enkephalin-leu--ala(2)-arg(6)- and Glioma

A study was made of the effect of opioid peptides, (Leu)-enkephalin and its synthetic analog dalargin, on the maturation speed (differentiation) and proliferation activity of glioma C-6 cells. This effect on phenotypes of glioma C-6 cells was determined using some biochemical parameters: changes in the activity of glutamine synthetase (astrocytic marker) and cyclic nucleotide phosphorohydrolase (oligodendrocytic marker) in the culture of glioma C-6 cells in the early and late passages. The biochemical analysis was made at the Laboratory in Denver, USA, and we thank Prof. A. Vernadakis for the possibility to carry out a part of this work that helped us to find the growth activity of opioid peptides on the C-6 cells. Proliferation was examined in cultivation conditions approximately conforming the conditions of cultivation for the primary glial cell cultures. The control proliferation level was high in this case. It is demonstrated that opioid peptides accelerate (or strengthen) the expression of phenotypic signs in C-6 glioma cells in early and late passages changing specific activity of the marker enzymes, i.e. operating as a growth factor. Opioid peptides show glial growth factor characteristics on the glioma C-6 glial cell model as well, for glioma C-6 is known to be a perfect model to analyse the action of different substances on the glia.

Topics: 2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases; Animals; Biomarkers, Tumor; Cell Division; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Enkephalin, Leucine; Enkephalin, Leucine-2-Alanine; Glioma; Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase; Phenotype; Rats; Time Factors; Tumor Cells, Cultured

In this study we used as glial cell models, early and late passage C-6 glial cells, 2B clone, and advanced passages of glial cells derived from aged mouse cerebral hemispheres (MACH) to examine responsiveness to opioids. We have previously reported that early passage C-6 glial cells, 2B clone, are bipotential and can be geared toward oligodendrocyte or astrocytic expression, whereas late passage C-6 glial cells are astrocytic. In addition, MACH cultures have been previously characterized and consist of astrocytes type 1 and 2, some oligodendrocytes, and few glial precursors. In this study, early passage (17-20) and late passage (106-108) C-6 glial cells or MACH cells of passages 16-19 were grown from plating time until harvesting, day 7 or 8, in DMEM + 10% FBS in the presence or absence of opioid peptides, Leu-enkephalin (10(-8) to 10(-10) M) or its synthetic analog, dalargin (Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Phe-Leu-Arg; 10(-8) to 10(-10) M). We examined for the activities of glutamine synthetase (GS) and cyclic nucleotide phosphohydrolase (CNP), enzyme markers for astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, respectively. We found that CNP activity was markedly increased in the early passage following opioid treatment, indicative of a shift to oligodendrocytic expression. In the late passage cells, already committed to astrocytic expression, opioid treatment enhanced GS activity suggesting that astrocytes respond to opioids. GS activity was markedly increased in MACH cultures grown in the presence of opioids with no changes in CNP. Thus, type 1 astrocytes, the predominant glial type in MACH cultures, responded to opioids.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: 2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Astrocytes; Cellular Senescence; Endorphins; Enkephalin, Leucine; Enkephalin, Leucine-2-Alanine; Glioma; Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Molecular Sequence Data; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Neuroglia; Neuronal Plasticity; Oligodendroglia; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Effect of dalargin, an opioid peptide (a synthetic analogue of Leu-enkephalin), on proliferation and intensity of DNA synthesis of C6 glioma cells was studied. Specific conditions of cultivation were selected, with a low control value of proliferation, which permitted to assess growth-stimulating effect of the peptide. Growth curves were plotted to assess peptide activity, which demonstrated that reaction was a many-phase process: a significant increase in cell number under peptide effect was observed only at the beginning of the logarithm phase and at the beginning of the prestationary phase of the growth curve. Cell number increased on average by 25-27% in the presence of dalargin as compared to control. Reaction of glioma DNA synthesis to dalargin also demonstrates complexity of the process: the peptide changes DNA synthesis, but as a rule, this process has a three-phase character and is not directly associated with the duration of cultivation in the presence of dalargin. Effect of naloxone, an opiate receptor blocker, was analysed to assess the receptor mechanism. It was found that reaction for naloxone and for combined effect of naloxone and dalargin was not the same.

Topics: Animals; Brain Neoplasms; Cell Division; Cell Line; DNA, Neoplasm; Drug Interactions; Enkephalin, Leucine-2-Alanine; Glioma; Naloxone; Rats; Thymidine; Time Factors; Tritium; Tumor Cells, Cultured