ascorbic-acid and benzyloxycarbonylleucyl-leucyl-leucine-aldehyde

A vast number of studies on plant cell systems clearly indicate that various biotic and abiotic stresses give rise to the uncontrolled increase in the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Excess concentrations of ROS result in damage to proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and DNA, which may lead, in consequence, to the apoptotic cell death. The current study investigates the effects of sanguinarine (SAN), a natural alkaloid derived from the roots of Sanguinaria canadensis, on root apical meristem cells of Allium cepa. It is shown that SAN treatment generated large amounts of hydrogen peroxide (H

Topics: Apoptosis; Ascorbic Acid; Benzophenanthridines; Cell Nucleus; DNA Fragmentation; DNA, Plant; Green Fluorescent Proteins; Hydrogen Peroxide; In Situ Nick-End Labeling; Isoquinolines; Leupeptins; Meristem; Mitochondria; Mitotic Index; Onions; Oxidative Stress; Staining and Labeling; Superoxides

Oxidative stress is thought to be one of the most important mechanisms implicated in the muscle wasting of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, but its role has never been demonstrated. We therefore assessed the effects of both pro-oxidant and antioxidant treatments on the oxidative stress levels and atrophic signaling pathway of cultured COPD myotubes. Treatment of cultured COPD myotubes with the pro-oxidant molecule H2O2 resulted in increased ROS production (P = 0.002) and protein carbonylation (P = 0.050), in association with a more pronounced atrophy of the myotubes, as reflected by a reduced diameter (P = 0.003), and the activated expression of atrophic markers MuRF1 and FoxO1 (P = 0.022 and P = 0.030, respectively). Conversely, the antioxidant molecule ascorbic acid induced a reduction in ROS production (P<0.001) and protein carbonylation (P = 0.019), and an increase in the myotube diameter (P<0.001) to a level similar to the diameter of healthy subject myotubes, in association with decreased expression levels of MuRF1, atrogin-1 and FoxO1 (P<0.001, P = 0.002 and P = 0.042, respectively). A significant negative correlation was observed between the variations in myotube diameter and the variations in the expression of MuRF1 after antioxidant treatment (P = 0.047). Moreover, ascorbic acid was able to prevent the H2O2-induced atrophy of COPD myotubes. Last, the proteasome inhibitor MG132 restored the basal atrophy level of the COPD myotubes and also suppressed the H2O2-induced myotube atrophy. These findings demonstrate for the first time the involvement of oxidative stress in the atrophy of COPD peripheral muscle cells in vitro, via the FoxO1/MuRF1/atrogin-1 signaling pathway of the ubiquitin/proteasome system.

Topics: Aged; Antioxidants; Ascorbic Acid; Female; Forkhead Box Protein O1; Humans; Hydrogen Peroxide; Leupeptins; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle Proteins; Muscular Atrophy; Oxidative Stress; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Signal Transduction; SKP Cullin F-Box Protein Ligases; Tripartite Motif Proteins; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases

Heat shock transcription factor A2 (HsfA2) is induced under environmental stress and regulates transcription of various defense-related genes. Thus HsfA2 plays an important role in induction of defenses against different types of environmental stress, but its mode of regulation remains unknown. To clarify the signal transduction pathway involved in the regulation of HsfA2 expression, we investigated the effect of MG132, a 26S proteasome inhibitor, or geldanamycin (GDA), a heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor, on the transcription of HsfA2 and its targets, Hsp18.1-CI and ascorbate peroxidase 2 (Apx2), in Arabidopsis T87 cells. The levels of transcripts were significantly increased by treatment with MG132 or GDA. Overexpression of a dexamethazone-inducible dominant-negative form of Hsp90.2 in Arabidopsis plants caused significant expression of HsfA2 and its target gene on treatment with the compound. Treatment with MG132 or GDA had no effect on intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Interestingly, the levels of polyubiquitinated proteins as well as the levels of HsfA2 transcript were rapidly increased under oxidative stress derived from treatment with H2O2 or methylviologen, while they were completely suppressed by pre-treatment with ascorbate, a scavenger of ROS, under oxidative stress. The present findings suggest that the inhibition of 26S proteasome function and/or Hsp90 activity is involved in the induction of HsfA2 expression in response to oxidative stress.

Topics: Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis Proteins; Ascorbic Acid; Benzoquinones; Cells, Cultured; Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; DNA-Binding Proteins; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Heat Shock Transcription Factors; Heat-Shock Proteins; HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins; Hydrogen Peroxide; Lactams, Macrocyclic; Leupeptins; Oxidative Stress; Paraquat; Plant Proteins; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; Reactive Oxygen Species; Signal Transduction; Transcription Factors; Ubiquitinated Proteins

Loss of p53 renders cells more susceptible to acute oxidant stress induced by oxidant-generating agents such as motexafin gadolinium (MGd). We hypothesized that reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating MGd results in low-level p53 expression, making cells more susceptible to oxidant stress.. Lymphoma cells were incubated with different concentrations of MGd with or without zinc (Zn) and ascorbate, and ROS, apoptosis, proteins, and oxidant genes were measured.. MGd, with ascorbate and Zn, induced apoptosis in lymphoma cells. This was accompanied by reduction of p53 protein but not message, and by reduction of p53 downstream targets p21, glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1), and p53 up-regulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA). p53 protein reduction was reversed by MG132, and nutlin-3.. Our data are consistent with a pathway of cell death that is independent of p53-mediated induction of PUMA; the cellular response to reduce p53 represents a cell survival adjustment to ROS-mediated stress.

