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Institute
More than 80 years ago Otto Warburg suggested that cancer might be caused by a decrease in mitochondrial energy metabolism paralleled by an increase in glycolytic flux. In later years, it was shown that cancer cells exhibit multiple alterations in mitochondrial content, structure, function, and activity. We have stably overexpressed the Friedreich ataxia-associated protein frataxin in several colon cancer cell lines. These cells have increased oxidative metabolism, as shown by concurrent increases in aconitase activity, mitochondrial membrane potential, cellular respiration, and ATP content. Consistent with Warburg's hypothesis, we found that frataxin-overexpressing cells also have decreased growth rates and increased population doubling times, show inhibited colony formation capacity in soft agar assays, and exhibit a reduced capacity for tumor formation when injected into nude mice. Furthermore, overexpression of frataxin leads to an increased phosphorylation of the tumor suppressor p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, as well as decreased phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase. Taken together, these results support the view that an increase in oxidative metabolism induced by mitochondrial frataxin may inhibit cancer growth in mammals
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCAs) ingested with food have repeatedly been suggested to be involved in the malignant transformation of colon epithelial cells. In order to test this hypothesis, HCEC cells (SV40 large T antigen-immortalized human colon epithelial cells) were incubated with a racemic mixture of benzo[c]phenanthrene dihydrodiol epoxides (B[c]PhDE), extremely potent carcinogenic PAH metabolites in vivo, or with 2-hydroxyamino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (N-OH-PhIP), the N-hydroxylated metabolite of the most abundant HCA in cooked meat. First, it was shown that HCEC cells express sulfotransferase 1A1, which is needed to metabolize N-OH-PhIP to the corresponding N-sulfonyloxy derivative, the direct precursor molecule of genotoxic nitrenium ions. Thereafter, exponentially growing HCEC cells were exposed five times to 0.1 mu g (0.37 nmol) B[c]PhDE/ml for 30 min or 0.72 mu g (3 mnol) N-OH-PhTP/ml for 24 h. Chemically treated HCEC cells showed an enhanced saturation density and grew faster than the corresponding solvent-treated cell cultures. After five treatment cycles, HCECB[c]PhDE as well as HCECN-OH-PhIP cells lost cell-cell contact inhibition and started piling up and forming foci in the culture flasks. Furthermore, HCECB[c]phDE and HCECN-OH-PhIP cells were injected i.m. into SCID mice. Within 6 weeks after injection, eight animals out of eight injected with HCECB[c]phDE or HCECN-OH-PhIP cells developed tumors at the site of injection, thus demonstrating the high tumorigenic potential of the HCECB[c]PhDE and HCECN-OH-PhIP cell cultures. Taken together, we show for the first time that the abovementioned active PAH metabolites as well as N-OH-PhIP are indeed able to malignantly transform human colon epithelial cells in vitro.
We have disrupted expression of the mitochondrial Friedreich ataxia protein frataxin specifically in murine hepatocytes to generate mice with impaired mitochondrial function and decreased oxidative phosphorylation. These animals have a reduced life span and develop multiple hepatic tumors. Livers also show increased oxidative stress, impaired respiration and reduced ATP levels paralleled by reduced activity of iron-sulfur cluster (Fe/S) containing proteins (ISP), which all leads to increased hepatocyte turnover by promoting both apoptosis and proliferation. Accordingly, phosphorylation of the stress-inducible p38 MAP kinase was found to be specifically impaired following disruption of frataxin. Taken together, these findings indicate that frataxin may act as a mitochondrial tumor suppressor protein in mammals
Friedreich's ataxia is an inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by the reduced expression of the mitochondrially active protein frataxin. We have previously shown that mice with a hepatocyte-specific frataxin knockout (AlbFxn(-/-)) develop multiple hepatic tumors in later life. In the present study, hepatic carbohydrate metabolism in AlbFxn(-/-) mice at an early and late life stage was analyzed. In young (5-week-old) AlbFxn(-/-) mice hepatic ATP, glucose-6-phosphate and glycogen levels were found to be reduced by similar to 74, 80 and 88%, respectively, when compared with control animals. This pronounced ATP, G6P and glycogen depletion in the livers of young mice reverted in older animals: while half of the mice die before 30 weeks of age, the other half reaches 17 months of age and exhibits glycogen, G6P and ATP levels similar to those in age-matched controls. A key event in this respect seems to be the up-regulation of GLUT1, the predominant glucose transporter in fetal liver parenchyma, which became evident in AlbFxn(-/-) mice being 5-12 weeks of age. The most significant histological findings in animals being 17 or 22 months of age were the appearance of multiple clear cell, mixed cell and basophilic foci throughout the liver parenchyma as well as the development of hepatocellular adenomas and carcinomas. The hepatocarcinogenic process in AlbFxn 2/2 mice shows remarkable differences regarding carbohydrate metabolism alterations when compared with all other chemically and virally driven liver cancer models described up to now.
Vineatrol (R) 30 (developed and produced jointly by Breko GmbH [Bremen, Germany] and Actichem [Montauban, France]) is a grapevine-shoot extract that contains resveratrol as well as considerable amounts of resveratrol oligomers. In the present study it is shown that Vineatrol30 at a noncytotoxic concentration of 2.3 mu g/mL significantly reduced the number of malignantly transformed foci induced by a sequential treatment of BALB/c-3T3 cells with 3-methylcholanthrene and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate in the so-called BALB/c-3T3 cell transformation assay. At a higher concentration Vineatrol30 drastically decreased the relative plating efficiency of the cells. Furthermore, the results suggest that the resveratrol oligomers present in Vineatrol30, independently from resveratrol itself, were indeed able to inhibit the formation of malignantly transformed BALB/c-3T3 foci.
Inhibition of p53 transactivation activity does not promote mutagen-induced transformation of IEC-18
(2004)
The aim of this study was to establish a long-term culture. system for rat colon epithelia isolaled by incubating a 4-cm-long rat colon segment cut longitudinally with all ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid [disodium salt]- containing buffer, taken up in conditioned medium from the normal rat kidney fibroblast cell line NRK (i.e., the supernatant Of pure NRK cultures), directly plated on mitomycin C-treated NRK cells and subcultured with conditioned medium from NRK cells. Cells started to migrate out of the crypts shortly after plating them on NRK feeder layers. Some of the crypts fell apart during the isolation procedure. whereas the vast majority of them did it within I to 2 Ill after plating. The cells proliferated extremely slowly but continuously over a period of 4 mo and were epithelial because they expressed cytokeratin 19 and were stained by crystal violet at pH 2.8. In conclusion, the experimental system described ill this study allows to maintain rat colon epithelial cells for up to 4 mo in culture and can be used to Study the effects of a variety of tumor-modulating factors on growth and gene expression of normal colon epithelial cells in vitro
