Protective effect of selected flavonoids on in vitro daunorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.

Flavonoids are an ubiquitous group of polyphenolic substances with varied chemical structures present in foods of plant origin and act as free radical scavenging and chelating agents with a variety of biological activities. Using a model of spontaneously beating, cultured adult rat cardiomyocytes, this study examined the cardioprotective role of quercetin, naringenin, pycnogenol and a model antioxidant, trolox, against daunorubicin-induced toxicity. Cardiomyocyte protection was assessed by MTT test and extracellular lactate dehydrogenase detection. Protection of cardiomyocytes was concentration/dose dependent for quercetin > naringenin > pycnogenol > trolox. Quercetin (10(-4)-10(-6) mol/L) after 24 h of co-incubation with daunorubicin significantly increased the cardiomyocyte survival in all tested concentrations (p < 0.001). The cytoprotective effect of naringenin (10(-4)-10(-6) mol/L) was similar to those of quercetin (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). Pycnogenol was the least effective of the flavonoids studied. On the other hand, all tested flavonoids had significantly better protective effects than trolox. The leakage of lactate dehydrogenase induced by daunorubicin was also prevented by the studied compounds and was in accordance with their cytoprotective activity.

Increased expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and caveolin-1 in the aorta of rats with isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy.

Isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy is associated with increased expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase in the aorta but without signs of improved endothelial function. The aim was to examine the hypothesis that increased expression of eNOS allosteric inhibitor caveolin-1 could be associated with unimproved endothelium-dependent relaxations. Rats received isoproterenol (5 mg/kg body mass, i.p., n = 13) or its vehicle (n = 14) during 1 week. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured by the tail-cuff method. Expression of eNOS and caveolin-1 was measured using immunoblotting analysis. Relaxations of isolated aorta to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside were evaluated ex vivo. After 1 week of isoproterenol administration, basal SBP and HR were decreased (SBP 110 +/- 3 vs. 126 +/- 3 mmHg, p < 0.05; HR 342 +/- 8 vs. 366 +/- 6 beats/min, p < 0.05). Isoproterenol increased the mass of the left ventricle (+33% +/- 4% vs. control; p < 0.05) and right ventricle (+40% +/- 9%; p < 0.05). Isoproterenol administration increased the expression of eNOS (+53% +/- 12%; p < 0.05) and caveolin-1 (+54% +/- 20%, p < 0.05) in the aorta. Relaxation of isolated aorta to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside showed a trend towards a worsened endothelial function and a lower sensitivity to exogenous NO. Thus, 1 week of isoproterenol administration led to increased eNOS expression in the aorta without amelioration of endothelial vasorelaxation function. Concomitant increase in caveolin-1 expression may be responsible for this paradox.

Expression and interaction of different catenins in colorectal carcinoma cells.

Aberrant signalling activities of beta-catenin, originally identified as a component of cell-adhesion complexes, are now considered to be an important factor in colorectal carcinogenesis. However, recently it was shown that also gamma- as well as p120 catenins have a dual role either in cell adhesion or in affecting some gene activation. Therefore, the levels and interactions of these three catenins in human colorectal carcinoma cell lines were analysed. A great heterogeneity in the expression of all catenins tested was found in colorectal carcinoma cell lines HT29 and LS174T. Detailed analysis of beta-catenin interactions was done. GST-APC fragment-fused proteins were used to absorb beta-catenin and its complexes from cell lysates. Similarly, the E-cadherin binding capacity of the residual pool of beta-catenin was analysed using the GST-ECT construct. It was found that the level of beta-catenin does not necessarily depend either on the APC or beta-catenin gene mutations and that co-precipitation of beta-, gamma-, and p120 catenins is not limited to cells that express E-cadherin.

Changes of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in human and mouse intestinal tumours.

An immunohistochemical analysis of E-cadherin and beta-catenin was performed in human colorectal cancer as well as in surrounding normal intestinal tissue. We also analysed the expression of these two cell adhesion proteins in transgenic Apc1638N mice as a model of human familial adenometous polyposis syndrome. In the normal intestinal mucosa of both species, E-cadherin and beta-catenin were localized along the lateral plasma membranes of epithelial cells. In intestinal tumour cells, however, they were also present in the cytoplasm. The expression of both proteins was reduced in human and mouse tumours. The pattern of their distribution was frequently heterogenous with strongly positive cells in a mosaic of negative ones. Further, E-cadherin and beta-catenin expression did not correlate to the Duke's staging of tumours and therefore neither can be used as prognostic criteria.

Changes of E-cadherin and beta-catenin levels during induced differentiation of colorectal carcinoma cells.

Following the finding of a great increase in cell-cell adhesion in several colorectal carcinoma cell lines after induced differentiation, the expression of E-cadherin-catenin complexes was analyzed. The sensitivity of cell lines to the differentiation induced by sodium butyrate differed. Nevertheless, all cells growing for 5 days in the medium containing 2 mM sodium butyrate changed their morphology and adherent properties. The expression of E-cadherin and catenins participating in its function were analyzed. A significant increase in E-cadherin level after butyrate treatment was found in HT29 and LS174T cell lines only. However, a high decrease in beta-catenin level was detected in all cell lines treated with butyrate. Further analysis showed regulation of beta-catenin at the level of mRNA.

Angiotensin II receptors on colorectal carcinoma cells.

The presence of angiotensin II receptors was found on cells of three colorectal carcinoma cell lines. The binding assays with 125I-labelled angiotensin II and ligands specific for angiotensin AT1 or AT2 receptors showed that angiotensin receptors on colorectal cancer cells are mostly of the AT2 type. The binding capacity of tumor cells was not significantly changed by butyrate-induced differentiation.

Changes in c-src activity in a human colon cancer cell line during differentiation.

Sodium butyrate is a potent agent inducing transient differentiation of colorectal carcinoma cell line HT29. Besides an increase in the level of alkaline phosphatase and morphological changes, this differentiation is followed by a great reduction of kinase activity of the c-src gene product (pp60(c-src)), combined with a sharp decrease in binding of pp60(c-src) to GST-src SH2+SH3 fusion proteins. This finding suggests that the cause of the reduction of pp60(c-src) kinase activity could be an inactive conformation of the pp60(c-src) molecule in sodium butyrate-treated HT29 cells.

Changes in conformation, stability and condensation of DNA by univalent and divalent cations in methanol-water mixtures.

Circular dichroism spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy, measurements of Tm values, sedimentation analysis and electron microscopy were used to study properties of calf thymus DNA in methanol-water mixtures as a function of monovalent cation (Na+ or Cs+) concentration and also in the presence of divalent cations Ca2+, Mg2+, and Mn2+. In the absence of divalent cations only slight conformational changes occurred and no condensation and/or aggregation could be detected. The Tm values depend on the amount of methanol and on the nature and concentration of cations. In methanol-water mixtures higher thermal stability was observed in solutions containing Cs+ ions. Up to 40% (v/v) methanol the addition of divalent ions leads to DNA stabilization. At methanol concentration higher than 50% the presence of divalent cations causes DNA condensation and denaturation even at room temperature. The denaturation is reversible with respect to EDTA addition indicating that no separation of complementary strands occurred and the resulting form of DNA is probably similar to the P form. DNA destacking appears to be a direct consequence of stronger cation binding by the condensed DNA in methanol-water mixtures.