Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of plasminogen activators in various biological processes. In specific, it describes two types of plasminogen activators—namely, the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) and the tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), which are essentially different gene products. The amino acid sequences of these activators and nucleotide sequences of the corresponding cDNAs have largely been determined, and the cDNAs have been cloned using recombinant techniques. A variety of enzymatic as well as immunological assay and detection methods have also been developed that allows a precise quantification of the activators, a distinction between u-PA and t-PA, determination of whether an activator is present in its active or zymogen form, analysis of the kinetics of different steps of the cascade reaction, and immunocytochemical identification of u-PA and t-PA in tissue sections. Much of the studies on plasminogen activators and cancer has been guided by the hypothesis that proteolysis of the components of extracellular matrix, initiated by the release of plasminogen activator from the cancer cells, plays a decisive role for the degradation of normal tissue, and thereby for invasive growth and metastases.

Plasminogen activators, tissue degradation, and cancer.

In most higher organisms, DNA is modified after synthesis by the enzymatic conversion of many cytosine residues to 5-methylcytosine. For several years, control of gene activity by DNA methylation has been recognized as a logically attractive possibility, but experimental support has proved elusive. However, there is now reason to believe, from recent studies, that DNA methylation is a key element in the hierarchy of control mechanisms that govern vertebrate gene function and differentiation.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/210/4470/604.full.pdf

DNA methylation and gene function

Cellular differentiation, cytidine analogs and DNA methylation

5-Azacytidine was first synthesized almost 40 years ago. It was demonstrated to have a wide range of anti-metabolic activities when tested against cultured cancer cells and to be an effective chemotherapeutic agent for acute myelogenous leukemia. However, because of 5-azacytidine's general toxicity, other nucleoside analogs were favored as therapeutics. The finding that 5-azacytidine was incorporated into DNA and that, when present in DNA, it inhibited DNA methylation, led to widespread use of 5-azacytidine and 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (Decitabine) to demonstrate the correlation between loss of methylation in specific gene regions and activation of the associated genes. There is now a revived interest in the use of Decitabine as a therapeutic agent for cancers in which epigenetic silencing of critical regulatory genes has occurred. Here, the current status of our understanding of the mechanism(s) by which 5-azacytosine residues in DNA inhibit DNA methylation is reviewed with an emphasis on the interactions of these residues with bacterial and mammalian DNA (cytosine-C5) methyltransferases. The implications of these mechanistic studies for development of less toxic inhibitors of DNA methylation are discussed.

5-Azacytidine and 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine as inhibitors of DNA methylation: mechanistic studies and their implications for cancer therapy.

The hepatoblastoma cell line Hep G2 was transfected with a plasmid carrying the gene that confers resistance to G418 and four 5'-3' tandem copies of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome positioned such that two dimers of the genomic DNA are 3'-3' with respect to one another. Cells of one clone that grew in the presence of G418 produce high levels of hepatitis B e antigen and of hepatitis B surface antigen. HBV DNA is carried by these cells as chromosomally integrated sequences and episomally as relaxed circular, covalently closed, and incomplete copies of the HBV genome. Viral DNA was detected also in conditioned growth medium at the buoyant densities characteristic for infectious Dane and immature core particles. Finally, HBV-specific components morphologically identical to the 22-nm spherical and filamentous hepatitis B surface antigen particles as well as 42-nm Dane particles were visualized by immunoelectron microscopic analysis. Therefore, we have demonstrated that the Hep G2 cell line can support the assembly and secretion not only of several of the replicative intermediates of HBV DNA but also of Dane-like particles. This in vitro system can now be used to study the life cycle of HBV and the reaction of immunocompetent cells with cells carrying HBV.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/84/4/1005.full.pdf

Production of hepatitis B virus particles in Hep G2 cells transfected with cloned hepatitis B virus DNA.

