Inhibitory Effect Of Cholera Toxin Research Articles

Beclomethasone rapidly ablates allergen-induced beta 2-adrenoceptor pathway dysfunction in human isolated bronchi.

Bronchial rings from nonatopic humans were passively sensitized with serum from allergic subjects. Allergen challenge significantly reduced the relaxant effect of salbutamol on carbachol-induced contractions, suggesting beta(2)-adrenoceptor (beta(2)-AR) pathway dysfunction. Incubation of challenged rings for 3 h with 3 x 10(-6) M beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) restored the relaxant effect, suggesting reversal of beta(2)-AR pathway dysfunction. Incubation with the G(s)alpha protein-stimulating cholera toxin attenuated contractile responses to carbachol significantly less in challenged than in unchallenged rings. Treatment of challenged rings with BDP resulted in an inhibitory effect of cholera toxin that was similar to the effect in unchallenged rings. G(s)alpha protein expression was not significantly altered by BDP, suggesting that the activity of G(s)alpha protein was increased. Relaxation of challenged rings by forskolin was not significantly affected by BDP, suggesting that beta(2)-AR pathway dysfunction was proximal to the adenylyl cyclase. In conclusion, short-term (3-h) treatment with BDP after allergen challenge ablated beta(2)-AR pathway dysfunction by increasing the activity of the G(s)alpha protein in human isolated bronchi.

G Protein and cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase Mediate Amyloid β-Peptide Inhibition of Neuronal Glucose Uptake

The mechanism by which amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) inhibits glucose uptake in cultured cells is not known. Here we demonstrated a signaling pathway in which Aβ25-35, a neurotoxic portion of the Aβ peptide corresponding to amino acids 25–35, inhibits neuronal glucose uptake by hippocampal neurons. The GP antagonist-2, which blocks Gs, prevented the inhibitory effect of Aβ on the glucose uptake. Exposure of cells to Aβ resulted in a transitory increase in intracellular levels of cAMP. To assess the role of cAMP in neuronal glucose uptake, cultured neurons were exposed to dibutyryl cAMP (Bt2cAMP) or an adenylyl cyclase activator, forskolin. Both Bt2cAMP and forskolin inhibited neuronal glucose uptake, and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) inhibitor KT5720 blocked the Aβ-mediated inhibition of glucose uptake. Cholera toxin, which stimulates adenylyl cyclase by activating Gs protein, also inhibited neuronal glucose uptake, and Aβ potentiated this inhibitory effect of cholera toxin on glucose uptake. Thus, our findings suggest that Aβ inhibits glucose uptake by activating the Gs-coupled receptors and involves the cAMP–PKA system.

Functional compartments in rat mast cells for cAMP and calcium on histamine release

The crosstalk between 3′, 5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), intracellular calcium, and histamine release in rat mast cells using the stimulatory effect of three different drugs, thapsigargin, sodium fluoride (NaF), and compound 48/80 were studied. Each of these drugs induces histamine release by different mechanisms. The transducting pathways modulating cAMP and intracellular calcium levels were modified by using, cholera toxin (CTX) which ADP-rybosylates Gs-protein, pertussis toxin (PTX) which ADP-rybosylates Gi-protein, and okadaic acid (OA) which inhibits phosphatases 1 and 2a. Our results show that CTX increased cAMP levels and inhibited histamine release elicited by thapsigargin and compound 48/80. The inhibitory effect of CTX on histamine release was potentiated by OA in the presence of compound 48/80 but was decreased in the presence of thapsigargin. Calcium uptake was stimulated by NaF and compound 48/80. The previous treatment with OA increased calcium uptake when combined with compound 48/80 but not with NaF. Treatment with NaF highly stimulated calcium uptake and cAMP levels only when combined with OA and CTX. These results suggest that the modulatory effect of intracellular calcium and cAMP on histamine release depend more on the crosstalk of the activated signal transducting pathway than on the final level of calcium or cAMP, further supporting the theory that rat mast cells are divided into functionally distinct compartments.

