Altered stoichiometry of the Na,K-ATPase.

With inside-out membrane vesicles derived from human red cells and incubated at pH > or = 6.6, an altered sodium pump stoichiometry (1Na+:2K+) associated with altered charge transfer is observed when the cytoplasmic Na+ concentration is reduced to very low levels (0.2 mM). With increased proton concentration (approximately pH 6.0), protons can substitute for Na+ or K+ ions such that the Na,K-ATPase can effect either electroneutral Na+/H+ exchange (K+ absent), H+/K+ exchange (Na+ absent), or H(+)-plus-Na+ cotransport in exchange for K+ (low Na+ concentration). Evidence that the stoichiometries of these exchanges are 3Na+/3H+, 2H+/2K+ and 1H(+)-plus-1Na+/2K+, respectively, is presented.

Murine red blood cells as efficient carriers of three bacterial antigens for the production of specific and neutralizing antibodies.

Three bacterial toxoids, CRM 197 (mutagenized diphtheria toxin), tetanus toxoid (formaldehyde-treated tetanus toxin), and PT-9K/129G (double mutant of pertussin toxin) were encapsulated within red blood cells (RBCs) of B6D2F1 and Balb/C mice according to a mild procedure based on hypotonic dialysis-isotonic resealing that yielded undamaged RBCs. The toxoid-loaded RBCs were injected intravenously in order to immunize animals and their effects were compared to those of identical amounts (30-95 micrograms per mouse subdivided into multiple injections) of the corresponding free toxoids injected intravenously in saline. Sera from treated mice were collected and tested for titers of specific antibodies against each of the three antigens and also for titers of neutralizing antibodies, i.e., affording protection from toxic effects induced by the corresponding native toxins. In all experiments, significant seroconversion was observed with both immunization systems. Titers of both specific and neutralizing antibodies against CRM 197 and tetanus toxoid were several-fold higher upon immunization with the RBC-encapsulated toxoids, than with the free toxoids. These differences were not due to qualitatively different recognition patterns of antigenic determinants by the two types of sera. Conversely, intravenous immunization with pertussis toxoid either as RBC-encapsulated or as free antigen elicited a comparably high production of specific and of neutralizing antibodies. These data demonstrate that properly engineered RBCs behave as natural carriers and possibly adjuvants for antigens of vaccinal interest.

Glyoxylic acid prevents NAD+ and NADH depletion in K562 cells cultured at limiting dilution.

K562 erythroleukemic cells cultured at low population density in the absence of serum die within 12-24 hours, unless 0.1 mM glyoxylic acid is added to the culture medium. Earlier events, preceding cell death and occurring within 2 hours culture, are: a) a marked drop of both the NAD+/NADH ratio and the NAD+ concentration, which is prevented by 10mM benzamide, b) an increased biosynthesis of NAD+, leading to extensive depletion of cellular ATP. In the presence of 0.1 mM glyoxylic acid the NAD+/NADH ratio as well as their absolute concentrations remain unchanged, while NAD+ biosynthesis is absent. A NAD+/NADH glycohydrolase activity is present in the cell extract, inhibited by 10 mM benzamide and with a higher affinity for NADH than for NAD+. Preservation of a high NAD+/NADH ratio by glyoxylic acid apparently prevents enzyme activity and the related loss of pyridine nucleotides.

Glyoxylic acid promotes poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of nuclear proteins in K562 cells cultured at limiting dilution.

Addition of glyoxylic acid to the culture medium allows survival and proliferation of K562 human erythroleukemic cells cultured at low population density in the absence of serum. Concomitantly, glyoxylic acid induces a remarkable increase in nuclear poly(ADP-ribose) content, as compared to control cells cultured without addition of glyoxylate. The latter effect is reversed by addition of micromolar concentrations of benzamide to the cultures. As glyoxylic acid is metabolized through NADH-dependent reduction to glycolic acid only, the observed effects on cell growth and on nuclear poly(ADP-ribose) content seem to be mediated by an increased cellular ability to oxidize NADH.

Multiple small molecular weight guanine nucleotide-binding proteins in human erythrocyte membranes.

Native membranes from human erythrocytes contain the following G proteins which are ADP-ribosylated by a number of bacterial toxins: Gi alpha and Go alpha (pertussis toxin), Gs alpha (cholera toxin), and three proteins of 27, 26 and 22 kDa (exoenzyme C3 from Clostridium botulinum). Three additional C3 substrates (18.5, 16.5 and 14.5 kDa) appeared in conditions of unrestrained proteolysis during hemolysis. SDS-PAGE separation of erythrocyte membrane proteins followed by electroblotting and incubation of nitrocellulose sheets with radiolabeled GTP revealed consistently four GTP-binding proteins with Mr values of 27, 26, 22 and 21 kDa. Although a 22 kDa protein was immunochemically identified as ras p21, the C3 substrate of 22 kDa is a different protein probably identifiable with a rho gene product. Accordingly, at least five distinct small molecular weight guanine nucleotide-binding proteins, whose functions are so far undetermined, are present in native human erythrocyte membranes.

