adaptive immune response. One of their most important functions is to recognize infectious microorganisms. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key elements in pathogen recognition, and among them, TLR2 and TLR4 are most discussed. However, expression patterns of TLRs during myeloid cell differentiation to macrophage are unknown. In this study, we examined differentiation in the model human myeloid cell line, HL-60, treated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or VitD(3)...

We examined the effects of various adenine analogues on the growth and differentiation of human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells. Some of these analogues inhibit growth and induce nitroblue tetrazolium reducing activity in HL-60 cells. Cytokinins such as kinetin, isopentenyladenine, and benzyladenine were very effective in inducing nitroblue tetrazolium reduction and morphological changes in the cells into mature granulocytes. On the other hand, cytokinin ribosides such as kinetin riboside, isopentenyladenosine, and benzylaminopurine riboside were the most potent for growth inhibition and apoptosis...

The biological actions of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) are mediated by two cell surface receptors, TNFR-1 and TNFR-2. These receptors do not display protein tyrosine kinase activity. Nevertheless, an early TNF-induced activation of specific tyrosine kinases has been reported as an important cue to the cellular response to this cytokine. Here we present evidence that TNF-alpha induces the activation of the cytoplasmic Janus tyrosine kinases Jak1 and Tyk2 in both human healthy peripheral and lymphoma B cells...

To better understand androgen action in normal prostate cells, we characterized the androgen growth response of an immortalized nontumorigenic rat prostate cell line called CA25 that had been stably transfected with androgen receptor (AR) cDNA. Surprisingly, we found that AR(+) CA25 cells grew slower in the presence of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), whereas the growth of AR(-) CA25 cells was not affected by the hormone. DHT-mediated growth inhibition of CA25 cells was not attributable to an increase in apoptosis but rather to a morphological conversion consistent with terminal differentiation...

2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) is a mammary gland carcinogen in cooked meat. Using the HC11 mouse mammary epithelial cell line, a well-characterized model for hormone-mediated differentiation, we examined whether PhIP altered the expression of genes regulated by lactogenic hormones dexamethasone, insulin, and prolactin (DIP). When HC11-Lux cells (stably transfected with a beta-casein promoter luciferase construct) were cultured in DIP-containing medium, PhIP (100 microM) enhanced luciferase activity 11-fold over that observed in DIP medium alone...

Bryostatin 1 (bryo 1) is known to induce the differentiation and cell cycle arrest of human lymphoid leukemia cells in vitro. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), originally identified as a participant in mitogenic signaling, has recently been implicated in the signaling of cellular differentiation. To examine the role of the ERK/mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway in B-lymphoid cell differentiation of the Reh Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia cell line, the effects of bryo 1 on ERK activation were determined...

To reproduce the structural and functional differentiation of human prostatic acini in vivo, prostatic epithelial and stromal cells derived from human primary cultures were cocultured in Matrigel. In the absence of stroma and serum, epithelial spheroids composed of solid masses of stratified and cuboidal cells formed. Outer cells of the spheroid expressed cytokeratins 1, 5, 10, and 14, whereas the inner cells expressed cytokeratin 18. The addition of 2% serum induced formation of a lumen surrounded by a layer of one or two cuboidal and columnar epithelial cells...

It was shown previously that a majority of hybrids produced by in vitro fusion of normal macrophages with Cloudman S91 melanoma cells displayed enhanced metastatic potential in vivo, increased motility in vitro, increased ability to produce melanin, and responsiveness to melanocyte stimulating hormone compared with the parental Cloudman S91 melanoma cells. These hybrids also showed altered N-glycosylation consistent with a slower migration pattern of lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP-1) on electrophoretic gels...

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 Tax protein, a transcriptional activator of viral expression, promotes uncontrolled cellular proliferation. In this report, we show that Tax-expressing myoblasts do not exit the cell cycle and fail to differentiate into myotubes despite the deprivation of serum. In these cells, which displayed unchanged levels of the ubiquitous basic helix-loop-helix E2A factors and Id proteins, Tax was found to target the muscle-specific basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor MyoD. The Tax-induced increase in cyclin-dependent kinase 2 activity correlated with the phosphorylation of MyoD...

Rho family GTPases Rac and Cdc42 are pivotal regulators of apoptosis in multiple cell types. However, little is known about the mechanism by which these GTPases are regulated in response to apoptotic stimuli. Here, we demonstrate that TIAM1, a Rac-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor, is cleaved by caspases during apoptosis. TIAM1 cleavage occurs in multiple cell lines in response to diverse apoptotic stimuli such as ceramide, Fas, and serum deprivation. Processing occurs at residue 993 of TIAM1 and removes the NH(2)-terminal of TIAM's two pleckstrin homology domains, leaving a stable fragment containing the Dbl homology and COOH-terminal pleckstrin homology domains...

