Does glutamine supplementation increase radioresistance in squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix?

Recent progress of the tumor microenvironmental metabolism in cervical cancer radioresistance

Radiotherapy is widely used as an indispensable treatment option for cervical cancer patients. However, radioresistance always occurs and has become a big obstacle to treatment efficacy. The reason for radioresistance is mainly attributed to the high repair ability of tumor cells that overcome the DNA damage caused by radiotherapy, and the increased self-healing ability of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Accumulating findings have demonstrated that the tumor microenvironment (TME) is closely related to cervical cancer radioresistance in many aspects, especially in the metabolic processes. In this review, we discuss radiotherapy in cervical cancer radioresistance, and focus on recent research progress of the TME metabolism that affects radioresistance in cervical cancer. Understanding the mechanism of metabolism in cervical cancer radioresistance may help identify useful therapeutic targets for developing novel therapy, overcome radioresistance and improve the efficacy of radiotherapy in clinics and quality of life of patients.

Effects of glutamine deprivation on oxidative stress and cell survival in breast cell lines

Background

Tumourigenic cells modify metabolic pathways in order to facilitate increased proliferation and cell survival resulting in glucose- and glutamine addiction. Previous research indicated that glutamine deprivation resulted in potential differential activity targeting tumourigenic cells more prominently. This is ascribed to tumourigenic cells utilising increased glutamine quantities for enhanced glycolysis- and glutaminolysis. In this study, the effects exerted by glutamine deprivation on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitochondrial membrane potential, cell proliferation and cell death in breast tumourigenic cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, BT-20) and a non-tumourigenic breast cell line (MCF-10A) were investigated.

Results

Spectrophotometry demonstrated that glutamine deprivation resulted in decreased cell growth in a time-dependent manner. MCF-7 cell growth was decreased to 61% after 96 h of glutamine deprivation; MDA-MB-231 cell growth was decreased to 78% cell growth after 96 h of glutamine deprivation, MCF-10A cell growth was decreased 89% after 96 h of glutamine deprivation and BT-20 cell growth decreased to 86% after 24 h of glutamine deprivation and remained unchanged until 96 h of glutamine deprivation. Glutamine deprivation resulted in oxidative stress where superoxide levels were significantly elevated after 96 h in the MCF-7- and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Time-dependent production of hydrogen peroxide was accompanied by aberrant mitochondrial membrane potential. The effects of ROS and mitochondrial membrane potential were more prominently observed in the MCF-7 cell line when compared to the MDA-MB-231-, MCF-10A- and BT-20 cell lines. Cell cycle progression revealed that glutamine deprivation resulted in a significant increase in the S-phase after 72 h of glutamine deprivation in the MCF-7 cell line. Apoptosis induction resulted in a decrease in viable cells in all cell lines following glutamine deprivation. In the MCF-7 cells, 87.61% of viable cells were present after 24 h of glutamine deprivation.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that glutamine deprivation resulted in decreased cell proliferation, time-dependent- and cell line-dependent ROS generation, aberrant mitochondrial membrane potential and disrupted cell cycle progression. In addition, the estrogen receptor positive MCF-7 cell line was more prominently affected. This study contributes to knowledge regarding the sensitivity of breast cancer cells and non-tumorigenic cells to glutamine deprivation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s40659-019-0224-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Control of late apoptotic events by the p38 stress kinase in L-glutamine-deprived mouse hybridoma cells

L-Glutamine (Gln) starvation rapidly triggers apoptosis in Sp2/0-Ag14 (Sp2/0) murine hybridoma cells. Here, we report on the role played by the stress-activated kinase p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in this process. p38 activation was detected 2 h after Gln withdrawal and, although treatment with the p38 inhibitor SB203580 did not prevent caspase activation in Gln-starved cells, it reduced the occurrence of both nuclear condensation/fragmentation and apoptotic body formation. Similarly, transfection of Sp2/0 cells with a dominant negative p38 MAPK reduced the incidence of nuclear pyknosis and apoptotic body formation following 2 h of Gln starvation. Gln withdrawal-induced apoptosis was blocked by the overexpression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL or by the caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk. Interestingly, Bcl-xL expression inhibited p38 activation, but Z-VAD-fmk treatment did not, indicating that activation of this MAPK occurs downstream of mitochondrial dysfunction and is independent of caspases. Moreover, the anti-oxidant N-acetyl-l-cysteine prevented p38 phosphorylation, showing that p38 activation is triggered by an oxidative stress. Altogether, our findings indicate that p38 MAPK does not contribute to the induction of apoptosis in Gln-starved Sp2/0 cells. Rather, Gln withdrawal leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, causing an oxidative stress and p38 activation, the latter contributing to the formation of late morphological features of apoptotic Sp2/0 cells.

