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Stable intracellular acidification upon polyamine depletion induced by alpha-difluoromethylornithine or N1,N12-bis(ethyl)spermine in L1210 leukaemia cells.

ABSTRACT: Polyamines play major roles in ionic and osmotic regulation, but their exact involvement in specific ion transport processes is poorly defined. Treatment of L1210 mouse leukaemia cells with either 5 mM alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), a suicide substrate of ornithine decarboxylase, or 25 microM N1,N12-bis(ethyl)spermine (BE-3-4-3), a dysfunctional polyamine analogue, caused a stable decreased in intracellular pH (pHi) by 0.1-0.4 unit from steady-state control values between 7.4 and 7.6, as measured either by partition of a weak acid or with a fluorescent pH-sensitive probe. This effect was not related to cell growth status or differences in metabolic acid generation, and was observed in either the presence or absence of HCO3-. Exogenous spermidine (10-25 microM) or putrescine (25-50 microM) fully reversed DFMO- or BE-3-4-3-induced acidification within 2 and 8 h respectively. Recovery of pHi in L1210 cells after a nigericin- or NH4(+)-mediated acid load in HCO3(-)-free buffers was mediated by Na+/H+ antiporter activity, in addition to a minor Na(+)-independent and amiloride-insensitive pathway. Decreased steady-state pHi was maintained in polyamine-depleted L1210 cells after recovery from acid stress. Moreover, the pHi-dependence of the rate of Na(+)-dependent H+ extrusion after an acid stress was altered by DFMO and BE-3-4-3, resulting in a set-point which was lower by 0.25-0.30 pH unit in polyamine-depleted cells. On the other hand, neither the rate nor the magnitude of Na+/H(+)-exchanger-mediated alkalinization induced by hypertonic shock was decreased by polyamine depletion. Thus polyamine depletion induces a persistent defect in pHi homeostasis which is due, at least in part, to a stable decrease in the pHi set-point of the Na+/H+ exchanger.

SUBMITTER: Poulin R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1136177 | biostudies-other | 1995 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Tau stabilizes microtubules; however, in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and tauopathies, tau becomes hyperphosphorylated, aggregates, and results in neuronal death. Our group recently uncovered a unique interaction between polyamine metabolism and tau fate. Polyamines exert an array of physiological effects that support neuronal function and cognitive processing. Specific stimuli can elicit a polyamine stress response (PSR), resulting in altered central polyamine homeostasis. Evidence suggests that elevations in polyamines following a short-term stressor are beneficial; however, persistent stress and subsequent PSR activation may lead to maladaptive polyamine dysregulation, which is observed in AD, and may contribute to neuropathology and disease progression. METHODS:Male and female mice harboring tau P301L mutation (rTg4510) were examined for a tau-induced central polyamine stress response (tau-PSR). The direct effect of tau-PSR byproducts on tau fibrillization and oligomerization were measured using a thioflavin T assay and a N2a split superfolder GFP-Tau (N2a-ssGT) cell line, respectively. To therapeutically target the tau-PSR, we bilaterally injected caspase 3-cleaved tau truncated at aspartate 421 (AAV9 Tau ?D421) into the hippocampus and cortex of spermidine/spermine-N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT), a key regulator of the tau-PSR, knock out (SSAT-/-), and wild type littermates, and the effects on tau neuropathology, polyamine dysregulation, and behavior were measured. Lastly, cellular models were employed to further examine how SSAT repression impacted tau biology. RESULTS:Tau induced a unique tau-PSR signature in rTg4510 mice, notably in the accumulation of acetylated spermidine. In vitro, higher-order polyamines prevented tau fibrillization but acetylated spermidine failed to mimic this effect and even promoted fibrillization and oligomerization. AAV9 Tau ?D421 also elicited a unique tau-PSR in vivo, and targeted disruption of SSAT prevented the accumulation of acetylated polyamines and impacted several tau phospho-epitopes. Interestingly, SSAT knockout mice presented with altered behavior in the rotarod task, the elevated plus maze, and marble burying task, thus highlighting the impact of polyamine homeostasis within the brain. CONCLUSION:These data represent a novel paradigm linking tau pathology and polyamine dysfunction and that targeting specific arms within the polyamine pathway may serve as new targets to mitigate certain components of the tau phenotype.

Project description:Activation of the caspase proteases represents a central point in apoptosis. The requirement for spermine for the processes leading to caspase activation has been studied in transformed embryonic fibroblasts obtained from gyro (Gy) mutant male mice. These cells lack spermine synthase activity and thus provide a valuable model to study the role of spermine in cell processes. Gy fibroblasts do not contain spermine and have a higher spermidine content. However, when compared with fibroblasts obtained from normal male littermates (N cells), Gy fibroblasts were observed to grow normally. The lack of spermine did not affect the expression of Bcl-2, and caspases 3 and 9 were activated by etoposide in both N and Gy cells, indicating that spermine is dispensable for caspase activation. Spermine deficiency did not significantly influence caspase activity in cells treated with etoposide, cycloheximide or staurosporine, but sensitized the cells to UV irradiation, which triggered significantly higher caspase activity in Gy cells compared with N cells. alpha-Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an inhibitor of polyamine synthesis that is able to deplete cells of putrescine and spermidine, but usually does not influence spermine content, was able to produce a more complete polyamine depletion in Gy cells. This depletion, which included spermine deficiency, dramatically increased caspase activation and cell death in Gy fibroblasts exposed to UV irradiation. On the other hand, in either N or Gy cells, DFMO treatment did not influence caspase activity triggered by staurosporine, but inhibited it when the inducers were cycloheximide or etoposide. In Gy cells depleted of polyamines by DFMO, polyamine replenishment with either spermidine or spermine was sufficient to restore caspase activity induced by etoposide, indicating that, in this model, polyamines have an interchangeable role in supporting caspase activation. Therefore, spermine is not required for such activation, and the effect and specificity of polyamine depletion on caspase activity may be very different, depending on the role of polyamines in the specific death pathways engaged by different stimuli. Some inducers of apoptosis, for example etoposide, absolutely require polyamines for caspase activation, yet the lack of polyamines, particularly spermine, strongly increases caspase activation when induced by UV irradiation.

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Stable intracellular acidification upon polyamine depletion induced by alpha-difluoromethylornithine or N1,N12-bis(ethyl)spermine in L1210 leukaemia cells.

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