Serglycin Expression Research Articles

Cell proliferation, apoptosis and accumulation of lipid droplets in U937-1 cells incubated with eicosapentaenoic acid.

The monocytic cell line U937-1 was cultured in the presence of eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5, n-3) (EPA) or oleic acid (18:1, n-9) (OA). EPA caused a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation, whereas OA had no effect. At the highest EPA concentrations, 120 and 240 microM, inhibition of cell proliferation was accompanied by initiation of apoptosis. A concentration of 60 microM EPA caused a 35% reduction in cell proliferation without inducing apoptosis, and was therefore used for further studies. Addition of antioxidants or inhibitors of eicosanoid synthesis had no influence on the reduced cell proliferation after EPA treatment. The inhibition required continuous presence of EPA in the incubation medium as the cells resumed a normal proliferation rate when they were placed in EPA-free medium. The inhibition of proliferation was not accompanied by differentiation into macrophage-like cells, as expression of serglycin and the ability to perform respiratory burst was unaffected by EPA. Expression of CD23 mRNA increased when the cells were incubated with EPA, but to a smaller extent than after retinoic acid (RA) or PMA treatment. Furthermore, expression of the monocytic differentiation markers CD36 and CD68 was lower in cells treated with EPA or OA when compared with untreated cells. The cell cycle distribution of U937-1 cells was similar in cells incubated with EPA or PMA, whereas RA-treated cells accumulated in the G1 phase. Side scatter increased in cells incubated with EPA and OA, which was ascribed to an accumulation of lipid droplets after examination of the cells by electron microscopy. The number of droplets per cell was higher in cells exposed to EPA than OA. The cellular triacylglycerol (TAG) increased 5.5- and 15.5-fold after incubation with OA and EPA respectively. No difference in the cellular content of cholesterol compared with untreated cells was observed. The TAG fraction in EPA-treated cells contained high amounts of EPA and docosapentaenoic acid and minor amounts of docosahexaenoic acid, whereas OA-treated cells had high levels of OA in the TAG. In cells incubated with a sulphur-substituted EPA, only minor effects on cell proliferation and no accumulation of cellular TAG were observed. These findings may indicate the existence of other mechanisms for regulation of cell behaviour by very-long-chain polyunsaturated n-3 fatty acids than the well established lipid peroxide and eicosanoid pathways.

Serglycin expression during monocytic differentiation of U937-1 cells.

Serglycin is the major proteoglycan in most hematopoietic cells, including monocytes and macrophages. The monoblastic cell line U937-1 was used to study the expression of serglycin during proliferation and differentiation. In unstimulated proliferating U937-1 cells serglycin mRNA is nonconstitutively expressed. The level of serglycin mRNA was found to correlate with the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG). The U937-1 cells were induced to differentiate into different types of macrophage-like cells by exposing the cells to PMA, RA, or VitD3. These inducers of differentiation affected the expression of serglycin mRNA in three different ways. The initial upregulation seen in the normally proliferating cells was not observed in PMA treated cells. In contrast, RA increased the initial upregulation, giving a reproducible six times increase in serglycin mRNA level from 4 to 24 h of incubation, compared to a four times increase in the control cells. VitD3 had no effect on the expression of serglycin mRNA. The incorporation of (35S)sulfate into CSPG decreased approximately 50% in all three differentiated cell types. Further, the (35S)CSPGs expressed were of larger size in PMA treated cells than controls, but smaller after RA treatment. This was due to the expression of CSPGs, with CS-chains of 25 and 5 kDa in PMA and RA treated cells, respectively, compared to 11 kDa in the controls. VitD3 had no significant effect on the size of CSPG produced. PMA treated cells secreted 75% of the (35S)PGs expressed, but the major portion was retained in cells treated with VitD3 or RA. The differences seen in serglycin mRNA levels, the macromolecular properties of serglycin and in the PG secretion patterns, suggest that serglycin may have different functions in different types of macrophages.