K. Nomoto et al., THE EFFECTS OF BILE-ACIDS ON PHOSPHOLIPASE-C ACTIVITY IN EXTRACTS OF NORMAL HUMAN COLON MUCOSA AND PRIMARY COLON TUMORS, Molecular carcinogenesis, 9(2), 1994, pp. 87-94
Phospholipase C (PLC) activity and its response to stimulation by bile
acids was assayed in cellular extracts from 16 primary human colon tu
mors of various Duke's stages and paired adjacent normal mucosal sampl
es. In the absence of bile acid, there was negligible degradation of p
hosphatidylinositol (PI) 1-stearoyl-2-[C-14]-arachiodonoyl by tumor or
normal tissue, but the addition of deoxycholic acid (DCA) or taurocho
lic acid (TCA) resulted in concentration-dependent and time-dependent
stimulation of diacylglycerol (DAG) formation at optimal concentration
s of 2 mM DCA and 4 mM TCA. Triton X-100 (0.125-1.0%) inhibited rather
than enhanced the PI-degrading activity of these extracts, indicating
that the stimulatory effects of DCA and TCA were not simply due to a
detergent effect. Under the same assay conditions there was only a sma
ll amount of labeled monoacylglycerol or free arachidonic acid produce
d by extracts incubated in the absence or presence of DCA or TCA. No m
ajor differences in DAG production from PI were seen between paired sa
mples of normal colon mucosa and primary colon tumors, in assays done
in the presence of 2 mM TCA. Extracts from tumors in the distal part o
f the colon had higher activity than those from the proximal colon. Th
is was also true for the extent of release of free arachidonic acid fr
om labeled PI. Under the same conditions, labeled phosphatidylcholine
or phosphatidylethanolamine did not serve as substrates for the colon
mucosa or tumor extracts. Nor was there significant hydrolysis of the
labeled DAG (1-stearoyl-2-C-14-arachidonoylglycerol) by normal colon m
ucosa or tumor extracts, in the absence or presence of DCA or TCA. On
the other hand, a low level of DAC lipase activity was detected in the
presence of Triton X-100. These findings provide the first evidence t
hat normal human colon mucosa and primary colon tumors contain a PI-sp
ecific PLC activity that is markedly stimulated by bile acids. Our res
ults also suggest that bile acids may enhance colon carcinogenesis by
acting on this enzyme system, thereby influencing signal transduction
pathways in the target cells. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.