Enhanced antitumor activity of adriamycin by encapsulation in mouse erythrocytes targeted to liver and lungs.

Adriamycin was encapsulated within human and murine (B6D2F1 female mice) erythrocytes using a procedure based on hypotonic hemolysis followed by isotonic resealing and reannealing. Following drug encapsulation the murine erythrocytes were treated with glutaraldehyde to obtain: a) control of Adriamycin efflux from loaded erythrocytes, b) appropriate hepatic and pulmonary targeting of the in vivo re-infused cells. The antitumor effect of equivalent amounts of bolus (i.v.) administered Adriamycin, 1) free, 2) encapsulated within erythrocytes, 3) encapsulated within glutaraldehyde-treated erythrocytes, was compared using an in vivo model of metastasis based on selective hepatic and pulmonary dissemination of intrasplenically injected L1210 cells in B6D2F1 mice. The therapeutic index (TI) of Adriamycin encapsulated within glutaraldehyde-treated erythrocytes increased by more than two-fold over that of the free drug.

Sodium ions as substitutes for protons in the gastric H,K-ATPase.

In view of the striking homology among various ion-translocating ATPases including Na,K-ATPase, Ca-ATPase, and H,K-ATPase, and the recent evidence that protons can replace cytoplasmic sodium as well as potassium in the reaction mechanism of the Na,K-ATPase (Polvani, C., and Blostein, R. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 16757-16763), we studied the role of sodium as a substitute for protons in the H,K-ATPase reaction. Using hog gastric H,K-ATPase-rich inside-out membrane vesicles we observed 22Na+ influx which was stimulated by intravesicular potassium ions (K+i) at pH 8.5 but not at pH 7.1. This sodium influx was observed in medium containing ATP and was inhibited by vanadate and SCH28080, a selective inhibitor of the gastric H,K-ATPase. At least 2-fold accumulation of sodium was observed at pH 8.5. Experiments aimed to determine the sidedness of the alkaline pH requirement for K+i-dependent sodium influx showed that K+i-activated sodium influx depends on pHout and is unaffected by changes in pHin. These results support the conclusion that sodium ions substitute for protons in the H,K-ATPase reaction mechanism and provide evidence for a similarity in ion selectivity and/or binding domains of the Na,K-ATPase and the gastric H,K-ATPase enzymes.

Effects of cytoplasmic sodium concentration on the electrogenicity of the sodium pump.

Inside-out membrane vesicles were prepared from human red blood cells pretreated with diisothiocyano-2,2'-disulfonic stilbene to inhibit anion fluxes. The pH-sensitive probe fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran was incorporated inside the vesicles. Formation of pH gradients due to proton transport by the sodium pump was distinguished from pH gradients formed in response to transmembrane electrical potentials generated by the pump by virtue of their insensitivity and sensitivity, respectively, to dissipation by lipophilic cations. Under the conditions used (pH 6.6), proton transport by the Na,K-ATPase was minimized, and the formation of pH gradients in response to electrical potentials was detected. Thus, the generation of a strophanthidin-sensitive, ATP-dependent electrical potential, inside positive (approximately 1 mV) upon addition of 4 meq of sodium to potassium-filled inside-out vesicles is consistent with the well documented stoichiometry of three sodium ions exchanging with two potassium ions. In contrast, when the cytoplasmic sodium concentration is reduced to less than or equal to 0.4 mM, the potential generated is of the opposite sign, i.e. inside negative, consistent with the decreased Na:K coupling ratio reported previously, i.e. Na:K(Rb) coupling ratios of approximating 1:2 when the sodium concentration is reduced to 0.2 mM (Blostein, R. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 12228-12232).

Encapsulation of doxorubicin in liver-targeted erythrocytes increases the therapeutic index of the drug in a murine metastatic model.

Doxorubicin-loaded, glutaraldehyde-treated murine erythrocytes, once reinjected into circulation, are rapidly taken up by liver and lungs and behave as an organ-targeted, slow delivery system for the encapsulated drug. The antitumor activity of encapsulated doxorubicin (former generic name, adriamycin) was compared with that of the free drug in a murine hepatic and pulmonary tumor model. This was obtained by intrasplenic injection of L1210 lymphoma cells followed by splenectomy. Different schedules of treatment of tumor-bearing mice with erythrocyte-encapsulated or free doxorubicin were investigated. The optimal schedule of treatment for free doxorubicin proved to be i.v. bolus administration on the day of splenectomy. Under these conditions, the dose producing 50% inhibition of metastatic growth in the liver, as measured by inhibition of 5-[125I]iodo-2'-deoxyuridine uptake 9 days after tumor induction, was 6.3 mg/kg for free doxorubicin and 0.48 mg/kg for the encapsulated drug. In these conditions pulmonary tumor development was even more efficiently prevented by encapsulated doxorubicin as compared with the free drug. The values of the therapeutic index (TI), defined as the ratio between the maximal tolerated dose (LD10) and the minimal effective dose (ED90, producing 90% inhibition of liver metastatic growth), were 4.2 and 1.8 for encapsulated and free doxorubicin, respectively.

