[Blockade of proteasome activity disturbs the rhythm of synthesis of the protein marker of direct cell-cell interactions].

The effect of inhibition of proteasome activity on direct cell-cell interactions in primary hepatocyte cultures was studied. The circahoralian rhythm of protein synthesis was a marker of cell-cell communication. The addition of the proteasome inhibitor MG132 at doses of 10 or 20 µM to the medium with hepatocyte cultures for 19 h resulted in a significant reduction in the total pool of 3H-leucine in cells. The incorporation of leucine into proteins changed slightly or negligibly, whereas the content of free labeled leucine in hepatocytes decreased. The rhythm of protein synthesis was distorted compared to the control. The rhythm was restored by external organizers, such as gangliosides and melatonin, as well as by enhancing the activity of protein kinases--the key factor in the organization of the rhythm of protein synthesis. A short-term (3-h) exposure to MG132 did not change the pool of leucine, but the rhythm of protein synthesis was also disturbed. Thus, protein catabolism affects cell-cell interactions organizing the rhythm of protein synthesis. Another factor of the downregulation of the rhythm of protein synthesis, the secretion of proteins from the hepatocytes in vivo, which was shown in vivo in many studies, was also revealed in our study when measuring the content of proteins stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue G250 in the medium with hepatocyte cultures.

[Mesenchymal stromal cells synchronize the rhythm of protein synthesis under the effect of an exogenous signal].

A comparative study was performed of dense 5-hour cultures of rat hepatocytes and equal-density cultures of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) isolated from human adipose tissue of rat bone marrow. The cells were grown on collagen-coated class slides in serum-free medium. Unlike in hepatocytes, no rhythm of protein synthesis was initially revealed in MSC, but such a rhythm manifested itself when the culture medium was supplemented with melatonin (2 nM, 5 min). The results of experiments with cytoplasmic calcium chelator BAPTA-AM and protein kinase inhibitor H7 indicate that the mechanism of protein synthesis synchronization in MSC consists in calcium-dependent phosphorylation of cell proteins.

[Self-synchronization of the protein synthesis rhythm in HaCaT cultures of human keratinocytes].

In cultures of human keratinocytes HaCaT contained in a serum-free medium on glass, a circahoralian rhythm of protein synthesis was found similar to the one in hepatocytes in vitro. The intensity of the synthesis was determined by the inclusion of 3H-leucine corrected for the pool of free marked leucine. Rhythm was studied in washed 1- or 2-day cultures after the change of the medium. The medium conditioned with keratinocytes HaCaT synchronized the rarefied hepatocyte cultures nonsynchronous in the control. Therefore, the keratinocytes liberate synchronizing factors into the medium. A BAPTA-AM chelator of calcium ions eliminates the protein synthesis rhythm both in dense hepatocyte cultures synchronous in the control and in the HaCaT keratinocyte cultures. The effect of the H7 inhibitor of protein kinases was analogous. Thus, both in keratinocytes and hepatocytes, self-synchronization of fluctuations of the intensity of protein synthesis takes place. The mechanism of self-synchronization is the calcium-depending phosphorylation of cell proteins.

[Melatonin injected into rat efficiently synchronizes the rhythm of protein synthesis in primary hepatocyte cultures isolated from this rat].

Melatonin injected intraperitoneally into rat synchronizes the ultradian rhythm of protein synthesis after 100 min in primary hepatocyte cultures isolated from this rat, which are studied after 1 or 2 days. The effective synchronization concentrations of melatonin--0.01-0.02 microg per kg of rat weight--are three orders lower than melatonin doses used in clinical practice in human treatment.

[The cell theory. Progress in studies on cell-cell communications].

Current data confirm the fundamental statement of the cell theory concerning the cell reproduction in a series of generations (omnis cellula e cellula). Cell communities or ensembles integrated by the signaling systems established in prokaryotes and protists and functioning in multicellular organisms including mammals are considered as the structural and functional unit of a multicellular organism. The cell is an elementary unit of life and basis of organism development and functioning. At the same time, the adult organism is not just a totality of cells. Multinucleated cells in some tissues, syncytial structure, and structural-functional units of organs are adaptations for optimal functioning of the multicellular organism and manifestations of cell-cell communications in development and definitive functioning. The cell theory was supplemented and developed by studies on cell-cell communications; however, these studies do not question the main generalizations of the theory.

[Direct cell-cell communications and social behavior of cells in mammals, protists, and bacteria. Possible causes of multicellularity].

Comparison of current data on direct cell-cell communications in mammals, protists, and bacteria suggests that the emergence of the signaling systems of self-organization underlay the emergence of multicellular organisms. Biogenic amines, regulators of coordinated behavior and aggregation in bacteria, have been found in protists and multicellular organisms. In metazoans, biogenic amines have become specific neurotransmitters. At the same time, the studies on synchronization of protein synthesis rhythm in mammalian cell cultures demonstrated that noradrenaline and serotonin have conserved their ancient function of cell-cell cooperation in mammals, which is manifested as coordinated social behavior of cells in population in the case of bacteria and multicellular organisms.

[Signaling factors of self-organization of protein synthesis rhythm in hepatocyte cultures--gangliosides and catecholamines function independently].

Considering the data on the low level of self-organization (self-synchronization) of protein synthesis rhythm in aging, we studied the possible interference of the signaling factors of self-organization, gangliosides and catecholamines, as well as catecholamine reception. Experiments were carried out on primary cultures of rat hepatocytes on slides. Inhibited ganglioside synthesis did not prevent the organization of protein synthesis rhythm by the alpha-adrenomimetic agent phenylephrine. Upon the blockade of alpha-receptors by prazosin, the protein synthesis rhythm was observed after the exposure to gangliosides. Alpha-adrenolytic agents prazosin and benoxathian abolished the synchronizing effect of the beta-adrenomimetic isoproterenol. A mixture of alpha- and beta-adrenomimetic agents inhibited the protein synthesis rhythm-organizing effect of noradrenaline. Thus, the signaling molecules of self-organization of protein synthesis function independently via specific receptors.

[Melatonin promotes and synchronizes protein synthesis in hepatocyte culture from old rats].

The effect of 1 to 1000 nM melatonin was studied on daily cultures of rat hepatocytes on slides in serum-free medium. The minimum melatonin concentration (1 nM) proved to synchronize protein synthesis in asynchronous sparse cultures of hepatocytes from rats of different age, and a circahoralian rhythm of protein synthesis was revealed in them. In dense weekly synchronous hepatocytes from old rats (2.5-years-old with the weight of about 600 g), melatonin improved cell synchronization to the level of young animals. Melatonin treatment increased the mean rate of protein synthesis in rats of different age.

[Approximately hourly biological rhythms: theoretical aspects and the prospects of clinical application].

The aim of the review is to attract attention to the importance of a dynamic approach to symptoms of health and pathology. In this regard, long-known approximately 24-hour or circadian rhythms (CR) are very prospective. However, according to recent studies, shorter approximately hourly rhythms (AHR) are of not less importance. Unlike CR, HR are not obtruded on the organism by periodical external influence of day-night pattern, but present cell's own fundamental property, a method of their metabolism. The fractal nature of HR has been substantiated; age-dependent changes in HR have been demonstrated; the importance of AHR for diagnostics and prognosis in gastroenterology and cardiology has been determined. To perform more clinical observations is an important task.

[Mechanism of direct cell interactions. Self-organization of protein synthesis rhythm].

Primary 24-hour cultures of hepatocytes on slides in a serum-free medium were studied. Circahoralian rhythm of protein synthesis served as a marker of cell cooperation. Stimulation of protein kinase activities by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate at 0.5 or 1.0 microM or forskolin at 10 microM led to visualization of the protein synthesis rhythm in sparse cultures, which were asynchronous in the control and with linear kinetics of protein synthesis. Inhibitors of protein kinase activities H7 (1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-5-methylpiperasine dihydrochloride) at 40 microM or H8 (N-(2-[methylamino]ethyl)-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide hydrochloride) at 25 microM eliminated the protein synthesis rhythm in dense cultures, which are normally synchronous with oscillatory kinetics of protein synthesis. After inhibition of the protein kinase activities, gangliosides or phenylephrine did not synchronize the protein synthesis rhythm. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate modulated the protein synthesis rhythm, shifted the rhythm phase, i.e., stimulation of the protein kinase activities, and, correspondingly, protein phosphorylation may be a factor of synchronization of synthesis oscillations in individual cells and of population rhythm formation. Thus, a cascade of processes leading to self-organization of hepatocytes during formation of summarized protein synthesis was revealed in a series of studies: signal of gangliosides or other calcium agonists-->changes in the level of calcium ions in cytoplasm-->increased protein kinase activities-->protein phosphorylation-->modulation of individual oscillations in the intensity of protein synthesis and their coordination in a summarized rhythm. cAMP-dependent protein kinases also affect the protein synthesis rhythm. Protein phosphorylation is a key process. The mechanisms of cell self-organization are similar in vitro and in vivo, specifically in the liver in situ.