Dual function of the selenoprotein PHGPx during sperm maturation.

The selenoprotein phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) changes its physical characteristics and biological functions during sperm maturation. PHGPx exists as a soluble peroxidase in spermatids but persists in mature spermatozoa as an enzymatically inactive, oxidatively cross-linked, insoluble protein. In the midpiece of mature spermatozoa, PHGPx protein represents at least 50 percent of the capsule material that embeds the helix of mitochondria. The role of PHGPx as a structural protein may explain the mechanical instability of the mitochondrial midpiece that is observed in selenium deficiency.

The nuclear form of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase is a protein thiol peroxidase contributing to sperm chromatin stability.

The selenoenzyme phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) is regarded as the major molecular target of selenodeficiency in rodents, accounting for most of the histopathological and structural abnormalities of testicular tissue and male germ cells. PHGPx exists as a cytosolic form, mitochondrial form, and nuclear form (nPHGPx) predominantly expressed in late spermatids and spermatozoa. Here, we demonstrate that mice with a targeted deletion of the nPHGPx gene were, unlike mice with the full knockout (KO) of PHGPx, not only viable but also, surprisingly, fully fertile. While both morphological analysis of testis and epididymis and sperm parameter measurements did not show any apparent abnormality, toluidine blue and acridine orange stainings of spermatozoa indicated defective chromatin condensation in the KO sperm isolated from the caput epididymis. Furthermore, upon drying and hydrating, KO sperm exhibited a significant proportion of morphologically abnormal heads. Monobromobimane labeling and protein-free thiol titration revealed significantly less extensive oxidation in the cauda epididymis when compared to that in the wild type. We conclude that nPHGPx, by acting as a protein thiol peroxidase in vivo, contributes to the structural stability of sperm chromatin.

Purification and characterization of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase from rat testis mitochondrial membranes.

The selenoenzyme phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) is highly expressed in rat testis, where it is under gonadotropin control. In this organ a relevant PHGPx activity is strongly linked to mitochondria of cells undergoing differentiation to spermatozoa. This prompted a study on the possible difference between the soluble and the mitochondrial enzyme and the nature of the binding. The mitochondrial PHGPx activity could be solubilized by detergents or by the combined action of mild detergent treatment and ionic strength, thus suggesting an electrostatic binding of the protein to the inner surfaces of the organelle. The same chromatographic purification procedures were applied to cytosolic and membrane bound PHGPx, without revealing any significant difference between the two forms. Moreover, the electrophoretic mobility, the reactivity to antibodies and the fragmentation patterns also suggested the identity of the two forms of testis PHGPx. Eventually, testis cytosolic and membrane bound PHGPx showed the same substrate specificity for both peroxidic and thiol substrates. On the other hand, a complex behaviour on hydrophobic interaction chromatography, compatible with multiple forms of the enzyme, and with a different tertiary structure of the major peaks was observed for soluble and mitochondrial PHGPx. Accordingly, two-dimensional electrophoresis followed by immunostaining with monoclonal antibodies, showed the presence of multiple isoforms with a different pattern between the soluble and the mitochondrial enzyme. These differences are not accounted for by glycosylation or a different degree of phosphorylation of tyrosines. In both enzymes, indeed, no glycosylation was detected and no more than 10% of PHGPx molecules were shown to contain a phosphotyrosine residue.

Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase: specific activity in tissues of rats of different age and comparison with other glutathione peroxidases.

The tissue distribution of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPX) was studied in rats of different ages. In the same samples the activities of Se-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and non-Se-dependent glutathione peroxidase (non Se-GPX) were also determined using specific substrates for each enzyme. Enzymatically generated phospholipid hydroperoxides were used as substrate for PHGPX, hydrogen peroxide for GPX, and cumene hydroperoxide for non-Se-GPX (after correction for the activity of GPX on this substrate). PHGPX specific activity in different organs is as follows: liver = kidney greater than heart = lung = brain greater than muscle. Furthermore, this activity is reasonably constant in different age groups, with a lower specific activity observed only in kidney and liver of young animals. GPX activity is expressed as follows: liver greater than kidney greater than heart greater than lung greater than brain = muscle, and substantial age-dependent differences have been observed (adult greater than old greater than young). Non-Se-GPX activity was present in significant amount only in liver greater than lung greater than heart and only in adult animals. These results suggest a tissue- and age-specific expression of different peroxidases.

Measurement of lipid hydroperoxides in plasma lipoproteins by a new highly-sensitive 'single photon counting' luminometer.

