hexacyanoferrate-iii and peroxynitric-acid

A well-established protocol to increase the intracellular content of ascorbic acid was used to investigate the effects of the vitamin on DNA single-strand breakage and toxicity mediated by authentic peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) in U937 cells. This protocol involved exposure for 60 min to 100 microM dehydroascorbic acid, which was taken up by the cells and converted into ascorbic acid via a GSH-independent mechanism. At the time of exposure to ONOO(-), which was performed in fresh saline immediately after loading with dehydroascorbic acid, the vitamin present in the cells was all in its reduced form. It was found that, in cells that are otherwise ascorbate-deficient, an increase in their ascorbic acid content does not prevent, but rather enhances, the DNA-damaging and lethal responses mediated by exogenous ONOO(-). These results therefore suggest that acute supplementation of ascorbic acid can be detrimental for individuals with pathologies associated with a decrease in ascorbic acid and in which ONOO(-) is known to promote deleterious effects.

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Dehydroascorbic Acid; DNA Damage; Ferricyanides; Free Radical Scavengers; Humans; Iron Chelating Agents; Nitrates; Oxidation-Reduction; U937 Cells

Quantitative kinetic models have been developed for the reaction between peroxynitrite and membrane lipids in vesicles and for transmembrane oxidation of reactants located within their inner aqueous cores. The models were used to analyze TBARS formation and oxidation of entrapped Fe(CN)(6)(4)(-) ion in egg lecithin liposomes and several artificial vesicles. The analyses indicate that permeation of the bilayers by ONOOH and NO(2)(*), a radical formed by homolysis of the ONOOH bond, is unusually rapid but that permeation by ONOO(-) and CO(3)(*)(-), a radical formed when CO(2) is present, is negligible. Bicarbonate protects the vesicles against both membrane and Fe(CN)(6)(4)(-) oxidation by rapid competitive CO(2)-catalyzed isomerization of ONOOH to NO(3)(-); this effect is partially reversed by addition of nitrite ion, which reacts with CO(3)(*)(-) to generate additional NO(2)(*). Under medium conditions mimicking the physiological milieu, a significant fraction of the oxidants escape to inflict damage upon the vesicular assemblies. Rate constants for several elementary reaction steps, including transmembrane diffusion rates for ONOOH and NO(2)(*), were estimated from the bicarbonate dependence of the oxidative reactions.

Topics: Diffusion; Ferricyanides; Kinetics; Lipid Peroxidation; Liposomes; Malondialdehyde; Mathematical Computing; Models, Chemical; Nitrates; Oxidants; Oxidation-Reduction; Permeability; Phosphatidylcholines; Phospholipids; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances