Macrophage-Produced Peroxynitrite Induces Antibiotic Tolerance and Supersedes Intrinsic Mechanisms of Persister Formation.

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading human pathogen that frequently causes chronic and relapsing infections. Antibiotic-tolerant persister cells contribute to frequent antibiotic failure in patients. Macrophages represent an important niche during S. aureus bacteremia, and recent work has identified a role for oxidative burst in the formation of antibiotic-tolerant S. aureus. We find that host-derived peroxynitrite, the reaction product of superoxide and nitric oxide, is the main mediator of antibiotic tolerance in macrophages. Using a collection of S. aureus clinical isolates, we find that, despite significant variation in persister formation in pure culture, all strains were similarly enriched for antibiotic tolerance following internalization by activated macrophages. Our findings suggest that host interaction strongly induces antibiotic tolerance and may negate bacterial mechanisms of persister formation established in pure culture. These findings emphasize the importance of studying antibiotic tolerance in the context of bacterial interaction with the host and suggest that modulation of the host response may represent a viable therapeutic strategy to sensitize S. aureus to antibiotics.

Cardiolipin-cytochrome c complex: Switching cytochrome c from an electron-transfer shuttle to a myoglobin- and a peroxidase-like heme-protein.

Cytochrome c (cytc) is a small heme-protein located in the space between the inner and the outer membrane of the mitochondrion that transfers electrons from cytc-reductase to cytc-oxidase. The hexa-coordinated heme-Fe atom of cytc displays a very low reactivity toward ligands and does not exhibit significant catalytic properties. However, upon cardiolipin (CL) binding, cytc achieves ligand binding and catalytic properties reminiscent of those of myoglobin and peroxidase. In particular, the peroxidase activity of the cardiolipin-cytochrome c complex (CL-cytc) is critical for the redistribution of CL from the inner to the outer mitochondrial membranes and is essential for the execution and completion of the apoptotic program. On the other hand, the capability of CL-cytc to bind NO and CO and the heme-Fe-based scavenging of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species may affect apoptosis. Here, the ligand binding and catalytic properties of CL-cytc are analyzed in parallel with those of CL-free cytc, myoglobin, and peroxidase to dissect the potential mechanisms of CL in modulating the pro- and anti-apoptotic actions of cytc.

In vitro study of the antioxidative properties of the glucose derivatives against oxidation of plasma components

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Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of variety of diseases. Since the endogenous antioxidant defense may be not adequate to counteract the enhanced generation of oxidants, a growing interest in research for exogenous nutrients has been observed. The present study was designed to assess in vitro the antioxidative properties of the glucose derivatives: calciumD-glucarate, D-gluconic acid lactone, and sodium D-gluconate (0.5–3 mM) in the protection of plasma proteins and lipids, against the damage caused by 0.1 mM peroxynitrite (ONOO−). Exposure of plasma to ONOO− resulted in carbonyl groups increase, 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) formation, reduction in thiol groups, and enhanced lipid peroxidation. D-Gluconic acid lactone and sodium D-gluconate effectively decreased 3-NT formation; the antinitrative action of calcium D-glucarate was less effective. In plasma samples incubated with ONOO− and tested compounds, the level of carbonyl groups was decreased in comparison to plasma samples treated only with ONOO−. The level of protein −SH groups and glutathione was significantly higher in the presence of glucose derivatives than in plasma samples treated with ONOO− only. All the tested compounds had the inhibitory effect on the peroxynitrite-induced plasma lipids peroxidation. The results obtained from our work indicate that calcium D-glucarate, D-gluconic acid lactone, and sodium D-gluconate may partly protect plasma proteins and lipids against peroxynitrite-induced damages (AU)

Pulmonary and renal protection: targeting PARP to ventilator-induced lung and kidney injury?

Both acute lung injury and acute kidney injury (AKI) are frequent and serious problems in intensive care medicine. Therefore, the avoiding of any iatrogenic insult to these organs is of great importance. While an increasing body of evidence suggests that mechanical ventilation is capable of inducing lung and distant organ injury, the complex underlying molecular mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. In the previous issue of Critical Care, Vaschetto and colleagues reported the results of an experimental study designed to further explore pathways linking injurious ventilation with AKI. The authors demonstrated that scavenging of peroxynitrite or inhibiting poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) afforded protection against AKI induced by double-hit lung injury. Although PARP inhibition or peroxynitrite detoxification or both may become viable candidates for a protective strategy in this setting, the implementation of a lung-protective ventilatory strategy remains the only clinical tool to mitigate the lung biotrauma and its systemic consequences.

Kinetic studies on peroxynitrite reduction by peroxiredoxins.

