The relative effectiveness of estrone, estradiol-17 beta, and estriol in sex reversal in the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta), a turtle with temperature-dependent sex determination.

In many turtles the temperature during the middle of incubation determines the gonadal sex of the hatchling. Sex steroid hormones have been implicated in temperature-dependent sex determination in the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta; nonaromatizable androgens are involved in male sex determination and estrogens and aromatizable androgens in female sex determination. Administration of exogenous estradiol-17 beta to eggs incubating at a temperature that normally produces only males can overcome the effect of temperature and result in all offspring being female. Further, estradiol-17 beta and incubation temperature synergize to produce a greater feminizing effect at intermediate incubation temperatures that produce mixed sex ratios. This study demonstrates that, in the red-eared slider, there is a complex interaction between incubation temperature, different estrogens, and the dosage effect of each hormone. There are changes in potency of different estrogens with incubation temperature such that estriol is more potent than estrone and estradiol-17 beta at 26 degrees (an all-male producing incubation temperature), estrone and estriol are equipotent to each other and more potent than estradiol-17 beta at 28.8 degrees (an incubation temperature that produced a male-biased sex ratio), and estradiol-17 beta is more potent than estrone and estriol at 29 degrees (an incubation temperature that produced equal numbers of males and females). These changes may be due to differences in synergism between the hormones and incubation temperature. Estriol treatment also resulted in cranially hypertrophied oviducts at all incubation temperatures in a dose-dependent manner, whereas animals treated with estradiol-17 beta and estrone had normal oviducts. These results support the hypothesis that estrogens are involved in the final common pathway of female sex determination in this species.

Temperature and non-aromatizable androgens: a common pathway in male sex determination in a turtle with temperature-dependent sex determination?

This study addressed the hypothesis that, in the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta, non-aromatizable androgens are the physiological equivalent of temperature in determining male development. In the first experiment, eggs were treated in the middle of the temperature-sensitive period with 1.0 or 10.0 micrograms androsterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone, 3 alpha-androstanediol, or 3 beta-androstanediol, while at an all-male, male-biased, or one of two female-biased incubation temperatures. In the second experiment, eggs were treated with the same dosages of dihydrotestosterone at different stages of embryonic development while at a male-biased, threshold, or a female-biased incubation temperature. Results of experiment one indicated that hormone-induced masculinization is specific to non-aromatizable androgens. Results of experiment two indicated that the sensitivity to dihydrotestosterone corresponds to the temperature-sensitive window during development. Further, there is a dose-response relationship but no apparent synergism between exogenous dihydrotestosterone and incubation temperature. When considered with other research, it is suggested that non-aromatizable androgens and their products are involved in the initiation of male sex determination whereas oestrogens and their aromatizable androgen precursors are involved in the initiation of female sex determination.

The relative effectiveness of androstenedione, testosterone, and estrone, precursors to estradiol, in sex reversal in the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta), a turtle with temperature-dependent sex determination.

In many turtles the temperature during the middle of incubation determines the gonadal sex of the hatchling. Sex steroid hormones have been implicated in temperature-dependent sex determination in the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta; androgen is involved in male sex determination and estradiol in female sex determination. Administration of exogenous estradiol and its agonists to eggs incubating at a male-producing temperature can overcome the effect of temperature and result in all-female offspring. Exogenous testosterone will also result in some female hatchlings if administered to eggs incubated at a male-producing temperature, an effect due to the aromatization of testosterone to estradiol. This study demonstrates that in the red-eared slider, androstenedione, the precursor to both testosterone and estradiol, has a similar effect. In addition, both testosterone and androstenedione synergize with incubation temperature to exert a greater effect at intermediate incubation temperatures that normally produce mixed sex ratios, indicating that as with estradiol, androstenedione and testosterone are involved in the final common pathway of sex determination in this species. At the single dosage administered, estrone and estradiol produced all females at a male-producing incubation temperature.

Suppression of cytochrome P450 Cyp1a-1 induction in murine hepatoma 1c1c7 cells by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and inhibitors of protein kinase C.

