Ann E. Brodie

High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of nanomole levels of glutathione, glutathione disulfide, and related thiols and disulfides.

A rapid and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method for determination of nanomole levels of glutathione, glutathione disulfide, cysteine glutathione-mixed disulfide and 20 related sulfur-containing amino acids or their derivatives has been described. The procedure is based upon the initial formation of S-carboxymethyl derivatives of free thiols with iodoacetic acid followed by conversion of free amino groups to 2,4-dinitrophenyl derivatives by reaction with 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. Chromatography of the reaction mixture without sample isolation is on a 3-aminopropylsilane derivatized silica column and elution with a sodium or ammonium acetate gradient in a water-methanol-acetic acid solvent at pH 4.5. Determination of nanomole levels of glutathione, glutathione disulfide, and cysteine glutathione-mixed disulfide in biological samples is described.

Reversible oxidation of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase thiols in human lung carcinoma cells by hydrogen peroxide.

Human lung carcinoma cells (A549) were oxidatively stressed with mildly-toxic or non-toxic amounts of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 0.1 mM to 120 mM) for 5 min. Hydrogen peroxide exposure resulted in a dose dependent inhibition of binding (pH 7) of the thiol reagent iodoacetic acid (IAA) to a 38 kDa cell protein. Incubation of cells in saline for 60 min following H2O2 removal restored the ability of IAA to bind to the protein. Treatment with 20 mM dithiothreitol or 2 M urea also restored IAA binding, but 10% Triton X102 or 1 mM Brij 58 had no effect. Increasing to pH 11 during the IAA binding also increased thiol availability. Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.12) has been identified as the protein undergoing thiol/disulfide redox status and enzymic activity changes.

Cellular recovery of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and thiol status after exposure to hydroperoxides

The activity of the thiol-dependent enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD), in vertebrate cells, was modulated by a change in the intracellular thiol:disulfide redox status. Human lung carcinoma cells (A549) were incubated with 1-120 mM H2O2, 1-120 mM t-butyl hydroperoxide, 1-6 mM ethacrynic acid, or 0.1-10 mM N-ethylmaleimide for 5 min. Loss of reduced protein thiols, as measured by binding of the thiol reagent iodoacetic acid to GPD, and loss of GPD enzymatic activity occurred in a dose-dependent manner. Incubation of the cells, following oxidative treatment, in saline for 30 min or with 20 mM dithiothreitol (DTT) partially reversed both changes in GPD. The enzymatic recovery of GPD activity was observed either without addition of thiols to the medium or by incubation of a sonicated cell mixture with 2 mM cysteine, cystine, cysteamine, or glutathione (GSH); GSSG had no effect. Treatment of cells with buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) to decrease cellular GSH by varying amounts caused a dose-related increase in sensitivity of GPD activity to inactivation by H2O2 and decreased cellular ability for subsequent recovery. GPD responded in a similar fashion with oxidative treatment of another lung carcinoma cell line (A427) as well as normal lung tissue from human and rat. These findings indicate that the cellular thiol redox status can be important in determining GPD enzymatic activity.

Buthionine sulfoximine inhibition of cystine uptake and glutathione biosynthesis in human lung carcinoma cells.

Intracellular glutathione (GSH) content of human lung carcinoma cells, A549, in log phase was 25 +/- 5 nmol/10(6) cells, which is considerably higher than that reported in other tumor cells. After partial depletion of GSH with diethyl maleate (DEM), addition of cystine to the medium allowed full resynthesis of GSH in 4 hr, cysteine in the same time period led to less resynthesis, and methionine provided minimal resynthesis. Using cystine as the sole sulfur source and with buthionine sulfoximine (BSO, 5 mM) included in the medium after cells were depleted with DEM, inhibition of both cystine uptake and resynthesis of GSH occurred. BSO inhibited [35S]cystine uptake (as early as 10 min) in a concentration-dependent process, ranging from a 28% decrease for 1 microM BSO to an 85% decrease for 100 microM BSO compared to the control cells after 240 min of incubation. In addition, GSH resynthesis from [35S]cystine for 240 min was inhibited in a parallel dose-dependent manner, in that 1 microM BSO caused a 27% decrease and 100 microM BSO provided a 75% decrease from control values. BSO did not inhibit the uptake of [35S]methionine, but inhibited the low amount of resynthesis of GSH when methionine was the sole sulfur source. BSO did not inhibit the uptake of arginine, phenylalanine, and leucine. DL-, L-, and methyl ester-BSO each inhibited [35S]cystine uptake and incorporation into GSH to a similar extent. The half-life of GSH was 3.5 +/- 0.4 hr in A549 cells that were grown in complete medium with GSH synthesis occurring.

Effects of dietary oils and methyl ethyl ketone peroxide on in vivo lipid peroxidation and antioxidants in rat heart and liver

Weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets for four weeks which differed in their content of n−6 (corn oil; CO) and n−3 fatty acids (fish oil; FO), but were similar in their content of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E. At the end of the four-week feeding period, each dietary group was subdivided into two groups. One group received a single placebo injection of α-tocopherol-stripped corn oil (TSCO); the other group received a single injection of the free radical generator, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP), in TSCO. Twenty-four hours after injection, the effect of dietary oil and MEKP treatment on endogenous lipid peroxide (LPO) production (measured as methylene blue formed by the “Determiner LPO” assay), glutathione (GSH) and vitamin E content, and fatty acid composition of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine in heart and liver from unfasted animals were measured. FO-fed rats had significantly heavier hearts and livers, increased levels of n−3 fatty acids in membrane phospholipids, and higher liver LPO levels than CO-fed rats. MEKP treatment resulted in significantly lower body weights and liver GSH levels. The data indicate that dietary n−3 fatty acids increase lipid peroxidation in liver somewhat more than in heart. The study also demonstrates that the effect of induced oxidative stress due to a single dose of MEKP on lipid peroxide formation and antioxidant status in tissues from unfasted animals was independent of the dietary oils.