Topics: Apoptosis; Ascorbic Acid; Burkitt Lymphoma; Cell Line, Tumor; Gene Expression; Humans; Imidazoles; Leupeptins; Lymphoma, Follicular; Metalloporphyrins; Piperazines; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2; Reactive Oxygen Species; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; Zinc

We have recently demonstrated that proteasome inhibitors can be effective in inducing apoptotic cell death in endometrial carcinoma cell lines and primary culture explants. Increasing evidence suggests that reactive oxygen species are responsible for proteasome inhibitor-induced cell killing. Antioxidants can thus block apoptosis (cell death) triggered by proteasome inhibition. Here, we have evaluated the effects of different antioxidants (edaravone and tiron) on endometrial carcinoma cells treated with aldehyde proteasome inhibitors (MG-132 or ALLN), the boronic acid-based proteasome inhibitor (bortezomib) and the epoxyketone, epoxomicin. We show that tiron specifically inhibited the cytotoxic effects of bortezomib, whereas edaravone inhibited cell death caused by aldehyde-based proteasome inhibitors. We have, however, found that edaravone completely inhibited accumulation of ubiquitin and proteasome activity decrease caused by MG-132 or ALLN, but not by bortezomib. Conversely, tiron inhibited the ubiquitin accumulation and proteasome activity decrease caused by bortezomib. These results suggest that edaravone and tiron rescue cells of proteasome inhibitors from cell death, by inhibiting blockade of proteasome caused by MG-132 and ALLN or bortezomib, respectively. We also tested other antioxidants, and we found that vitamin C inhibited bortezomib-induced cell death. Similar to tiron, vitamin C inhibited cell death by blocking the ability of bortezomib to inhibit the proteasome. Until now, all the antioxidants that blocked proteasome inhibitor-induced cell death also blocked the proteasome inhibitor mechanism of action.

Topics: Antioxidants; Antipyrine; Apoptosis; Ascorbic Acid; Blotting, Western; Boronic Acids; Bortezomib; Butylated Hydroxyanisole; Caspase 3; Caspase 9; Caspase Inhibitors; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival; Coumarins; Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Edaravone; Endometrial Neoplasms; Ergothioneine; Female; Humans; Leupeptins; Oligopeptides; Proteasome Inhibitors; Pyrazines; Ubiquitin; Vitamin E; Vitamins

Although ascorbate (Vitamin C) has been shown to inhibit cell growth and induce cell death in variety of cancer cells, results reported in other studies are inconsistent with this conclusion. It was previously reported that ascorbate induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanism for this is not clear. In this study, we demonstrate that ascorbate induces cell death through the apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) in the human breast cancer cell lines, SK-BR3 and Hs578T, but not in a normal breast cell line, Hs578. Ascorbate treatment caused the nuclear translocation of AIF, which is retained in the mitochondria in healthy cells, but caspase cleavage is not induced. Moreover, MG132, an inhibitor of AIF release from mitochondria, blocked the induction of cell death. Furthermore, cells that had been treated with human AIF-specific siRNA resisted cell death induced by ascorbate, implying that the translocation of AIF from mitochondria to the nucleus is responsible for ascorbate-mediated cell death. Therefore, these results suggest that ascorbate activates a caspase-independent and AIF-mediated cell death pathway in human breast cancer cells, SK-BR3, and Hs578T.

Topics: Antineoplastic Agents; Antioxidants; Apoptosis; Apoptosis Inducing Factor; Ascorbic Acid; Breast Neoplasms; Caspase Inhibitors; Caspases; Cell Nucleus; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Humans; Immunoblotting; Leupeptins; Mitochondria; Protein Transport; RNA, Small Interfering; Tumor Cells, Cultured

There is substantial evidence that cytokines induce apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in atherosclerosis. Its regulation, however, is not completely defined. The aim of this study is to investigate whether proteasome activity is related with apoptosis in VSMCs by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Rat aorta smooth muscle cells were treated with TNF-alpha and proteasome inhibitor MG132 and then cell death was determined by morphology, viability, and DNA fragmentation. MG132 or TNF-alpha alone did not induce cell death. In contrast, co-treatment of TNF-alpha and proteasome inhibitor induced death and DNA degradation in VSMCs, suggesting proteasome inhibitor enhanced death activity of TNF-alpha. The death was not blocked by ascorbic acid but by nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine. Both caspase-3 and -8 were activated during the death by the proteasome inhibitor and TNF-alpha. The death was effectively blocked by the caspase-3 inhibitor z-DEVD-fmk, suggesting a role of caspase-3 in the death. Nonetheless, there were no significant alterations in the level of Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L), Bax and Bak by the proteasome inhibitor, nor any evidence of cytochrome (cyt) c release into cytosol from dying cells, suggesting that cyt c is not involved. These results suggest that proteasome inhibition potentiates TNF-mediated death in VSMCs in a cyt c-independent pathway. The present study proposes a new mechanism by which VSMCs undergo death by cytokines.

Topics: Animals; Antioxidants; Ascorbic Acid; bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein; bcl-2-Associated X Protein; bcl-X Protein; Caspase 3; Caspase Inhibitors; Caspases; Cell Death; Cells, Cultured; Cysteine Endopeptidases; Cytochrome c Group; Drug Synergism; Enzyme Inhibitors; Leupeptins; Membrane Proteins; Multienzyme Complexes; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; Rats; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha