Endocrinology Vol. 140, No. 2 987-996
Copyright © 1999 by The Endocrine Society
Inhibition of Zac1, a New Gene Differentially Expressed in the Anterior Pituitary, Increases Cell Proliferation1
Uberto Pagotto2,
Thomas Arzberger2,
Elisabetta Ciani,
Franck Lezoualch,
Catia Pilon,
Laurent Journot,
Dietmar Spengler and
Günter K. Stalla
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (U.P., E.C., F.L., D.S.,
G.K.S.), 80804 Munich; and the Departments of Neurology, Technical
University of Munich (T.A.), 81675 Munich, Germany; Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique (L.J., D.S.), 34094 Montpellier Cedex
05, France; and the Institute of Semeiotica Medica, University of Padua
(C.P.), Padua, Italy
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Uberto Pagotto, M.D., Department of Endocrinology, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 80804 Munich, Germany. E-mail:
pagotto{at}mpipsykl.mpg.de
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Abstract
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Zac1 is a new zinc finger protein that concomitantly controls apoptosis
and cell cycle arrest through separate pathways. The mouse Zac1 gene is
mainly expressed in the pituitary gland and in different brain areas.
In this study regional and cellular expression of Zac1 in the pituitary
gland was determined by in situ hybridization. Zac1
messenger RNA was abundantly expressed in the anterior pituitary lobe
compared with that in the intermediate and posterior lobes. Zac1
transcripts were found in all hormone-secreting cell types, with the
highest levels in GH- and PRL-producing cells.
To investigate the impact of Zac1 in pituitary cell proliferation, we
ablated the endogenous Zac1 gene by antisense treatment in two murine
cell types, AtT-20 and TtT/GF, that are representative of granular and
agranular cell lineages, respectively. The decline in Zac1 protein
levels under antisense treatment was accompanied by increased DNA
synthesis in clonal corticotroph and folliculo-stellate cells, as
demonstrated by enhanced [3H]thymidine incorporation
(36% and 50%, respectively). Antisense oligonucleotides against Zac1
controlled cell proliferation in a dose-dependent way, and mutagenized
antisense oligonucleotides were inert. Conclusively, our data provide
the first evidence of a role for Zac1 in pituitary growth control.
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Introduction
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DUE TO ITS mitotic activity (1), the
anterior pituitary can be considered to be an expanding cell population
(2), whose homeostasis reflects a fine-tuned balance among cell
division, cell cycle arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis (3). On the
average, a young adult male rat anterior pituitary cell either dies or
divides once every 6070 days, resulting in an overall pituitary
parenchymal cell turnover rate of 1.58%/day (3). These functions are
tightly regulated by a complex interaction between hypothalamic
hypophysiotropic peptides (4) and growth factors (5), which are
relevant to the mechanisms responsible for both pituitary tumor
initiation and progression (for review, see Ref. 6). With significant
frequency, pituitary cells undergo unbalanced proliferation (7),
resulting in tumors that are usually benign, with a random occurrence
in 1023% of autopsy examinations (8, 9). The common point of view is
that a mutual interplay of intrapituitary and extrapituitary
pathogenetic factors drives tumoral development and progression.
Concerning intrinsic pituitary defects, a number of recent studies have
addressed the alterations of genes that suppress cell proliferation by
acting on the cell cycle machinery. Among these, the retinoblastoma and
p27 genes were anticipated to play a critical role in pituitary
tumorigenesis based on the high occurrence of tumors arising from the
intermediate lobe of the pituitary gland of null-mutant mice (10, 11, 12).
Yet studies aimed to identify deletions or mutations leading to an
inactivation of these genes in pituitary tumor specimens remain
controversial, giving no definitive answer to date (for review, see
Refs. 6, 13).
We recently reported the isolation of a new gene from a mouse
corticotroph library designated Zac1, which encodes a seven-zinc finger
protein inducing concomitantly apoptosis and cell cycle arrest (14).
