Expression of sodium-linked nucleoside transport activity in monolayer cultures of IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cells.

Mature, confluent monolayer cultures of IEC-6 rat intestinal epithelial cells in conventional growth media express both Na(+)-linked, concentrative nucleoside transport (NT) activity and equilibrative, inhibitor-sensitive NT activity, but do not show morphologic differentiation. Na(+)-dependent fluxes of Ado and formycin B were minor in early subconfluent IEC-6 monolayers, but increased severalfold to become the major component of influx of these agents in confluent monolayers grown in medium containing Nu-Serum, a commercial medium supplement with a low serum content. In monolayers cultured in medium with fetal bovine serum, cell proliferation rates were similar to those in medium supplemented with Nu-Serum, but expression of Na(+)-linked NT activity was 6-8-fold lower than in monolayers grown in the latter medium. Inclusion of hydrocortisone in growth medium with Nu-Serum caused a 2-fold increase in the expression of Na(+)-linked NT activity. Experiments in which components of medium supplementation were withheld showed that insulin and epidermal growth factor were important in expression of the Na(+)-linked NT activity. Because the Na(+)-linked NT system has a brush border location in fresh intestinal epithelium, it is concluded that the regulated expression of this activity in the IEC-6 monolayers is a differentiative change.

Is misonidazole binding to mouse tissues a measure of cellular pO2?

Misonidazole (MISO), a hypoxic cell radiosensitizer, forms covalently-linked adducts to cellular molecules as a result of bioreductive metabolism, a process which is strongly dependent upon oxygen concentration. MISO binding to liver tissue taken from air-breathing mice was three to five times greater than binding to other normal tissues. The relative binding of [14C]MISO to various mouse tissue cubes in vitro was measured by autoradiography as a function of defined oxygen concentrations, and standard curves (binding rate vs oxygen concentration) were generated. The oxygen concentration for half-maximum binding as well as the maximum and minimum binding rates (grains per 100 micron 2) observed for liver tissue were not significantly different from those measured for brain or heart tissue. These results, along with previously published data on MISO binding to isolated hepatocytes in vitro, suggest that the elevated binding to liver in vivo may result, in part, from the organ existing at a significantly lower pO2 than other normal tissues. They also suggest that this drug adduct procedure could be developed as a sensitive method for the quantitative measurement of tissue pO2 at the cellular level.

In vitro binding of 14C-misonidazole to hepatocytes and hepatoma cells.

The binding rate of 14C-Misonidazole was determined for freshly isolated mouse hepatocytes, mouse hepatoma cells, EMT-6 tumor cells, and V79 Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts. At 10 microM drug concentration, the four different cell lines bound 14C-Misonidazole at rates of 12.4, 29.9, 51.6, and 13.5 pmoles/10(6) cells/hr, respectively. This relative order of binding was observed over a drug concentration range of 10-100 microM. These data indicate that in extreme hypoxia, mouse hepatocytes do not bind 14C-Misonidazole at a uniquely high rate in vitro, compared to other normal and tumor cell lines. This observation suggests that the increased binding to liver in vivo observed by other investigators is due to the liver existing at a reduced oxygen tension, compared to other normal tissues.