Cell-division

The mode of action has not yet been elucidated but the manufacturer states that it probably behaves like the herbicide triflurolin and its congeners. These materials inhibit cell division by binding to tubuHn thereby internipting micro-tubule development. This, in turn, stops spindle fiber formation essential to mitosis and cell division. Experiments with C-labeled Prime+ show that it is acutely toxic to fish with estimated LC q (96 h) of less than 100 ppb for rainbow trout and bluegiU. sunfish. However, channel catfish did not exhibit any toxic response at the maximum attainable water concentration (10). 

Cell Division Inhibitors. The most common mode of action of soil-appHed herbicides is growth inhibition, primarily through dkect or indkect interference with cell division (163). Such growth inhibitory activity is the basis for most pre- or post-emergent herbicides intended to control germinating weed seeds. In germinating seeds, cell division occurs in the meristems of the root and the shoot. Meristematic cells go through a cycle... 

The influences of herbicides on cell division fall into two classes, ie, dismption of the mitotic sequence and inhibition of mitotic entry from interphase (G, S, G2). If ceU-cycle analyses indicate increases in abnormal mitotic figures, combined with decreases in one or more of the normal mitotic stages, the effect is upon mitosis. Mitotic effects usually involve the microtubules of the spindle apparatus in the form of spindle depolymerization, blocked tubulin synthesis, or inhibited microtubule polymerization (163). Alkaloids such as colchicine [64-86-8J,viahla.stiae [865-21-4] and vincristine [57-22-7] dismpt microtubule function (164). Colchicine prevents microtubule formation and promotes disassembly of those already present. Vinblastine and vincristine also bind to free tubulin molecules, precipitating crystalline tubulin in the cytoplasm. The capacities of these dmgs to interfere with mitotic spindles, blocking cell division, makes them useful in cancer treatment. 

The growth inhibitory mechanism of the thiocarbamate herbicides, eg, EPTC, butylate, cycloate, diaHate, and triaHate, is not well defined. Cell elongation, rather than cell division, appears to be inhibited (183), although mitotic entry may be inhibited by diaHate (184). Thiocarbamates have a greater effect on shoot than toot tissue (163,184). The weU-documented inhibition of Hpid synthesis by thiocarbamates certainly contributes to the observed inhibitions of cell division and elongation. These compounds may also inhibit gibbereUic acid synthesis (185). 

Two other pyrrolopyrimidine nucleoside antibiotics, mycalisines A and B (56,57), have been isolated from the sponge Mycale sp. (173). These bioactive marine metaboHtes inhibit cell division of starfish eggs. 

Bredinin, Neosidomycin, and SF-2140. Bredinin (62), isolated from the culture filtrates of Eupenicillium brefeldianum (1,4), inhibits the multiplication of L5178Y, HeLa S3, RK-13, mouse L-ceUs, and Chinese hamster cells. GMP can reverse the inhibition by (62), but (62) is not incorporated into the nucleic acids. The inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis and chromosomal damage in the S and G 2 phases that is caused by (62), is reversed by GMP. It blocks the conversion of IMP to XMP and XMP to GMP. In combination with GMP, (62) interferes with intracellular cAMP levels and thereby inhibits cell division. 

The classification of these dmgs as antimetaboHtes stems from the mode of action as antagonists to the natural metaboHc processes leading to either DNA, RNA, or proteiu synthesis (13) (see Nucleic acids Proteins). They either inhibit function of a key en2yme involved in protein synthesis or are recmited into the cell division process as DNA synthesis terrninators. For example, methotrexate (8) is a foHc acid [59-30-3], antagonist and... 

In view of the well-documented inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase by aminopterin (325), methotrexate (326) and related compounds it is generally accepted that this inhibitory effect constitutes the primary metabolic action of folate analogues and results in a block in the conversion of folate and dihydrofolate (DHF) to THF and its derivatives. As a consequence of this block, tissues become deficient in the THF derivatives, and this deficiency has many consequences similar to those resulting from nutritional folate deficiency. The crucial effect, however, is a depression of thymidylate synthesis with a consequent failure in DNA synthesis and arrest of cell division that has lethal results in rapidly proliferating tissues such as intestinal mucosa and bone marrow (B-69MI21604, B-69MI21605). 

Although most /3- lactam antibiotics bind covalently to some or all of the same six proteins, there are decided differences among them in terms of their relative affinities. For example, cefoxitin (see Table 1 for structures) fails to bind to protein 2 while cephacetrile binds very slowly to proteins 5 and 6. Cephaloridine binds most avidly to protein 1, the transpeptidase, and inhibits cell elongation and causes lysis at its minimum inhibitory concentration. On the other hand, cephalexin binds preferentially to protein 3 and causes inhibition of cell division and filament formation (75PNA2999, 77MI51002). 

Interferons [alFN, piFN and ylFN]. Interferons are a family of glycosylated proteins and are cytokines which are produced a few hours after cells have been infected with a virus. Interferons protect cells from viral infections and have antiviral activities at very low concentrations ( 3 x 10 M, less than 50 molecules are apparently sufficient to protect a single cell). Double stranded RNA are very efficient inducers of IFNs. There are three main types of IFNs. The aIFNs are synthesised in lymphocytes and the piFNs are formed in infected fibroblasts. The a and P families are fairly similar consisting of ca 166 to 169 amino acids. Although ylFNs are also small glycosylated proteins (ca 146 amino acids), they are different because they are not synthesised after viral infections but are produced by lymphocytes when stimulated by mitogens (agents that induced cell division). 

Binary fission- Division of one cell into two cells by the formation of a septum. It is the most common form of cell division in bacteria. 

S. Increased synthesis of transforming growth factor-beta , which blocks cell division and promote.s apoptosis by interacting with its own membrane recepror,... 

Certain proteins endow cells with unique capabilities for movement. Cell division, muscle contraction, and cell motility represent some of the ways in which cells execute motion. The contractile and motile proteins underlying these motions share a common property they are filamentous or polymerize to form filaments. Examples include actin and myosin, the filamentous proteins forming the contractile systems of cells, and tubulin, the major component of microtubules (the filaments involved in the mitotic spindle of cell division as well as in flagella and cilia). Another class of proteins involved in movement includes dynein and kinesin, so-called motor proteins that drive the movement of vesicles, granules, and organelles along microtubules serving as established cytoskeletal tracks. ... 

The DNA in a eukaryotic cell nucleus during the interphase between cell divisions exists as a nucleoprotein complex called chromatin. The proteins of chromatin fall into two classes histones and nonhistone chromosomal proteins. 

ITowever, most normal somatic cells lack telomerase. Consequently, upon every cycle of cell division when the cell replicates its DNA, about 50-nucleotide portions are lost from the end of each telomere. Thus, over time, the telomeres of somatic cells in animals become shorter and shorter, eventually leading to chromosome instability and cell death. This phenomenon has led some scientists to espouse a telomere theory of aging that implicates telomere shortening as the principal factor in cell, tissue, and even organism aging. Interestingly, cancer cells appear immortal because they continue to reproduce indefinitely. A survey of 20 different tumor types by Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, revealed that all contained telomerase activity. 

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