Treatment of murine hepatoma 1c1c7 cultures with dibenz[a,c]anthracene (DB[a,c]A)-induced P450 Cyp1a-1, as indicated by analyses of CYP1A1 mRNA and 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity. Pretreatment of cultures with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) for as short as 1 h reduced protein kinase C (PKC) activity and resulted in a temporary suppression of EROD induction. The dose-response curves defining the TPA-dependent suppression of EROD induction and PKC down-regulation were very similar, as were the initial kinetics of PKC loss and the times of TPA pretreatment required for suppression of EROD induction. The effects of TPA could not be mimicked by 4 alpha-TPA, an analog incapable of activating and down-regulating PKC. Pretreatment of cultures with the protein kinase inhibitors staurosporine, calphostin C, or H7 resulted in dose-dependent suppressions of EROD induction. However, the suppressive and cytotoxic effects of these agents could be separated from one another in the case of only H7. HA1004, an analog of H7 that inhibits the same spectrum of protein kinases as H7 except for PKC, did not inhibit DB[a,c]A induction of EROD. Pretreatment of cultures with H7, but not HA1004, suppressed the accumulation of CYP1A1 mRNA that normally occurred following treatment with DB[a,c]A. Collectively, these studies suggest that PKC plays a role in the processes involved in the induction of Cyp1a-1.

Phorbol ester-mediated suppression of cytochrome P450 Cyp1a-1 induction in murine skin: involvement of protein kinase C.

Epidermal 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity was elevated greater than 100-fold within 4 to 7 h of topical treatment of SENCAR mice with 100 nmol dibenz[a,c]anthracene (DB[a,c]A). Treatment of skin with 2 micrograms of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) 2 to 8 h prior to DB[a,c]A application suppressed induction by 80%. Suppression was dose-dependent over the range of 0.01 to 5 micrograms TPA (ID50 approximately 0.6 nmol). EROD activities in normal and TPA-treated epidermis paralleled steady state P450 CYP1A1 mRNA content. Analogs of TPA incapable of activating or down-regulating protein kinase C (PKC) did not suppress induction. Pretreatment of skin with sn-1,2-didecanoylglycerol, an activator of PKC which causes translocation but no down-regulation, did not suppress EROD induction. However, induction was suppressed by chrysarobin, an anthralin analog that causes PKC down-regulation in the absence of prior activation. These studies suggest that PKC participates in the processes associated with Cyp1a-1 induction and that TPA effects Cyp1a-1 induction through its down-regulation of PKC.

Differential expression of basal and hydrocarbon-induced cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase and quinone reductase activities in subpopulations of murine epidermal cells differing in their stages of differentiation.

The activities of NAD(P)H-dependent quinone reductase (QR) and the cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (7-ECD) and 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (7-ERD) were measured in four subpopulations of murine epidermal keratinocytes (MKs) that differed in their stages of differentiation. Noninduced per cell 7-ECD and 7-ERD activities were the lowest in basal cell MKs and progressively increased as the MKs underwent differentiation. In contrast, noninduced per cell QR activities in the three less differentiated MK subpopulations were very similar to one another and greater than the activities measured in the most differentiated subpopulation. Treatment of dorsal skin with 100 nmol of dibenz[a,c]anthracene (DB[a,c]A) increased CYPIA1 mRNA abundance and elevated 7-ERD activities to similar per cell levels in all MK subpopulations. This was achieved by differential inductions (200- to greater than or equal to 1850-fold) of 7-ERD in the different subpopulations. In contrast, QR induction by DB[a,c]A was similar (less than 3-fold) in all MK subpopulations. Consequently, the expressions of noninduced QR and 7-ERD activities in skin are regulated as a function of MK differentiation. However, the distributions of the noninduced activities of these two enzymes in MK subpopulations are the exact opposite. Furthermore, the relative inducibility of 7-ERD, but not QR, in skin is also regulated as a function of epidermal differentiation.

Differential expression of cytochrome P-450 in proliferating and quiescent cultures of murine lung epithelial cells.

Expression of the cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase activity 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (7-ERD) was surveyed in proliferating and quiescent cultures of murine cell line C-10, a non-tumorigenic line of presumed alveolar type II origin. 7-ERD activities were undetectable in subconfluent/proliferating cultures but became detectable once the cultures had become confluent and their growth had arrested due to contact inhibition. Serum deprivation of subconfluent cultures resulted in a rapid inhibition of cell proliferation and the subsequent expression of 7-ERD. These results suggest that 7-ERD expression is regulated as a function of the proliferative status of C-10 cells.

Assessment of the antioxidant/prooxidant status of murine skin following topical treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and throughout the ontogeny of skin cancer. Part I: Quantitation of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and xanthine oxidase.

The activities of several enzymes involved in reactive oxygen production and detoxification were quantified in murine skin during the ontogeny of chemically induced skin cancer. Relative to solvent-treated controls, the specific activities of epidermal superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were reduced approximately 45, approximately 60 and approximately 24% respectively, 24 h after the fourth or tenth topical application of 1 microgram of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) to the dorsal skin of SENCAR mice. The specific activity of epidermal xanthine oxidase (XO) increased approximately 350% during the same period. SOD and CAT specific activities in papillomas and carcinomas generated in an initiation-promotion protocol were approximately 15 and approximately 40% respectively of the activities measured in age-matched, non-treated mice. CAT and SOD activities were also significantly suppressed in the skin adjacent to the papillomas for several weeks following the cessation of TPA promotion, but eventually recovered to the levels measured in age-matched controls. XO specific activities in papillomas and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) were approximately 85-350% greater than the activities determined in skin adjacent to the tumors. The increases in XO and the decreases in SOD and CAT activities measured in the tumors were independent of continued treatment with TPA, and thus characteristic of the tumor phenotype. GPX activities in papillomas were comparable to normal, untreated skin, but reduced approximately 22-41% in SCC. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that TPA orchestrates changes in the activities of several enzymes involved in reactive oxygen metabolism that are characteristic of the papilloma and SCC phenotype.

Fluorescence assay for per-cell estimation of cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase activities in keratinocyte suspensions and cultures.

An assay was characterized that facilitated per-cell estimation of cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase activities in whole-cell suspensions and cultures of murine epidermal keratinocytes (MEKs). 7-Ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (7-ECD), 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (7-ERD), and 7-pentoxyresorufin O-deethylase (7-PRD) activities were monitored by fluorescent detection of their products. MEKs were made permeable by a freeze-thaw cycle, and xenobiotic metabolism occurred in situ. Analyses of cultured MEKs were made with the cells attached to the culture dishes. Product formation was proportional with MEK cell number and assay time and was dependent upon a NADPH-generating system. The three monooxygenase activities were inhibited to various degrees, in a dose-dependent manner, by the P-450 inhibitors alpha-naphthoflavone and metyrapone. The number of MEKs obtained from a single mouse was sufficient for multiple analyses. The assay was also used to determine monooxygenase activities in whole-cell suspensions of rat hepatocytes. Constitutive per hepatocyte 7-ECD, 7-PRD, and 7-ERD activities were 357-, 96-, and 1926-fold greater, respectively, than the activities measured in suspensions of dorsal MEKs.

Coordinate modulation of murine hepatic xanthine oxidase activity and the cytochrome P-450 system by interferons.

The role of xanthine oxidase (XO) in the interferon (IFN)-dependent modulation of the hepatic cytochrome P-450 system was assessed in SENCAR mice. Intraperitoneal administration of 10(4)-10(5) units of IFN-gamma resulted in dose-dependent increases in hepatic XO activities. XO activity was significantly elevated within 12 h of IFN-gamma treatment, and reached a maximum between 24-48 h, and returned to basal levels within 72-96 h. Although the kinetics of increase and decline of XO activity correlated with the loss and subsequent recovery of hepatic P-450 levels, there was no quantitative correlation between hepatic XO activity and P-450 content. Comparable results were obtained in mice pretreated with the P-450 inducer Aroclor 1254 3 days prior to IFN-gamma administration. The increases in XO activity following IFN-gamma treatment were the consequence of increases in xanthine dehydrogenase (XD), and the conversion of XD to XO. The ad libitum administration of allopurinol to IFN-gamma-treated mice reduced XO specific activity to approximately 4% of the basal activity of control mice, but did not prevent reductions in cytochrome P-450 levels or the activities of two P-450 dependent monooxygenases. Collectively, these data suggest that the reductions in the hepatic P-450 system noted after IFN administration are not a consequence of elevated XO activities.

