curcumin and 4-bromophenacyl-bromide

Neuronal regeneration after damage to an axon tract requires the rapid sealing of the injured plasma membrane and the subsequent formation of growth cones that can lead regenerating processes to their appropriate target. Membrane sealing and growth cone formation are Ca(2+)-dependent processes, but the signaling pathways activated by Ca(2+) to bring about these effects remain poorly understood. An in vitro injury model was employed in which neurites from identified snail neurons (Helisoma trivolvis) were transected with a glass microknife, and the formation of new growth cones from the distal portions of transected neurites was recorded at defined times after transection. This study presents three main results. First, phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), a calcium-activated enzyme, is necessary for membrane sealing in vitro. Second, PLA(2) activity is also required for the formation of a new growth cone after the membrane has sealed successfully. Thus, PLA(2) plays a dual role by affecting both growth cone formation and membrane sealing. Third, the injury-induced activation of PLA(2) by Ca(2+) controls growth cone formation through the production of leukotrienes, secondary metabolites of PLA(2) activity. Taken together, these results suggest that the injury-induced Ca(2+) influx acts via PLA(2) and leukotriene production to assure growth cone formation. These findings indicate that events that cause an inhibition of PLA(2) or lipoxygenases, enzymes that produce leukotrienes, could result in the inability of neurites to regenerate.

Topics: Acetophenones; Animals; Calcium; Cells, Cultured; Curcumin; Diclofenac; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Enzyme Inhibitors; Ganglia, Invertebrate; Growth Cones; Helix, Snails; Leukotrienes; Neurons; Phospholipases A; Phospholipases A2; Regeneration; Time Factors

The replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) requires cellular components to interact with regulatory elements located in the long terminal repeat (LTR) as well as viral proteins Tat and Rev. Several well known signaling transduction inhibitors were tested to determine their effects on the Tat-mediated transactivation using a transfection assay with the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene under the control of the HIV-1 LTR. The protein kinase C inhibitors curcumin and staurosporine, but not a tyrosine kinase inhibitor herbimycine A, inhibited Tat-mediated LTR-driven transactivation. Two antimalarial drugs quinacrine and chloroquine, that are also arachidonic acid metabolism inhibitors, were found to inhibit the Tat-mediated LTR-driven gene expression. Another inhibitor of arachidonic acid metabolism 4-bromophenacyl bromide was also found to inhibit Tat-mediated gene expression driven by HIV-1 LTR. However, the antimalarial drug quinine elicited no effects on Tat-mediated transactivation. These results suggest that the anti-arachidonic acid metabolism properties of quinacrine and chloroquine may be responsible for their ability to inhibit Tat-mediated LTR-regulated gene expression.

Topics: Acetophenones; Alkaloids; Antimalarials; Benzoquinones; Cell Line; Cell Survival; Chloroquine; Curcumin; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; Gene Products, tat; HIV Long Terminal Repeat; HIV-1; Humans; Lactams, Macrocyclic; Quinacrine; Quinones; Rifabutin; Staurosporine; tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; Transcriptional Activation; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Virus Replication