Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The increase in serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is a well known marker of chronic alcoholism in man. We have previously shown that ethanol (180 mM) induces GGT activity 2-3-fold in the C2 rat hepatoma cell line. In this study, we have analyzed the interaction of ethanol with steroid hormones and drugs in this well defined cell culture system. Dexamethasone (100 nM), a synthetic glucocorticoid agonist, completely prevented the induction of GGT by ethanol, but had no effect when added alone. This inhibitory effect was also observed with other corticosteroids, but not with sex steroids; it was prevented by RU 486, a glucocorticoid antagonist. These observations suggest that dexamethasone acts through a high affinity glucocorticoid receptor. Conversely, ethanol did not interfere with the glucocorticoid induction of alanine aminotransferase in the same cell. We have analyzed the metabolism of ethanol in the C2 cells. These cells lack significant alcohol dehydrogenase activity as well as any cytochrome P-450 Alc immunoreactivity. Dexamethasone did not modify the disappearance of ethanol in the culture medium of those cells. We conclude that glucocorticoid hormones interact with ethanol at the cellular level, and that this interaction does not involve a modification of alcohol metabolism.
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PMID:Glucocorticoid hormones prevent the induction of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase by ethanol in a rat hepatoma cell line. 256 56

Dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, is required for full posttranslational maturation of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) phosphoproteins and glycoproteins in M1.54 cells, a viral infected rat hepatoma (HTC) cell line. Pulse-chase radiolabeling with [35S]methionine revealed that steroids with known glucocorticoid activity (such as dexamethasone and hydrocortisone) regulated the maturation of both MMTV polyproteins in a manner proportional to their occupancy for glucocorticoid receptors and their biological potency. In contrast, progesterone selectively induced the proteolytic processing of MMTV phosphoproteins but simultaneously antagonized the dexamethasone-regulated maturation of MMTV glycoproteins and all other tested glucocorticoid responses. Exposure to suboptimal concentrations of both progesterone and dexamethasone fully stimulated the processing of MMTV phosphoproteins, suggesting that steroid receptors occupied with combinations of either steroid functionally interact at the putative maturation gene. Moreover, treatment with either actinomycin D, a potent inhibitor of de novo RNA synthesis, or RU38486, a synthetic antagonist of glucocorticoid and progesterone action, prevented both the dexamethasone and progesterone-regulated induction of MMTV phosphoprotein maturation. Sedimentation velocity and saturation binding analysis revealed that the sizes and concentrations of hepatoma cell progesterone and dexamethasone binding activities are similar while specific binding of the active progestin R5020 was not detected in either M1.54 cells or the glucocorticoid receptor deficient HTC cell line MSN6.10.2. Taken together, our results demonstrate that two distinct classes of steroid hormones can uniquely alter the posttranslational maturation of a specific subset of phosphoprotein substrates by a common glucocorticoid receptor-dependent process.
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PMID:Dual regulation of protein maturation in viral infected rat HTC hepatoma cells by glucocorticoids and progesterone. 285 2

FU5-5 rat hepatoma (Reuber H35) cells are hypersensitive in that the same percentages of full induction of tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) occur at much lower concentrations of glucocorticoids than in the related HTC rat hepatoma (Morris) cells. Unexpectedly, these hypersensitive FU5-5 cells also exhibited more agonist activity with the affinity labeling antiglucocorticoids cortisol 21-mesylate and dexamethasone 21-mesylate than did HTC cells (Mercier et al., Endocrinology 112, 601-609 [1983]). In the present study, several other antiglucocorticoids (11-desoxycortisone, progesterone, dexamethasone oxetanone, and RU 486 in addition to dexamethasone 21-mesylate) and the antiandrogen cyproterone acetate were examined to see if chemically unreactive, reversible antisteroids also would exhibit an altered activity (i.e. increased agonist activity) in FU5-5 cells. Each antiglucocorticoid examined did display a 2-fold increased amount of agonist activity in FU5-5 cells, as compared to HTC cells; only RU 486 was predominantly an antagonist in FU5-5 cells but the potency of RU 486 was about 9-fold less than in HTC cells. Dexamethasone, and especially progesterone, was metabolized in FU5-5 and HTC cells. However, differential metabolism in FU5-5 vs HTC cells cannot account for the increased induction of TAT in FU5-5 cells since the amount of agonist activity seen for dexamethasone mesylate (or its metabolites) depended not on the cell type used but rather on the glucocorticoid inducible enzyme monitored, i.e. TAT or glutamine synthetase. The combined data suggest that the hypersensitivity of FU5-5 cells towards glucocorticoid induction of TAT may be linked with the ability of both reversible and irreversible antiglucocorticoids to display increased TAT agonist activity in FU5-5 cells. This behavior was somewhat steroid specific since the antiandrogen cyproterone acetate did not display increased TAT agonist activity in FU5-5 cells compared to HTC cells and was only 2-fold less effective as an antiglucocorticoid in FU5-5.
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PMID:Antiglucocorticoid steroids have increased agonist activity in those hepatoma cell lines that are more sensitive to glucocorticoids. 287 14

The molecular mechanisms of induction of tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) by insulin were studied in the well-differentiated rat hepatoma cell line Fao. Incubation of Fao cells with insulin resulted in a 2-fold increase in TAT activity and TAT mRNA measured by Northern blot analysis with an oligonucleotide probe to the 5' end of the gene. The effect of insulin on TAT activity had a lag period of 30-60 min and was maximal within 4-5 h. The insulin effect on TAT mRNA was rapid, half-maximal after 15 min, and complete within 1-2 h. Insulin dose-response curves for stimulation of TAT activity and TAT mRNA were almost identical. TAT mRNA levels and enzyme activity were also stimulated by anti-insulin receptor antibodies and dexamethasone but not by wheat germ agglutinin, concanavalin A, or phytohemagglutin. The effect of insulin on the TAT gene was further investigated by measuring the relative rate of transcription in isolated nuclei using genomic TAT clones. Insulin produced a 1.5-1.7-fold increase in the production of TAT RNA transcripts. Dexamethasone induced both TAT activity and TAT mRNA to a comparable extent. In the presence of dexamethasone, insulin produced an additional 2-fold stimulation of TAT activity but had no additional effect on the abundance of TAT mRNA. These data provide direct evidence that insulin can increase TAT activity by at least two distinct mechanisms: insulin alone appears to increase TAT activity and TAT mRNA due to a stimulation of the TAT gene transcription rate; while in the presence of glucocorticoids, insulin increases TAT activity but not TAT mRNA, suggesting an insulin effect at the posttranscriptional level.
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PMID:Transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of tyrosine aminotransferase by insulin in rat hepatoma cells. 289 48