Inhibitory effects of cholera toxin on in vitro growth of human lung cancer cell lines : Kiura K, Watarai S, Shibayama T, Ohnoshi T, Kimura I, Yasuda T. Inst Cellular and Molecular Biology, Okayama University Medical School, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700. Anti-Cancer Drug Res 1993;8:417–428

Cholera toxin (CT) inhibited the growth of three out of 10 small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines and two out of seven non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines when tested by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. These CT-sensitive as well as CT-resistant cell lines bound well to the non-toxic CT-B subunit-fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugate (FITC-CTB) when assayed by flow cytometry. Using the reaction of horseradish peroxidase-conjugated CT-B (HRP-CTB) on thin-layer chromatography (TLC), we analyzed gangliosides extracted from SCLC cell lines, CT-resistant SBC-1, minimally CT-sensitive SBC-3 and CT-sensitive SBC-5. HRP-CTB was found to react not only with GM1, but also with Fuc-GM1, GD1b and other gangliosides on TLC. Although CT-resistant SBC-1 cells bound well to FITC-CTB, the binding of gangliosides extracted from SBC-1 cells to HRP-CTB was markedly decreased when compared to those from CT-sensitive SBC-5 cells. The CT resistance of the minimally CT-sensitive SBC-3 cell lines, which binds weakly FITC-CTB and HRP-CTB, was partially reversed by exogenous GM1 pretreatment. These observations suggest that the amount of gangliosides, such as GM1, Fuc-GM1 and GD1b, on the cells, rather than the CT-binding ability to the cells, plays a major role in cytotoxicity by CT.

Peptidergic modulation of G-protein coupled cyclic-AMP accumulation in the rat caudate nucleus

Somatostatin, substance P, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide were incubated in an adenylate cyclase assay with a particulate fraction of caudate-putamen tissue of the rat in order to examine the effect of the neuropeptides on G-protein coupled adenylate cyclase in vitro. Somatostatin induced an enhancement of cyclic AMP formation in presence of guanine nucleotides and cholera toxin but inhibited pertussis toxin and forskolin enzyme stimulation. Pertussis toxin and cholera toxin also depressed forskolin-induced stimulation as described previously. Somatostatin was able to antagonize these inhibitory effects of both toxins. On the contrary, substance P reduced GTP and cholera toxin stimulated striatal adenylate cyclase, without affecting forskolin activation. In our preparation, VIP did not influence basal adenylate cyclase activity or the stimulation by guanine nucleotides, cholera toxin, and pertussis toxin. VIP potently inhibited the enhancement of cyclic AMP formation by forskolin and completely antagonized the inhibitory effect of cholera toxin on forskolin activation. These results suggest that neuromodulatory effects of somatostatin, substance P, and VIP and mediated by the inhibitory as well as stimulatory guanine nucleotide proteins G-i and G-s coupled to an adenylate cyclase system.

Interleukin 2 counteracts the inhibition of cytotoxic T lymphocytes by cholera toxin in vitro and in vivo.

Cholera toxin irreversibly activates a 43-kDa guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding protein by adenosine diphosphate ribosylation, resulting in activation of adenylate cyclase and increased intracellular levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Because increases in intracellular cAMP inhibit interleukin 2 (IL 2) expression and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) generation and function in vitro and in vivo, we hypothesized that IL 2 may counteract the inhibition of CTL by cholera toxin. Activated CTL treated with IL 2 were protected from the inhibitory effects of cholera toxin. IL 2 also counteracted the inhibitory effect of cholera toxin on steady-state levels of CTL-specific serine esterase mRNA. Given the putative role of serine esterase for in vitro generated CTL effector activity, these results may account for recovery of CTL activity. Although IL 2 restored CTL function and serine esterase transcription, it did not block cholera toxin-catalyzed ribosylation of the 43-kDa GTP-binding protein, nor did it prevent the accumulation of intracellular levels of cAMP. In vivo, C57BL/6 mice challenged with the allogeneic tumor P815 had suppressed CTL function when cholera toxin was administered. These cholera toxin-treated mice died of tumor overgrowth, whereas untreated mice rejected the allogeneic tumor. Co-treatment of alloimmunized mice with cholera toxin and IL 2 prevented death from tumor overgrowth and restored CTL function; 67% of these mice survived. These data provide evidence that IL 2 acts in CTL through a mechanism independent of cholera toxin-sensitive GTP-binding protein in vitro and in vivo, despite elevated intracellular cAMP levels.

Treatment of intact striatal neurones with cholera toxin or 8‐bromoadenosine 3′,5′‐(cyclic)phosphate decreases the ability of pertussis toxin to ADP‐ribosylate the α‐subunits of inhibitory and other guanine‐nucleotide‐binding regulatory proteins, Gi and Go

Using primary cultures of striatal neurones from the mouse embryo, we showed that treatment of intact cells with cholera toxin (5 micrograms/ml, 22 h) decreases the subsequent ADP-ribosylation of the alpha subunit of the guanine-nucleotide-binding regulatory protein Go (Go alpha) and the alpha subunit of the inhibitory guanine-nucleotide-binding regulatory protein (Gi alpha) of adenylate cyclase, which is catalyzed in vitro on neuronal membranes by pertussis toxin. The inhibitory effect of cholera toxin could not only be attributed to an increased production of cAMP in neurones. Treatment of cells with 0.1 microM 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-(cyclic)phosphate (BrcAMP) for 16 h, or with 0.1 mM BrcAMP for 5 min, mimicked the effect of cholera toxin on the ADP-ribosylation of Go alpha and Gi alpha in vitro. However, the two agents seem to act through distinct mechanisms. The protein kinase inhibitor 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine prevented the action of Br8cAMP but not that of cholera toxin. In addition, measurements of the pI of the Go alpha deduced from immunoblots of two-dimensional gels performed using a specific antibody directed against Go alpha suggest that treatment of neurones with cholera toxin induces ADP-ribosylation of Go alpha in intact cells, while BrcAMP does not.

Effects of cholera toxin on human B cells. Cholera toxin induces B cell surface DR expression while it inhibits anti-mu antibody-induced cell proliferation.

Experiments were performed to investigate the effect of cholera toxin (CT) on human B cell function. Highly purified (greater than 98% CD20+) human peripheral blood B cells were exposed to CT in the presence or absence of anti-mu antibody. Treatment of highly purified B cells with CT stimulated enhanced expression of surface DR molecules, whereas it did not enhance expression of other B cell surface activation markers including transferrin or IL-2R. Neither the A nor the B subunits of CT by themselves enhanced the expression of surface DR Ag. In addition, 8-bromo-cAMP alone or in combination with the B subunit did not increase the expression of human B cell surface DR Ag. These findings suggest that neither elevation of cAMP nor binding to GM1 ganglioside are sufficient to stimulate this activation parameter in B cells. Associated with CT-mediated enhanced expression of MHC class II molecules we found that CT-treated B cells also served as stronger stimulators, compared with control cells, of both autologous and allogeneic MLR responses in peripheral blood T cells. Although CT stimulated early events in B cell activation, it inhibited anti-mu antibody-induced B cell thymidine incorporation by 55 to 75%. Inhibitory effects of CT were observed even when CT was added to cultures as late as 36 h after the addition of the anti-mu antibody. These results suggest that CT has both a stimulatory and inhibitory effect on human B cells and that the stimulatory effect may be mediated via a cAMP-independent mechanism.

The G protein coupling T cell antigen receptor/CD3‐complex and phospholipase C in the human T cell lymphoma Jurkat is not a target for cholera toxin

Intact Jurkat cells could be stimulated by monoclonal antibodies against the Tcell antigen receptor complex (OKT3 directed against the CD3 complex, BMA031 directed against constant framework epitopes in the alpha/beta heterodimer). The accumulation of inositol phosphates was inhibited by prior incubation of the cells with cholera holotoxin. The inhibitory effect of cholera toxin (CT) was not cAMP mediated because forskolin (a direct activator of adenylate cyclase) did not mimic the inhibitory effect. When measuring phospholipase C (PLC) in a cell-free assay system by using [3H]inositol-labeled membranes, the enzyme could be stimulated by the poorly hydrolyzable GTP analogue guanosine 5'-O-(thiotriphosphate (GTP gamma S). Both anti-receptor antibodies augmented the GTP gamma S stimulatory effect, while the antibodies alone had no stimulatory capacity. In membranes from CT-pretreated cells, whereas the antibodies lost their stimulatory effect on PLC as in untreated cells, whereas the antibodies lost their stimulatory capacity in the presence of GTP gamma S. These data imply that CT exerts its inhibitory effect on signaling by acting at the receptor level while the PLC regulating G protein is not a target for CT-mediated alterations. This assumption is supported by the finding that in intact Jurkat cells CT, which ADP ribosylated only the alpha-subunit of the stimulatory G protein of the adenylate cyclase, led to a loss of the T cell antigen receptor complex from the cell surface as demonstrated by a decrease of receptor density using flow cytometry analysis. Receptor loss could not be achieved by forskolin treatment or incubation of the cells with the binding subunit of the toxin alone.

Pertussis toxin B-subunit-induced Ca 2+-fluxes in Jurkat human lymphoma cells: The action on long-term pre-treatment with cholera and pertussis holotoxins

The exotoxins of Bordetella pertussis and Vibrio cholera have been used to investigate signal transduction in the human T-cell lymphoma Jurkat. Stimulation of the cells, leading to an increase in cytoplasmic free calcium, could be achieved by the anti-T-cell receptor complex antibody OKT3 and by pertussis holotoxin (PT HT), or its B-subunit (PT b), but not by cholera holotoxin (CT HT) or its B-subunit (CT B). Both holotoxins ADP-ribosylated specifically G-proteins in the plasma membrane of intact cells, while their B-subunits had no ADP-ribosyltransferase activity. Incubation of the cells with CT HT led to a state of unresponsiveness to all stimulants. CT B was without any effect, indicating that the ADP-ribosyltransferase activity of cholera toxin (located in the A-subunit of the holotoxin) was necessary for the inhibition of cellular signalling. The inhibitory effect of cholera toxin on the pertussis toxin action was not due to a blockade of pertussis toxin interaction with the cell surface, because pertussis toxin was still able to ADP-ribosylate membrane proteins in cholera toxin treated intact cells. In addition, the cholera toxin mediated inhibition was not due to elevated levels of cyclic-AMP, as forskolin (a direct activator of the adenylate cyclase) and no inhibitory effect. The stimulating effect of PT HT was independent of its ADP-ribosyltransferase activity, because it could also be obtained by the B-subunit alone. In addition, the increase of cytoplasmic free calcium after stimulation by PT HT clearly preceded the ADP-ribosylation. Pre-treatment with PT HT, PT B or OKT3, led to a long lasting increase in the level of intracellular Ca 2+ in Jurkat cells, which could not, therefore, be stimulated further. Inhibition by cholera holotoxin of the stimulation by OKT3 and pertussis toxin (PT HT and PT B) imply that the mitogenic effect of pertussis toxin is perhaps mediated via the T-cell antigen receptor signalling cascade. The presented data do not support the idea that a pertussis toxin-sensitive G-protein is involved in coupling the T-cell antigen receptor to the phospholipase C.

