naphthoquinones and 2-tert-butylhydroquinone

Topics: Aldehydes; Anthraquinones; Benzoquinones; Hot Temperature; Hydroquinones; Naphthoquinones; Oxidation-Reduction; Tea

Glutamate cysteine ligase (GCL), composed of a catalytic (GCLC) and modulatory (GCLM) subunit, catalyzes the first step of glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis. Using 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4HNE), 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ), and tertiary-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) as models of oxidative stress which are known to work through different mechanisms, we measured changes in cellular GSH, GCL mRNA, and GCL protein. 4HNE and tBHQ treatments increased cellular GSH levels, while DMNQ exposure depleted GSH. Furthermore, changes in the two GCL mRNAs largely paralleled changes in the GCL proteins; however, the magnitudes differed, suggesting some form of translational control. The molar ratio of GCLC:GCLM ranged from 3:1 to 17:1 in control human bronchial epithelial (HBE1) cells and all treatments further increased this ratio. Data from several mouse tissues show molar ratios of GCLC:GCLM that range from 1:1 to 10:1 in support of these findings. These data demonstrate that alterations in cellular GSH are clearly correlated with GCLC to a greater extent than GCLM. Surprisingly, both control HBE1 cells and some mouse tissues have more GCLC than GCLM and GCLM increases to a much lesser extent than GCLC, suggesting that the regulatory role of GCLM is minimal under physiologically relevant conditions of oxidative stress.

Topics: Aldehydes; Antioxidants; Bronchi; Epithelium; Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase; Glutathione; Humans; Hydroquinones; Naphthoquinones; Oxidative Stress

gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) plays an important role in glutathione (GSH) metabolism. GGT expression is increased in oxidant-challenged cells; however, the signaling mechanisms involved are uncertain. The present study used 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ), a redox cycling quinone that continuously produced H2O2 in rat lung epithelial L2 cells. It was found that DMNQ increased GGT mRNA content by increasing transcription, as measured by nuclear run-on. This was accompanied by increased GGT specific activity. Cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor, blocked neither the increased GGT mRNA content nor the increased GGT transcription rate caused by DMNQ, suggesting that increased GGT transcription was a direct rather than secondary response. Previous data from this laboratory (R.-M. Liu, H. Hu, T. W. Robinson, and H. J. Forman. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 14: 186-191, 1996) showed that tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) increased GGT mRNA content by increasing its stability. TBHQ differs markedly from DMNQ in terms of its conjugation with GSH and H2O2 generation. Together, the data suggest that quinones upregulate GGT through multiple mechanisms, increased transcription and posttranscriptional modulation, which are apparently mediated through generation of reactive oxygen species and GSH conjugated formation, respectively.

Topics: Animals; Antioxidants; Cells, Cultured; Epithelial Cells; gamma-Glutamyltransferase; Hydrogen Peroxide; Hydroquinones; Lung; Naphthoquinones; Oxidation-Reduction; Rats; Reactive Oxygen Species; Superoxides