C57BL/6J mice upregulate catalase to maintain the hydrogen peroxide buffering capacity of liver mitochondria.

Here, we demonstrate that the upregulation of catalase is required to compensate for the loss of nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) to maintain hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) steady-state levels in C57BL/6J liver mitochondria. Our investigations using the closely related mouse strains C57BL/6NJ (6NJ; +NNT) and C57BL/6J (6J; -NNT) revealed that NNT is required for the provision of NADPH and that the upregulation of isocitrate dehydrogenase-2 (IDH2) activity is not enough to compensate for the absence of NNT, which is consistent with previous observations. Intriguingly, despite the absence of NNT, 6J mitochondria had rates of H2O2 production (58.56 ±â€¯3.79 pmol mg-1 min-1) that were similar to samples collected from 6NJ mice (72.75 ±â€¯14.26 pmol mg-1 min-1) when pyruvate served as the substrate. However, 6NJ mitochondria energized with succinate produced significantly less H2O2 (59.95 ±â€¯2.13 pmol mg-1 min-1) when compared to samples from 6J mice (116.39 ±â€¯20.74 pmol mg-1 min-1), an effect that was attributed to the presence of NNT. Further investigations into the H2O2 eliminating capacities of these mitochondria led to the novel observation that 6J mitochondria compensate for the loss of NNT by upregulating catalase. Indeed, 6NJ and 6J mitochondria energized with pyruvate or succinate displayed similar rates for H2O2 elimination, quenching ~84% and ~86% of the H2O2, respectively, in the surrounding medium within 30 s. However, inclusion of palmitoyl-CoA, an NNT inhibitor, significantly limited H2O2 degradation by 6NJ mitochondria only (~55% of H2O2 eliminated in 30 s). Liver mitochondria from 6J mice treated with palmitoyl-CoA still cleared ~80% of the H2O2 from the surrounding environment. Inhibition of catalase with triazole compromised the capacity of 6J mitochondria to maintain H2O2 steady-state levels. By contrast, disabling NADPH-dependent antioxidant systems had a limited effect on the H2O2 clearing capacity of 6J mitochondria. Liver mitochondria collected from 6NJ mice, on the other hand, were more reliant on the GSH and TRX systems to clear exogenously added H2O2. However, catalase still played an integral in eliminating H2O2 in 6NJ liver mitochondria. Immunoblot analyses demonstrated that catalase protein levels were ~7.7-fold higher in 6J mitochondria. Collectively, our findings demonstrate for the first time that 6J liver mitochondria compensate for the loss of NNT by increasing catalase levels for the maintenance of H2O2 steady-state levels. In general, our observations reveal that catalase is an integral arm of the antioxidant response in liver mitochondria.