重金屬錯影響細胞生理功能的研究
儘管鍺在電子工業上被廣泛運用,但對於暴露在鍺化合物所產生的毒害則尚未被詳細的探討。在探討鍺對細胞所產生的生理影響中,我們使用了二氧化鍺 ( GeO2)和有機鍺( Ge-132 )。由實驗結果顯示, GeO2,會造成人類子宮上皮癌細胞( A 431 ) 及巨噬細胞株( Raw264.7 )死亡,而 Ge -132 對細胞生長則不造成任何影響,為了進一步了解鍺引起細胞死亡是否是經過細胞凋亡(apoptosis ) ,我們將鍺處理過的細胞進行染色體 D NA 的分析,結果發現細胞中 DNA 染色體沒有斷裂。由先前 Huang 等人於 1999 年的研究結果顯示,砷對細胞所造成的毒性是經由有絲分裂活化酵素( MAPK )傳導路徑,所以為了解鍺誘導細胞死亡的路徑,我們亦分析 MAPK 傳導路徑是否亦參與其中,我們發現 GeO2加入 A431 細胞後,會活化有絲分裂活化酵素中的 ERK ,但對JNK 及 p38 皆無影響,在對蛋白質表現方面,轉錄因子 c-Jun 的蛋白質表現也是隨著GeO2加入的時間增加而上升。 GeO2加入 Raw 264 . 7cell 後,會造成 JNK 、 ERK 的活化,同樣的轉錄因子 c- Jun 也會增加,由此一結果得知鍺對細胞的影響會因細胞的不同而有所差異,為了分析自由基是否參與砷及鍺所造成細胞死亡的過程,我們分析在 A431 細胞中可產生的 NO 的可誘導性 nitric oxide synthase ( iNOS )的表現,我們發現氧化鍺及砷都會誘導 iNOS 的表現量增加。綜合以上結果,可能顯示氧化錯可能會經由 M A PK 訊息傳遞路徑來促使細胞的死亡,並且 iNOS 亦可能參與此過程。就我們所知,這是第一個提出重金屬所造成的毒害可能會經由 iNOS 來誘導產生的研究。
Despite the extensive use of germanium (Ge) in the electronic industry and optical devices, the potential risks of exposure to germanium compounds have not been evaluated. The effects of germanium on cell physiological functions were studied. We first asked if germanium oxide (GeO2) or carboxyethylgermanium (Ge-l32) could affect cell viability. We found that GeO2, but not Ge-l32, reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner in epidermoid carcinoma A43 I and macrophage Raw 264.7 cells. In order to test whether apoptosis contributes to germanium cytotoxicity, DNA fragmentation was evaluated in A43 1 and Raw 264.7 cells treated with GeO2 or Ge-132, respectively. We found that neither GeO2 nor Ge- 132 had effect on chromosomal DNA fragmentation. Previous studies by Huang (1999) et al indicated that sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) cytotoxicity is mediated through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. In order to study the mechanism(s) by which GeO2 mediates cell death, we analyzed the signal transduction pathways triggered by GeO2 We found that GeO2 stimulated the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity and transcription factor c-Jun in a time-dependent manner, but not c-Jun amino-terminal kinasc (JNK), or p38 MAPK in A431 cells. Treatment of the Raw 264.7 cells with GeO2, induced activities of ERK, JNK and c-Jun in a time-dependent manner. Collectively, these results suggested that GeO2 effects might be cell type specific. To test whether free radicals were involved in NaAsO2 or GeO2 mediated cell death, the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which produced the NO free radical, was determined in A431 cells treated with NaAsO2 or GeO2. We found that expression of iNOS was induced in a time-dependent manner in NaAsO2 or GeO2-treted A431 cells. Taken together, our results indicated that GeO2-induccd cell death may be mediated through MAPK signal pathways and that iNOS may contribute to NaAsO2 or GeO2 mediated cell death. To our knowledge, this is the first report that iNOS may contribute to heavy metal mediated cytotoxicity.
Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1 對細胞內DNA damage修補的調控
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1)是一個細胞核內的酵素,它可以被因DNA damage\r 而形成的DNA片段活化,並將NAD(+)上的ADP-ribose轉載到結合蛋白質。這些結合蛋白質對\r 於DNA的合成、DNA的修補、以及細胞週期的調控都有關係。因此,PARP-1被認為是維持基\r 因完整性的重要角色。根據初步的研究,抑制PARP-1的活性對許多疾病的治療都可能有效,\r 其中包括癌症、心臟病、中風、糖尿病、發炎以及反轉錄病毒的感染。然而,以藥物抑制一\r 個對DNA修補這麼重要的酵素會有什麼潛在的問題呢?為了要得到解答,我們需要進一步了\r 解PARP-1在DNA damage反應的機能。在這一份報告中,我製造了一個失去活性的PARP-1突變\r 種,即E988K。經過對E988K詳細的研究,我將比較及分析PARP-1野生型與E988K之間不一樣\r 的互動蛋白質,希望能對PARP-1所控制的DNA修補有更進一步的了解。\r \r \r Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is a nuclear enzyme activated by DNA strand breaks\r during DNA damage response and catalyzes the transfer of ADP-ribose units from the substrate NAD(+)\r to acceptor proteins. These acceptor proteins involve in modulation of chromatin structure, DNA\r synthesis, DNA repair, transcription, and cell cycle control. Thus, PARP-1 is believed to play an\r important role in maintaining genome integrity through modulation of protein-protein and protein-DNA\r interactions. PARP-1 has been the target for design of inhibitors for over twenty-five years. Inhibitors of\r the activity of PARP-1 have been claimed to have applications in the treatment of many disease states,\r including cancer, cardiac infarct, stroke, diabetes, inflammation and retroviral infection. However, are\r there potential problems associated with inhibition of this DNA-repair enzyme? To answer this question,\r we need to further understand the biological function of PARP-1 during DNA damage response. In this\r report, an enzyme dead mutant (E988K) of PARP-1 was generated. Detailed studies of E988K show that\r E988K could be used in the following studies. Compare and identify the different associated proteins of\r PARP-1 wild-type and E988K will shed light into the molecular mechanism of PARP-1-mediated DNA\r repair.