Modulation of constitutive cytochrome P-450 expression in vivo and in vitro in murine keratinocytes as a function of differentiation and extracellular Ca2+ concentration.

A procedure was developed for the per cell estimation of cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase activities in cultures and whole cell suspensions of murine epidermal keratinocytes (MEKs). Murine keratinocytes cultured in medium containing less than or equal to 0.04 mM Ca2+ can be induced to differentiate by raising medium Ca2+ concentrations to 1.2 mM. The per cell activities of the monooxygenases 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (7-ER) and 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (7-EC) were elevated greater than or equal to 2090% and approximately 460%, respectively, within 13-24 hr of Ca2+ shift. These increases could be completely suppressed by supplementation of culture medium with actinomycin D or cycloheximide immediately prior to Ca2+ shift. After prolonged culture in low Ca2+ medium, some MEKs detached from the monolayer. These detached cells had the characteristics of differentiating MEKs but did not have elevated 7-EC or 7-ER activities. Percoll gradient centrifugation of freshly isolated dorsal skin MEKs was used to prepare four subpopulations that differed in their stages of terminal differentiation. 7-EC and 7-ER activities varied among these subpopulations and correlated with the degree of MEK differentiation. Specifically, the lowest and highest per cell activities (greater than 7-fold difference) were in the basal and most differentiated spinous cell populations, respectively. Collectively, the current studies demonstrate that in vivo P-450 activities are markedly different in proliferating and differentiating MEKs and suggest that constitutive P-450 expression may be modulated as a function of changes in Ca2+ concentration that occur during keratinocyte terminal differentiation.

Modulation of the co-promoting activity of gamma interferon in SENCAR and C57BL/6 mouse skin by difluoromethylornithine and the scheduling and duration of interferon treatment.

The murine skin multistage carcinogenesis model was used to characterize the co-promoting and tumor progressing activities of i.p. administered recombinant DNA-derived murine gamma interferon (rMuIFN-gamma). The dorsal skins of female SENCAR mice were topically initiated with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) and promoted twice a week for 20 weeks with 1 microgram of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Doses of rMuIFN-gamma that had no effect on papilloma multiplicities when administered 1 day prior to TPA treatment increased the numbers of papillomas per mouse by 33-38% when administered immediately prior (zero time) to TPA application. A minimum of 6 weeks of co-treatment with TPA and rMuIFN-gamma (zero time) were necessary for demonstration of rMuIFN-gamma-dependent co-promotion. The ad libitum administration of either 0.25 or 1% (w/v) solutions of alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) in the drinking water inhibited by 90% the TPA-dependent elevation of epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity but had minimal effect on papilloma multiplicities in TPA-promoted mice. However, both doses of DFMO completely suppressed rMuIFN-gamma-dependent co-promotion. Carcinoma incidence and multiplicities by weeks 46-48 of the promotion-progression period were statistically indistinguishable for initiated mice treated with TPA, TPA + DFMO, TPA + IFN-gamma or TPA + DFMO + IFN-gamma. Similarly, i.p. administration of rMuIFN-gamma to papilloma-bearing mice in a tumor progression study, with and without simultaneous topical TPA treatment, did not affect carcinoma latency or carcinoma multiplicities. C57BL/6 mice initiated with DMBA developed few papillomas (0.2 paps/mouse) after 19 weeks of TPA promotion. The i.p. administration of rMuIFN-gamma to C57BL/6 mice at the time of TPA treatment, at doses that were co-promoting in SENCAR mice, did not increase papilloma multiplicities. Collectively, our studies suggest that the co-promoting activity of rMuIFN-gamma is exceptionally sensitive to inhibition by DFMO and dependent upon the scheduling and duration of rMuIFN-gamma treatment, and the mouse strain/stock employed for the studies.

Tumor copromoting activity of gamma-interferon in the murine skin multistage carcinogenesis model.

Recombinant DNA-derived murine gamma-interferon (rMuIFN-gamma) was tested in the murine skin multistage carcinogenesis model as a modulator of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) promotion. Female SENCAR mice were topically initiated with 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene and promoted twice weekly with TPA for 20 weeks. Intraperitoneal administration of rMuIFN-gamma 1 day prior to TPA treatment affected neither the kinetics of papilloma development nor the percentage of mice that developed tumors. However, papilloma multiplicities could be either inhibited or increased depending upon the dose of rMuIFN-gamma. Papilloma multiplicities for mice receiving 100, 500, 1000, and 5000 units of rMuIFN-gamma were 184, 122, 105, and 84% of TPA control values, respectively. In contrast, twice weekly i.p. treatments of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene initiated mice with only rMuIFN-gamma for 20 weeks did not promote the development of any tumors. Consequently, TPA functioned as a copromoter in those situations in which combined TPA and IFN-gamma treatments elevated papilloma multiplicities. Collectively, the current study demonstrates that rMuIFN-gamma can systemically modulate TPA-dependent promotion in mouse skin.

Distribution of catalase and its modulation by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate in murine dermis and subpopulations of keratinocytes differing in their stages of differentiation.

Topical treatment of female SENCAR mice with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) reduced both dermal and epidermal catalase-specific activities 38% and 51% within 6 h and 18 h of promoter application, respectively. Dermal catalase activity recovered to control levels within 72 h of treatment whereas epidermal catalase activity remained suppressed. Activity measurements were also made in four subpopulations of keratinocytes prepared by Percoll gradient centrifugation that differed in their stages of differentiation. Catalase-specific activity increased with keratinocyte maturity and ranged from 45-54 U/mg protein for basal cell preparations to 252 U/mg protein for granular-squamous cell preparations. Pretreatment of the epidermis for 16-18 h with TPA (2 micrograms) uniformly reduced catalase-specific activity 46-52% in all keratinocyte subpopulations prepared by Percoll gradient centrifugation. Similarly, plots of catalase units per cell versus extracted protein per cell suggested 55-60% decreases in catalase activity in basal and spinous cell keratinocytes of TPA treated epidermis. Furthermore, catalase-specific activity in homogenates of whole epidermis (144-182 units/mg protein) was most similar to the activity of the granular/squamous keratinocyte subpopulation. Collectively, these studies suggest that: (i) TPA reduces the capacity for H2O2 detoxification by catalase throughout the epidermis; and (ii) activity measurements on unfractionated epidermal preparations may not be representative of the basal cell keratinocyte population.

12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-dependent induction of xanthine dehydrogenase and conversion to xanthine oxidase in murine epidermis.

Both xanthine dehydrogenase (XD) and xanthine oxidase (XO) catalyze the conversion of hypoxanthine to xanthine, and xanthine to uric acid. Topical application of a promoting dose of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) to the dorsal skin of female SENCAR mice resulted in a 3.0-3.5-fold elevation of epidermal XO specific activity. Epidermal XO specific activity was maximally elevated 48-96 h after TPA treatment, and required 11 days to return to control levels. Although TPA increased the XO/(XD + XO) ratio from 0.45 to 0.7, the conversion of preexisting XD to XO could not solely account for the TPA-dependent elevation in XO specific activity since control XD plus XO activity was less than just the XO activity in TPA-treated epidermis. Topical application of cycloheximide simultaneously with, or 12 h after, TPA treatment inhibited the TPA-dependent increases in the XO/(XD + XO) ratio and XO specific activities. Collectively, these results suggest that the increased XO activity detected following TPA treatment is the consequence of TPA-induced XD synthesis, and a conversion of existing and newly synthesized XD to XO. In addition, the in vivo promoting activities of analogues of TPA could be correlated with their abilities to elevate XO activity (TPA greater than phorbol-12,13-dibenzoate much greater than 4-O-methyl-TPA = phorbol).