Inhibition of endothelial secretion of tissue-type plasminogen activator and its rapid inhibitor by agents which increase intracellular cyclic AMP

We investigated the effect of agents which raise intracellular levels of cyclic AMP (cAMP) on the secretion of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) by cultured human umbilical-vein endothelial cells. Significant inhibition of baseline (unstimulated) t-PA and PAI-1 secretion was observed in response to several agents which, when added exogenously, cause increased intracellular cAMP: cholera toxin, 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (MIX), dibutyryl-cAMP, and prostaglandin E 1. These agents also significantly reduced or abolished the previously reported stimulatory effects of thrombin and histamine on t-PA secretion, and, with the exception of MIX, significantly reduced the previously reported stimulatory effect of thrombin on PAI-1 secretion. MIX at a concentration (10 μM) below that required to inhibit t-PA and PAI-1 secretion when tested alone, significantly increased the inhibitory effects of cholera toxin, dibutyryl-cAMP, and prostaglandin E 1 on both t-PA and PAI-1 secretion. The data suggest that elevated intracellular levels of cAMP inhibit both spontaneous endothelial secretion of t-PA and PAI-1, and secretion induced by agents (thrombin and histamine, which stimulate endothelial phosphoinositide metabolism, consistent with bidirectional regulation of endothelial fibrinolytic protein secretion by the adenylate cyclase and phosphoinositide signal transduction pathways. The inhibitory effects of cAMP do not appear to be specific for t-PA and PAI-1, since cholera toxin and MIX also inhibited endothelial secretion of the adhesive protein, fibronectin. Significant inhibition of baseline endothelial t-PA and PAI-1 secretion was also caused by the stable prostacyclin analogue iloprost (ZK 36 374) and by arachidonic acid, which is converted by endothelial cells to prostacyclin, suggesting that prostacyclin produced endogenously by endothelial cells may inhibit secretion of fibrinolytic proteins by increasing intracellular cAMP.

Cholera toxin inhibits the increase in cytoplasmic free calcium induced via the CD2 pathway of human T‐lymphocyte activation

We investigated the action of cholera toxin on the intracellular ionized calcium [Ca2+]i increase induced by anti-CD2 and anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies in the leukemic human T-cell line Jurkat. Cholera toxin inhibits in a dose-dependent manner these two pathways of human T-lymphocyte activation but with different half maximal inhibition doses (75 ng/ml for CD3, 30 ng/ml for CD2). This effect cannot be accounted for only by the increase in cAMP induced by cholera toxin because forskolin, which raises cellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) to the same levels, induced only a small inhibition of the [Ca2+]i increase in similar conditions. Cholera toxin induced a decrease in the surface expression of the CD3 molecule, suggesting a down-regulation of the CD3 molecules. On the other hand, the expression of CD2 remained unchanged. Cell surface disappearance of the CD3 molecule cannot account for all the inhibitory effects of cholera toxin because CD2 molecule expression was not affected (no modifications in the half maximal binding of anti-CD2 monoclonal antibodies). All together, these results suggest that cholera toxin acts on substrates, possibly G proteins, that could regulate the [Ca2+]i increase induced by anti-CD2 and anti-CD3 mAbs in Jurkat cells. In addition, the present study demonstrated that the rise in cellular cAMP partially inhibits the [Ca2+]i increase induced by anti-CD2 and anti-CD3 mAbs.

Inhibition of the proliferation of Nb2 cells by femtomolar concentrations of cholera toxin and partial reversal of the effect by 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate.

One hour of exposure to cholera toxin is sufficient to elicit a significant delay in the initiation of DNA synthesis and cell division in lactogenic hormone-dependent Nb2-11C lymphoma cells. The inhibitory effect occurs already at very low concentrations of cholera toxin (5-50 fM), at which it is not accompanied by a detectable increase in intracellular cAMP, or ADP-ribosylation of the alpha subunit of Gs, the stimulatory guanine nucleotide binding protein of adenylate cyclase; IBMX, the phosphodiesterase inhibitor, acts synergistically to cholera toxin, indicating that a minute increase in cAMP may be sufficient for the inhibition. This indication is substantiated by the finding that dibutyryl cAMP also inhibits cell proliferation. Phorbol diester reverses partially the inhibitory activity of cholera toxin. It is most likely that this effect does not result from blocking the increase in cAMP, but rather from some subsequent, yet unidentified, events. The inhibitory effect of cholera toxin is not dependent on the concentration of the proliferation-stimulating lactogenic hormone and cannot be abolished or reduced by excess of the hormone. Cholera toxin also inhibits the autonomous proliferation of a lactogenic hormone-independent cell line (Nb2-SP); however, in this case the inhibition is not affected by TPA.

Acetylcholine and cholecystokinin receptors functionally couple by different G-proteins to phospholipase C in pancreatic acinar cells

We have studied the involvement of GTP-binding proteins in the stimulation of phospholipase C from rat pancreatic acinar cells. Pretreatment of permeabilized cells with activated cholera toxin inhibited both cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-OP) and GTPγS but not carbachol (CCh)-induced production of inositol trisphosphate. Pertussis toxin had no effect. Neither vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, a stimulator of adenylyl cyclase, nor the cAMP-analogue, 8-bromo cAMP, mimicked the inhibitory effect of cholera toxin on agonist-induced phospholipase C activation. This indicates that inhibition by cholera toxin could not be attributed to a direct interaction of cholera toxin activated G s with phospholipase C or to an elevation of cAMP. In isolated rat pancreatic plasma membranes cholera toxin ADP-ribosylated a 40 kDa protein, which was inhibited by CCK-OP but not by CCh. We conclude from these data that both CCK- and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors functionally couple to phospholipase C by two different GTP-binding proteins.

Effects of cholera toxin on cyclic AMP accumulation and bone resorption in cultured mouse calvaria

We have utilized the adenylate cyclase stimulator, cholera toxin, as a tool to test the role of cyclic AMP as a mediator of the effects on bone resorption by the calcium-regulating hormones, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcitonin. The effects on bone resorption were studied in an organ culture system using calvarial bones from newborn mice. Cyclic AMP response was assayed in calvarial bone explants and isolated osteoblasts from neonatal mouse calvaria. Cholera toxin caused a dose-dependent cAMP response in calvarial bones, seen at and above approx. 1–3 ng/ml and calculated half-maximal stimulation (EC 50) at 18 ng/ml. The stimulatory effect of cholera toxin could be potentiated by the phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX, 0.2 mmol/l). Cyclic AMP accumulation in the bones was maximal after 4–6 h, and thereafter declined. However, activation of the adenylate cyclase was irreversible and the total amount (bone + medium) of cAMP produced, in the presence of IBMX (0.2 mmol/l), increased with time, for at least 48 h. In osteoblast-like cells cholera toxin (1 μg/ml) stimulated the cellular levels of cAMP with a peak after 60–120 min, which could be potentiated with IBMX. The total cAMP accumulation indicated an irreversible response. In short-term bone organ cultures (at most, 24 h) cholera toxin, at and above 3 ng/ml, inhibited the stimulatory effect of PTH (10 nmol/l) on 45Ca release from prelabelled calvarial bones. The inhibitory effect of cholera toxin (0.1 μg/ml) on 45Ca release was significant after 6 h and the calculated IC 50 value at 24 h was 11.2 ng/ml. Cholera toxin (0.1 μg/ml) also inhibited PTH-stimulated (10 nmol/l) release of Ca 2+, inorganic phosphate (P i), α-glucuronidase, β- N-acetylglucosaminidase and degradation of organic matrix (release of 3H from [ 3H]proline-labelled bones) in 24 h cultures. 45Ca release from bones stimulated by prostaglandin E 2 (1 μmol/l) and 1α-hydroxyvitamin D 3 (0.1 μmol/l) was also inhibited by cholera toxin (0.3 μg/ml) in 24-h cultures. The inhibitory effect of cholera toxin on bone resorption was transient, and in long-term cultures (120 h) cholera toxin caused a dose-dependent, delayed stimulation of mineral mobilization (Ca 2+, 45Ca, P i), degradation of matrix and release of the lysosomal enzymes β-glucuronidase and β- N-acetylglucosaminidase. The calculated EC 50 value for 45Ca release in 120 h cultures was 0.8 ng/ml. Cholera toxin-stimulated (0.01 μg/ml) 45Ca release could be inhibited by calcitonin (0.1 U/ml) but not by indomethacin (1 μmol/I). We conclude that cholera toxin-stimulated cAMP accumulation in bone transiently inhibits bone resorption, indicating that cAMP may be a mediator of the effect of calcitonin but that the nucleotide does not mediate the rapid bone-resorptive effects of PTH. The late bone-resorptive effect of cholera toxin suggest that cAMP may be involved in a delayed action of PTH on bone resorption.