The development of the nervous system requires a strict control of cell cycle entry and withdrawal. The olfactory epithelium (OE) is noticeable by its ability to yield new neurons not only during development but also continuously during adulthood. The aim of our study was to investigate, by biochemical and immunohistochemical methods, which cell cycle regulators are involved in the control of neuron production during OE development and maturity. At birth, olfactory neural progenitors, the basal cells, exhibited a high mitogenic and neurogenic activity, decreasing in the following weeks together with the drop in expression of several cell cycle regulators...

The mitotic inducer Cdc2 is negatively regulated, in part, by phosphorylation on tyrosine 15. Human Wee1 is a tyrosine-specific protein kinase that phosphorylates Cdc2 on tyrosine 15. Human Wee1 is subject to multiple levels of regulation including reversible phosphorylation, proteolysis, and protein-protein interactions. Here we have investigated the contributions made by 14-3-3 binding to human Wee1 regulation and function. We report that the interactions of 14-3-3 proteins with human Wee1 are reduced during mitosis and are stable in the presence of the protein kinase inhibitor UCN-01...

Expression of membrane-type (MT) 5 matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) in the mouse brain was examined. MT5-MMP was expressed in the cerebrum in embryos, but it declined after birth. In contrast, expression in the cerebellum started to increase postnatally and continued thereafter. The cells expressing MT5-MMP were postmitotic neurons that showed gelatinolytic activities. Specific expression of MT5-MMP was observed in the neurons but not in the glial cells when embryonal mouse carcinoma P19 cells were differentiated in vitro by retinoic acid treatment...

Nuclear receptors represent key regulators in cell proliferation, differentiation, and development. Here we demonstrate that the nuclear orphan receptor TR4 is highly expressed in hematopoietic cells and tissues and have analyzed the impact of TR4 in this cell compartment. We show that TR4, when ectopically expressed in bone marrow cells via retrovirus vector, promotes proliferation of myeloid progenitor cells. Cells represent promyelocytes as judged by morphological features, expression of cell surface molecules, and specific markers like Mim-1 and CAAT/enhancer binding protein beta...

The gene encoding for p120 RasGAP, has been disrupted in mice (M. Henkemeyer et al., Nature (Lond.), 377: 695-701, 1995). In this study, using fibroblasts derived from these mouse embryos (Gap-/-; P. van der Geer et al., Mol. Cell Biol., 17: 1840-1847, 1997), we demonstrate that mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation is prolonged after epidermal growth factor (EGF), but not lysophosphatidic acid, stimulation as compared with wild-type cells. Furthermore, these cells exhibited a moderate increase in their proliferative rate and saturation density, as well as a limited ability to form colonies in soft agar...

The antibiotic radicicol suppresses transformation in a variety of transformed cells. The antineoplastic effects of the drug have been attributed to the degradation of Raf and the inactivation of the Ras/Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling cascade. Here we demonstrate that radicicol induces cell spreading, suppresses anchorage-independent cell growth, and increases the expression of the high-molecular weight tropomyosin isoform TM-2 in cells stably expressing a constitutively active form of MEK-1 as well as in ras-transformed cells...

Normal human cells can undergo a limited number of divisions, whereas transformed cells may have an extended life span and can give rise to immortal cells. To isolate genes involved in the immortalization process, gene expression in SV40-transformed preimmortal human fibroblasts was compared with expression in SV40-transformed immortalized fibroblasts using an mRNA differential display. We found that the growth-inhibitory protein testis-signal transduction and activation of RNA (T-STAR) a homologue of cell-cycle regulator Sam68, is strongly down-regulated in immortalized cells...

Proliferation of normal somatic human cells in culture is limited by replicative senescence, a growth-arrested state that appears to be triggered by the erosion of telomeres. Tumor cells such as HeLa cervical carcinoma cells, which contain short telomeres, can be induced to undergo senescence by various manipulations including oncogene withdrawal. Repression of the human papillomavirus (HPV) type 18 E6/E7 genes in HeLa cells by the bovine papillomavirus E2 transcriptional regulatory protein results in reactivation of the dormant p53 and p105(Rb) tumor suppressor pathways in these cells, repression of telomerase, and profound growth arrest...