vitamin-k-semiquinone-radical and copper-bis(3-5-diisopropylsalicylate)

Constitutive production of hydroxyl radicals from four established cancer cell lines was detected as spin adducts of 5,5-dimethyl-l-pyroline-N-oxide (DMPO), using an electron spin resonance spectrometer. The generated hydroxyl radicals was decreased in three out of four cancer cell lines when incubated in vitro for 3 h with TNF-alpha No direct scavenging effect of TNF-alpha on hydroxyl radicals or superoxide anions was observed in the in vitro radical generation system. The modulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species of these cancer cells by adding menadione or CuDIPS to the culture medium changed the antiproliferative effect of TNF-alpha on the cells. The ultrastructural localization of the radical-generating sites in cancer cells was visualized using the diaminobenzidine/horseradish peroxide histochemical system at the electron microscopic level. The hydrogen peroxide-dependent formation of electron-dense materials localized at the mitochondrial membranes was decreased after the treatment of the cancer cells with TNF-alpha. These data indicate that the reduction of radical generation in cancer cells by TNF-alpha may be an early mechanism that contributes to the antiproliferative effect of this cytokine on some cancer cells.

Topics: Cell Division; Cyclic N-Oxides; Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; Free Radical Scavengers; Free Radicals; Humans; Hydroxyl Radical; Microscopy, Electron; Reactive Oxygen Species; Salicylates; Spin Labels; Superoxides; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Vitamin K

When Chinese hamster fibroblasts were exposed to hydrogen peroxide or to a system consisting of xanthine oxidase and hypoxanthine, which generates superoxide anion plus hydrogen peroxide, sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) were formed in a dose-dependent manner. When the iron-complexing agent o-phenanthroline was present in the medium, however, the production of these SCEs was completely inhibited. This fact indicates that the Fenton reaction: Fe2+ + H2O2----OH0 + OH- + Fe3+ is responsible for the production of SCEs. When O2- and H2O2 were generated inside the cell by incubation with menadione, the production of SCE was prevented by co-incubation with copper diisopropylsalicylate, a superoxide dismutase mimetic agent. The most likely role of O2- is as a reducing agent of Fe3+: O2- + Fe3+----Fe2+ + O2, so that the sum of this and the Fenton reaction, i.e., the iron-catalyzed Haber-Weiss reaction, provides an explanation for the active oxygen species-induced SCE: H2O2 + O2(-)----OH- + OH0 + O2. According to this view, the OH radical thus produced is the agent which ultimately causes SCE. These results are discussed in comparison with other mechanisms previously proposed for induction of SCE by active oxygen species.

Topics: Animals; Cell Cycle; Cell Line; Cricetinae; Drug Synergism; Free Radicals; Hydrogen Peroxide; Hydroxides; Iron; Phenanthrolines; Salicylates; Sister Chromatid Exchange; Superoxides; Vitamin K