The dual role of mevalonate in the cell cycle.

It is well established that either exogenous or endogenous cholesterol is required for both cell growth and proliferation. This laboratory has recently discovered that, in baby hamster kidney-21 cells, independent of its role as a cholesterol precursor, mevalonic acid plays an essential role in S phase DNA replication. It was later shown that isopentenyl adenine, a known product of mevalonate in prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes, is 100 to 200 times more effective than mevalonate in restoring DNA replication in cells in which mevalonic acid synthesis is blocked with the beta-hydroxy-beta-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitor, compactin. The present study was designed to determine the relationship in the cell cycle between the known requirement for cholesterol and the newly discovered effect of mevalonic acid and isopentenyl adenine on S phase DNA synthesis. Employing cells arrested by serum depletion, it was shown that the cholesterol requirement is limited to the early and mid-G1 phases, whereas the isopentenyl effect is required at the late G1-S interphase of the cell cycle. The evidence supporting these conclusions involves: first, in serum-arrested cells blocked early in G1 by compactin, only the combination of cholesterol added in early G1 and either mevalonate or isopentenyl adenine in late G1 permitted progression through the G1 and S phase DNA synthesis. Neither isopentenyl adenine added early in G1 nor cholesterol in late G1 was capable of restoring DNA synthesis in this system. Second, in accord with the above formulation, inhibition of cholesterol synthesis with the oxidosqualene cyclase inhibitor, dl-4,4,10 beta-trimethyl-trans-decal-3 beta-ol, affected only the early G1 phase of the cell cycle, but had no late G1 effect on DNA replication.

Evidence for cAMP-independent inhibition of S-phase DNA synthesis by prostaglandins.

Two prostaglandins, prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) and prostaglandin B1 (PGB1), block S-phase DNA synthesis in synchronous cultured baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. The prostaglandin inhibition of DNA synthesis does not appear to require elevated levels of cAMP. In BHK-21 cells that have been "desensitized" to prostaglandin stimulation of adenylate cyclase and, therefore, have control levels of cAMP, PGE1 retains its inhibitory effect on the incorporation of tritiated thymidine into DNA. When BHK cells are exposed to PGB1 (a prostaglandin that does not elicit a cAMP response), DNA synthesis is also blocked. In nonsynchronous cells exposed for 1 h to PGE and then incubated for 1 h with PGE removed, a rebound of DNA synthesis occurs, therefore providing evidence that a transient rise of cAMP in itself is not capable of causing a cascade of reactions that block the synthesis of DNA. In addition, the concentration of PGE required for inhibition of DNA synthesis is significantly less than that required for cAMP generation. Addition of 1 x 10(-8) M PGE to BHK cells can be shown to significantly inhibit DNA synthesis within 30 min, with half-maximal inhibition seen at 3 x 10(-7) M PGE. Cyclic AMP levels for controls were 4.9 +/- 0.2 and 4.6 +/- 0.1 for 1 x 10(-6) M PGE1. These findings suggest that the prostaglandins can act independently of cAMP at physiological concentrations; and, therefore, it is possible that prostaglandins have a physiological role in the control of cell growth during S-phase.

Essential role for mevalonate synthesis in DNA replication.

The relationship between 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl (HMG) CoA reductase activity [mevalonate:NADP(+) oxidoreductase (CoA-acylating), EC 1.1.1.34] and DNA synthesis was studied in synchronized cultures of BHK-21 cells. During a 24-hr period of cell replication, two phases of accelerated thymidine incorporation into DNA corresponding to two S phases of the cell cycle occurred. A marked increase in activity of HMG CoA reductase was consistently observed at or just prior to each of these peaks of DNA synthesis. Moreover, when HMG CoA reductase activity was suppressed by the competitive inhibitor compactin, the normal S-phase burst of DNA synthesis was specifically and totally prevented. Finally, the compactin-induced inhibition of DNA synthesis could be completely reversed within minutes by the addition of mevalonate, the product of the HMG CoA reductase reaction. By contrast, addition of cholesterol-rich lipoproteins had no effect upon DNA synthesis in compactin-treated cells. These data demonstrate that HMG CoA reductase activity, and therefore the production of mevalonate, plays an essential role in the synthesis of DNA specifically during the S phase of the cell cycle. Moreover, the results indicate that this function of mevalonate in regulating DNA replication is independent of its conversion to cholesterol.