guanosine-triphosphate and maitotoxin

Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) is a transamidating enzyme that is elevated in Huntington's disease (HD) brain and may be involved in the etiology of the disease. Further, there is evidence of impaired mitochondrial function in HD. Therefore, in this study, we examined the effects of mitochondrial dysfunction on the transamidating activity of tTG. Neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells stably overexpressing human tTG or mutated inactive tTG were treated with 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP), an irreversible inhibitor of succinate dehydrogenase. 3-NP treatment of tTG-expressing cells resulted in a significant increase of TG activity in situ. In vitro measurements demonstrated that 3-NP had no direct effect on tTG activity. However, 3-NP treatment resulted in a significant decrease of the levels of GTP and ATP, two potent inhibitors of the transamidating activity of tTG. No significant changes in the intracellular levels of calcium were observed in 3-NP-treated cells. Treatment with 3-NP in combination with antioxidants significantly reduced the 3-NP-induced increase in in situ TG activity, demonstrating that oxidative stress is a contributing factor to the increase of TG activity. This study demonstrates for the first time that impairment of mitochondrial function significantly increases TG activity in situ, a finding that may have important relevance to the etiology of HD.

Topics: Adenosine Triphosphate; Antioxidants; Calcium; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; GTP-Binding Proteins; Guanosine Triphosphate; Humans; Huntington Disease; Marine Toxins; Mitochondria; Neuroblastoma; Nitro Compounds; Oxidative Stress; Oxocins; Propionates; Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2; Succinate Dehydrogenase; Transfection; Transglutaminases; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) is a calcium-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the posttranslational modification of proteins by transamidation of specific polypeptide-bound glutamine residues. Previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that the transamidating activity of tTG requires calcium and is inhibited by GTP. To investigate the endogenous regulation of tTG, a quantitative in situ transglutaminase (TG) activity assay was developed. Treatment of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells with retinoic acid (RA) resulted in a significant increase in tTG levels and in vitro TG activity. In contrast, basal in situ TG activity did not increase concurrently with RA-induced increased tTG levels. However, stimulation of cells with the calcium-mobilizing drug maitotoxin (MTX) resulted in increases in in situ TG activity that correlated (r2 = 0.76) with increased tTG levels. To examine the effects of GTP on in situ TG activity, tiazofurin, a drug that selectively decreases GTP levels, was used. Depletion of GTP resulted in a significant increase in in situ TG activity; however, treatment of SH-SY5Y cells with a combination of MTX and tiazofurin resulted in significantly less in situ TG activity compared with treatment with MTX alone. This raised the possibility of calcium-dependent proteolysis due to the effects of tiazofurin, because in vitro GTP protects tTG against proteolysis by trypsin. Studies with a selective membrane permeable calpain inhibitor indicated that tTG is likely to be an endogenous substrate of calpain, and that depletion of GTP increases tTG degradation after elevation of intracellular calcium levels. TG activity was also increased in response to activation of muscarinic cholinergic receptors, which increases intracellular calcium through inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate generation. The results of these experiments demonstrate that selective changes in calcium and GTP regulate the activity and levels of tTG in situ.

Topics: 3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester; Antineoplastic Agents; Calcium; Calcium Channel Agonists; Calpain; Carbachol; Diazomethane; Guanosine Triphosphate; Humans; IMP Dehydrogenase; Ionomycin; Ionophores; Marine Toxins; Muscarinic Agonists; Oligopeptides; Oxocins; Receptors, Retinoic Acid; Retinoid X Receptors; Ribavirin; Thapsigargin; Transcription Factors; Transglutaminases; Tumor Cells, Cultured

The marine toxin maitotoxin (MTX) and the chemotactic peptide fMet-Leu-Phe (fMLP) induce the formation of inositol phosphates in HL-60 cells differentiated with dibutyryl cyclic AMP. The increase in [3H]inositol(1,4,5)-trisphosphate is rapid but transient after fMLP stimulation, whereas MTX-induced increase in [3H]inositol(1,4,5)-trisphosphate occurs at a slower rate and is sustained over time. In both cases increases in [Ca++]i, measured with fura-2, parallel the formation of inositol trisphosphate. MTX-mediated stimulation of inositol phosphate formation is inhibited in the absence of calcium, whereas the response to fMLP is not. The calcium ionophore ionomycin stimulates the formation of inositol phosphates in differentiated HL-60 cells. The magnitude of the response is smaller than that obtained with MTX. Ionomycin also induces a rapid but sustained increase of [Ca++]i. In undifferentiated HL-60 cells, neither fMLP nor ionomycin induce significant inositol phosphate formation, and the increase in [Ca++]i elicited by ionomycin is transient. In contrast, the effects of MTX on phosphoinositide breakdown and on [Ca++]i in undifferentiated cells are nearly identical to those elicited by MTX in differentiated cells. In the presence of the intracellular calcium chelator BAPTA, fMLP, ionomycin and MTX still stimulate the generation of inositol phosphates. Guanyl nucleotides and calcium stimulate phospholipase C activity in membrane preparations from differentiated HL-60 cells. fMLP stimulates the enzyme only in the presence of GTP. MTX has no effect on membrane phospholipase C activity.

Topics: Calcium; Egtazic Acid; Guanosine Triphosphate; Humans; Ionomycin; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute; Marine Toxins; N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine; Oxocins; Phosphatidylinositols; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Type C Phospholipases