Guinea pig airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells were maintained in a primary tissue culture (passages 1-3). Cells were exposed to human recombinant interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta; 20-100 pg/ml) or interleukin-6 (IL-6; 1-4 ng/ml) in the presence of indomethacin (1 microgram/ml) for up to 5 days. Proliferation of ASM cells was assessed with two techniques, direct counting of cells with a hemacytometer and [3H]thymidine incorporation corrected for total protein content. Hypertrophy of ASM cells was assessed by [3H]leucine incorporation (evaluation of protein synthesis), determination of total DNA content, DNA content per cell, and protein content per cell. We observed that the exposure of ASM cells to human recombinant IL-1 beta or IL-6, in all studied concentrations, significantly increased the number of cells as well as [3H]thymidine incorporation into ASM cells. We also found that exposure of ASM to these two cytokines increased [3H]leucine incorporation into the ASM cells and increased protein content and DNA content per single cell. These changes were also concentration dependent. We conclude that the two proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1 beta and IL-6, which are present in asthmatic lungs, increased the proliferation of ASM cells (hyperplasia) as well as their overall size and size of their nuclei, as measured by biochemical markers. These findings are compatible with the presence of ASM hypertrophy.

Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from symptomatic asthmatics contains elevated levels of several proinflammatory interleukins including interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta). Biologic activities of IL-1 beta are considered to be critical in the inflammatory process. Since these characteristics include mitogenic properties, we investigated the effect of IL-1 beta on the proliferation of airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells isolated from guinea pig tracheas. Primary tissue culture of ASM cells was maintained in media containing 0%, 1%, or 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Cultures were exposed up to 6 days to human recombinant IL-1 beta (20, 40, or 100 pg/ml) in the presence or absence of indomethacin. The proliferation of ASM cells was assessed with two techniques: a direct counting of cells with a hemocytometer and/or with a [3H]-thymidine incorporation, an established marker of DNA synthesis. The evaluation was done daily, up to the sixth day after exposure of cells to different doses of IL-1 beta. We found that the exposure of ASM cells to human recombinant IL-1 beta significantly (P< 0.01) increased the number of tracheal myocytes as well as the [3H]-thymidine incorporation into ASM cells. These changes were dependent upon the dose of IL-1 beta and the concentration of FBS in the cultured medium. The most active proliferation of ASM cells was observed in medium containing 1% FBS, indomethacin (1 microgram/ml), and IL-1 beta (100 pg/ml). The presence of indomethacin in the culture medium was essential to demonstrate the proliferative effect of IL-1 beta.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

No abstract

The primary culture of confluent human airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells were exposed up to 5 days to human recombinant interleukin (IL)-1 beta in the presence of indomethacin and 1% fetal bovine serum. The proliferation was assessed by a [3H]thymidine incorporation and direct cell count. We found that IL-1 beta significantly increased thymidine incorporation into and cell count of ASM cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Pretreatment of cells with specific polyclonal antibodies against platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB homodimer) completely inhibited the IL-1 beta-induced increase in thymidine incorporation. The PDGF-BB, at the concentrations of 1.5 and 2.5 ng/ml, stimulated the proliferation of ASM cells. The proliferation action of IL-1 beta was potentiated when PDGF-BB was added into the medium in combination with IL-1 beta. Pretreatment of cells with genistein (0.37 microM), a specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor, attenuated the proliferative effect of IL-1 beta and PDGF-BB. To clarify whether these growth stimuli (IL-1 beta and PDGF-BB) activated phospholipase C (PLC), we examined the formation of phosphatidylinositols. We observed that both agents significantly increased phosphoinositide turnover. In contrast, genistein pretreatment (0.37 microM) prevented formation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), as induced by IL-1 beta and/or PDGF-BB. This study demonstrates that both IL-1 beta and PDGF-BB could induce proliferation of ASM cells through the activation of tyrosine kinase and PLC, which in turn stimulate the formation of IP3, a second messenger molecule.

We previously showed that a mammary-specific dominant-negative p53 transgene (WAP-p53(172H)) could accelerate ErbB2-induced mammary tumorigenesis in mice, but was not tumorigenic on its own. To identify other genes that cooperate with WAP-p53(172H) in tumorigenesis, we performed mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) proviral mutagenesis. We derived F1, N2, and N4/N5 mice from p53(172H) transgenic FVB mice backcrossed onto MMTV+ C3H/He mice. Results show the latency of MMTV tumorigenesis is correlated with FVB contribution. F1 tumors had the shortest latency (217 days), had a higher rate of metastasis, and were less differentiated than the N2 and N4/N5 tumors. The latency was 269 days in N2 mice, and lengthened to 346 days in N4/N5 mice. p53(172H) significantly accelerated MMTV tumorigenesis only in N2 mice, indicating cooperativity between p53(172H) and MMTV in this cohort. To identify genes that may be causally involved in MMTV-induced mammary tumorigenesis, we identified 60 sites of proviral insertion in the N2 tumors. Among the insertions in p53(172H) transgenic tumors were 10 genes not previously found as sites of MMTV insertion including genes involved in signaling (Pdgfra, Pde1b, Cnk1), cell adhesion (Cd44), angiogenesis (Galgt1), and transcriptional regulation (Olig1, Olig2, and Uncx4.1). These may represent cellular functions that are likely not deregulated by mutation in p53.