In vivo liver and lung targeting of adriamycin encapsulated in glutaraldehyde-treated murine erythrocytes.

Treatment of adriamycin-loaded erythrocytes from B6D2F1 mice with 0.1% glutaraldehyde produced the following effects: a considerable decrease in the in vitro leakage of the unmodified drug and a selective liver (and, to a lesser extent, lung) uptake of the encapsulated drug (70% of the injected dose) compared to drug leakage from, and tissue distribution of, carrier erythrocytes not treated with glutaraldehyde. The liver vascular bed was not saturated by five daily intravenous injections of 20 microliters of glutaraldehyde-treated erythrocytes, which allows a total dosage of 200 micrograms of the drug (half the LD50 value) to be administered. No appreciable liver damage results from extensive and prolonged uptake of glutaraldehyde-treated carrier erythrocytes. Entrapment of adriamycin within erythrocytes along with glutaraldehyde treatment of the carrier cells seems to be a promising therapeutic strategy against liver (and lung) tumors.

Protons as substitutes for sodium and potassium in the sodium pump reaction.

The role of protons as substitutes for Na+ and/or K+ in the sodium pump reaction was examined using inside-out membrane vesicles derived from human red cells. Na+-like effects of protons suggested previously (Blostein, R. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 829-833) were substantiated by the following observations: (i) in the absence of extravesicular (cytoplasmic) Na+, an increase in cytoplasmic [H+] increased both strophanthidin-sensitive ATP hydrolysis (nu) and the steady-state level of phosphoenzyme, EP, and (ii) as [H+] is increased, the Na+/ATP coupling ratio is decreased. K+-like effects of protons were evidenced in the following results: (i) an increase in nu, decrease in EP, and hence increase in EP turnover (nu/EP) occur when intravesicular (extracellular) [H+] is increased; (ii) an increase in the rate of Na+ influx into K+(Rb+)-free inside-out vesicles and (iii) a decrease in Rb+/ATP coupling occur when [H+] is increased. Direct evidence for H+ being translocated in place of cytoplasmic Na+ and extracellular K+ was obtained by monitoring pH changes using fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran-filled vesicles derived from 4',4-diisothiocyano-2',2-stilbene disulfonate-treated cells. With the initial pHi = pHo = pH 6.2, a strophanthidin-sensitive decrease in pHi was observed following addition of ATP provided the vesicles contained K+. This pH gradient was abolished following addition of Na+. With alkali cation-free inside-out vesicles, a strophanthidin-sensitive increase in pH was observed upon addition of both ATP and Na+. The foregoing changes in pHi were not affected by the addition of tetrabutylammonium to dissipate any membrane potential and were not observed at pH 6.8. These ATP-dependent cardiac glycoside-sensitive proton movements indicate Na,K-ATPase mediated Na+/H+ exchange in the absence of extracellular K+ as well as H+/K+ exchange in the absence of cytoplasmic Na+.

Conversion of encapsulated 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine 5'-monophosphate to the antineoplastic drug 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine in human erythrocytes.

The fluoropyrimidine deoxyribonucleotide 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine 5'-monophosphate (FdUMP) was encapsulated in human erythrocytes by a procedure based on hypotonic hemolysis and isotonic resealing. Encapsulated FdUMP (up to 9 mumol/ml of packed erythrocytes) did not affect erythrocyte metabolism or morphology. Hemolysates were found to catalyze efficient dephosphorylation of FdUMP to yield nearly stoichiometric amounts of the corresponding deoxyribonucleoside 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FdUrd), an antineoplastic drug showing selective cytotoxicity toward liver metastases from colorectal carcinomas. The dephosphorylation reaction had an apparent Km of 7.7 +/- 1.2 mM FdUMP at pH 7.4 and was remarkably slower at pH 8.2. ATP, GTP, and UTP inhibited both the disappearance of FdUMP and the formation of FdUrd in hemolysates. The enzyme responsible for the FdUMP-to-FdUrd conversion was identified with the deoxyribonucleotide-specific isozyme of erythrocyte pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5). Intracellular formation and subsequent release of FdUrd were observed in intact erythrocytes loaded with FdUMP. Inhibition of FdUrd release from these erythrocytes was obtained by raising the pH intracellularly and, alternatively, by coencapsulation of ATP. Autologous FdUMP-loaded erythrocytes might be used as endogenous bioreactors designed for time-programmed and liver-targeted delivery of FdUrd.

Platelet glucose metabolism in type I diabetic subjects.

In a group of 35 type I diabetics, platelet glycolytic and glycogenolytic flux have been measured. In type I diabetic platelets glucose uptake was significantly reduced. The quite normal lactate production was obtained by a faster utilization of stored glycogen in these patients. Specific activity of glycolytic enzymes was normal, in particular the levels and kinetic properties of soluble and membrane bound hexokinase. The rate of glucose flux through the hexose monophosphate shunt, measured either in resting or in arachidonic acid-stimulated platelets, was normal in diabetics. Kinetics of glucose transport across plasma membrane have also been determined. Km was significantly increased in diabetic patients. No changes was shown in Vmax. Modifications present in membrane organization of patients could involve glucose transport protein.