ascorbic-acid and rottlerin

Glutathione (GSH) depletion is widely used to sensitize cells to anticancer treatment inducing the progression of programmed cell death and overcoming chemoresistance. It has been reported that neuroblastoma cells with MYCN amplification are unable to start TRAIL-dependent death and MYCN, in concert with cytotoxic drugs, efficiently induces the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis through oxidative mechanisms. In this study, we show that GSH loss induced by L-buthionine-S,R-sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of GSH biosynthesis, leads to overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and triggers apoptosis of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cells. BSO susceptibility of SK-N-BE-2C, a representative example of MYCN-amplified cells, has been attributed to stimulation of total SOD activity in the absence of changes in the level and the activity of catalase. Therefore, the unbalanced intracellular redox milieu has been demonstrated to be critical for the progression of neuroblastoma cell death that was efficiently prevented by antioxidants and rottlerin. These results describe a novel pathway of apoptosis dependent on ROS formation and PKC-delta activation and independent of p53, bcl-2, and bax levels; the selective redox modulation of PKC-delta might be suggested as a potential strategy for sensitizing MYCN-amplified cells to therapeutic approaches.

Topics: Acetophenones; Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; Ascorbic Acid; Benzopyrans; Biphenyl Compounds; Buthionine Sulfoximine; Calpain; Caspases; Catalase; Cell Line, Tumor; DNA Damage; Glutathione; Humans; N-Myc Proto-Oncogene Protein; Neuroblastoma; Nuclear Proteins; Oncogene Proteins; Onium Compounds; Protein Kinase C; Reactive Oxygen Species; Superoxide Dismutase; Superoxide Dismutase-1

Protein kinases C (PKCs) are a family of isoenzymes sensitive to oxidative modifications and involved in the transduction signal pathways that regulate cell growth. As such, they can act as cellular sensors able to intercept intracellular redox changes and promote the primary adaptive cell response. In this study, we have demonstrated that PKC isoforms are specifically influenced by the amount of intracellular glutathione (GSH). The greatest GSH depletion is associated with a maximal reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and accompanied by an increase in the activity of the delta isoform and a concomitant inactivation of alpha. ROS generation induced early morphological changes in GSH-depleted neuroblastoma cells characterized, at the intracellular level, by the modulation of PKC-delta activity that was involved in the pathway leading to apoptosis. When cells were pretreated with rottlerin, their survival was improved by the ability of this compound to inhibit the activity of PKC-delta and to counteract ROS production. These results define a novel role of PKC-delta in the cell signaling pathway triggered by GSH loss normally associated with many neurodegenerative diseases and clinically employed in the treatment of neuroblastoma.

Topics: Acetophenones; Antioxidants; Apoptosis; Ascorbic Acid; Benzopyrans; Buthionine Sulfoximine; Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; Enzyme Inhibitors; Glutathione; Humans; Malondialdehyde; Neuroblastoma; Oxidation-Reduction; Phosphorylation; Protein Kinase C; Protein Kinase C-delta; Protein Transport; Reactive Oxygen Species; Signal Transduction; Tumor Cells, Cultured