Effects of HIV-1 Vpr protein on cell viability and cell cycle of mouse neuroblastoma N2a cells / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

Objective@#To investigate the toxic effect of HIV-1 Vpr protein on neurons.@*Methods@#HIV-1 vpr gene was amplified by nested PCR in four parts of peripheral spleen (SPL) and central nervous tissue meninges (MG) of HIV-associated dementia (HAD) patients and non-HAD patients. Eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-N1-vpr was constructed. The gene sequence and key amino acid sites were analyzed by BLAST and MEGA6. The expression of Vpr protein in N2a cells was detected by Western-blotting. The effects of Vpr proteins from different sources on the activity and cell cycle of N2a cells were studied by flow cytometry.@*Results@#HIV-1 vpr gene was successfully amplified by PCR. Sequence analysis showed that the vpr gene sequence belonged to HIV-1B subtype. There were amino acid mutations at C-terminal 84, 86 and 87 sites of central Vpr protein from HAD and non-HAD patients. Vpr protein could inhibit the activity of nerve cells, leading to G2 phase arrest. Different sources of Vpr had different intensity of action. Compared with other groups, Vpr protein from the meninges of HAD patients showed stronger inhibition of cell activity and G2 phase arrest ability.@*Conclusions@#Variations in key amino acid sites of Vpr protein could cause significant changes in its biological functions, and its significance in the pathogenesis of HAD remains to be further studied.

p21 is Responsible for Ionizing Radiation-induced Bypass of Mitosis / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the role of p21 in ionizing radiation-induced changes in protein levels during the G2/M transition and long-term G2 arrest.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Protein expression levels were assessed by western blot in the human uveal melanoma 92-1 cells after treatment with ionizing radiation. Depletion of p21 was carried out by employing the siRNA technique. Cell cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry combined with histone H3 phosphorylation at Ser28, an M-phase marker. Senescence was assessed by senescence- associated-β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining combined with Ki67 staining, a cell proliferation marker.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Accompanying increased p21, the protein levels of G2/M transition genes declined significantly in 92-1 cells irradiated with 5 Gy of X-rays. Furthermore, these irradiated cells were blocked at the G2 phase followed by cellular senescence. Depletion of p21 rescued radiation-induced G2 arrest as demonstrated by the upregulation of G2/M transition kinases, as well as the high expression of histone H3 phosphorylated at Ser28. Knockdown of p21 resulted in entry into mitosis of irradiated 92-1 cells. However, cells with serious DNA damage failed to undergo cytokinesis, leading to the accumulation of multinucleated cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Our results indicated that p21 was responsible for the downregulation of G2/M transition regulatory proteins and the bypass of mitosis induced by irradiation. Downregulation of p21 by siRNA resulted in G2-arrested cells entering into mitosis with serious DNA damage. This is the first report on elucidating the role of p21 in the bypass of mitosis.</p>

A phenomenological model for the dynamics of cell cycle in responding to X-rays / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective To establish a model to predict the cell-cycle process in response to ionizing radiation.Methods Human choroidal malignant melanoma 92-1 cells were used and the cell cycle distribution of cells was analyzed in 0-96 h after exposure to X-rays.A phenomenological model was constructed based on biological knowledge to describe the cell cycle dynamics in experiments.Results In the present study,a phenomenological model was constructed to describe the cellcycle dynamics of synchronized 92-1 cells in responding to various doses of ionizing radiation.The simulation results obtained with the model were consistent with the experimental data,demonstrating that the model had a good expansibility and could be used to predict the dynamics of cell cycle in responding to ionizing radiation.Further theoretical modeling of the cellcycle dynamics was made and the results were consistent with the simulation.Conclusions A phenomenological model was constructed which could be used to describe the dynamics of cell cycle of cells exposed to ionizing radiation and was supported by the experimental data.Because this model is easy to run by the written code,it has a good expansibility for studying the behaviors of cell populations under various conditions.