This report identifies l-ethionine as an inducer of differentiation in murine erythroleukemia cells. When Friend erythroleukemia cells are grown in the presence of 4 mM l-ethionine, globin mRNA accumulates and in 4–5 days, 25–30% of the cells in the culture contain hemoglobin. Incubation of the cells with bromodeoxyuridine prevents both ethionine-induced accumulation of globin mRNA and erythroid differentiation.



At the concentration where l-ethionine acts as an inducer of FL cell differentiation it inhibits methylation of DNA and tRNA in vivo but does not prevent macromolecular synthesis or cell division.



To establish whether a link existed between inhibition of a specific methyltransferase and activation of globin synthesis in FL cells, we examined the degree of hypomethylation of DNA and tRNA from FL cells induced to differentiate with dimethylsulfoxide and butyrate.



In contrast to the tRNA from ethionine-treated cells, tRNA from cells induced by butyrate or Me2SO cannot be methylated in vitro using homologous enzymes.



DNA isolated from cells exposed to any of the three inducers, however, was significantly hypomethylated when compared with DNA from uninduced cells. These data suggest that methylation of DNA may play a role in the regulation of gene expression.

https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1977.tb11926.x

Correlation between hypomethylation of DNA and expression of globin genes in Friend erythroleukemia cells.

Butyrate, in relatively low concentrations, has been shown to induce synthesis of enzymes, cause changes in cell morphology, and inhibit growth of a variety of mammalian cells in tissue culture (reviewed in [1]).

In this communication, we report our observations on the effect of butyrate on lymphocyte activation. Butyrate completely and reversibly inhibits mitogen-induced blast formation. We present evidence that it does not interfere with the binding of mitogens, that it does not inhibit a number of the early reactions involved in activation, and that it does not affect ongoing DNA synthesis for an extended period of time. However, butyrate rapidly inhibits any increase in the rate of DNA synthesis.

https://rupress.org/jem/article-pdf/144/6/1674/1088194/1674.pdf

Effect of sodium butyrate on lymphocyte activation

Effect of elevated potassium level and amino acid deprivation on polysome distribution and rate of protein synthesis in L cells

Long-term cultures of hepatocytes were established from livers of human fetuses obtained by abortion at 18 to 23 wk of gestation. Cells obtained by collagenase dissociation of liver were maintained in defined serum-free medium on a substratum of positively charged plastic. Under these conditions, the cells divide and form a confluent monolayer. After multiple passages over a period of 3 mo., the cells retained an epithelioid morphology and continued to synthesize and secrete albumin.

Long-term culture and passage of human fetal liver cells that synthesize albumin

Clone B559 mouse melanoma cells are highly tumorigenic and produce plasminogen activator. Cells of clone C3471, a line obtained by continued growth of B559 cells in medium containing 5-bromodeoxyuridine (1 microgram/ml), have no plasminogen activator and are non-tumorigenic. When B559 cells are co-cultivated with C3471 cells, the ability of B559 cells to activate plasminogen is suppressed. Under these conditions cell fusion occurs. Lack of expression of plasminogen activators is not a consequence of cell fusion, inhibition of cell division or release of soluble inhibitors of either plasminogen activators or plasmin. No inhibitors of plasminogen activators could be demonstrated in association with sub cellular fractions of C3471 cells or with the C-type viral particles released from C3471 cells. Close contact between cells of the two lines is shown to be essential for suppression of plasminogen activation.

Co-cultivation of tumorigenic mouse melanoma cells with cells of a non-tumorigenic subclone inhibits plasminogen activator expression by the melanoma cells.

Judith K. Christman

Papers

Correlation between hypomethylation of DNA and expression of globin genes in Friend erythroleukemia cells.

Effect of sodium butyrate on lymphocyte activation

Effect of elevated potassium level and amino acid deprivation on polysome distribution and rate of protein synthesis in L cells

Long-term culture and passage of human fetal liver cells that synthesize albumin

Co-cultivation of tumorigenic mouse melanoma cells with cells of a non-tumorigenic subclone inhibits plasminogen activator expression by the melanoma cells.