Expression of Zac1 prevented the proliferation of tumor cells as
measured by colony formation, growth rate, and cloning in soft agar,
and precluded tumor formation in nude mice (14). Furthermore, Zac1 was
demonstrated to induce the expression of pituitary adenylate
cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) type 1 receptor (PR1) in
different cell lines (15).
Interestingly, Hamilton and colleagues independently identified a rat
complementary DNA closely related to mouse Zac1 (90% homology) through
its loss of expression in a rat model of epithelial ovary
transformation. Accordingly, they named this gene LOT1 for "lost on
transformation" (16). Moreover, the same researchers found a marked
reduction of expression of the human LOT1 gene (85% homology to mouse
Zac1) in human ovary cancer cell lines (17). Together, the functional
properties of Zac1 and the loss of expression of its human counterpart
suggest a growth-restraining function in differentiation and
tumorigenesis.
To gain further insight into the role of Zac1 in the pituitary gland,
we determined the regional and cellular expression pattern of Zac1 in
the mouse pituitary using in situ hybridization (ISH). To
identify the anterior pituitary cell type(s) that contains Zac1
transcripts, ISH was combined with immunohistochemistry (IHC) using
antisera against anterior pituitary cell markers. Moreover, we
investigated the effect of Zac1 on growth by inhibiting the endogenous
Zac1 gene expression using antisense (AS) oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs)
in two murine clonal cells, representative of hormone-secreting or
nonsecreting cells, corticotroph (AtT-20) and folliculo-stellate
(FS)(TtT/GF) cells, respectively.
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Materials and Methods
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Animals and tissue preparation
Adult (3035 g) male B6C3F1 mice (Charles River,
Sulzfeld, Germany) were decapitated, and the whole pituitary glands
were immediately removed. The glands were fixed for 48 h in 4%
phosphate-buffered paraformaldehyde for ISH experiments.
ISH
ISH was performed as previously described with minor
modifications (18). In brief, 8-µm pituitary sections were cut in a
cryostat, thaw-mounted onto sterile slides, postfixed in 4%
paraformaldehyde, and stored in 96% ethanol until use. Five different
ODNs (Pharmacia Biotech Benelux, Roosendaal, The
Netherlands) were selected for their ability to hybridize to the zinc
finger, the linker, the proline repeat, and the carboxyl-terminal
region of mouse Zac1-coding sequence (EMBL accession no. X95503) (14)
and were named accordingly to their location: ZF [nucleotides (nt)
238282], L (nt 769813), PR (nt 895939), CT1 (nt 11561200), and
CT2 (nt 13111355). The sequences are presented in Table 1
. ODNs were 3'-end labeled with
[
-33P]deoxy-ATP (NEN, Cologne, Germany) by terminal
transferase (Boehringer Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany). After
hybridization and washing, sections were exposed to Betamax Hyperfilms
(Amersham International, Aylesbury, UK) for 14 days or dipped in Ilford
K5 photoemulsion (Ilford, Dreieich, Germany) and developed after
28 days. For a negative control, a 100-fold excess of nonlabeled ODNs
was added to the radioactive probe.
Colocalization studies
IHC was performed as described in our previous reports (19), and
combined ISH and IHC were performed as previously reported (20). The
following antisera were used: monkey antiserum against rat GH (diluted
1:1000); rabbit antisera against rat FSHß (1:600), LH (1:600), TSHß
(1:600), and ACTH (1:700; all donated by the National Hormone and
Pituitary Program, NIDDK, Bethesda, MD); and rabbit antisera
against mouse PRL (1:600; gift from Dr. F. Talamantes, University of
California, Santa Cruz, CA) and against bovine S-100 (1:300;
Biogenesis Ltd., Poole, UK), a marker for FS cells. As
secondary antibodies, biotinylated goat antirabbit IgGs (1:300;
Vector Laboratories, Inc., Burlingame, CA) or biotinylated
goat antimonkey IgGs (1:700; gift from Dr. G. L. Ferri, University
of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy) were used. The specificity of the
antisera against pituitary hormones was examined by preabsorption with
the respective antigens. For negative controls, either primary antisera
were omitted, or sections were incubated with normal rabbit or monkey
serum (1:100) instead of antisera.
Quantification of hybridization signals at the cellular level in
immunohistochemically identified pituitary cells
Slide preparations of three different colocalization experiments
for GH, PRL, ACTH, LH, TSH, FSH, and S-100 in mouse pituitary were
selected for signal quantification, and 10 different areas for each
experiment were scanned with a ProgRes 3012 Mikroscancamera (Imagine,
Munich, Germany) connected to a DMRD Leica Corp.
microscope (Leica Corp., Bensheim, Germany) in a
standardized manner at a resolution of 300 pixels/in. For
quantification of hybridization signals, the Optimas 5.2 computer
program (Optimas Corp., East Aspen, MT) was used. A threshold range for
gray values was set in brightfield images recognizing only
immunopositive structures, and their total area was automatically
determined by the program. This was followed by a determination of the
total area of silver grains inside these structures after overlaying
the corresponding darkfield image and setting a threshold range
recognizing only silver grains. For measurements of nonspecific
background, noncellular areas were manually outlined with the cursor,
and the total area of silver grains inside was determined. Two
different ratios were calculated: ratio 1, the sum of the total areas
of silver grains inside areas of immunostained structures (obtained in
all images of the same experiment for each kind of immunostaining)/the
sum of the total areas of immunostained or cellular structures; and
ratio 2, the sum of the total areas of silver grains inside selected
areas for background measurements/the sum of selected areas for
background measurements. Finally, ratio 2 was subtracted from ratio 1
to obtain background-free values.
Cell cultures
Cell culture materials and reagents were obtained from
Life Technologies (Karlsruhe, Germany), Falcon
(Heidelberg, Germany), Nunc (Wiesbaden, Germany), Seromed (Berlin,
Germany), Flow (Meckenheim, Germany), and Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO). Stock cultures of AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells
were grown at 37 C and 5% CO2 in DMEM (pH 7.3)
supplemented with 10% (AtT-20) or 2% FCS (TtT/GF), 2 mM
glutamine, and antibiotics. Cells were seeded in 48-well plates for AS
experiments, in double slides for fluorescence experiments, or in
10-cm2 petri dishes for protein extraction. All experiments
were performed on cells in the midlog phase.
ODNs and transfection
The translation start region or its immediate vicinity of Zac1
messenger RNA (mRNA) were selected as a target to block Zac1 protein
translation. Three 20-mer AS ODNs (AS1, AS2, AS3) and three 20-mer
mutagenized (MUT) sequences (MUT1, MUT2, MUT3; phosphorothioates at 3'-
and 5'-terminals) with four mismatches maintaining the A, T, G, and C
contents were purchased from MWG-Biotech (Ebersberg, Germany). Their
sequences are shown in Table 1
. To visualize the ODN incorporation and
the intracellular distribution, the AS ODNs were 3'-labeled with
rhodamine (MWG-Biotech).
AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells were transfected by a recently reported
procedure using polyethylenimine (PEI) (21). ODNs at various
concentrations and PEI at 8 equivalents were first diluted in 150
mM NaCl and complexed by gently mixing the two solutions.
After 10 min, the transfectant solution mixture was diluted in 450 µl
DMEM without serum and applied to the cells for 2 h. Finally, the
cells were rinsed and cultured with fresh DMEM supplemented with 10%
(AtT-20) or 2% (TtT/GF) FCS for the studies described below. Control
AtT-20 and TtT/GF were treated as described above with the ODNs
omitted.
Determination of [3H]thymidine
incorporation
[3H]Thymidine incorporation was determined as
previously described with minor modifications (18). Sixteen hours after
transfection, the cells were incubated with 0.5 µCi/ml
[3H]thymidine for 3 h. The medium was then removed,
and the cells were precipitated with ice-cold 10% trichloroacetic acid
(1 h; 4 C) and washed with cold PBS. Finally, the DNA was hydrolyzed
overnight with 0.5 M NaOH-0.1% Triton X-100, and the
radioactivity was determined with a liquid scintillation counter.
Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) staining
BrdU staining was performed as previously described with minor
modifications (18) according to the instructions of the manufacturer
(5-Bromo-2'-Deoxy-Uridine Labeling and Detection Kit II, Boehringer
Mannheim). In brief, 16 h after transfection, the cells were
incubated with 10 µM BrdU for 45 min, medium was removed,
and cells were fixed in 70% ethanol for 30 min at -20 C. Mouse mAb
anti-BrdU (1:10) was applied, followed by antimouse Ig-alkaline
phosphatase (1:10).
Western blotting analysis
Western blotting was performed as described previously (14) with
minor modifications. In brief, AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells were harvested
in Tris-EDTA with 0.001% protease inhibitor cocktail (Sigma Chemical Co.) and 1 mM dithiothreitol and
disaggregated by passing through a 21-gauge needle. Total cellular
extracts (30 µg) were resolved on 8% SDS-PAGE gels and transferred
to nitrocellulose membrane. The blot was blocked in Tris-buffered
saline with 4% BSA and 0.05% Tween-20 for 1 h and incubated with
purified rabbit polyclonal against Zac1 (1:5000) (14) or rabbit
polyclonal against actin (1:200; Sigma Chemical Co.) for
quantification overnight at 4 C, followed by the second antibody
conjugated to horseradish peroxidase. Detection was performed using the
BM Chemiluminescence Western blotting kit (Boehringer Mannheim).
Statistics
Statistics for growth studies of AtT-20 and TtT/GF were
performed by ANOVA in combination with Scheffes test. Data are shown
as the mean ± SD. Each experimental condition was
performed in six replicates.
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Results
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Regional and cellular Zac1 mRNA expression in the pituitary
gland
To evaluate Zac1 gene expression in the different lobes of the
mouse pituitary gland, transverse sections were first hybridized with
the ZF ODN probe.
At the regional level, very strong hybridization signals for Zac1 mRNA
were found in the anterior pituitary lobe, strong signals were found in
the intermediate lobe, and weak signals were seen in the posterior
lobe, as shown in Fig. 1a
. Identical
results were obtained with ODN probes complementary to other parts of
the coding region of Zac1 (L, PR, C1, and C2), indicating that a single
class of transcripts corresponding to the mouse Zac1 gene were detected
(data not shown). Furthermore, the strong signals observed in the
anterior lobe were completely suppressed by competition with a 100-fold
excess of the corresponding unlabeled ODN (Fig. 1b
), emphasizing the
specificity of the signal.

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Figure 1. af, Zac1 mRNA expression in mouse pituitary
lobes at a regional (a and b) and cellular level (c-f). a and b,
Autoradiographs. Betamax Hyperfilms. cf, Histoautoradiographs. a,
Hybridization signals for Zac1 mRNA are abundant in the anterior
pituitary lobe (al), distinct in the intermediate lobe (il), and weak
in the posterior lobe (pl). b, Only nonspecific background remains in
the adjacent section in the presence of a 100-fold excess of unlabeled
probe. c, Nearly all cells of the anterior lobe contain Zac1
transcripts (silver grains), but the number of silver grains per cells
varies, indicating different cellular mRNA levels. d, The hybridization
signals are suppressed in the corresponding negative control. e, In an
area of the intermediate lobe juxtaposed to the posterior lobe, the
majority of cells express Zac1 mRNA. mRNA levels range from high
(indicated by double arrows) to low (indicated by
single arrows). f, Only weak signals are present in a
few pituicytes of pl (examples are indicated by arrows).
a and b, x23. cf, x520.
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At the cellular level, only a few cells without hybridization signals
for Zac1 mRNA (silver grains in histoautoradiographs) were found in the
anterior lobe (Fig. 1c
). The number of silver grains per cell varied,
indicating that the cells differed in their content of Zac1 mRNA (Fig. 1c
). This heterogeneity in Zac1 gene expression was consistently
observed in different tissue preparations and thus was unrelated to
variations in the preparation process. This finding was not confined to
the anterior lobe, but was also encountered in the intermediate lobe,
where the majority of cells contained Zac1 transcripts (Fig. 1e
).