Peroxiredoxins catalytically reduce peroxynitrite to nitrite. The peroxidatic cysteine of peroxiredoxins reacts rapidly with peroxynitrite. The rate constant of that reaction can be measured using a stopped flow spectrophotometer either directly by following peroxynitrite disappearance in the region of 300 to 310 nm using an initial rate approach or steady-state measurements or by competition with a reaction of known rate constant. The reactions used to compete with peroxiredoxins include the oxidation of Mn(III)porphyrins and horseradish peroxidase by peroxynitrite. Additionally, a method is described in which a hydroperoxide competes with peroxynitrite for the oxidation of peroxiredoxin. Moreover, a fluorescent technique for determining the kinetics of thioredoxin-mediated peroxiredoxin reduction, closing the catalytic cycle, is also described. All methods reviewed provide reliable values of rate constants and a combination of them can be used to provide further reassurance; applicability and advantages of the different methodologies are discussed.

Production of nitric oxide and self-nitration of proteins during monocyte differentiation to dendritic cells

Nitric oxide (NO) can stimulate dendritic cells to a more activated state. However,nitric oxide and peroxynitrites production by dendritic cells has been usuallyassociated with pathological situations such as autoimmunity or inflammatory diseases.This study was designed to determine if dendritic cells obtained from healthyvolunteers produce nitric oxide and peroxynitrites, which results in protein nitration.The expression of arginase II, but not arginase I, isoform was detected in monocytesand dendritic cells. There was higher inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) proteinexpression and lower arginase activity both in immature and mature dendritic cells,compared to monocytes. This caused nitric oxide production, and maturation of dendriticcells which provoked a significative increase of nitrites and nitrates comparedto immature dendritic cells. There was also peroxynitrites synthesis during monocytedifferentiation as shown by the nitration of proteins. Immunoblot revealed a patternof nitrated proteins in cell extracts obtained from monocytes and dendritic cells,however there were bands that appeared only in human dendritic cells, in particularan intense 90 kDa band. Nitric oxide production and nitrotyrosine formation couldaffect the antigen presentation and modify the immune response

Peroxynitrite induces senescence and apoptosis of red blood cells through the activation of aspartyl and cysteinyl proteases.

Changes in the oxidative status of erythrocytes can reduce cell lifetime, oxygen transport, and delivery capacity to peripheral tissues and have been associated with a plethora of human diseases. Among reactive oxygen and nitrogen species of importance in red blood cell (RBC) homeostasis, superoxide and nitric oxide radicals play a key role. In the present work, we evaluated subcellular effects induced by peroxynitrite, the product of the fast reaction between superoxide and nitric oxide. Peroxynitrite induced 1) oxidation of oxyhemoglobin to methemoglobin, 2) cytoskeleton rearrangement, 3) ultrastructural alterations, and 4) altered expression of band-3 and decreased expression of glycophorin A. With respect to control cells, this occurred in a significantly higher percentage of human RBC (approximately 40%). The presence of antioxidants inhibited these modifications. Furthermore, besides these senescence-associated changes, other important modifications, absent in control RBC and usually associated with apoptotic cell death, were detected in a small but significant subset of peroxynitrite-exposed RBC (approximately 7%). Active protease cathepsin E and mu-calpain increased; activation of caspase 2 and caspase 3 was detected; and phosphatidylserine externalization, an early marker of apoptosis, was observed. Conversely, inhibition of cathepsin E, mu-calpain, as well as caspase 2 and 3 by specific inhibitors resulted in a significant impairment of erythrocyte "apoptosis" Altogether, these results indicate that peroxynitrite, a milestone of redox-mediated damage in human pathology, can hijack human RBC toward senescence and apoptosis by a mechanism involving both cysteinyl and aspartyl proteases.

Inactivation of wild-type p53 protein function by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in malignant glioma cells.

Malignant gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors in adults, and the most malignant form, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is usually rapidly fatal. Most GBMs do not have p53 mutations, although the p53 tumor suppressor pathway appears to be inactivated. GBMs grow in a hypoxic and inflammatory microenvironment, and increased levels of the free radicals nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide () occur in these malignancies in vivo. Peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) is a highly reactive molecule produced by excess NO and that can posttranslationally modify and inactivate proteins, especially zinc finger transcription factors such as p53. We demonstrated previously that GBMs have evidence of tyrosine nitration, the "footprint" of peroxynitrite-mediated protein modification in vivo, and that peroxynitrite could inhibit the specific DNA binding ability of wild-type p53 protein in glioma cells in vitro. Here we show that both authentic peroxynitrite and SIN-1 (3-morpholinosydnonimine hydrochloride), a molecule that decomposes into NO and to form peroxynitrite, can inhibit wild-type p53 function in malignant glioma cells. Concentrations of peroxynitrite associated with a tumor inflammatory environment caused dysregulation of wild-type p53 transcriptional activity and downstream p21(WAF1) expression.