The lipid hydroperoxide content of isolated, native human plasma lipoproteins, was measured, by the luminol-based chemiluminescent reaction, using a highly sensitive single photon counting instrument. The reaction was specific for lipid hydroperoxides since the signal completely disappeared after treatment with the selenoperoxidase specific for lipidic substrates. In this analytical procedure the whole kinetic of photon emission induced by lipid hydroperoxides and hemin in the presence of luminol is integrated, taking advantage of the mono-exponential fitting of the decay of photon emission. The addition of a detergent to the reaction mixture improved the precision of the measurements apparently by preventing oxidative chain reactions affecting the shape of the decay of photon emission. The sensitivity of the instrument allowed measurements on samples containing just a few picomoles of hydroperoxides, small enough to minimize the effect of antioxidants and quenchers possibly present in the sample (as in the case of lipoproteins). Thus, by using an internal calibration with a phospholipid hydroperoxide, the evaluation of the lipid hydroperoxide content in whole, native lipoproteins was possible without previous extraction and chromatographic separation. Data obtained from plasma lipoproteins isolated by different procedures suggest that lipid hydroperoxide content increases during ultracentrifugation.

Copper-induced lipid peroxidation in liposomes, micelles, and LDL: which is the role of vitamin E?

Liposomes, containing phospholipid hydroperoxides, are peroxidised in the presence of Cu++. Peroxidation starts after a period of resistance to oxidation, which is abolished by the shift of lipid organisation from bilayer to micellar dispersion. Independently from ongoing peroxidation, vitamin E in liposomes also reacts with Cu++, and it is consumed. The evidence that phospholipid hydroperoxides induce an acceleration of vitamin E consumption rate and that the consumption of vitamin E and phospholipid hydroperoxides are stoichiometric indicates that, in liposomes, the rate-limiting reaction is the interaction between radicals generated by copper from vitamin E and phospholipid hydroperoxides. In micelles, on the other hand, vitamin E is directly oxidised by copper at a much faster rate; thus, the concerted consumption of phospholipid hydroperoxides does not take place. Moreover, in micelles challenged with Cu++, vitamin E plays a pro-oxidant effect (M. Maiorino et al. FEBS Letts., 330(2):174-176; 1993). In LDL, incubation with Cu++ promotes vitamin E consumption at a fast rate, as in micelles, but not the concerted disappearance of lipid hydroperoxides, as in liposomes. However, the direct vitamin E oxidation by Cu++, observed in micelles and liposomes, does not lead to a pro-oxidant effect in LDL. The kinetics of peroxidation, indeed, is identical in native and vitamin E-depleted LDL. These results argue against an involvement of vitamin E, both as antioxidant or pro-oxidant in LDL challenged with Cu++, and suggest that other factors, besides antioxidant content, must be relevant in determining LDL oxidative resistance.

Prooxidant role of vitamin E in copper induced lipid peroxidation.

When exposed to Cu2+, alpha-tocopherol, in detergent dispersion, is rapidly oxidised. Moreover, if phospholipids and traces of their hydroperoxide derivatives are included in these dispersions, Cu2+ initiates lipid peroxidation, the rate of which is dramatically stimulated by alpha-tocopherol. The observation that the rate of alpha-tocopherol consumption is identical in the absence and in the presence of lipids undergoing peroxidation, apparently rules out any antioxidant effect. These results are consistent with a prooxidant effect of vitamin E, mediated by its capability to reduce Cu2+ to Cu+ which, in turn, produces, from lipid hydroperoxides, the highly reactive alkoxyl radicals. Present data highlight the risk of misleading results in interpreting the significance of lags in peroxidation of LDL challenged with Cu2+.

A novel antioxidant flavonoid (IdB 1031) affecting molecular mechanisms of cellular activation.

In searching for new drug candidates which could help bridge the gaps between free radical oxidations, pathophysiological responses, and pharmacological treatment, a series of flavonoids was screened. The most interesting compound emerging from this screening, the flavone 3'-hydroxyfarrerol (IdB 1031), is presented in this article. This compound is a good inhibitor of microsomal lipid peroxidation induced by either iron-adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) or carbon tetrachloride. The elevated rate constant for the interaction with peroxyl radicals, analysed by the kinetics of inhibition of crocin bleaching in the presence of a diazo initiator, gives an account for the observed antioxidant capacity. When tested on human neutrophils activated by fMLP, IdB 1031 inhibits (ID50:20 microM) respiratory burst. This effect, which is possibly linked to the observed inhibition of protein-kinase C (ID50:50 microM), seems rather specific since IdB 1031 does not inhibit tyr-kinases and casein-kinase-2, while Quercetin and other flavonoids inhibit unspecifically all these enzymes. These effects, as a whole, depict this compound as a drug candidate for diseases in which peroxidative damage is associated with the induction of inflammatory responses and specifically with activation of a respiratory burst of leucocytes.