Glutathione disulfide reduction in tumor mitochondria after t-butyl hydroperoxide treatment

Treatment of isolated mitochondria from rat hepatoma tumor cells (AS-30D) with the oxidant, t-butyl hydroperoxide (tBuOOH, 1 or 5 mumol/ml) resulted in the oxidation of glutathione (GSH to GSSG) and the formation of protein-glutathione mixed disulfides (ProSSG). The GSSG was retained inside of the hepatoma mitochondria. In the presence of ADP+succinate (5 or 10 mM), or ketoglutarate (10 mM) or malate (5 mM), the GSSG was reduced to GSH, but the amount of ProSSG stayed constant. With saline or ADP+glutamate (10 mM)/malate (0.1 mm) no reduction of GSSG to GSH occurred. The presence of antimycin (5 micrograms/ml) with ADP+succinate inhibited reduction. At a concentration of 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU, 0.5 mM) which inhibited a major portion of the glutathione reductase activity, the reduction of GSSG to replenish GSH was also inhibited. NADPH may play a critical role as well, for the addition of 2.4 mM NADPH to permeabilized hepatoma mitochondria fostered the reduction of GSSG after tBuOOH treatment. Therefore, hepatoma mitochondria possess a glutathione reductase-dependent system to reduce GSSG to GSH. The reaction only occurs with actively respiring mitochondria.

Glutathione biosynthesis in murine L5178Y lymphoma cells

Abstract Murine L5178Y lymphoma cells in culture required preformed cyst(e)ine and methionine for growth. Cystathionine was not an adequate substitute for either of these amino acids. 35 S-Amino acid uptake and 35 S incorporation into cellular reduced glutathione (GSH) occurred rapidly with cysteine or cystine. [ 35 S]Methionine uptake was rapid but 35 S failed to be incorporated into GSH. The cystathionine pathway for cysteine biosynthesis was absent in this cell line based upon the absence of γ-cystathionase in cell-free extracts and the inability of methionine sulfur to be incorporated into GSH. Glutathione S -transferase activity of intact cells permitted extensive depletion of glutathione with diethylmaleate. Methionine in the medium failed to support the repletion of GSH while cystine from the medium accounted for all of the cysteinyl sulfur in the repleted GSH. Very limited efflux of GSH, and no efflux of oxidized glutathione or disulfide of GSH and cysteine (CYSSG) could be observed in the presence or absence of the irreversible γ-glutamyl transpeptidase inhibitor l -(α S ,5 S )-α-amino-3-chloro-4,5-dihydro-5-isoxazole-acetic acid (AT-125). However, up to 1.9 nmol/10 6 cells of CYSSG accumulated intra-cellularly in cells placed in medium containing 0.5 m m cystine after diethylmaleate depletion of GSH. γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase activity in cell extracts was sufficient to indicate a role for this enzyme in glutathione turnover in L5178Y cells. Under normal culture conditions intracellular glutathione concentration was 2.3 ± 0.7 nmol/10 6 cells.

Effects of vinblastine, oncodazole, procarbazine, chlorambucil, and bleomycin in vivo on colchicine binding activity of tubulin☆

Abstract Five chemotherapeutic agents which inhibit mitosis caused an in vivo effect on the colchicine bound to the isolated tubulin from mouse lymphoma L5178Y cells. These effects were examined over a time course of 4, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after a single administration of each drug. Vinblastine, oncodazole, and bleomycin decreased the amount of colchicine bound per mg protein; procarbazine and chloroambucil increased the amount bound. All of the drugs except procarbazine required more than 4 hours to cause an effect on colchicine binding and in the case of bleomycin and oncodazole some recovery occurred after 48 hours. The mitotic index was affected by 4 hours by all drugs: procarbazine, chlorambucil and bleomycin caused a decrease; vinblastine and oncodazole, an increase.

Calcium chelation induced glutathione efflux from tumor cells and prevention by ruthenium red or neomycin

Cultured human lung carcinoma cells (A549) were incubated in a calcium-free medium containing calcium chelators (EGTA, 1-10 mM or BAPTA, 5 mM) for 1 hour at 37 degrees C. With limited toxicity, the presence of calcium chelators resulted in a decrease of cellular GSH and detachment of the cells from the tissue culture flask. The permeable EGTA tetraacetoxymethyl ester (0.5mM-5 mM) caused a decrease in the cellular GSH content without cell detachment. GSH was not oxidized to GSSG nor formed mixed disulfides with protein thiols. AT-125, a gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase inhibitor, prevented detachment, but not the efflux of cellular GSH. Pretreatment with two impermeable compounds (ruthenium red, 100 microM and neomycin, 0.5-10 mM) protected the cells from detachment and prevented the decrease in intracellular GSH. The presence of calcium in the medium during the EGTA and BAPTA treatments also protected the cells. Calcium associated with the cytoplasmic membrane phospholipids or proteins appears important to limit membrane permeability for GSH efflux and to maintain cell attachment.