Effects of antimicrotubule agents on phospholipid metabolism in rat hepatic subcellular membranes

Lipid quantification method using FTIR spectroscopy applied on cancer cell extracts

Reprogramming energy metabolism constitutes one of the hallmarks of cancer. Changes in lipid composition of cell membranes also appear early in carcinogenesis. Quantification of various molecules such as lipids evidences the modifications in the metabolism of tumour cells and can serve as potential markers for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool used for the detection and characterization of various types of molecules. This technique remains an attractive approach as it is cheap (equipment and reagents), does not require high grade solvents or expensive internal standards, equipment is widely available in standard laboratories and the method is robust and suitable for routine analyses. In this work we established partial least square (PLS) models based on FTIR spectra able to quantify lipids in complex mixtures such as cell extracts. In the first part, we attempted to build PLS models with FTIR spectra of 53 mixtures of 8 well-characterized pure lipids. Second, the PLS models were verified using FTIR spectra of mixtures that did not contribute to the calibration. The third step was the validation of the models on lipid cell extracts. In order to obtain reference values for cell extracts, high performance liquid chromatography was carried out by AVANTI. The lipid distribution were globally similar with both techniques, PLS models and chromatography. Finally, the models were applied to determine the lipid composition of cells exposed to four treatments. We could not evidence significant changes in the lipid composition of cell extracts after treatment, in terms of polar head groups. However, the models established in this study appear reliable and could be applied for high throughput measurements. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Tools to study lipid functions.

Modulation of biliary lipid secretion by forskolin and cyclic AMP analogues

Exposure of isolated perfused rat livers to either 100 microM-forskolin, a potent activator of adenylate cyclase, or to 0.5 mM-concentrations of the cAMP analogues chlorophenylthio cAMP (CPTcAMP), dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP) and 8-bromo cAMP (8BrcAMP), to provoke increases in intracellular concentrations of cAMP, resulted in marked changes in bile volume and composition. Bile flow reached a peak after 10 min, before declining towards control levels, and an increase in several secretory parameters was also observed at this time. At 20 min, a substantial decrease in the output of both phospholipid and cholesterol was evident, and this suppression of secretion was maintained throughout the remainder of the experiment. The order of effectiveness of the cAMP-elevating agents at decreasing biliary lipid output was CPTcAMP greater than forskolin greater than dbcAMP greater than 8BrcAMP. Biliary output of bile acids was essentially unaltered compared with controls; similarly, no decrease in the secretion of protein and triacylglycerols into the perfusion medium was observed. This suggests that the elevation of intracellular levels of cAMP may cause a selective inhibition of biliary lipid output rather than a more general inhibition of hepatic secretion.

Differential secretion of proteins and glycoproteins by livers of immature and adult rats. Effect of antimicrotubule drugs

This study was initiated to re-examine reported differences in the action of antimicrotubule agents on plasma protein secretion from livers of immature versus adult rats. The aim was (1) to determine the composition and to monitor the secretion of various plasma proteins and glycoproteins from liver slices labeled in vitro with specific amino acids and sugar residues, and (2) to correlate observed differences in secretion of these proteins with structural changes in the hepatocytes of the different aged animals. For the most part, slices of liver from fetal (term), neonatal (4- to 5 days old), and adult rats (70 days old) were incubated with radioactive amino acids or various tritiated sugars specific for N-linked core oligosaccharide and/or N-linked terminal oligosaccharide chains. Our findings indicate that liver slices of fetal and neonatal rats are efficient in synthesizing plasma proteins including fully glycosylated glycoproteins. The secretion of glycosylated and nonglycosylated proteins believed to be processed through Golgi complexes was inhibited to the same extent (approximately 70-80%) by antimicrotubule agents, regardless of the age of the host animal. However, other proteins and glycoproteins secreted by livers of immature rats were found to be relatively insensitive (i.e. inhibited to only 30-40%) to the action of various antimicrotubule drugs. The glycoproteins were found to lack N-linked terminal sugars (although the glycoproteins did contain N-linked core sugars), and it is likely that the drug-insensitive proteins bypassed critical glycosylating sites in the Golgi compartment prior to release. Overall, these findings support earlier data showing that antimicrotubule drugs have a special impact on Golgi-associated events in liver cells. To what extent these findings are related to the action of microtubules remains to be seen.

The effect of colchicine on cholesterol processing by the progesterone-producing cells of the luteinized ovary

Previously, we indicated that luteal cells from colchicine-treated superovulatory (luteinized) rats show decreased capacity for progesterone production. The current study investigates the possibility that colchicine exerts this effect by interfering with the mechanism by which cholesterol is processed and/or synthesized by luteal cells. To this end, animals were treated with saline or colchicine after which the luteinized ovary or isolated luteal cells were assayed for their cholesterol content, their ability to synthesize cholesterol endogenously, or their ability to utilize lipoprotein-delivered cholesterol for the production of progesterone. The results show that animals treated with colchicine show a number of changes in luteal cell cholesterol metabolism: namely a 60% decline in stored cholesterol, a 3-fold rise in the activity of the cholesterol synthesizing enzyme HMG CoA reductase (although no change occurs in other cholesterol metabolizing enzymes), and a 3-fold rise in the capacity of the cells to incorporate precursor [14C]acetate into cholesterol. On the other hand, cells of animals treated with colchicine or cells treated with colchicine under in vitro circumstances are unable to fully utilize cholesterol provided by high density lipoproteins (HDL): this occurs despite the fact that the binding of HDL particles to luteal cells is quite normal after colchicine treatment. These findings are consistent with the view that a primary effect of colchicine on luteal cell progesterone production is in preventing the normal uptake of HDL-cholesterol.