To define the basis of the heterogeneity of angiotensinogen, we have characterized the immunoreactivity of high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) plasma angiotensinogen, the angiotensinogen precursor synthesized by cell-free translation, and angiotensinogen secreted by human hepatoma (Hep G2) cells. Angiotensinogen precursor synthesized by rabbit reticulocyte lysate primed with RNA prepared from liver or Hep G2 cells was compared with angiotensinogen secreted by Hep G2 cells by using immunoprecipitation and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). So as to assess the contribution of N-glycosylation of angiotensinogen, Hep G2 cells were incubated in the presence of tunicamycin. Glycosylation of secreted angiotensinogen was further characterized by using chromatography on concanavalin A-Sepharose, digestion with neuraminidase, and treatment with trifluoromethane sulfonic acid. In Sephadex G-200 column chromatography, HMW plasma angiotensinogen eluted just after the column void volume and was clearly separated from LMW angiotensinogen which eluted just before bovine serum albumin. Both HMW and LMW plasma angiotensinogen were shown to bind to monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies raised against pure LMW angiotensinogen. Only one angiotensinogen precursor (mol wt 50,000) was identified by cell-free translation which, after cleavage by renin, was reduced to mol wt 45,600. Angiotensinogen secreted by Hep G2 cells showed electrophoretic heterogeneity (mol wt 53,100-65,400). Tunicamycin-treated Hep G2 cells secreted five discrete forms of angiotensinogen, a predominant form of mol wt 46,200, with other forms (mol wt 46,800, 48,100, 49,200, and 49,600) representing 10% of secreted angiotensinogen. All five forms showed a similar reduction in molecular weight after cleavage by renin. The predominant 46,200-mol wt protein represented nonglycosylated angiotensinogen in that, after cleavage by renin, it had an electrophoretic mobility (mol wt 45,600) identical to the desangiotensin I-angiotensinogen resulting from renin cleavage of the angiotensinogen precursor. The other higher molecular weight forms of angiotensinogen secreted by tunicamycin-treated Hep G2 cells were shown to represent O-glycosylated angiotensinogen in that they were reduced to 46,200 mol wt by treatment with trifluoromethane sulfonic acid. Dexamethasone (10(-7) and 10(-6)M) stimulated angiotensinogen secretion by Hep G2 cells two- to fourfold, both in the absence and presence of tunicamycin. However, a small stimulatory effect of mestranol (10(-7) M) was evident only in the presence of tunicamycin. Neither dexamethasone nor mestranol influenced the electrophoretic pattern (SDS-PAGE) of angiotensinogen secreted by Hep G2 cells. However, when incubation media were chromatographed on Sephadex G-200 with subsequent immunoprecipitation of the column fractions, both dexamethasone and mestranol were shown to stimulate the secretion of HMW angiotensinogen (eluting just after the column void volume) which, on SDS-PAGE, migrated in a position identical to LMW angiotensinogen. From these studies, we conclude that all forms of human angiotensinogen are derived from a single precursor. The heterogeneity of secreted angiotensinogen represents differences in posttranslational processing of angiotensinogen. This processing includes both N- and O-glycosylation, and also the formation of HMW complexes (HMW angiotensinogen) through association either with other angiotensinogen molecules or with some other protein(s) whose secretion by hepatocytes is stimulated by glucocorticoids and estrogens.
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PMID:Characterization of precursor and secreted forms of human angiotensinogen. 298 36

It has recently been shown that hepatitis B virus (HBV) contains a transcriptional enhancer element. In order to determine whether this enhancer responds to glucocorticoids, a series of derivatives of plasmid pA10CAT2 was constructed containing the HBV enhancer and variable lengths of further upstream sequences. Transient expression of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) was determined after introduction of these plasmids into PLC/PRF/5, Hep 3B, Hep G2, HeLa, and mouse L cells. Highest CAT activity was noted in the human hepatocellular carcinoma line PLC/PRF/5, which contains integrated HBV DNA sequences. Dexamethasone augmented CAT expression in all cell lines tested with 40% of maximal induction at 10 nM and maximum stimulation (3- to 8-fold) at 1 microM dexamethasone. Dexamethasone augmentation of CAT expression was observed only when constructs contained HBV DNA sequences residing upstream to map position 735 from the EcoRI site. This indicates that the glucocorticoid-responsive region is distinct from the previously defined HBV enhancer sequence located at map position 1080-1234. These studies suggest that HBV DNA contains a glucocorticoid-responsive element, which may mediate expression of HBV genes in infected mammalian cells.
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PMID:Hepatitis B virus DNA contains a glucocorticoid-responsive element. 300 59

We describe a human genomic clone containing the metallothionein (MT) IF and MT IG genes. Southern blot analysis and partial DNA sequence determinations show that these genes are organized in a head-to-head fashion and are located approximately 7.0 kilobases apart from each other. Sequence analysis shows that the MT IF gene contains three exons separated by two introns. All of the intron-exon junctions are defined by the GT-AG rule. The 5' flanking region shows the presence of a duplicated metal regulatory element (TGCGC CCGGCCC) important in heavy-metal induction of this gene and a sequence for its basal level expression (GCGGGGCGGGTGCAAAG). The 5' flanking region is also highly G + C rich (approximately 75%) and contains several GC boxes (GGGCGG), probably important in the binding of transcription factors. The TATAA box and the AATAAA sequence are represented by their variants, the TATCAA box and the AATTAA sequence, respectively. This gene is functional and inducible by heavy metals but not by dexamethasone in mouse LMTK- cells after its transfer on a plasmid containing the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene. Further studies on various human cell lines show that this gene is not expressed in a splenic lymphoblastoid cell line (WI-L2) but is expressed in two hepatoma cell lines (Hep 3B2 and Hep G2) in response to cadmium, zinc, and copper. Dexamethasone appears to have no significant effect on its expression. The studies suggest that the MT IF gene shows cell-type-specific expression and is differentially regulated by heavy metals and glucocorticoids.
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PMID:Structure, organization, and regulation of human metallothionein IF gene: differential and cell-type-specific expression in response to heavy metals and glucocorticoids. 302 27

The rate, key enzymes, and several metabolites of glycolysis in rat hepatoma (HTC) cells have been compared to those in rat hepatocytes. At 5 to 10 mM glucose, lactate release was greater in HTC cells. This could be explained in part by the absence of key gluconeogenic enzymes, by the substitution of glucokinase by hexokinase, and by an increase in phosphofructokinase 1 and pyruvate kinase activity. In addition, fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, the most potent stimulator of phosphofructokinase 1, was identified in HTC cells and shown to stimulate phosphofructokinase 1 partially purified from these cells. Dexamethasone increased the release of lactate in HTC cells. This glucocorticoid increased the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and the Vmax of the enzyme that catalyzes its synthesis, phosphofructokinase 2. The data were consistent with an indirect effect at the gene level, mediated by glucocorticoid receptors. Dexamethasone had no effect on the other rate-limiting glycolytic enzymes. Several agents (adenosine, dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate, ethanol, antimycin) known to decrease fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in hepatocytes were without effect on this stimulator in HTC cells. DL-Glyceraldehyde inhibited glycolysis in HTC cells and eventually killed them. Although this substance decreased fructose 2,6-bisphosphate inhibition of glycolysis through an action at another level could not be ruled out.
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PMID:Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and the control of glycolysis by glucocorticoids and by other agents in rat hepatoma cells. 316 12

The mechanism of ligand-induced (homologous) down-regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) has been studied. Dexamethasone caused a down-regulation of the levels of GR mRNA and protein both in hepatoma tissue culture cells and rat liver in vivo. The decrease in the level of rat liver GR mRNA was due to a reduced transcription rate of the GR gene, as assessed by nuclear run-on transcription experiments. The half-life of GR mRNA in hepatoma tissue culture cells was determined to be approximately 4.5 h and was unaffected by dexamethasone. In addition to the transcriptional regulation of GR gene expression, a dexamethasone-dependent posttranslational modification in the rate of GR protein turnover was observed. In the absence of dexamethasone, GR protein half life was approximately 25 h whereas it decreased to approximately 11 h in the presence of hormone. Down-regulation of GR protein occurred with a 6- to 24-h delay as compared to the decline in GR mRNA. This is most likely due to the differences in half-lives of GR mRNA and protein, respectively. Our results suggest that auto-regulation of GR by its cognate ligand is complex and occurs at both transcriptional and posttranslational levels.
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PMID:Regulation of glucocorticoid receptor expression: evidence for transcriptional and posttranslational mechanisms. 321 65

Liver alcohol dehydrogenase activity was present in rat H4IIE hepatoma cells. Dexamethasone increased the enzyme activity two- to fourfold in these cells, but not in HepG2 cells. Enzyme induction was observed at dexamethasone concentrations as low as 10(-9) M, and the induction was maximal at 3 days. The increase in enzyme activity was accompanied by an increase in alcohol dehydrogenase mRNA on Northern blots and a two- to fourfold increase in alcohol dehydrogenase mRNA levels as estimated from cytoplasmic dot blots. There was no effect of dexamethasone on alpha-tubulin mRNA levels. Insulin, triiodothyronine, and growth hormone had no effect on alcohol dehydrogenase activity or mRNA levels. The induction of alcohol dehydrogenase mRNA by dexamethasone could be blocked by actinomycin D, but not by protein synthesis inhibitors. Superinduction of the mRNA (approximately twofold) was observed with dexamethasone in the presence of cycloheximide. Southern blots of genomic DNA from rat liver and H4IIE cells revealed no differences in alcohol dehydrogenase gene structure. The induction of alcohol dehydrogenase activity and mRNA levels by dexamethasone may be due to an increase in the rate of transcription of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene.
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PMID:Induction of alcohol dehydrogenase activity and mRNA in hepatoma cells by dexamethasone. 336 66


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