Ornithine decarboxylase cells

Mechanism of Action A topical antiprotozoal that inhibits ornithine decarboxylase cell division and synthetic function in the skin. Therapeutic Effect Reduces rate of hair growth. 

Bowlin, T. L., Davis, G. F., and McKown, B. J. (1988). Inhibition of alloantigen-induced cytolytic T lymphocytes in vitro with (2R, 5R)-6-heptyne-2, 5-diamine, an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase. Cell. Immunol. Ill, 443-450. 

Eflornithine (difluoromethylornithine, DFMO) inhibits the ornithine decarboxylase of the polyamine pathway, in both the trypanosome and the mammalian cell, by acting as an irreversible competitor of the natural substrate ornithine. Inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase results in depletion of the polyamines, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, which are essential for cell proliferation. Eflornithine selectively harms the parasite and not the mammalian cells, despite acting as an ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor in both cell types. This selectivity is explained by the lower rate of ornithine decarboxylase production in the parasite, as compared to mammalian cells. Due to the high turnover rate, mammalian cells are capable of quickly replenishing inhibited ornithine decarboxylase by newly... 

In animal studies, mirex (a nonmutagenic hepatocarcinogen) promoted mouse skin squamous carcinomas and papillomas after initiation with 7,12-dimethyl-benz[a]anthracene (DMBA) for 1 week. Mirex, also, potentiated the promotional potency of the phorbol ester tumor promoter, 12-0 -tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). There was a 90% incidence (activation) of the c-Ha-ras tumor gene in these co-promoted tumors. When both mirex and TPA gave a similar tumor yield, only the TPA response was associated with biochemical markers of enhanced cell proliferation, induction of epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and increased DNA synthesis, and hyperplasia. Thus, there is evidence for a dual effect of mirex during co-promotion first, as an independent tumor promoter with a mechanism different than that of phorbol esters and second, as a compound that also potentiates skin tumor promotion by TPA (Meyer et al. 1993, 1994 Moser et al. 1992, 1993). 

The 26S proteasome also degrades non-ubiquitylated proteins [71]. The short-lived enzyme ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and the cell-cycle regulator p21Cip provide well documented examples of ubiquitin-independent proteolysis by the 26S en-... 

Murakami, Y., Matsueuji, S., Hayashi, S. I., Tanahashi, N., and Tanaka, K. ATP-Dependent inactivation and sequestration of ornithine decarboxylase by the 26 S proteasome are prerequisites for degradation. Mol Cell Biol 1999, 39, 7216-27. 

Ask A, Persson L, Rehnholm A, Frostesjo L, Holm I, Heby O (1993) Development of resistance to hydroxyurea during treatment of human myelogenous leukemia K562 cells with alpha-difluoromethylornithine as a result of coamplification of genes for ornithine decarboxylase and ribonucleotide reductase R2 subunit. Cancer Res 53 5262-5268... 

Eflorni thine Inhibits ornithine decarboxylase and biosynthesis of polyamines Affects cell division, differentiation... 

Epstein-Barr virus early antigen induction. Methanol extract of the dried leaf, in cell culture at a concentration of 1 pg/mL, was inactive. The assay was designed for tumor-promoting activity . Two diastere-oisomers of 2,7,1 l-cembratriene-4,6-diol (a- and 3-CBT) from the neutral fractions of cigarette smoke condensate, in Raji cells, produced potent inhibitory effects on the induction of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-EA by 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). The doses of a- and P-CBT required for 50% inhibition of EBV-EA induction by TPA were 7.7 and 6.7 mg/mL, respectively. Application of a- and P-CBT to mouse skin before treatment with TPA, inhibited TPA-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity in a dose-dependent manner. Application of 16.5 pM/mouse of a- and p-CBT resulted... 

Ornithine decarboxylase activity. Cigarette smoke was administered to intact animals and animals with ulcers at concentrations of 2 or 4%. The treatment significantly reduced the thickness of the mucous secreting layer and gastric mucosal ornithine decarboxylase activity in animals with or without ulcers. The extract significantly reduced mucus synthesis and ornithine decarboxylase activity but not its mRNA expression in MKN-28 cells " . Cigarette smoke and its extract, in human MKN-28 cells, markedly decreased mucus synthesis in vivo and in vitro and suppressed ornithine decarboxylase activity . 

Bhide. Effects of tobacco-specific nitrosamines and snuff extract on cell proliferation and activities of ornithine decarboxylase and aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase in mouse tongue primary epithelial cell cultures. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 1989 115(6) 558-563. 

Ornithine decarboxylase catalyzes the conversion of ornithine into putrescine. Like other polyamines, the latter is involved in the regulation of cell development. Inhibition of this enzyme has been an important goal in medicinal chemistry. In this context, difluoroornithine has been shown to be an excellent inhibitor... 

Metabolism of polyamines has a direct action on cell proliferation. Thus, it is a therapeutic target for the design of antitumor agents. However, inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) by specific inhibitors does not completely cancel the activity. This is due to the existence of other biosynthetic pathways (i.e., SAM-DC). These pathways are themselves regulated by polyamines. 

RLV/Fischer rat assay without the addition of an exogenous metabolic activation system. In a single study, mouse JB6 epidermal cells were transformed by di(2-ethyl-hexyl) phthalate without activation and in one of two studies a weak response was reported in the CSHIOT A cell transformation assay with di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate in either the absence or presence of exogenous metabolic activation. BALB/c-3T3 cells were not transformed by di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate with or without metabolic activation. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate inhibited gap-junctional intercellular communication in Chinese hamster V79 cells in six of seven studies, but not in one study of liver cells of cynomolgus monkeys in vivo. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate treatment of Syrian hamster embryo cells in a two-stage exposure with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate resulted in superinduction of ornithine decarboxylase, an early event in morphological transformation no effect was seen after a one-stage treatment with di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate alone. 

Eflornithine (Vaniqa) is an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the biosynthesis of polyamines. Polyamines are required for cell division and differentiation, and inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase affects the rate of hair growth. Topical eflornithine has been shown to be effective in reducing facial hair growth in approximately 30% of women when applied twice daily for 6 months of therapy. Hair growth was observed to return to pretreatment levels 8 weeks after discontinuation. Local adverse effects include stinging, burning, and folliculitis. 

Hydroquinone (1-10 (.miol/L) induced fluorescence from 2. 7 -dichlorofluorcscin acetate in HL-60 human leukaemia cells this was interpreted to indicate intracellular generation of hydrogen peroxide and other peroxides (Hiraku Kawanishi, 1996). Hydroquinone (200 mg/kg bw, as a single oral dose) administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats induced a three-fold increase in urinary excretion of malonaldehyde, increased hepatic ornithine decarboxylase activity from a control value of 16.8 pmol/mg/h... 

In mammalian cells, ornithine decarboxylase undergoes rapid turnover—that is, a constant round of enzyme degradation and synthesis. In some trypanosomes, however, the enzyme—for reasons not well understood—is stable, not readily replaced by newly synthesized enzyme. An inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase that binds permanently to the enzyme would thus have little effect on human cells, which could rapidly replace inactivated enzyme, but would adversely affect the parasite. 

Genetic factors influence the rate of not only synthesis of proteins but also their breakdown, i.e., the rate of turnover. As we have seen in Chapter 10, some enzymes are synthesized as inactive proenzymes which are later modified to active forms, and active enzymes are destroyed, both by accident and via deliberate hydrolytic pathways. Protein antienzymes may not only inhibit enzymes but may promote their breakdown.35 An example is the antienzyme that controls ornithine decarboxylase, a key enzyme in the synthesis of the polyamines that are essential to growth.36,37 As with all cell constituents, the synthesis of enzymes and other proteins is balanced by degradation. 

Ornithine decarboxylase is specifically inhibited by the enzyme-activated inhibitor a-difluoromethyl-ornithine, which can cure human infection with Trypanosoma brucei (African sleeping sickness) by interfering with polyamine synthesis.243-2443 In combination with inhibitors of spermidine synthase or S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase,245 it can reduce polyamine levels and growth rates of cells. Another powerful inhibitor that acts on both ornithine and adenosylmethionine decarboxylases is the hydroxy-lamine derivative l-aminooxy-3-aminopropane 246... 

The mechanisms by which antitumor-promoters suppress the tumor promotion are not known, but may be due to the following effects (i) inhibition of polyamine metabolism (ii) inhibition of arachidonic acid metabolism (iii) protease inhibition (iv) induction of differentiation (v) inhibition of oncogene expression (vi) inhibition of PKC and (vii) inhibition of oxidative DNA damage [3,6,91]. The polyamine content of cells is correlated to their proliferative, and often, their neoplastic capabilities. A key enzyme in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), catalyzes the convertion of ornithine to putrescine. Phorbol ester promoters such as TPA cause increased ODC activity and accumulation of polyamines in affected tissues. Diacylglycerol activated PKC, and the potent tumor promoter, TPA, binds to, and activates PKC, in competition with diacylglycerol. PKC stimulation results in phosphorylation of regulatory proteins that affect cell proliferation. Some chemopreventive agents have inhibitory activity towards PKC. Refer to recent review articles for further discussion [3,6,91]. 

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