A novel cholera toxin-sensitive G-protein (G c) regulating receptor-mediated phosphoinositide signalling in human pituitary clonal cells

Recent studies have implicated that a GTP-binding protein (G-protein) is involved in the coupling of both CCK-8 and muscarinic cholinergic receptors to phosphoinositidase C (PIC) in the human embryonic pituitary cell line, Flow 9000. Pretreatment of these cells with cholera toxin, but not pertussis toxin, inhibited the stimulation of [ 3H]inositol phosphate production by CCK-8 and acetylcholine. These inhibitory effects of cholera toxin could not be reproduced by treating the cells with the B-subunit of cholera toxin or cAMP-generating agents such as forskolin. These data suggest the presence of a novel G c protein which is responsible for receptor-PIC coupling in Flow 9000 cells.

Influence of cholera toxin on the growth and development of N-methyl- N-nitrosourea-induced rat mammary carcinomas

Daily injections of cholera toxin (2.0 μg/rat/day) for 4 weeks to female Sprague-Dawley rats did not significantly affect the growth of palpable N-methyl- N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced rat mammary carcinomas. Percent increase in tumor volume was + 78.8% for control animals and + 72.8% for cholera toxin treated animals. Daily treatment for 16 weeks of female Sprague-Dawley rats with cholera toxin (1.0 μg/rat/day), commencing 3 days after MNU treatment, resulted in a significant ( P < 0.05) increase in mean mammary carcinoma weight per rat at the termination of the study; mammary carcinoma incidence was not significantly affected by cholera toxin treatment. Retinyl acetate feeding (1.0 mM/kg diet) for 16 weeks significantly ( P < 0.05) reduced mammary carcinoma incidence and weight of mammary carcinoma per rat at the termination of study; feeding of retinyl acetate to cholera toxin treated rats blocked the stimulatory effect of cholera toxin on mammary carcinoma development. Thus, the reported striking inhibitory effect of cholera toxin on the growth of dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA)-induced rat mammary carcinomas was not duplicated in our study, using the MNU-induced rat mammary carcinoma; indeed, the toxin appeared to enhance the early developmental stage of this neoplastic process.

Inhibitory effect of cholera toxin on human natural cell-mediated cytotoxicity and its augmentation by interferon.

Cholera toxin inhibits human natural cell-mediated cytotoxicity in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Pretreatment of lymphocytes with 10 ng/ml of cholera toxin for 2 h almost completely inhibited cytolysis. Interferon augmented human natural cell-mediated cytolysis, but when lymphocytes were pretreated with cholera toxin before interferon treatment, no enhancement of cytolysis occurred. Cholera toxin could inhibit the enhancement of cytolysis by interferon even when lymphocytes were treated with cholera toxin after 2 h interferon treatment. Cholera toxin subunit B which binds cell surface ganglioside galactosyl-N-acetylgalactosaminyl - [N-acetylneuraminyl] - galactosylglucosylceramide (GM1) without activating adenyl cyclase had no effect either on natural cytolysis or on the enhancement of natural cytolysis by interferon, suggesting that mere binding of cholera toxin to the cellular receptor was not enough to inhibit natural cell-mediated cytolysis. Cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) levels increased in cholera toxin-treated lymphocytes and the time course of cAMP accumulation was similar to that of cytotoxicity inhibition. Exogenous dibutyryl-cAMP (db-cAMP) and theophylline inhibited cytolysis, while exogenous dibutyryl cyclic guanosine 3',5'-phosphate (db-cGMP) enhanced cytolysis slightly, suggesting that the process of inhibition of human natural cell-mediated cytolysis was at least partly modulated by intracellular cyclic nucleotides.