Proteome of H-411E (liver) cells exposed to insulin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha: analysis of proteins involved in insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance may be modeled in H-411E liver cells in tissue culture with the use of the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and insulin. This tissue-culture model nicely mimics IR in human type 2 diabetes mellitus. After incubation of liver cells in tissue culture with INS alone, TNF-alpha alone, and TNF-alpha plus insulin, as well as a control sample, liver-cell extracts were separated on 2D polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis on the basis of isoelectric point and molecular weight. We analyzed the gel images with the use of PD Quest software (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, Calif) to identify differentially expressed protein spots (ie, up or down with insulin vs down or up with TNF-alpha plus insulin). In separate experiments, phosphorus-32 incorporation/autoradiography and phosphoprotein staining were used to characterize treatment-induced phosphorylations. Affected protein spots were identified with the use of peptide fingerprinting and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. The first series of experiments identified 6 differentially expressed proteins: eukaryotic translation initiation factor-3, subunit 2, regulator of G-protein signaling-5, superoxide dismutase, protein disulfide isomerase A6, proteasome subunit-alpha type 3, and regucalcin. In addition, we observed changes in the phosphorylation of protein disulfide isomerase A6. A second series of experiments identified 7 additional proteins with significantly altered differential expression: cell-division protein kinase-4, kinogen heavy chain, carbonic anhydrase-7, E 3 ubiquitin protein ligase, URE-B1; Rab GDP dissociation inhibitor-beta, Rab GDP dissociation inhibitor-beta2, and MAWDBP. It can be seen that differentially expressed proteins, affected by treatment with insulin or with TNF-alpha plus insulin, include regulators of translation, protein degradation, cellular Ca ++ , G-proteins, and free-radical production. Although one cannot detail the mechanism or mechanisms of TNF-alpha induced IR from this data alone, it is easy to relate all of these proteins to a role in insulin signal transduction and, hence, insulin resistance.

Mechanism of action of non-cisplatin type DNA-targeted platinum anticancer agents: DNA interactions of novel acridinylthioureas and their platinum conjugates.

The DNA binding of two novel acridinylthioureas, ACR-NH-(CH(2))(2)-C(S)-NHCH(3) (1) and ACR-N(CH(3))-C(S)-NHCH(3) (3), and their platinum conjugates 4 and 5-derived from [PtCl(2)(en)]-was studied in cell-free model systems using various physico-chemical and biophysical methods. These included: spectrophotometric drug-DNA titrations, ethidium-DNA fluorescence quenching, competitive drug displacement, high-resolution NMR spectroscopy, and unwinding of plasmid DNA monitored by agarose gel electrophoresis. The acridinium cation of 1 showed strong binding to native DNA with K(i)=1.5 x 10(6)M(-1) and an excluded site size (n) of 2bp (McGhee-von Hippel fits of absorbance data). Compound 3 showed no measurable association with DNA. Binding of 1 was an order of magnitude stronger than that of simple 9-methylaminoacridine (2). In alternating copolymers, 1 exhibited slight AT preference. In poly(dA-dT)(2), enhanced association was accompanied by an increased binding site (approximately 3bp), while parameters in poly(dG-dC)(2) were consistent with classical intercalation. Displacement of 1 by distamycin from calf thymus DNA was suggestive of non-intercalating thiourea in 1 being located in the minor groove of the duplex. 1H NMR data of d(GGAGCTCC)(2) modified with 1 indicated intercalative binding of planar acridine, based on upfield shifts of aromatic proton signals relative to those in unbound 1 (Deltadelta approximately equal to -0.5 to -1ppm). Finally, 4 and 5 were found to unwind negatively supercoiled pUC19 plasmid by 21 degrees and 7 degrees per adduct, respectively (electrophoretic gel mobility assays). The difference in DNA binding modes of 4 and 5 is discussed as the ultimate source of the distinctly different biological activities of the conjugates.