Spermidine N1-acetyltransferase Activity Research Articles

Stimulation of putrescine production by epidermal growth factor in rat liver after partial hepatectomy

When epidermal growth factor was given to rats after partial hepatectomy, hepatic putrescine content was significantly increased at 4, 6 and 10 hr compared with control rats. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was also increased. Hepatic ornithine decarboxylase messenger RNA content was significantly greater than control levels at 2 hr after epidermal growth factor treatment, but not at 10 hr, when the amount of ornithine decarboxylase messenger RNA in control animals was four times that at 2 hr. When actinomycin D was administered 6 hr after partial hepatectomy, hepatic ornithine decarboxylase activity at 10 hr was reduced to half the control levels. This reduction was attenuated by epidermal growth factor treatment at 6 and 8 hr. Hepatic immunoreactive ornithine decarboxylase protein content showed a highly positive correlation with hepatic ornithine decarboxylase activity at 4, 6 and 10 hr, irrespective of epidermal growth factor treatment. Hepatic spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity was significantly increased at 6 hr compared with control rats. These results suggest that, after partial hepatectomy in rats, exogenous epidermal growth factor may stimulate hepatic putrescine production by increasing ornithine decarboxylase messenger RNA content and altering posttranscriptional ornithine decarboxylase regulation, as well as enhancing spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity.

Spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity in rat uterus after 17β-estradiol and during the estrous cycle

The administration of 17 beta-estradiol to ovariectomized rats stimulated in uterus the activity of spermidine N1-acetyltransferase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the polyamine interconversion pathway. Such a stimulation was largely prevented by cycloheximide and actinomycin D, which indicates that it was due to an enzyme induction. During the estrous cycle, uterine enzyme activity was highest at proestrus and lowest at estrus, when estrogen plasma levels are known to be high and low, respectively. The induction of the enzyme was associated with the appearance or an increase in N1-acetylspermidine in uterus. The results suggest that estrogens regulate spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity in uterus.

Effects of diethyldithiocarbamate and endogenous polyamine content on cellular responses to hydrogen peroxide cytotoxicity

In exponential-phase Chinese-hamster cells, 0.1 mM-diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) afforded greater than 1 log survival protection to cultures treated before and during exposure to 1 mM-H2O2. Both DDC and H2O2 treatment stimulated the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the first enzyme in polyamine synthesis, within 4 h of exposure. DDC, and to a lesser degree H2O2, also stimulated the activity of spermidine N1-acetyltransferase (SAT), the rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine catabolism. The increase in SAT activity, after exposure to DDC or another stress (heat shock), was inhibited in cells depleted of putrescine and spermidine by alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), the enzyme-activated suicide inhibitor of ODC. Pretreatment with DFMO or heat shock also induced resistance to H2O2 cytotoxicity. Since SAT activity is low in resting cells, yet stimulation of enzyme activity depends on endogenous spermidine pools, these results suggest that the expression of SAT activity occurs by a mechanism involving a stress-dependent displacement of spermidine into a new intracellular compartment. The stimulation of ODC and SAT activities does not appear to be a necessary component of the mechanism by which DDC protects cells from H2O2 cytotoxicity, although spermidine displacement may be a common facet of the cellular response to stress.

Compensatory route of spermidine acetylation and oxidation can supply sufficient putrescine for hepatic DNA synthesis at an early stage after partial hepatectomy in diaminopropane-treated rats.

Hepatic ornithine decarboxylase activity in rats increased 2 h after partial hepatectomy, showing two peaks at 4 and 10 h. When the rats received 1,3-diaminopropane (DAP) from 0 to 4 h or from 6 to 10 h, this increase was suppressed at 6 or 12 h, respectively, whereas hepatic spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity was enhanced by DAP administration at 6 as well as 12 h, though the levels at 12 h were one-fifth of those at 6 h. An increase in hepatic DNA synthesis at 22 h did not occur in the rats given DAP from 6 to 10 h. It recovered after administration of putrescine, but not that of spermidine. In contrast, such an inhibition was not seen in the rats given DAP from 0 to 4 h; it occurred when quinacrine, a polyamine oxidase inhibitor, was concomitantly dosed, and disappeared with further addition of putrescine. Hepatic DNA synthesis changed in close association with hepatic putrescine content irrespective of spermidine and spermine contents in these rats. Putrescine may be essential for liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy, and can be produced in sufficient quantity to support hepatic DNA synthesis by the compensatory route of spermidine acetylation and oxidation when ornithine decarboxylase activity is suppressed at an early stage.

Spermidine N1-acetyltransferase has a larger role than ornithine decarboxylase in 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-induced putrescine synthesis.

We have reported that a single injection of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1 alpha,25(OH)2D3), the active form of vitamin D3, into vitamin D-deficient chicks produces a marked increase in the formation of duodenal putrescine by two pathways, one from ornithine and one from spermidine (Shinki, T., Takahashi, N., Kadofuku, T., Sato, T., and Suda, T. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 2185-2190). In this work, the conversion of [3H]ornithine into [3H]putrescine catalyzed by ornithine decarboxylase was compared with the conversion of [14C]spermidine into [14C]putrescine catalyzed by spermidine N1-acetyltransferase and polyamine oxidase. Using the in situ duodenal loop method in the presence or absence of alpha-difluoromethylornithine, we evaluated the relative contributions of these two pathways in the 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3-induced duodenal synthesis of putrescine. Prior administration of alpha-difluoromethylornithine inhibited neither the 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3-induced increase in duodenal spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity nor the vitamin-induced enhancement of the duodenal putrescine content, although it completely suppressed the duodenal ornithine decarboxylase activity induced by 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3. The duodenal content of spermidine decreased time-dependently after injection of 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3. The increase of duodenal putrescine by 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3 coincided quantitatively with the amount of putrescine synthesized from spermidine but not from ornithine after injection of the vitamin. These unexpected results clearly indicate that spermidine N1-acetyltransferase has a larger role than ornithine decarboxylase in the increase of duodenal putrescine synthesis induced by 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3. The polyamine metabolism reported here may be related to the characteristics of intestinal epithelial cells such as the short lifetime (90-108 h) and typical gradient of differentiation from the crypt to villus regions.

Increased activity of spermidine N1-acetyltransferase in the adrenal cortex of rats following administration of exogenous spermidine, carbamylcholine, 2-deoxyglucose and dopamine agonists

The activity of N 1-acetyltransferase was increased in the dissected adrenal cortex of the rat following a single administration of spermidine. The activity was maximal 6–8 h after the onset of treatment. The increase in enzyme activity was abolished when the rats were given cycloheximide 2 h after spermidine; this suggests that increased activity results from an augmentation in the synthesis of the enzyme. Adrenocortical spermidine N 1-acetyltransferase was also induced by carbamylcholine, 2-deoxyglucose, apomorphine and piribedil, drugs that are known to cause induction of ornithine decarboxylase in that organ. Hypophysectomized rats showed reduced activity of spermidine N 1-acetyltransferase when compared to sham-operated controls, and carbamylcholine no longer elicited an increase in enzyme activity in such animals. Adrenocortical spermidine N 1-acetyltransferase activity of hypophysectomized rats is induced by corticotropin (ACTH). These results suggest a hormonal control over the activity of the enzyme in the adrenal cortex with ACTH acting as a mediator.

Induction of spermidine N1-acetyltransferase by 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 as an early common event in the target tissues of vitamin D.

We have reported that the duodenal ornithine decarboxylase activity and the tissue content of putrescine increase markedly after a single intravenous injection of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1 alpha,25(OH)2D3) into vitamin D-deficient chicks (Shinki, T., Takahashi, N., Miyaura, C., Samejima, K., Nishii, Y., and Suda, T. (1981) Biochem. J. 195, 685-690). In the present study, we examined in the same experimental system the effect of 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3 on the activity of duodenal spermidine N1-acetyltransferase, a rate-limiting enzyme catalyzing the conversion from spermidine to putrescine. The duodenal spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity began to increase 30 min after a single intravenous injection of 625 ng of 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3 and attained a maximum in 2 h. As little as 1.25 ng of 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3 induced a small but significant increase in the spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity, and the maximal response was obtained by 125 ng of the vitamin. The dose levels of 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3 required to induce duodenal spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity were only one-tenth as much as those required to induce ornithine decarboxylase activity. The spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity was induced commonly in the target tissues of vitamin D, whereas ornithine decarboxylase activity occurred only in intestine. The 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3-induced spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity was greatly inhibited by prior administration of actinomycin D or cycloheximide. When 30,000 X g intestinal supernatants were incubated with [14C]spermidine, [14C]putrescine was formed. These results clearly indicate that the induction of spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity is the 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3-induced earliest de novo synthesis in several proteins induced by the vitamin reported to date and that the 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3-induced duodenal synthesis of putrescine occurs by the pathways from both ornithine and spermidine.

Induction of spermidine N1-acetyltransferase by sodium n-butyrate and phytohemagglutinin in bovine lymphocytes.

An increased activity of spermidine N1-acetyltransferase was induced in bovine lymphocytes by stimulation with either sodium n-butyrate or phytohemagglutinin (PHA). The acetylase activity was elevated by 2- to 3-fold 24 h after the addition of butyrate, whereas a similar increase of the enzyme activity was found 48 h after stimulation with PHA. When butyrate and PHA were added to the lymphocyte suspensions simultaneously, the peak of enzyme induction was observed at 24 h after the addition and the increase (9-fold) was found to be more than additive. Since the increases in acetylase activity by both butyrate and PHA were markedly inhibited by actinomycin D or cycloheximide, they appear to have resulted from the synthesis of new protein rather than the release of the enzyme from a cryptic inactive form. The enzyme induced by the two agents was most active with spermidine as a substrate, but spermine was also acetylated to a smaller extent (25% of spermidine). Virtually no acetylation was observed with putrescine. Also, the product formed from spermidine and acetyl CoA was more than 90% N1-acetylspermidine. These results indicate that the acetylases induced by the two agents are similar. Although the addition of indomethacin or 8-bromocyclic AMP to PHA-stimulated lymphocytes caused an inhibition of the enzyme induction, no such inhibitory effect was found in the case of enzyme induction by butyrate. These results indicate that both sodium n-butyrate and PHA induce spermidine N1-acetyltransferase in bovine lymphocytes, but the induction mechanisms are different from each other.