E. V. Proskurnina

Free radicals and cell chemiluminescence

Application of chemiluminescence (CL) for study of free-radical reactions in human and animal cells and tissues is considered in this review. Historically, the study of intrinsic (ultraweak) luminescence gave place to the measurement of CL in the presence of chemical activators (CL probes) and physical activators (sensitizers) of luminescence, which made the method much more sensitive and specific. The methods of CL and EPR are direct methods of radical investigation, though the advantage of the CL method consists in the fact that CL intensity is directly proportional to a steady-state concentration of the radicals responsible for luminescence (first of all, lipid and oxygen radicals) irrespective the activity of these radicals. The mechanisms of CL reactions in the absence of activators and in the presence of luminol and lucigenin are considered. Examples of various applications of the CL method in medical, biological, and clinical investigations are given including those for estimation of the phagocytic activity of cells, antioxidant activity, determination of toxicity, and other purposes.

Cardiolipin activates cytochrome c peroxidase activity since it facilitates H2O2 access to heme

In this work, the effect of liposomes consisting of tetraoleyl cardiolipin and dioleyl phosphatidylcholine (1: 1, mol/mol) on the rate of three more reactions of Cyt c heme with H2O2 was studied: (i) Cyt c (Fe2+) oxidation to Cyt c (Fe3+), (ii) Fe···S(Met80) bond breaking, and (iii) heme porphyrin ring decomposition. It was revealed that the rates of all those reactions increased greatly in the presence of liposomes containing cardiolipin and not of those consisting of only phosphatidylcholine, and approximately to the same extent as peroxidase activity. These data suggest that cardiolipin activates specifically Cyt c peroxidase activity not only because it promotes Fe···S(Met80) bond breaking but also facilitates H2O2 penetration to the reaction center.

Dihydroquercetin (taxifolin) and other flavonoids as inhibitors of free radical formation at key stages of apoptosis.

Formation of free radicals in mitochondria plays a key role in the development of apoptosis, which includes formation of superoxide by the respiratory chain, formation of radicals by cytochrome c-cardiolipin complex in the presence of hydrogen peroxide or lipids, and chain lipid peroxidation resulting in cytochrome c release from mitochondria and initiation of the apoptotic cascade. In this work the effect of taxifolin (dihydroquercetin) and some other antioxidants on these three radical-producing reactions was studied. Peroxidase activity of the complex of cytochrome c with dioleyl cardiolipin estimated by chemiluminescence with luminol decreased by 50% with quercetin, taxifolin, rutin, Trolox, and ionol at concentrations 0.7, 0.7, 0.8, 3, and 10 μM, respectively. The lipid radical production detected by coumarin C-525-activated chemiluminescence decreased under the action of rutin and taxifolin in a dose-dependent manner, so that a 50% inhibition of chemiluminescence was observed at the antioxidant concentrations of 3.7 and 10 μM, respectively. Thus, these two radical-producing reactions responsible for apoptosis onset are inhibited by antioxidants at rather low concentrations. Experiments performed on liver slices and mash showed that taxifolin, quercetin, naringenin, and Trolox have low inhibitory effect on the lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence in the tissue only at concentrations higher than 100 μM.

Mechanism of activation of cytochrome c peroxidase activity by cardiolipin

In this work, the actions of bovine heart cardiolipin, synthetic tetraoleyl cardiolipin, and a nonspecific anionic detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on cytochrome c (Cyt c) peroxidase activity recorded by chemiluminescence in the presence of luminol and on the Fe···S(Met80) bond whose presence was estimated by a weak absorption band amplitude with peak at 695–700 nm (A695) were compared. A strict concurrency between Fe···S(Met80) breaking (A695) and cytochrome peroxidase activity enhancement was shown to exist at cardiolipin/Cyt c and SDS/Cyt c molar ratios of 0:1 to 50:1 (by chemiluminescence). Nevertheless, when A695 completely disappeared, Cyt c peroxidase activity under the action of cardiolipin was 20 times more than that under the action of SDS, and at low ligand/protein molar ratios (≤4), SDS failed to activate peroxidase activity while cardiolipin enhanced Cyt c peroxidase activity 16–20-fold. A695 did not change on Cyt c binding with liposomes consisting of tetraoleyl cardiolipin and phosphatidylcholine (1:10:10), while peroxidase activity was enhanced by a factor of 8. Breaking of 70% of the Fe···S(Met80) bonds resulted in only threefold enhancement of peroxidase activity. Cardiolipin-activated Cyt c peroxidase activity was reduced by high ionic strength solution (1 M KCl). The aggregated data suggest that cardiolipin activating action is caused, first, by a nonspecific effect of Fe···S(Met80) breaking as the result of conformational changes in the prote in globule caused by the protein surface electrostatic recharging by an anionic amphiphilic molecule, and second, by a specific acceleration of the peroxidation reaction which is most likely due to enhanced heme accessibility for H2O2 as a result of the hydrophobic interaction between cardiolipin and cytochrome.

Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis. Structure of cytochrome c-cardiolipin complex

One of the functions of cytochrome c in living cells is the initiation of apoptosis by catalyzing lipid peroxidation in the inner mitochondrial membrane, which involves cytochrome c bound with acidic lipids, especially cardiolipin. In this paper the results of studies of cytochrome c-cardiolipin complex structure carried out by different authors mainly on unilamellar cardiolipin-containing phospholipid liposomes are critically analyzed. The principal conclusion from the published papers is that cytochrome c-cardiolipin complex is formed by attachment of a cytochrome c molecule to the membrane surface via electrostatic interactions and the subsequent penetration of one of the fatty-acid cardiolipin chains into the protein globule, this being associated with hydrophobic interactions that break the >Fe…S(Met80) coordinate bond and giving rise to appearance of cytochrome c peroxidase activity. Nevertheless, according to data obtained in our laboratory, cytochrome c and cardiolipin form spherical nanoparticles in which protein is surrounded by a monolayer of cardiolipin molecules. Under the action of cooperative forces, the protein in the globule expands greatly in volume, its conformation is modified, and the protein becomes a peroxidase. In extended membranes, such as giant monolayer liposomes, and very likely in biological membranes, the formation of nanospheres of cytochrome c-cardiolipin complex causes fusion of membrane sections and dramatic chaotization of the whole membrane structure. The subsequent disintegration of the outer mitochondrial membrane is accompanied by cytochrome c release from the mitochondria and triggering of a cascade of programmed cell death reactions.

Chemiluminescence as a method for detection and study of free radicals in biological systems

Chemiluminescence observed during LPO or reactions of nitric oxide and oxygen radicals and was named “ultraweak luminescence”. In the presence of chemiluminescence activators (luminol, lucigenin, rhodamine G, or coumarine C-525) the appearance of radicals is associated with intensive fluorescence; the registration of this fluorescence is widely used in biomedical and clinical studies.

Kinetic chemiluminescence as a method for study of free radical reactions

The review gives concepts of analysis of kinetics of complex reactions with the participation of free radicals. The concepts are based on the comparison of kinetic curves of chemiluminescent reactions in the presence of a physical enhancer coumarin C-525 with the simulated kinetic functions. This method was applied to the investigation of the mechanism of a branched-chain reaction of lipid peroxidation in biological and phospholipid membranes as well as to the effect of antioxidants and determination of their activities. It was also used for studying the reaction of formation of free radicals in the complex of cytochrome c with cardiolipin. This reaction plays a key role in the initiation of apoptosis.

Thermal lens determination of cytochrome c and its NO complex

Spectrophotometric and thermal lens measurements showed that cw laser beam (450–530 nm, up to 100 mW) does not affect the absorption band of cytochrome c. Therefore, thermal lensing is used for determining cytochrome c (III) (cmin = 1 × 10−7 mol/L at λ = 488.0 nm; cmin = 3 × 10−8 mol/L at λ = 514.5 nm) and its active form, cytochrome c (II) (cmin = 1 × 10−8 mol/L at λ = 514.5 nm). The enhancement of the sensitivity of determination of these species as compared with conventional spectrophotometry is more than two orders of magnitude. The optimal conditions for the formation of the NO complex of cytochrome c for its photometric determination were selected: the molar ratio of dodecyl sulfate (a modifying agent) to cytochrome c is 1: 30 at a working wavelength of 560 nm. When exposed to laser radiation, the nitrosyl complex of cytochrome c dissociates to form cytochrome c (III). The decomposition of this complex can be monitored by thermal lensing (514.5 nm) down to a level of 1 × 10−7 mol/L.

Determination of antioxidants by sensitized chemiluminescence using 2,2′-azo-bis(2-amidinopropane)

An analytical procedure for determining antioxidants was proposed based on chemiluminescence. The analytical system consisted of a free-radicals generator, 2,2′-azo-bis(2-amidinopropane), luminol was used as a chemiluminescence sensitizer in phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4). The analytical conditions were optimized. The analytical procedure detection limits as low as (μM) the following: for trolox, the limit is 0.05; for ascorbate, it is 0.20; for quercetin, it is 0.03; and, for dihydroquercetin, it is 0.03. A test determination of antioxidants in food was performed.

Cytochrome c-Cardiolipin Complex in a Nonpolar Environment.

Programmed cell death (apoptosis) plays an important role in the life of multicellular organisms and in the development of socially significant human diseases. Cytochrome c–cardiolipin complex (Cyt-CL) is formed at the very beginning of a cascade of apoptotic reactions. Nevertheless, the structure of the complex and the mechanism of its participation in lipid peroxidation in mitochondrial membranes are not yet understood. In previous work (Vladimirov, Y. A., et al. (2011) Crystallography, 56, 712-719), it was shown that the Cyt-CL complex precipitates in concentrated water solution, the sediment containing orderly nanospheres formed by cytochrome c molecules with changed conformation and surrounded by a cardiolipin monolayer, and they are essentially hydrophobic. In this work, we obtained chloroform and hexane solutions of Cyt-CL with lipid/protein ratio of 77 ± 11. The conditions are described under which the solutions were obtained. Study of the properties of Cyt-CL solutions in hydrophobic media will reveal their structure and the mechanism of their catalytic activity inside the lipid layer of biological membranes.