Extracellular matrix and radiation G1 cell cycle arrest in human fibroblasts.

It is thought that sublethal doses of radiation cause cells to pause in either G1 or G2 phase, but that then cells with repaired DNA damage reenter the cell cycle. However, it has been observed that gamma-irradiation causes normal human fibroblasts to arrest indefinitely in G1 phase unless the irradiated cells are subcultured. This indicates that cell adhesion plays a role in maintaining the arrest. We now show that the type of extracellular matrix dramatically affects the percentage of cells that arrest in G1 phase. The prolonged radiation G1 arrest in human fibroblasts has been referred to as "senescence-like"; however, we find that smooth muscle alpha-actin is highly expressed in cells that arrest in G1 phase after irradiation. This indicates that the fibroblasts differentiate to myofibroblasts. Together, our results show that the length of radiation G1 arrest in human fibroblasts is affected by the type of extracellular matrix on which the cells are irradiated and that arrest results in myofibroblast differentiation.

Cell cycle response to DNA damage differs in bronchial epithelial cells and lung fibroblasts.

Epithelial cells along the conducting airways can be more or less continuously exposed to DNA-damaging agents, which should limit their proliferation by inducing cell cycle checkpoints. Yet, paradoxically, airway epithelial cells frequently show a hyperplastic response when exposed to such agents. In this in vitro study, we assessed the hypothesis that normal human bronchial epithelial cells (BECs) are more resistant to the cell cycle-arresting effects of DNA damage than are human lung fibroblasts (HLFs), a cell type often investigated in the context of cell cycle checkpoints. Using ionizing radiation as a DNA-damaging insult, we have found that BECs indeed show less pronounced G1 and G2 delays than do fibroblasts. Unlike the HLFs, which ultimately enter a condition of apparently terminal arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle, BECs continue proliferating following their initial, transient G1 and G2 delays. Radiation-induced p53 and p21Cip1 increases were greater in HLFs than in BECs, whereas preexposure, basal levels of p53 were higher in BECs than in HLFs. The results of this investigation indicate that BECs may be less susceptible to the cell cycle-arresting effects of DNA-damaging agents, perhaps because of their higher basal levels of p53. Extension of these findings to the in vivo condition provides a possible explanation for airway epithelial cell hyperplastic responses that occur in a background of DNA-damaging stresses. Moreover, the attenuated DNA damage-induced, cell cycle checkpoint responses in BECs potentially may favor the transmission of DNA lesions to cell progeny.

Temporal position of G1 arrest in normal human fibroblasts after exposure to gamma-rays.

G1 phase cell cycle arrest after exposure to ionizing radiation has been documented in cells with wild-type p53. The temporal location of this arrest within G1 phase, however, has not been determined. We have now used flow cytometric analysis of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd)-labeled cells to obtain further information about the location of the G1 phase radiation checkpoint. Human fibroblasts were irradiated with gamma-rays and treated with colcemid to stop unlabeled G2 cells from entering the G1 phase. Analysis of BrdUrd incorporation revealed that 73% of G1 phase human lung fibroblasts remain in G1 phase after exposure to gamma-rays, thereby placing the G1 radiation checkpoint near the end of G1 phase. The location of the radiation checkpoint correlates with the reported increased expression of cyclin E, increased cyclin E/cdk2 kinase activity, and hyperphosphorylation of pRb in proliferating human fibroblasts.

Control of radiation-induced G1 arrest by cell-substratum interactions.

Ionizing radiation has been reported to cause an irreversible, senescence-like G1 arrest in human fibroblasts, which is accompanied by elevated p21CIP1 amounts. In further support of a senescence-like arrest, we show that expression of p53 and cyclin D1 is elevated in gamma-irradiated, arrested fibroblasts. However, we also demonstrate that the arrest is reversible if the irradiated cells are trypsinized and replated, which may implicate cellular-extracellular matrix interactions in cell cycle control after irradiation.

Alterations in the progression of cells through the cell cycle after exposure to alpha particles or gamma rays.

A G1-phase delay after exposure to alpha particles has not been report ed previously, perhaps because immortalized cell lines or cell lines from tumor cells were used in past studies. Therefore, we compared the effects of alpha particles (0.19 or 0.57 Gy) and approximately equitoxic doses of gamma rays (2 or 4 Gy) on progression of cells through the cell cycle in normal human skin fibroblasts. Cell cycle analyses were performed using flow cytometry by measuring incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) in each phase of the cell cycle up to 44 h after irradiation. We observed an alpha-particle-induced G1-phase delay in human skin fibroblasts even at the lowest dose, 0.19 Gy. At equitoxic doses, more pronounced and persistent G1-phase delays and arrests were observed in gamma-irradiated cultures in that increased fractions of the G1-phase cells remained BrdUrd- over the course of the study after gamma-ray exposure compared to cells exposed to alpha particles. In addition, G1-phase cells that became BrdUrd+ after gamma irradiation re-arrested in G1 phase, whereas BrdUrd+ G1-phase cells in alpha-particle-irradiated cultures continued cycling. In contrast, comparable percentages of cells were delayed in G2 phase after either alpha-particle or gamma irradiation. Both gamma and alpha-particle irradiation caused increases in cellular p53 and p2lCip1 shortly after the exposures, which suggests that the G1-phase delay that occurs in response to alpha-particle irradiation is dependent on p53 like the initial G1-phase delay induced by gamma rays.

Immortalization of human fibroblasts by SV40 large T antigen results in the reduction of cyclin D1 expression and subunit association with proliferating cell nuclear antigen and Waf1.

Protein complexes containing cyclins and cyclin-dependent protein kinases (cdks) have been shown to be rearranged in both spontaneous and viral tumor antigen-transformed cells. We have examined G1- and S-phase cyclin/cdk complexes as a function of the neoplastic progression of human diploid fibroblasts transfected with the SV40 large T antigen. We find that the expression of cyclin D1 and its association with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Waf1 remain unchanged in precrisis human fibroblasts transfected with SV40 large T antigen. However, in these same cells the association of cdk4 with cyclin D1, PCNA, and Waf1 is disrupted. Upon immortalization, cyclin D1 protein expression is decreased, and binding of both PCNA and Waf1 with the remaining cyclin D1 is reduced. In contrast, large T antigen increased the expression of cyclin A and cyclin E proteins in both precrisis and immortal cells and did not reduce the binding of PCNA or Waf1 to either cdk2 or cyclin A proteins. These results show that large T-antigen expression in human fibroblasts selectively uncouples cyclin D1 from cdk4, and subsequent immortalization of these cells results in additional changes to the cyclin D1-dependent cell cycle regulatory pathways.

CDK4/cyclin D1/PCNA complexes during staurosporine-induced G1 arrest and G0 arrest of human fibroblasts.

We have shown that staurosporine (STSP) arrests normal human diploid fibroblasts in the G1 phase of the cell cycle at a time approximately 3 h after release from low-serum-induced G0 arrest. This initial temporal mapping of the STSP-induced restriction point was based on flow cytometric analyses that measured the onset of DNA synthesis after release from STSP and low-serum treatment. Here we show that the STSP-mediated arrest point distinctly differs from low-serum G0 arrest. We have found that cyclin D1 is expressed in STSP-arrested G1 fibroblasts but not in low-serum-arrested G0 fibroblasts, whereas cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (cdk4) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) are equivalently expressed under conditions of both STSP treatment and serum deprivation. Cdk4/cyclin D1/PCNA complexes are also formed in STSP-arrested G1 fibroblasts, but they are absent in serum-deprived G0 cells. The formation of cdk4/cyclin D1/PCNA complexes was found to coincide with the transcription and synthesis of cyclin D1, which indicates that the lack of available cyclin D1 is the limiting factor in cdk4/cyclin D1/PCNA complex formation in serum-deprived fibroblasts. This conclusion was further supported by the observation that cyclin D1-GST fusion protein binds cdk4 and PCNA when added to G0 cell extracts. Circumstantial evidence obtained in our studies and by other investigators suggests that STSP-induced arrest may be due to the inhibition of cdk-activating kinase.

The kinase inhibitor staurosporine induces G1 arrest at two points: effect on retinoblastoma protein phosphorylation and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 in normal and transformed cells.

Staurosporine (ST), a protein kinase inhibitor, at a concentration of 20 nM arrests normal diploid fibroblasts 3 h into G1 (H. A. Crissman et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88: 7580-7584, 1991; K. Abe et al., Exp. Cell Res., 192: 122-127, 1991). ST (2 nM) induces a new G1 arrest point at 6 h into G1. Partial phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein was observed at the 2 nM ST arrest point, whereas the retinoblastoma protein was unphosphorylated or underphosphorylated at the 20 nM arrest point. This correlated with the activity of the cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and the phosphorylation of the Thr160 residue of p33CDK2. The cyclin E and cyclin D1/2 levels were reduced at the 20 nM ST arrest point. In HeLa cells that do not arrest in G1 in response to 2 or 20 nM ST, the retinoblastoma protein and CDK2 phosphorylations and CDK2 activity were not affected by ST. These results suggest that ST inhibits one or more G1-regulating protein kinases, which lie upstream of CDK2.

Multiple kinase arrest points in the G1 phase of nontransformed mammalian cells are absent in transformed cells.

We have shown that nontransformed mammalian cells arrest early in the G1 phase of the cell cycle when treated with exceedingly low concentrations of the nonspecific kinase inhibitor staurosporine, whereas transformed cells continue to progress through the cell cycle. We have now treated normal or transformed human skin fibroblasts with four other kinase inhibitors. Three of these inhibitors are highly specific: KT5720 inhibits cAMP-dependent protein kinase, KT5823 inhibits cGMP-dependent protein kinase, and KT5926 inhibits myosin light-chain kinase. The fourth inhibitor K252b has a moderate specificity for protein kinase C but also inhibits the three kinases just mentioned. We have found that these inhibitors reversibly arrest normal human skin fibroblasts at different times in the G1 phase but do not affect the cell cycle progression of transformed cells. The times of arrest within the G1 phase can be divided into two categories. Two of the inhibitors, KT5926 and K252b, act at an early time that is approximately 4 h after the transition from G0 to G1. The cAMP- and cGMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitors KT5720 and KT5823 arrest cells at a later time that is approximately 6 h after the G0/G1 boundary. These data indicate that there are multiple kinase-mediated phosphorylations of different substrates that are essential for the progression of normal cells, but not transformed cells, through the G1 phase. These inhibitors provide us with a set of biochemical probes that should be invaluable in the study of the function of kinases during G1 phase progression of normal cells.

Staurosporine is a potent inhibitor of p34cdc2 and p34cdc2-like kinases.

We previously demonstrated that nontransformed cells arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle when treated with low concentrations (21 nM) of staurosporine (1). Both normal and transformed cells are blocked in the G2 phase of the cell cycle when treated with higher concentrations (160 nM) of staurosporine (1,2). In the present study, we show that staurosporine inhibits the activity of fractionated p34cdc2 and p34cdc2-like kinases with IC50 values of 4-5 nM. We propose that the G2 phase arrest in the cell cycle caused by staurosporine is due, at least in part, to the inhibition of the p34cdc2 kinases.

Transformed mammalian cells are deficient in kinase-mediated control of progression through the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

To investigate the role of kinase-mediated mechanisms in regulating mammalian cell proliferation, we determined the effects of the general protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine on the proliferation of a series of nontransformed and transformed cultured rodent and human cells. Levels of staurosporine as low as 1 ng/ml prevented nontransformed cells from entering S phase (i.e., induced G1 arrest), indicating that kinase-mediated processes are essential for commitment to DNA replication in normal cells. At higher concentrations of staurosporine (50-75 ng/ml), nontransformed mammalian cells were arrested in both G1 and G2. The period of sensitivity of nontransformed human diploid fibroblasts to low levels of the drug commenced 3 hr later than the G0/G1 boundary and extended through the G1/S boundary. Interference with activity of the G1-essential kinase(s) caused nontransformed human cells traversing mid-to-late G1 at the time of staurosporine addition to be "set back" to the initial staurosporine block point, suggesting the existence of a kinase-dependent "G1 clock" mechanism that must function continuously throughout the early cycle in normal cells. The initial staurosporine block point at 3 hr into G1 corresponds to neither the serum nor the amino acid restriction point. In marked contrast to the behavior of nontransformed cells, neither low nor high concentrations of staurosporine affected G1 progression in transformed cultures; high drug concentrations caused transformed cells to be arrested solely in G2. These results indicate that kinase-mediated regulation of DNA replication is lost as the result of neoplastic transformation, but the G2-arrest mechanism remains intact.

The preparation of poly(A)+mRNA from the hagfish slime gland.

The isolation of translatable poly(A)+mRNA from the slime glands of the Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stouti, is not possible by the commonly used procedures because of the viscous slime that is formed when the contents of the glands are hydrated. This paper reports on a procedure developed to overcome this problem. Briefly, the tissue was powdered in liquid nitrogen, mixed with sodium lauroylsarcosine and proteinase K and lyophilized. The lyophilized powder was then mixed with 0.3 mm diameter glass beads, thoroughly ground and wetted with buffer and digested at 37 degrees C. The RNA from the digest was recovered by ultracentrifugation through a CsCl cushion. Further purification of the RNA was accomplished by the usual methods with slight modifications.