Haem repression of the housekeeping 5-aminolaevulinic acid synthase gene in the hepatoma cell line LMH.

Haem is essential for the health and function of nearly all cells. 5-Aminolaevulinic acid synthase-1 (ALAS-1) catalyses the first and rate-controlling step of haem biosynthesis. ALAS-1 is repressed by haem and is induced strongly by lipophilic drugs that also induce CYP (cytochrome P450) proteins. We investigated the effects on the avian ALAS-1 gene promoter of a phenobarbital-like chemical, Glut (glutethimide), and a haem synthesis inhibitor, DHA (4,6-dioxoheptanoic acid), using a reporter gene assay in transiently transfected LMH (Leghorn male hepatoma) hepatoma cells. A 9.1 kb cALAS-1 (chicken ALAS-1) promoter-luciferase-reporter construct, was poorly induced by Glut and not by DHA alone, but was synergistically induced by the combination. In contrast, a 3.5 kb promoter ALAS-1 construct was induced by Glut alone, without any further effect of DHA. In addition, exogenous haem (20 microM) repressed the basal and Glut- and DHA-induced activity of luciferase reporter constructs containing 9.1 and 6.3 kb of ALAS-1 5'-flanking region but not the construct containing the first 3.5 kb of promoter sequence. This effect of haem was subsequently shown to be dependent on the -6.3 to -3.5 kb region of the 5'-flanking region of cALAS-1 and requires the native orientation of the region. Two deletion constructs of this approx. 2.8 kb haem-repressive region (1.7 and 1.1 kb constructs) retained haem-dependent repression of basal and drug inductions, suggesting that more than one cis-acting elements are responsible for this haem-dependent repression of ALAS-1. These results demonstrate that there are regulatory regions in the 5'-flanking region of the cALAS-1 gene that respond to haem and provide a basis for further investigations of the molecular mechanisms by which haem down-regulates expression of the ALAS-1 gene.

Isolation of regioisomers of N-alkylprotoporphyrin IX from chick embryo liver after treatment with porphyrinogenic xenobiotics.

Several porphyrinogenic xenobiotics cause mechanism-based inactivation of cytochrome P450 (P450) isozymes with concomitant formation of a mixture of four N-alkylprotoporphyrin IX (N-alkylPP) regioisomers, which have ferrochelatase inhibitory properties. To isolate the four regioisomers of N-methylprotoporphyrin IX (N-methylPP), 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl, 1-4-dihydro-2,4,6-trimethylpyridine (DDC) was administered to untreated, beta-naphthoflavone-, phenobarbital-, and glutethimide-pretreated 18-day-old chick embryos. Separation of the N-methylPP regioisomers by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed no marked difference in the regioisomer pattern among the different treatments. After administration of griseofulvin, allylisopropylacetamide (AIA), or 1-[4-(3-acetyl-2,4,6-triemethylphenyl)-2,6-cyclohexanedionyl]-O-ethyl propionaldehyde oxime (ATMP) to untreated and glutethimide-pretreated 18-day-old chick embryos, an N-alkylPP was isolated after AIA administration only. This finding strengthened previous reports of the species specificity of N-alkylPP formation with griseofulvin and ATMP. A series of dihydropyridines, namely 4-ethylDDC, 4-hexylDDC, and 4-isobutylDDC were administered to untreated and glutethimide-pretreated 18-day-old chick embryos and hepatic N-alkylPPs were isolated and separated by HPLC into regioisomers. The regioisomer patterns obtained did not support a previous proposal of masked regions above both rings B and C in the heme moieties of the P450 isozymes responsible for N-alkylPP formation. However, the data support the hypothesis of a partially masked region above ring B alone. The regioisomer patterns were in agreement with results previously obtained in rats showing that the percentage of Nc and (or) ND regioisomers in the regioisomer mixture increases as the length and bulk of the 4-alkyl substituent of a DDC analogue increase. Differences in the regioselectivity of heme N-alkylation may be due to intrinsic chemical features of DDC analogues themselves or to differences in the P450 isozymes inactivated.

Conservation of signaling pathways of xenobiotic-sensing orphan nuclear receptors, chicken xenobiotic receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, and pregnane X receptor, from birds to humans.

Chicken xenobiotic receptor, pregnane X receptor, and constitutive androstane receptor are orphan nuclear receptors that have recently been discovered to regulate drug- and steroid-mediated induction of hepatic cytochromes P450 (CYP). This induction is part of an adaptive response involving numerous genes to exposure to drugs and chemicals and has major clinical and toxicological implications. Here we report experiments in the chicken hepatoma cell line LMH that suggest evolutionary conservation of the signaling pathways triggered by pregnane X receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, and chicken xenobiotic receptor. Thus, the phenobarbital-inducible enhancer units of the mouse Cyp2b10, rat CYP2B2, and human CYP2B6 genes were activated in reporter gene assays by the same compounds that activate the chicken CYP2H1 phenobarbital-inducible enhancer units. Chicken xenobiotic receptor, pregnane X receptor, and constitutive androstane receptor all bound to the CYP2H1 phenobarbital-inducible enhancer units in gel-shift experiments. In CV-1 cell transactivation assays, mammalian pregnane X receptors activate the chicken phenobarbital-inducible enhancer units to the same extent as does chicken xenobiotic receptor, each receptor maintaining its species-specific ligand spectrum. To assess the reported role of protein phosphorylation in drug-mediated induction, we treated LMH cells with okadaic acid and observed increased mRNA of delta-aminolevulinate synthase and CYP2H1 whereas expression of CYP3A37 was decreased. The effects of okadaic acid and other modifiers of protein phosphorylation in LMH cells are comparable to those seen on CYP2Bs and CYP3As in mammalian primary hepatocyte cultures. These results indicate that closely related nuclear receptors, transcription factors, and signaling pathways are mediating the transcriptional activation of multiple genes by xenobiotics in chicken, rodents, and man.

Influence of glutethimide on rat brain mononucleotides by sub-chronic codeine treatment.

It was investigated the in vivo effect of glutethimide on the intracellular neuroadaptation characteristic for m-opioid receptor tolerance induced by chronic codeine treatment and reflected by increased levels of adenylyl cyclase (AC) and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). AC activity was appreciated by cyclic-AMP (cAMP) formation, the levels of adenine and guanine nucleotides in brain extracts being assayed using a high performance liquid chromatographic method. The concomitant chronic administration of codeine and glutethimide resulted in a pronounced and long-lasting energetic depletion of the neurons, consistent with the high risk of overdose, and increase of cAMP's stable metabolite, 5'-AMP. This increase is persistent even after withdrawal and suggests an interference with the adenylyl cyclase system involved in the development of tolerance of opioid receptor and in relapse and provides a possible explanation of addiction and fast increase of doses observed in humans abusing this combination.

Heme biosynthesis in a chicken hepatoma cell line (LMH): comparison with primary chick embryo liver cells (CELC).

5-Aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALA synthase), the rate-controlling enzyme of hepatic heme biosynthesis, is feed-back repressed by heme. In the liver, chemicals such as barbiturates markedly induce ALA synthase, especially in the presence of partial defects of heme biosynthesis. The inducibility and regulation of ALA synthase have been investigated using a variety of models, including intact animals and liver cell culture systems. A widely used model that closely approximates what occurs in vivo and in humans is that of primary cultures of chick embryo liver cells (CELCs). However, CELCs have some limitations: the cells obtained are somewhat heterogeneous; isolation and culture must be repeated every week resulting in weekly variations; and cells are short-lived limiting the feasibility of time-course and transfection studies. The aim of this study was to determine if LMH cells, a chick hepatoma cell line, are a good model comparable to that of CELCs. In both cells similar patterns of response of, ALA synthase activities and mRNA levels, and of porphyrin accumulation were obtained following treatments known to affect heme biosynthesis. Similarly, heme repressed ALA synthase mRNA levels in both cell types and ALA synthase activities in LMH cells. We conclude that LMH cells are a useful model for the study of hepatic heme biosynthesis and regulation of ALA synthase.

Mechanism of the synergistic induction of CYP2H by isopentanol plus ethanol: comparison to glutethimide and relation to induction of 5-aminolevulinate synthase.

We had previously found that combined treatment with isopentanol and ethanol synergistically induced CYP2H protein and activity in cultured chick nepatoytes. Here we investigated the mechanism of induction of CYP2H by the alcohols and whether they caused a coordinate induction of 5-aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS) mRNA. Treatment with isopentanol alone or in combination with ethanol resulted in coordinate increases in CYP2H1 and ALAS mRNAs. With isopentanol alone, the amounts of CYP2H1 and ALAS mRNAs at 4 to 6 h were similar to those observed after treatment with the alcohol combination, but declined by 11 h. Readdition of isopentanol at 11 h again increased the expression of both mRNAs, indicating that the decreases at 11 h were due to limiting amounts of inducer. Similar results were observed in cells exposed to low concentrations of glutethimide. In the combined alcohol treatment, increases in CYP2H1 and ALAS mRNAs were sustained from 4 h to 11 h after addition of the alcohols, but decreased to control levels by 24 h. Using pulse labeling to measure de novo synthesis of CYP2H1/2 protein, we found that the increases in CYP2H1/2 protein reflected the increases in CYP2H1 mRNA. The half-life of CYP2H1/2 protein, measured from pulse-chase experiments, was approximately twofold greater than the half-life of CYP2H1 mRNA. Our results indicate that the alcohols and glutethimide coordinately increase ALAS and CYP2H1 mRNA, and that increases in CYP2H1/2 protein arise from increases in its mRNA.

Detection of mitomycin C-DNA adducts in vivo by 32P-postlabeling: time course for formation and removal of adducts and biochemical modulation.

Mitomycin C (MMC) is a DNA cross-linking agent that has been used in cancer chemotherapy for over 20 years, yet little is known either qualitatively or quantitatively about MMC-induced DNA adduct formation and repair in vivo. As an initial means of investigating this, we used a recently developed 32P-postlabeling assay to examine the formation and loss of MMC-DNA adducts in the tissues of a simple in vivo model test system, the chick embryo, following treatment with a chemotherapeutic dose of MMC. As early as 15 min after MMC treatment, four adducts could be detected in the liver which were tentatively identified as the (CpG) N2G-MMC-N2G interstrand cross-link, the bifunctionally activated MMC-N2G monoadduct, and two isomers (alpha and beta) of the monofunctionally activated MMC-N2G monoadduct. The (GpG) N2G-MMC-N2G intrastrand cross-link appears to be a poor substrate for nuclease P1 and/or T4 kinase and was not evaluable by this assay. Levels of all four detectable adducts increased substantially within the first 2 h after MMC treatment, reached maximal levels by 6 h, and decreased progressively thereafter through 24 h, although low levels of certain adducts persisted beyond 24 h. Lung and kidney had comparable levels of total MMC adducts, which were approximately 60% those of the liver, and there were no significant differences in the proportion of specific adducts among the three tissues. The interstrand cross-link represented approximately 13-14% of the total MMC adducts, which is approximately 5-fold greater than the proportion of CpG sites in the genome. In addition, the interstrand cross-link was selectively decreased after 16 h relative to the three monoadducts, suggesting preferential repair. The effect of modulating different components of the Phase I and Phase II drug metabolism on MMC adduct formation, using either glutethimide, 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl, dexamethasone, buthionine sulfoximine, ethacrynic acid, or N-acetylcysteine pretreatments, was examined to characterize the possible pathways of MMC metabolism and adduct formation in vivo. Surprisingly, none of these pretreatments had a significant effect on individual or total adducts with the exception of dexamethasone, which caused an almost 2-fold proportional increase in all four adducts in the liver.

Hepatic 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase mRNA stability is modulated by inhibitors of heme biosynthesis and by metalloporphyrins.

Hepatic 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase, the first and normally rate-controlling enzyme of heme biosynthesis, is regulated by heme. One of the known mechanisms whereby increased cellular heme regulates 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase is by decreasing the stability of its mRNA. In primary cultures of chick embryo liver cells, we tested whether a decrease in cellular heme might increase 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase mRNA stability and whether heme or other metalloporphyrins could reverse this stabilization. We found that: (a) The stability of 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase mRNA was markedly increased by inhibitors of heme biosynthesis, namely, 4,6-dioxoheptanoic acid or deferoxamine; (b) This increased stability of 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase mRNA was reversed by the addition of heme (10 microM) or by the combination of zinc mesoporphyrin (50 nM), an inhibitor of heme oxygenase, and heme (200 nM); (c) Repression of 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase mRNA levels by zinc mesoporphyrin (10 microM) was due to inhibition of heme oxygenase, rather than a direct, heme-like, effect of zinc mesoporphyrin on 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase mRNA; (d) Among the several non-heme metalloporphyrins tested, only zinc mesoporphyrin and chromium mesoporphyrin significantly decreased 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase mRNA without increasing heme oxygenase mRNA.

Isolation of N-vinylprotoporphyrin IX after hepatic cytochrome P450 inactivation by 3-[(arylthio)ethyl]sydnone in chick embryos pretreated with phenobarbital, glutethimide, dexamethasone, and beta-naphthoflavone: differential inhibition of ferrochelatase by N-vinylprotoporphyrin regioisomers.

Several xenobiotics caused hepatic porphyrin accumulation through mechanism-based inactivation of cytochrome P450(P450) and heme alkylation. Loss of iron from the alkylated heme results in formation of an N-alkylporphyrin, which is a potent inhibitor of ferrochelatase. N-Vinylprotoporphyrin IX (N-vinylPP) was identified in chick embryo liver after in ovo administration of 3-[(arylthio)ethyl]sydnone (TTMS). Pretreatment of chick embryos with beta-naphthoflavone, which causes a 90-fold increase in P450 1A levels, did not increase the formation of N-vinylPP after TTMS administration, showing that the heme moiety of P450 1A does not contribute to the formation of N-vinylPP. Increased amounts of N-vinylPP were isolated from dexamethasone-, phenobarbital-, and glutethimide-pretreated chick embryos, and it is possible that P450 2H and/or a P450 3A-like isozyme contributes to the formation of N-vinylPP. The ring B-substituted (NB) regioisomer of N-vinylPP constituted the lowest percentage of the total regioisomers (9-13%) in untreated and drug-induced chick embryos, thus supporting the concept that ring B of heme is occluded by a protein residue in the P450 active site. Previously, the finding that the NB regioisomer of N-ethylprotoporphyrin IX had one fifth the potency of the ring A-substituted (NA) regioisomer as a ferrochelatase inhibitor led to a proposal that an A-C ring tilt was important in N-alkylprotoporphyrins for ferrochelatase inhibition. The finding in the present study that the NA and NB regioisomers of N-vinylPP are equipotent does not support the above proposal. The ring C-substituted (NC) and ring D-substituted (ND) regioisomers of N-vinylPP had low potency.

Chick embryo liver microsomal steroid hydroxylations: induction by dexamethasone, phenobarbital, and glutethimide and inactivation following the in ovo administration of porphyrinogenic compounds.

Metabolites of [4-(14)C]androstenedione (AD) and [4-(14)C]progesterone (PG) were separated and quantitated following incubation with hepatic microsomes from chick embryos. PG 2 alpha-hydroxylase and AD 7 alpha-hydroxylase, which are diagnostic markers in rat liver for cytochrome P450 (P450) 2C11 and 2A1/2, respectively, were not identified in chick embryo liver. PG 6 beta-hydroxylase and AD 6 beta-hydroxylase, diagnostic markers for P450 3A1/2 activity in rat liver, were identified in chick embryo liver, and we were able to show that radiolabeled 6 beta-hydroxyprogesterone and 6 beta-hydroxyandrostenedione, the metabolites of PG and AD 6 beta-hydroxylase, respectively, were homogeneous and identical with authentic standards. Dexamethasone, phenobarbital, and glutethimide were found to be significant inducers of PG and AD 6 beta-hydroxylases in chick embryo liver. The in ovo administration of the porphyrinogenic compounds 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-4-ethylpyridine (4-ethyl DDC) and 3-[2-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-thioethyl]-4-methylsydnone (TTMS) caused inactivation of chick embryo hepatic PG and AD 6 beta-hydroxylases. Therefore, we suggest that PG and AD 6 beta-hydroxylases may serve as diagnostic markers for a P450 3A-like isozyme in the chick embryo, and that this isozyme is one of the targets for inactivation by 4-ethyl DDC and TTMS.

Repression of ALA synthase by heme and zinc-mesoporphyrin in a chick embryo liver cell culture model of acute porphyria.

We characterize a liver cell culture model for acute hepatic porphyrias that recapitulates the biochemical features of the human syndrome. In chick embryo liver cells in primary culture exposed to glutethimide and 4,6-dioxoheptanoic acid, heme alone produced a transient dose-dependent decrease in delta-aminolevulinate synthase and a concomitant increase in heme oxygenase. The addition of low concentrations of zinc-mesoporphyrin (50-200 nM), an inhibitor of heme oxygenase, led to more prolonged decreases in activity of the synthase and to an additive effect with heme. These effects of zinc-mesoporphyrin were associated with prolonged inhibition of heme oxygenase. These results suggest that the treatment of choice of acute porphyric syndromes may be the combination of low doses of heme and zinc-mesoporphyrin or another similarly non-toxic inhibitor of heme oxygenase.

The genotoxic carcinogen chromium(VI) alters the metal-inducible expression but not the basal expression of the metallothionein gene in vivo.

The ability of the carcinogen chromium(VI) to affect the basal and zinc-inducible expression of liver metallothionein was examined in 14- and 18-day chicken embryos in vivo. Metallothionein expression varied with the stage of embryo development, with basal steady-state mRNA levels being approximately three times lower in livers of 18-day versus 14-day chicken embryos. Chromium(VI) treatment had no effect on the basal steady-state levels of metallothionein mRNA and protein in either 14- or 18-day chicken embryo liver. Treatment of 14-day embryos with zinc(II) resulted in a 3- to 5-fold increase in steady-state levels of metallothionein mRNA in liver. Pre-treatment of 14-day embryos with chromium(VI) inhibited the zinc(II)-induced increase in steady-state levels of metallothionein mRNA and protein in liver by 30-50%. In contrast, chromium(VI) and/or zinc(II) treatments had no effect on steady-state levels of beta-actin mRNA.

3,5,5-Trimethylhexanoylferrocene induction of heme oxygenase activity in normal hepatocytes.

Recent work showed that the combination of 50 microM glutethimide plus 50 microM ferric nitrilotriacetate (FeNTA) synergistically induces heme oxygenase (HO) activity in cultured chick embryo liver cells (Cable et al., Biochem Biophys Res Commun 168: 176-181, 1990). This synergistic induction is due to increased heme synthesis, which then acts to increase HO gene transcription. The aim of the current studies was to characterize the effects on hepatic heme metabolism of (3,5,5-trimethylhexanoyl)ferrocene (TMH-ferrocene), which causes hepatic iron-loading in rats. Unlike FeNTA, TMH-ferrocene alone maximally induced HO activity at 5-10 microM TMH-ferrocene. At higher concentrations, HO activities declined, as did total cellular protein synthesis. Induction of HO was maximal after a 12-hr exposure to TMH-ferrocene, similar to induction by glutethimide plus FeNTA. The effect of TMH-ferrocene on HO could not be ascribed to greater cellular uptake of iron, since cell-associated iron levels were higher after FeNTA than after TMH-ferrocene treatment. TMH-ferrocene (up to 20 microM) did not induce delta-aminolevulinic acid synthase activity. Uroporphyrin accumulation in cells treated with TMH-ferrocene was minimal, but the combination of TMH-ferrocene and glutethimide caused a synergistic increase in uroporphyrin accumulation, similar to treatment with glutethimide plus FeNTA. 4,6-Dioxoheptanoic acid, an inhibitor of heme synthesis, blocked the induction of HO caused by glutethimide and FeNTA, but did not decrease the induction of HO by TMH-ferrocene. TMH-ferrocene-mediated induction of HO does not appear to be due to lipid peroxidation, since malondialdehyde formation was greater for ferrocene (a structural analog of TMH-ferrocene that does not induce HO) than for TMH-ferrocene. Furthermore, the anti-oxidant, butylated hydroxyanisole, which prevented lipid peroxidation, decreased HO induced by glutethimide plus FeNTA, but butylated hydroxyanisole did not affect HO induced by TMH-ferrocene. We conclude that, unlike the combination of glutethimide plus FeNTA, TMH-ferrocene induces HO activity by a mechanism that is independent of cellular heme synthesis.

In vitro inhibition of aromatase by the enantiomers of aminoglutethimide and analogs.

The in vitro aromatase activity in microsomal fractions from rat ovary and its inhibition by enantiomers of aminoglutethimide (AG), rogletimide (RG), and cyclohexylaminoglutethimide (ChAG) were studied by analysing the [3H]H2O released when [1 beta-3H]androstenedione was converted to estrone. Maximum velocity (Vmax) and the Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) of the microsomal aromatase enzyme were 17.40 +/- 0.45 pmol/ml/mg protein/min and 1.02 +/- 0.06 microM, respectively. The IC50s for the enantiomers were similar for (+)-R-AG and (-)-R-ChAG (0.86 +/- 0.06 and 0.89 +/- 0.15 microM, respectively. (+)S-ChAG was most potent with IC50 of 0.075 +/- 0.003 microM. The IC50s for (-)-S-AG, (+)-R-RG, and (-)-S-RG were in the same range (23.15 +/- 2.74, 24.58 +/- 2.46, and 24.43 +/- 2.20 microM, respectively.

Repression of hepatic delta-aminolevulinate synthase by heme and metalloporphyrins: relationship to inhibition of heme oxygenase.

Heme- and tin-chelated metalloporphyrins are known to decrease the activity of hepatic delta-amino-levulinate synthase, the rate-controlling enzyme of heme synthesis. We performed experiments in primary chick embryo liver cells with tin-, zinc- and copper-chelated porphyrins to assess their effects on activities of delta-aminolevulinate synthase induced by prior treatment of cells with glutethimide and ferric nitrilotriacetate. These different metalloporphyrins were tested to form the experimental foundation for eventual studies in patients with acute porphyrias, in which uncontrolled induction of hepatic delta-amino-levulinate synthase, which plays a key role in pathogenesis of disease. Zinc and tin porphyrins reduced delta-aminolevulinate synthase activities, whereas copper-chelated porphyrins did not. When heme (iron protoporphyrin) was added with zinc or tin porphyrins, delta-aminolevulinate synthase activity was further reduced. Effects of the nonheme metalloporphyrins on delta-aminolevulinate synthase were closely correlated with their abilities to inhibit heme oxygenase (r = 0.78). The largest decrease of delta-aminolevulinate synthase (67%) was obtained with zinc mesoporphyrin and heme. Dose-response data indicated that only nanomolar concentrations of zinc mesoporphyrin and heme are required to obtain this effect. We found no effect of exposure to heme (10 mumol/L) or heme (200 nmol/L) plus zinc mesoporphyrin (50 nmol/L) on the half-life of activity of delta-aminolevulinate synthase (1.9 to 2.1 hr, regardless of treatment). This result suggests that the repressive effect of heme is directed toward decreasing synthesis, increasing breakdown or decreasing the translation of the messenger RNA of delta-aminolevulinate synthase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Synthesis and evaluation of sulfur-containing glutethimide derivatives for aromatase and desmolase inhibitory activity.

Novel sulfur-containing glutethimide derivatives, substituted with either thiol or methylsulfide groups in the ortho/para positions of the aromatic ring, were synthesized and tested for both human placental aromatase and bovine adrenocortical desmolase inhibitory activities. The synthesis was achieved by the chlorosulfonation of gluthethimide, which yielded a 3:1 mixture of the para to ortho sulfonyl chlorides 2a/b. The sulfonyl chlorides of gluthethimide were reduced with Zn/H2SO4 to give the thioglutethimides 3a/b, which in turn were methylated with MeI/EtOH to give the corresponding methylsulfides 4a/b. In comparison to aminoglutethimide (AG), 3a/b and 4a/b were weak inhibitors of aromatase, with 3a/b being more potent than 4a/b. Aromatase inhibition by the thiol compound was pH-dependent; 3a/b was most potent at higher pH (7.4) than at lower (6.6). This suggested that the thiolate form of 4 coordinates with the ferric heme of aromatase. Likewise, both 3a/b were less potent at inhibiting bovine adrenal desmolase than AG. Possible reasons for the surprisingly poor aromatase inhibitor activity of these compounds are discussed.

Preferential alteration of inducible gene expression in vivo by carcinogens that induce bulky DNA lesions.

Our laboratory is interested in whether chemical carcinogen-induced DNA damage is nonrandomly distributed in the genome, i.e., "targeted," at the level of individual genes. To examine this, we have been investigating whether carcinogen treatment in vivo differentially alters the expression of specific genes. In this study, we examined the effects of four model carcinogens that induce bulky lesions in DNA--benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), and 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF)--on the steady-state mRNA expression of several constitutive and drug-inducible genes in vivo. We specifically tested the hypothesis that carcinogen-induced DNA damage is preferentially targeted to inducible genes relative to constitutively expressed genes using the chick embryo as a simple in vivo test system. In summary, the four carcinogens had no effect on the steady-state mRNA expression of constitutively expressed beta-actin, transferrin, or albumin genes over a 24-h period after a single dose of each carcinogen. In contrast, each of these same treatments significantly altered the mRNA expression of two glutethimide-inducible genes, ALA synthase and CYP2H1. Both the basal expression of these genes and their drug-inducible expression was altered. B[a]P and AFB1 had similar effects on expression of the two inducible genes and caused similar levels of covalent adducts in total DNA, even though the administered doses differed by 30-fold. B[a]P binding to DNA, and the basal expression of CYP2H1 were similar in liver and lung. However, B[a]P significantly altered basal CYP2H1 mRNA expression in liver, a tissue in which this gene is highly inducible by glutethimide, and had no effect on basal CYP2H1 mRNA expression in lung, a tissue in which this gene is not drug-inducible. These data support the hypothesis that inducible gene expression is a target for carcinogen-induced DNA damage in vivo.

Biochemical characterization of coumarin 7-hydroxylase activity in chick embryo liver microsomes.

Coumarin occurs naturally in the diet and can induce and inhibit cytochrome P450 enzymes. Hepatic coumarin 7-hydroxylase activity is the major pathway for coumarin metabolism in humans but not in rats, most strains of mice, or other laboratory animals. Coumarin 7-hydroxylase activity and the effects of chemical inhibitors and inducers on this activity were studied in 19-day-old chick embryo liver microsomes. Activity was between 35 and 75 nmol/mg protein/hr which is approximately 2-fold higher than reported for human liver microsomes. The pH optimum was 7.8 and the Km determined by both an ether extraction and a high performance liquid chromatography method was 7.3 +/- 0.9 (+/- SD) microM. Substrate inhibition was evident at coumarin concentrations above 250 microM (activities at 1000 and 4000 microM coumarin were 84 and 40% of Vmax, respectively). The Ki values (+/- SD) for inhibitors of microsomal coumarin 7-hydroxylase activity in vitro were: alpha-naphthoflavone, 46.9 +/- 19.8 nM; metyrapone, 0.8 +/- 0.9 microM; aniline, 12.3 +/- 8.2 microM; cimetidine, 70.9 +/- 27.9 microM; N-nitrosodimethylamine, 0.7 +/- 0.9 mM; and dimethyl sulfoxide, 7.9 +/- 1.9 mM. Treatment of chick embryos with pyrazole (40 mumol) increased coumarin 7-hydroxylase by 50% at 24 hr, but this activity was unaffected by treatment of embryos with 3-methylcholanthrene (2 mumol) or glutethimide (8 mumol). Thus, hepatic coumarin 7-hydroxylase activity in 19-day-old chick embryos is higher than in most laboratory animals and has similar biochemical properties as the enzyme in humans and mice. The chick embryo liver may be a useful system for studies on the biochemical effects of coumarin and the regulation of cytochrome P450-dependent coumarin 7-hydroxylase.

Immunochemical studies of haem oxygenase. Preparation and characterization of antibodies to chick liver haem oxygenase and their use in detecting and quantifying amounts of haem oxygenase protein.

Monospecific polyclonal rabbit antibodies to a purified form of haem oxygenase of chick liver, showing sequence similarity to mammalian haem oxygenase-1, were raised and used to study characteristics of the oxygenase. The antibodies inhibited activity of the purified oxygenase, but not other enzyme components (NADPH:cytochrome reductase and biliverdin reductase) of the standard assay mixture of haem oxygenase. In addition, the antibodies inhibited activity of haem oxygenase in microsomes (microsomal fractions) from Cd(2+)-treated chick liver, spleen, testis and brain. Western (immuno-) blots of microsomal proteins of selected organs from chick, rat and man, and homogenates of chick-embryo liver-cell cultures, probed with the antibodies, showed a major protein with a molecular mass of 33-34 kDa and a lower-molecular-mass protein (28-29 kDa) of variable intensity. Studies with trypsin and selected proteinase inhibitors established that the smaller peptide was a proteolytic product of the larger. Treatment of chick-embryo liver-cell cultures with CdCl2, a potent inducer of haem oxygenase, increased the degree of proteinase-mediated cleavage of the 33 kDa protein to the lower-molecular-mass form. These results indicate that, under at least some conditions, such cultures should be homogenized in the presence of trypsin inhibitor to prevent proteolytic degradation of the enzyme and allow maximal expression of haem oxygenase activity. The antibodies also reacted with haem oxygenase from spleen, testis and brain of both chicks and rats, and the spleen of humans. A method for quantifying the amount of haem oxygenase protein was developed with use of slot-blots and laser densitometry; linearity was observed from 0 to 5 ng of haem oxygenase protein per slot, and the method was applied to sonicated cultured chick-embryo liver cells treated with Cd2+ (0.3 mM) or iron plus glutethimide. In both cases, increases in enzyme activity were of similar magnitude to increases in amounts of enzyme protein. Approximate amounts of haem oxygenase protein in microsomes of several organs from intact animals could also be estimated by the use of slot-blot-laser densitometry, and the amounts measured were increased by the addition of purified haem oxygenase to the microsomal preparations. Results of these studies indicated that haem oxygenase-1 could be detected in microsomes from all chick or rat organs studied, including testis and brain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Synergistic induction of delta-aminolevulinate synthase by glutethimide and iron: relationship to the synergistic induction of heme oxygenase.

Relationships between activities of delta-aminolevulinate synthase and heme oxygenase, respectively the rate-limiting enzymes of heme biosynthesis and degradation, have been studied in chick embryo liver cell cultures following exposure of the cultures to glutethimide and iron, a combination known to produce a synergistic induction of both enzymes. In time-course experiments, synergistic induction of heme oxygenase activity by glutethimide and iron preceded that of delta-aminolevulinate synthase by 4 h. Effects of selective inhibitors of both heme synthesis and degradation have also been studied with respect to effects on delta-aminolevulinate synthase and heme oxygenase activities. The synergistic induction of heme oxygenase by glutethimide and iron appears to be dependent upon cellular heme synthesis because addition of inhibitors of heme biosynthesis, 4,6-dioxoheptanoic acid or N-methyl-mesoporphyrin abolishes this synergistic induction. Exposure of cultures to tin-mesoporphyrin, a potent inhibitor of heme oxygenase, prevented the synergistic induction of delta-aminolevulinate synthase produced by glutethimide and iron, or, when added after induction was already established, promptly halted any further induction. These results suggest that the level of activity of heme oxygenase can reciprocally modulate intracellular heme levels and thus activity of delta-aminolevulinate synthase.