Lacidipine: a dihydropyridine calcium antagonist with antioxidant activity.

Lacidipine, a new, long-acting antihypertensive dihydropyridine calcium antagonist was tested for potential antioxidant effect in a series of tests that consider specific radical species. A direct quenching of several radical species could be measured. Moreover, in biological membranes deriving from rat brain tissue, lacidipine showed an activity comparable to reference antioxidant compounds like vitamin E.

Kinetic mechanism and substrate specificity of glutathione peroxidase activity of ebselen (PZ51).

The glutathione peroxidase activity of ebselen (PZ51) was studied using different hydroperoxidic substrates. The single progression curves obtained in the spectrophotometric test were processed by a computer to fit the integrated rate equation that describes the ping pong reaction of the Se glutathione peroxidase. Ebselen catalyzes the GSH peroxidase reaction with a mechanism that appears kinetically identical to the mechanism of the enzymes. The inactivation of the catalytic properties of ebselen by iodoacetate suggests that a selenol moiety is involved. Among the substrates tested, the best hydroperoxidic substrates are the hydroperoxy derivatives of phosphatidyl choline. Ebselen is active also on membrane hydroperoxides as does phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase but not glutathione peroxidase.

Microsomal lipid peroxidation: effect of vitamin E and its functional interaction with phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase.

The role of vitamin E in the protection against iron dependent lipid peroxidation was studied in rat liver microsomes and Triton-dispersed microsomal lipid micelles. In these systems, an antioxidant effect of vitamin E at a physiological ratio to phospholipids could be observed only in the presence of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPX) and glutathione. The rationale of this cooperation is discussed on the basis of the hydroperoxyl radical scavenging capacity of vitamin E and the reduction of membrane hydroperoxides by PHGPX. The scavenging of lipid hydroperoxyl radicals by vitamin E, although inhibiting propagation of the peroxidative chain, produces lipid hydroperoxides from which ferrous iron generates alkoxyl radicals that react with vitamin E almost as fast as with fatty acids. Therefore, only if membrane hydroperoxides are continuously reduced by this specific peroxidase does the scavenging of hydroperoxyl radicals by vitamin E lead to an effective inhibition of lipid peroxidation.

PHGPx and spermatogenesis.

PHGPx of rat sperm mitochondrial capsule is cross-linked and inactive. The enzyme is in part released in an active form by mercaptoethanol. Treatment with H(2)O(2) of reduced and solubilised capsule proteins, in the absence of any added reductant, results in: i) H(2)O(2) consumption which depends on the presence of both, PHGPx activity and protein thiols; ii) protein thiol oxidation with a stoichiometry of 2 equivalents of thiol per mole of hydroperoxide and, iii) PHGPx inactivation and cross-linking. SDS-PAGE analysis of monobromobimane-labeled proteins, following incubation with H(2)O(2), shows that the oxidation takes place in specific bands in the area of 20~kDa. It is concluded that the protein thiol peroxidase activity of PHGPx is responsible for cross-linking proteins in the mammalian sperm capsule and accounts for the selenium dependency of spermatogenesis.

Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx): more than an antioxidant enzyme?

The family of glutathione peroxidases encompasses, as far, three tetrameric glutathione peroxidases (GPx) and the monomeric PHGPx. Although the overall homology between tetrameric enzymes and PHGPx is less than 30%, a pronounced similarity has been detected on clusters involved in the active site and a common catalytic triad (selenocysteine glutamine and tryptophan) has been defined by structural and kinetic data. A major peculiar feature of the reaction catalyzed by PHGPx is the possibility to accommodate large lipophilic substrates. This accounts for the observed dramatic antiperoxidant effect and the synergism with vitamin E. Moreover, the reduction of lipid hydroperoxides accounts also for the observed modulation of cycloxygenase and inhibition of 15-lipoxygenase. On the other hand, structural and kinetic data indicate that also the specificity of PHGPx for the donor substrate is not restricted to GSH and the recent observation the PHGPx binds to specific mitochondrial proteins, from which it is released by ionic strength and thiols, suggests a possible fole of this selenoenzyme in catalyzing the specific oxidation of protein thiols, thus modulating the activity of cellular regulatory elements. On this light, the selenium mojety of PHGPx, reacting much faster that thiols with a peroxide, and then oxidizing specific protein thiols, would channel the oxidation toward protein targets, thus providing, by protein-protein interaction, the specificity of the redox transition.