In the posterior lobe only scattered pituicytes expressed Zac1 mRNA at
low levels (Fig. 1f
).
Colocalization of Zac1 mRNA and immunohistochemical markers for the
anterior pituitary cells
To identify pituitary cell populations expressing Zac1 mRNA, we
combined ISH for Zac1 with IHC for anterior pituitary hormones and
S-100.
All anterior pituitary cell types were found to contain Zac1
transcripts but at varying levels. Hybridization signals were most
intense in GH-producing (Fig. 2a
) and
PRL-producing (Fig. 2b
) cells; lower in LH-positive (Fig. 2c
),
TSH-positive (Fig. 2d
), and ACTH-positive (Fig. 2f
) cells; and lowest
in FSH-producing cells (Fig. 2e
). After GH- and PRL-secreting cells, FS
cells showed the highest hybridization signals for Zac1 transcripts
(Fig. 2g
). The values of the quantified Zac1 mRNA levels in each
pituitary cell type are shown in Fig. 3
and are representative of one experiment. Similar results were obtained
in two other independent experiments.

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Figure 2. ag, Zac1 mRNA expression in GH-producing (a),
PRL-producing (b), LH-producing (c), TSH-producing (d), FSH-producing
(e), ACTH-producing (f), and S-100-positive (g) cells of the mouse
anterior pituitary lobe. Histoautoradiographs. ag, Different
intensities of hybridization signals for Zac1 mRNA (silver
grains) are observed in different immunohistochemically identified
(dark brown) types of anterior pituitary lobe cells. The
highest mRNA levels are detected in GH-producing (a) and PRL-producing
(b) cells. In LH-positive (c), TSH-positive (d), and ACTH-positive (f)
cells, mRNA levels are lower. Only weak hybridization signals are
observed in FSH-producing cells (e). Also folliculo-stellate cells
expressing S-100 show Zac1 transcripts (g). Magnification, x640.
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Figure 3. Quantification of hybridization signals for Zac1
mRNA in immunohistochemically identified pituitary cells. Background
free values are given as ratio 1 - ratio 2, calculated as
described in Materials and Methods. GH- and
PRL-producing cells exhibited the major amount of hybridization signals
for Zac1 mRNA.
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AS transfection and effect on proliferation in pituitary cell
lines
We previously demonstrated that ectopic expression of Zac1 induces
G1 cell cycle arrest in both LLC-PK1 and SaOs-2 cells. To substantiate
this finding in an endogenous model we determined the effects of
reducing Zac1 expression by AS treatment. We paid particular attention
to the design of the AS ODN and the corresponding controls (Table 1
).
Briefly, three AS ODNs (AS1 to AS3) were used to investigate whether
the biological effect is reproducible with more than one AS ODN.
Accordingly, the effects of three different AS ODNs on the
proliferation of pituitary cells in midlog phase were compared with the
effects of three MUT ODN sequences (Table 1
). As the outcome of a
transient knockout experiment will depend on the numbers of cells that
take up the AS ODN, we first tested the efficiency of our transfection
method. For this reason we used rhodamine-labeled ODNs and examined
their distribution in cultures exposed either to ODN alone or to
ODN/PEI complexes. With the latter condition in AtT-20 and TtT/GF
cells, we observed by fluorescence microscopy detectable signals in the
majority of the cells (Fig. 4
), in
contrast to a complete absence of signal in cultures exposed solely to
rhodamine-coupled ODNs (data not shown). Counting at least 10 fields in
each of 3 different experiments, the highest transfection efficiency
(70%) was achieved for both cellular lineages when 1 µM
ODN was applied. Next, we tested the effects of all 3 AS on
[3H]thymidine incorporation in AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells.
We found that AS1 at a concentration of 1 µM ODN
increased [3H]thymidine incorporation by 36% in AtT-20
and by 50% in TtT/GF (Fig. 5
, A and C),
whereas AS2 caused increases of 20% and 28%, respectively (Fig. 5
, B
and D), compared with the MUT ODNs and the control. An increase in
thymidine uptake was also observed with 1 µM AS3 in both
AtT-20 and TtT/GF, but was not significant (data not shown). We then
performed a dose-response study using AS1 ODN concentrations between
0.31 µM with AtT-20 and between 0.31.5
µM with TtT/GF. AS1 ODN maximally stimulated
proliferation at 1.0 µM in AtT-20 and at 1.5
µM in TtT/GF cells. However, even at lower
concentrations, a significant effect was detectable. No significant
effect on proliferation was observed for MUT1 ODN at any of the
concentrations used (Fig. 6
). BrdU
immunohistochemical staining of AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells confirmed that
the number of the nuclei incorporating BrdU was increased after
treatment with AS1 (1.0 µM) compared with MUT1 (1.0
µM) or PEI alone (Fig. 7
).
Light microscopic inspection of the cells treated with the
above-mentioned AS ODN concentrations, either immediately after
transfection or 16 h before thymidine application, gave no
evidence of changes in cell morphology or reduced viability. Only at
ODN concentrations higher than 1.0 µM for AtT-20 and 1.5
µM for TtT/GF was a toxic effect noticed, and this could
be attributed to the transfectant vector PEI, as a similar decrease in
viability was seen with the equivalent PEI in controls. To examine
whether the increased DNA synthesis under AS ODNs was actually
accompanied by decreases in the levels of Zac1 protein in AtT-20 and
TtT/GF, cells were treated for 2 h with ODN/PEI, and cell extracts
were harvested for immunoblot analysis after 16 h. As shown in
Fig. 8
, a clear reduction of the signal
for Zac1 protein was obtained after AS1 ODN treatment compared to that
after MUT1 ODN treatment. Densitometric measurements revealed a 62%
decrease for TtT/GF and 27% for AtT-20, indicating that the observed
decline in Zac1 protein levels correlates with the increase in DNA
synthesis under the same condition. The incomplete suppression of the
signal after AS ODN treatment was in accordance with our observation
that the majority, but not all, of the cells were transfected.

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Figure 4. ad, Intracellular distribution of
rhodamine-labeled ODNs in AtT-20 (a and b) and TtT/GF cells (c and d).
a and c, Phase contrast microscopy. b and d, Rhodamine fluorescence
microscopy. AtT-20 and TtT/GF were seeded in double slide flasks at a
concentration of 20,000 cells/well. Rhodamine-ODN/PEI complexes were
applied at a concentration of 1 µM for 2 h.
Rhodamine-labeled ODNs were incorporated into many of the AtT-20
and TtT/GF cells. Corresponding transfected cells are marked by
single headed arrows; nontransfected cells are indicated
by double headed arrows pointing in the same direction.
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Figure 5. AD, Effects of ODNs (AS1 and AS2) directed
against Zac1 on DNA synthesis in AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells. AtT-20 (A and
B) and TtT/GF (C and D) were cultured in complete DMEM with 10% or 2%
FCS, respectively, for 3 days in 48-well plates at a concentration of
20,000 cells/0.5 ml, then washed and cultured for 2 h in DMEM
supplemented with AS1 (A and C) and AS2 ODNs (B and D; 1
µM, complexed with PEI for AS and MUT, with PEI alone for
control). After replacing with fresh medium containing FCS for 16
h, they were treated with [3H]thymidine for the remaining
3 h. [3H]Thymidine incorporation was determined as
described in Materials and Methods. Means ±
SD are given (n = 6). The experiments were repeated
three times for each AS ODN. Representative results from one experiment
are shown. *, P < 0.01; **, P
< 0.001.
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Figure 7. af, AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells in culture
undergoing synthesis after AS1 ODN treatment immunohistochemically
identified by BrdU staining. Cells were treated as described in Fig. 5
and transfected with AS1 (a and b), MUT1 (c and d), and control (e and
f). 1 µM ODN complexed with PEI for AS1 and MUT1, only
PEI for control. The number of the nuclei incorporating BrdU is
increased in AS1-treated AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells in comparison to cells
treated with MUT1 or PEI alone (control).
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Figure 8. Inhibition of Zac1 protein expression in AtT-20
and TtT/GF cells by AS1 ODN. AtT-20 and TtT/GF cells were seeded in
10-cm2 petri dishes at a concentration of 500,000
cells/petri dish in DMEM with the ingredients indicated in
Materials and Methods. After 48 h, the cells were
treated with ODNs (AS1 and MUT1) complexed with PEI at a concentration
of 1 µM for 2 h; then the cells were washed with
fresh medium and harvested for Zac1 and actin protein extraction after
16 h. Protein extracts were processed as indicated in
Materials and Methods.
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In summary, Zac1 antisense treatment led to increased DNA synthesis in
the pituitary cell lines tested, which was specific in terms of the
absence of any stimulatory effect for the mutagenized antisense form
and showed a clear dose dependency, an absence of toxicity at the doses
used, and a concomitant decrease in the target protein.
 |
Discussion
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In this study we documented for the first time the intracellular
localization of Zac1 mRNA in the pituitary, and we gave new evidence
for the role of Zac1 in the control of pituitary cell proliferation.
Combining ISH with IHC, we observed that all hormone-producing cell
types of the anterior pituitary displayed Zac1 mRNA to varying degrees.
Signals were highest in GH- and PRL-; lower in LH-, TSH-, and ACTH-;
and weakest in FSH-producing cells. Notably was the expression of Zac1
mRNA in FS cells.
In the past, the mitotic activity in the adult anterior pituitary gland
has been thought to be low (22). This view has faced increasing
challenge and has been highlighted in the recent work by Levy and
colleagues (3), who concluded that, on the average, a pituitary cell
enters mitosis (or apoptosis) once every 6070 days, yielding a
significant cellular turnover (>1.5%/day). Age, sex, and circadian
differences (23, 24, 25) as well as exposure to hormones (26, 27, 28) have been
reported to regulate the number of mitotic cells in anterior pituitary.
Therefore, heterogeneous Zac1 mRNA levels in the anterior pituitary
gland could reflect differences in the mitotic activity of individual
subsets of cells.
In previous reports we have shown that Zac1 is able to induce the
expression of PR1 in a panel of cell lines of various origin (15).
Several peptidergic factors of hypothalamic origin are known to take
part in the control of hormonal production and pituitary gland growth.
Among these, PACAP acts as a hypophysiotropic factor, mainly through an
activation of PR1 (for review, see Refs. 29, 30). Several studies
demonstrated high expression of PR1 mRNA and protein in the anterior
and intermediate lobes, in contrast to a very low expression in the
posterior pituitary lobe (14, 31, 32). Moreover, using biotinylated
ligands it was demonstrated that PACAP binds to all types of
hormone-producing cells of the anterior pituitary gland, with the
highest percentage binding to GH- and PRL-producing cells and the
lowest to FSH-secreting cells (33). Our description of the regional and
quantitative cellular distribution of Zac1 mRNA in the pituitary gland
tightly correlates with the distribution of PR1 observed by others (14, 31, 32, 33). Thus, one may speculate that at the pituitary level Zac1 could
take part in the mechanisms of action commonly attributed to PACAP,
such as the ability to modify the paracrine milieu and to influence
cell growth and differentiation, through the activation of PR1.
Together with the corticotroph lineage AtT-20, in which Zac1 was
isolated, we found a constitutive expression of Zac1 protein in TtT/GF
cells. This pituitary FS-like cell line represents a unique model to
study the possible multifunctional roles of FS in regulating the
extracellular environment of the anterior pituitary and in releasing
paracrine factors that regulate the activity of other cell types
(34).
In our previous report we demonstrated that an ectopic expression of
Zac1 induces apoptosis and G1 arrest, resulting in a severe growth
inhibition (14). As these studies relied on an enforced expression in a
heterologous model, it remained of obvious interest to substantiate
these findings in a model of physiological relevance. Based on the G1
arrest function of Zac1, we reasoned that the regulatory role of Zac1
on the cell cycle will be unmasked by an ablation of the endogenous
gene, and we predicted an increased entry into the S phase under this
condition. To this aim we used AS ODNs as a tool to block the
expression of specific genes. The use of ODNs to modify gene expression
is limited by their low cellular uptake and their rapid degradation by
extracellular nucleases (35). Therefore, according to our previous
experience (21), ODNs were complexed with PEI to protect them and to
enhance their intracellular uptake (36). Moreover, ODNs were rendered
resistant to nucleases by introducing phosphorothioate linkages. A
number of recent reviews have suggested guidelines in interpreting
antisense studies (37). A critical step using AS relates to the
evaluation of specific gene inhibition (38). For this reason, we used
mutagenized ODNs with four mismatches maintaining the same base
composition as the antisense molecule. This approach represents a more
stringent control than sense ODN complementary to the antisense
sequence or ODN composed of a random mixture of all four nucleotides
(39). In our experiments, AS1 ODN directed against Zac1 significantly
stimulated DNA synthesis up to 36% and 50% in AtT20 and TtT/GF cells,
respectively. Recent work indicates that ODNs may block proliferation
through nonantisense mechanisms, which arise from cytotoxic ODN
breakdown products. If such mechanisms are influencing our
measurements, the anticipated effect would be opposite of those
actually obtained, and the increases in DNA synthesis seen would
therefore represent an underestimate. Furthermore, exposure to the
transfection vector can be toxic, as observed in this study at high
concentrations. Again, such a variable would lead to an underestimate
of the actual effect and reinforces the view that our results represent
a conservative estimate.
Together, these considerations strongly support a genuine mode of
action of AS in our experiments, as made evident by the final net
increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation, and the
reproducibility of our results using two AS ODNs. Moreover, we could
prove that AS treatment caused a decline in Zac1 protein levels giving
further credit to a causal relation among an ablation of Zac1 mRNA,
decreases in Zac1 protein, and concomitant increases in
[3H]thymidine incorporation. Taking into account a
transfection efficiency of 70%, the percentage of DNA synthesis
increase after AS treatment was high notwithstanding the heterogeneity
in the quantitative ODN uptake. In this view, the ODN rhodamine
incorporation experiment also offered an explanation for the incomplete
suppression of the signal for Zac1 protein as documented by immunoblot
analysis.
In contrast, mouse primary pituitary cells seemed essentially
refractory to transfection with ODN/PEI complexes, reaching an
efficiency of transfection of not more than 5% of the cells
transfected (data not shown). Thus, further studies are required to
substantiate the role of Zac1 in vivo, and in this view, Zac
null mutant mice will be valuable tools to follow up the present
findings.
In conclusion, we provide new evidence for a role of Zac1 in pituitary
proliferation, using AS treatment of pituitary cell lines. Moreover,
the present analysis of Zac1 expression in each anterior pituitary
gland cell population is paving the way to further studies aimed at
investigation of Zac1 activity in human tumor samples. The elucidation
of the interaction between epigenetic and genetic lesions in pituitary
cell transformation and adenoma formation will provide important clues
for the evaluation of tumor stage and advancement and for improvements
in the therapeutical management.
 |
Acknowledgments
|
|---|
We thank Rosa Buric, Yvonne Grübler, Anke Hoffmann, Ursula
Hopfner, and Johanna Stalla for their excellent technical help; Dr.
Penelope Largen for carefully revising the manuscript for English
usage; Dr. Salvatore Raiti of the National Hormone and Pituitary
Program, NIDDK (Bethesda, MD), for the gifts of FSHß, LH, TSHß,
ACTH, and GH antisera; Dr. F. Talamantes, University of California
(Santa Cruz, CA), for the gift of PRL antiserum; and Dr. G. L.
Ferri, University of Cagliari (Cagliari, Italy) for the gift of
biotinylated goat antimonkey IgGs.
 |
Footnotes
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|---|
1 This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Sp
386/31). 
2 Joint first authors. 
Received August 27, 1998.
 |
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