An abortive apoptotic pathway induced by singlet oxygen is due to the suppression of caspase activation.

Singlet oxygen causes the cytotoxic process of tumour cells in photodynamic therapy. The mechanism by which singlet oxygen damages cells is, however, not fully understood. To address this issue, we synthesized and used two types of endoperoxides, MNPE (1-methylnaphthalene-4-propionate endoperoxide) and NDPE (naphthalene-1,4-dipropionate endoperoxide), that generate defined amounts of singlet oxygen at 37 degrees C with similar half lives. MNPE, which is more hydrophobic than NDPE, induced the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol and exhibited cytotoxicity, but NDPE did not. RBL cells, a rat basophil leukaemia-derived line, that overexpress phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase in mitochondria were found to be highly resistant to the cytotoxic effect of MNPE. MNPE treatment induced much less DNA ladder formation and nuclear fragmentation in cells than etoposide treatment, even though these treatments induced a similar extent of cellular damage. Singlet oxygen inhibited caspase 9 and 3 activities directly and also suppressed the activation of the caspase cascade. Collectively, these data suggest that singlet oxygen triggers an apoptotic pathway by releasing cytochrome c from mitochondria via the peroxidation of mitochondrial components and results in cell death that is different from typical apoptosis, because of the abortive apoptotic pathway caused by impaired caspase activation.

Accumulation of manganese superoxide dismutase under metal-depleted conditions: proposed role for zinc ions in cellular redox balance.

A diet low in copper results in increased levels of MnSOD (manganese superoxide dismutase), a critical antioxidative enzyme conferring protection against oxidative stress, in rat liver mitochondria. The mechanism for this was investigated using cultured HepG2 cells, a human hepatocellular carcinoma-derived line. MnSOD activity increased 5-7-fold during incubation in a medium supplemented with metal-depleted fetal bovine serum, with a corresponding elevation of its mRNA levels. Metal depletion also decreased CuZnSOD and glutathione peroxidase levels to approx. 70-80% of baseline. When zinc ions were added to the medium at micromolar levels, MnSOD accumulation was suppressed; however, copper ions had essentially no effect on MnSOD expression. Since the intracellular redox status was shifted to a more oxidized state by metal depletion, we examined the DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB (nuclear factor-kappaB), an oxidative stress-sensitive transactivating factor that plays a primary role in MnSOD induction. A gel shift assay indicated that the DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB was increased in cells maintained in metal-depleted culture, suggesting the involvement of the transactivating function of NF-kappaB in this induction. This was further supported by the observation that curcumin suppressed both the DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB and the induction of MnSOD mRNA in cells cultivated under metal-depleted conditions. These results suggest that the level of zinc, rather than copper, is a critical regulatory factor in MnSOD expression. It is possible that a deficiency of zinc in the low-copper diet may be primarily involved in MnSOD induction.