Antioxidant effect of Ebselen (PZ 51): peroxidase mimetic activity on phospholipid and cholesterol hydroperoxides vs free radical scavenger activity.

The selenocompound Ebselen (PZ 51) is a potent inhibitor of lipid peroxidation. This antioxidant effect has been previously attributed both to a peroxidase mimetic activity and to a free radical scavenging capability. In the present paper the latter is ruled out by competition kinetic analysis based on the inhibition of carotenoid bleaching by hydroperoxyl radicals. Furthermore, evidence is reported indicating that Ebselen exhibits a peroxidase activity extended to cholesterol and cholesterol ester hydroperoxides, besides phospholipid hydroperoxides. According to this, we propose that the unique mechanism of the antioxidant capacity of Ebselen is the reduction of lipid hydroperoxides present in liposomes or lipoproteins, eventually leading to the prevention of hydroperoxide-dependent peroxidation.

Enzymatic determination of membrane lipid peroxidation.

The recently purified "phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase" has been used to measure the membrane hydroperoxides formed during lipid peroxidation that are not substrates for the "classical" glutathione peroxidase. A spectrophotometric test in the presence of glutathione, glutathione reductase and NADPH has been used. The peroxidized membranes were added directly to the reaction mixture and the reaction was started by the addition of the enzyme. Triton X-100 exerted a stimulatory effect. Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase allows a rapid, sensitive, accurate and specific determination of membrane hydroperoxides, the most quantitative index of lipid peroxidation. Glutathione peroxidase can be used in the same test to measure other hydroperoxides such as the cumene hydroperoxide used to induce the peroxidation.

Different effects of Triton X-100, deoxycholate, and fatty acids on the kinetics of glutathione peroxidase and phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase.

The effects of Triton X-100, deoxycholate, and fatty acids were studied on the two steps of the ping-pong reaction catalyzed by Se-dependent glutathione peroxidases. The study was carried out by analyzing the single progression curves where the specific glutathione oxidation was monitored using glutathione reductase and NADPH. While the "classic" glutathione peroxidase was inhibited only by Triton, the newly discovered "phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase" was inhibited by deoxycholate and by unsaturated fatty acids. The kinetic analysis showed that in the case of glutathione peroxidase only the interaction of the lipophilic peroxidic substrate was hampered by Triton, indicating that the enzyme is not active at the interface. Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase activity measured with linoleic acid hydroperoxide as substrate, on the other hand, was not stimulated by the Triton concentrations which have been shown to stimulate the activity on phospholipid hydroperoxides. Furthermore a slight inhibition was apparent at high Triton concentrations and the effect could be attributed to a surface dilution of the substrate. Deoxycholate and unsaturated fatty acids were not inhibitory on glutathione peroxidase but inhibited both steps of the peroxidic reaction of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase, in the presence of either amphiphilic or hydrophilic substrates. This inhibition pattern suggests an interaction of anionic detergents with the active site of this enzyme. These results are in agreement with the different roles played by these peroxidases in the control of lipid peroxide concentrations in the cells. While glutathione peroxidase reduces the peroxides in the water phase (mainly hydrogen peroxide), the new peroxidase reduces the amphyphilic peroxides, possibly at the water-lipid interface.

Antioxidant defences of rabbit alveolar lining fluid.

In the lower respiratory tract, alveolar cells are exposed to an oxidative challenge related to the exposure to both high levels of molecular oxygen and oxidants generated by activated phagocytes. The antioxidant defence system of alveolar cells has been thoroughly investigated, but some reports also suggest the presence of antioxidants in the layer of fluid lining the alveoli. In this report we present our studies on the antioxidant activities present in the bronchoalveolar lavage of adult rabbits. We studied total radical-trapping antioxidant capacity of surfactant and the activity of antiperoxidant enzymes. Although previous reports suggested the presence of radical scavengers, we did not find any antioxidant activity in purified surfactant. On the other hand the alveolar-lining fluid seems to contain superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase, but not appreciable amounts of ferroxidase activity, as previously suggested. These enzymes could protect alveolar cells by catalyzing the dismutation of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide. The presence of glutathione peroxidase in the alveolar space seems to be physiologically relevant since the alveolar lining fluid also contains millimolar amounts of glutathione. Our studies support the concept that the alveolar lining fluid contains an active defence system against products of partial reduction of oxygen, but not chain-breaker antioxidants.