Changes in expression of cell cycle regulators after G1 progression upon repetitive thioacetamide treatment in rat liver

Repetitive low dose thioacetamide (TA) treatment of hepatocytes was found to induce cells in G2 arrest. In the present study, an attempt was made to investigate alterations in expression of cell cycle regulators after G1 progression in the same repetitive low dose TA treated hepatocytes system and to define the determinators involved in G2 arrest. TA was daily administered intraperitoneally, with a dose of 50 mg/kg for 7 days. Expression levels of cyclin E and CDK2 were similar, increased at day 1 and reached a peak at day 2. And they recycled from day 3 reaching a second peak at day 5. Expression level of cyclin A was similar to p27(Kip1) and p57(Kip2) but not to CDK2 and increased to a peak level at day 2. Expression levels of cyclin B1 and cdc2 were similar although the cyclin B1 level was generally low, decreased from day 1 to basal levels at day 3 and persisted at a low level till day 7. The expression level of cyclin G1 was similar to p53 that peaked at day 3 and again at day 6 elevated over basal level. BrdU-labeled hepatocytic nuclei increased from 12 h, reached a peak at day 2, then decreased, and were not detectable from day 6. The number of PCNA-labeled nuclei increased immediately, peaked at day 2, and maintained till day 7. These results suggest that G2 arrest induced by repeated TA treatment might be p53-dependent, via activation of cyclin G1, rather than inhibition of cyclin B1- cdc2 complex, and inhibitors holding S phase progression might be p27(Kip1) and p57(Kip2).

Altered remodeling of nucleolar machineries in cultured hepatocytes treated with thioacetamide

Thioacetamide (TA) is converted into a hyperacetylating agent which causes hepatic necrosis, regeneration, cirrhosis and cancerous transformation. One of the most characteristic toxicities of TA in rat is observed with a 50 mg/kg per day which induces nucleolar enlargement different from that in regenerating liver. From TA-treated liver, the nucleoli were isolated and characterized for an altered nucleolar signal transduction system. Immunochemistry revealed that the poisoned nucleoli had increased levels of both nucleolus specific proteins (nucleophosmin and nucleolin) and various signal molecules (CK2, Erk1/2, p38, protein kinases A and C, and cyclin A). Using flow cytometry, the nucleoli were found to be in G2-arrested nuclei. Manifestation of the nucleolar enlargement could be readily observed using an ex vivo hepatocyte culture. There were two types of nucleolar enlargement. One was observed in normal hepatocytes with light density of enlarged nucleoli. The other was in TA-treated hepatocytes with dense and compact density of enlarged nucleoli, which contained a 3 to 5-fold higher nudeophosmin content than the control. In vitro induction of nucleolar enlargement with TA was possible. As soon as the hepatocytes anchored on a collagen coat, exogeneous TA (higher than 1 microg/mL) could induce dense and compact nucleoli. However, when an exogeneous drug was added after monolayer formation (1 day), no drug-induced nucleolar enlargement was observed.

The Effect of Irradiation and Epidermal Growth Factor on Cell Cycle and Apoptosis Induction in Human Epithelial Tumor Cell Lines / 대한구강악안면방사선학회지

PURPOSE: This study was aimed to evaluate the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction after irradiation and epidermal growth factor(EGF) treatment in three human epithelial tumor cell lines(A431, Siha, KB). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Single irradiation of 2, 5 and 10 Gy was done on three cell lines with 5.38 Gy/min dose rate using Cs-137 irradiator at room temperature. Also, EGF of 10 ng/ml was added immediately after 10 Gy irradiation. Cell growth was evaluated by counting the living cell number using a hemocytometer at 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days and 5 days after irradiation. Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction were assayed with the flow cytometry at 8 hours, 12 hours, 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days and 5 days after irradiation. RESULTS: Growth of irradiated three cell lines were inhibited in proportion to radiation dose. EGF treatment after irradiation showed various results according to cell lines. On all cell lines, G2 arrest was detected after 8 hours and maximized after 12 hours or 1 day. Amount of G2 arrest was positively dose dependent. But, EGF showed no significant change on G2 arrest. G2 arrest was recovered with time at 2 Gy and 5 Gy irradiation. But, at 10 Gy irradiation, G2 arrest was continued. Apoptosis was detected at 10 Gy irradiation. On EGF treated group after irradiation, A431 and Siha cell lines showed slightly increased apoptosis but there was no statistically significant difference. KB cell line showed no marked change of apoptosis induction. CONCLUSION: Irradiation effects cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction in three human epithelial tumor cell lines but epidermal growth factor doesn't effect change of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction.