BACKGROUND Inhibition of vascular smooth muscle cell (vSMC) proliferation by oral anti-hyperglycemic agents may have a role to play in the amelioration of vascular disease in diabetes. Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) inhibit vSMC proliferation but it has been reported that they anomalously stimulate [3H]-thymidine incorporation. We investigated three TZDs, two biguanides and two sulfonylureas for the...

The effect of sympathetic denervation on the uptake of 3H-thymidine (3H-Tdr) into the ear artery of a growing rabbit was studied in vitro and in vivo. Uptake into the right artery was compared with that into the left 2 and 3 weeks after left superior cervical ganglionectomy in 4-week-old rabbits. Denervation was confirmed by the absence of catecholamine fluorescence. The total uptake of 3H--Tdr...

Differentiating drugs may be able to re-sensitize thyroid carcinomas to radioiodine therapy. Substituted thiazolidinediones (TZDs) belong to the group of oral anti-diabetic drugs that also possess anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects and, potentially, differentiating effects on several cancer cell lines. Some of the effects are mediated via the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor...

Upstream stimulatory factor (USF) has a negative effect on the cell proliferation in some cell types. However, its effect on thyrocytes is not clear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of USF on the proliferation and function of thyroid follicular cells. Complementary DNAs of the USF-1 and USF-2 were synthesized using RT-PCR from FRTL-5 cells, and each was transfected to FRTL-5 cells and pa...

With the aim to develop beneficial tracers for cerebral tumors, we tested two novel 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IUdR) derivatives, diesterified at the deoxyribose residue. The substances were designed to enhance the uptake into brain tumor tissue and to prolong the availability in the organism. We synthesized carrier added 5-[125I]iodo-3',5'-di-O-acetyl-2'-deoxyuridine (Ac2[125I]IUdR), 5-[125I]iodo...

Some aspects of the action of Daunomycin on nucleic acid synthesis was investigated in HeLa cells. Increasing concentration of the drug caused a proportionally higher inhibition of the incorporation of nucleic acid precursors. The relative inhibition of uridine-aH and thymidine-aH incorporation appeared to be dependent on the concentration of the drug in the medium and on the time of contact wi...

Feverfew has been used since antiquity to treat inflammatory conditions. Extracts of the herb were found to inhibit mitogen-induced tritiated thymidine ([3H]-TdR) uptake by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), interleukin 2 (IL-2)-induced [3H]-TdR uptake by lymphoblasts and PGE2 release by interleukin 1 (IL-1)-stimulated synovial cells. Parthenolide, a major secondary metabolite fro...

Sparse and dense cultures of chick embryo cells were affected differently by pH. The rates of cell multiplication and of thymidine-(3)H incorporation into DNA of dense cultures were increased as the pH was increased from 6.6 to 7.6. At pH higher than 7.6 the rate of multiplication decreased slightly in the dense cultures, but the rate of thymidine-(3)H incorporation continued to increase. The d...

A rapid assay for in vitro chemosensitivity testing measuring [3H]thymidine incorporation has been developed. Results of this assay correlate highly with chemosensitivities determined by the soft-agar clonogenic assay. A correlative study was carried out on 219 solid tumor specimens to assess the ability of the rapid assay to predict clinical response to antineoplastic therapy. One hundred fort...