Glutamine protects against apoptosis via downregulation of Sp3 in intestinal epithelial cells

Glutamine plays a key role in intestinal growth and maintenance of gut function, and as we have shown protects the postischemic gut (Kozar RA, Scultz SG, Bick RJ, Poindexter BJ, Desoigne R, Weisbrodt NW, Haber MM, Moore FA. Shock 21: 433-437, 2004). However, the precise mechanisms of the gut protective effects of glutamine have not been well elucidated. In the present study, RNA microarray was performed to obtain differentially expressed genes in intestinal epithelial IEC-6 cells following either 2 mM or 10 mM glutamine. The result demonstrated that specificity protein 3 (Sp3) mRNA expression was downregulated 3.1-fold. PCR and Western blot confirmed that Sp3 expression was decreased by glutamine in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. To investigate the role of Sp3, Sp3 gene siRNA silencing was performed and apoptosis was assessed. Silencing of Sp3 demonstrated a significant increase in Bcl-2 and decrease in Bax protein expression, as well as a decrease in caspase-3, -8, and -9 protein expression and activity. The protein expression of apoptosis-related proteins after hypoxia/reoxygenation was similar to that of normoxia and correlated with a decrease in DNA fragmentation. Importantly, the addition of glutamine to Sp3-silenced cells did not further lessen apoptosis, suggesting that Sp3 plays a major role in the inhibitory effect of glutamine on apoptosis. This novel finding may explain in part the gut-protective effects of glutamine.

Protection against ionizing radiation by antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals

The potential of antioxidants to reduce the cellular damage induced by ionizing radiation has been studied in animal models for more than 50 years. The application of antioxidant radioprotectors to various human exposure situations has not been extensive although it is generally accepted that endogenous antioxidants, such as cellular non-protein thiols and antioxidant enzymes, provide some degree of protection. This review focuses on the radioprotective efficacy of naturally occurring antioxidants, specifically antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals, and how they might influence various endpoints of radiation damage. Results from animal experiments indicate that antioxidant nutrients, such as vitamin E and selenium compounds, are protective against lethality and other radiation effects but to a lesser degree than most synthetic protectors. Some antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals have the advantage of low toxicity although they are generally protective when administered at pharmacological doses. Naturally occurring antioxidants also may provide an extended window of protection against low-dose, low-dose-rate irradiation, including therapeutic potential when administered after irradiation. A number of phytochemicals, including caffeine, genistein, and melatonin, have multiple physiological effects, as well as antioxidant activity, which result in radioprotection in vivo. Many antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals have antimutagenic properties, and their modulation of long-term radiation effects, such as cancer, needs further examination. In addition, further studies are required to determine the potential value of specific antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals during radiotherapy for cancer.

Glutamine and its relationship with intracellular redox status, oxidative stress and cell proliferation/death

Glutamine is a multifaceted amino acid used for hepatic urea synthesis, renal ammoniagenesis, gluconeogenesis in both liver and kidney, and as a major respiratory fuel for many cells. Decreased glutamine concentrations are found during catabolic stress and are related to susceptibility to infections. Besides, glutamine is not only an important energy source in mitochondria, but is also a precursor of the brain neurotransmitter glutamate, which is likewise used for biosynthesis of the cellular antioxidant glutathione. Reactive oxygen species, such as superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide, function as intracellular second messengers activating, among others, apoptosis, whereas glutamine is an apoptosis suppressor. In fact, it could contribute to block apoptosis induced by exogenous agents or by intracellular stimuli. In conclusion, this article shows evidences for the important role of glutamine in the regulation of the cellular redox balance, including brain oxidative metabolism, apoptosis and tumour cell proliferation.

Glutamine-dependent antiapoptotic interaction of human glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase with apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1

Glutamine has been known to be an apoptosis suppressor, since it blocks apoptosis induced by heat shock, irradiation, and c-Myc overexpression. Here, we demonstrated that HeLa cells were susceptible to Fas-mediated apoptosis under the condition of glutamine deprivation. Fas ligation activated apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK; also known as stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK)) in Gln-deprived cells but not in normal cells, suggesting that Gln might be involved in the activity control of ASK1 and JNK/SAPK. As one of the possible mechanisms for the suppressive effect of Gln on ASK1, we investigated the molecular interaction between human glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (QRS) and ASK1 and found the Gln-dependent association of the two molecules. While their association was enhanced by the elevation of Gln concentration, they were dissociated by Fas ligation within 5 min. The association involved the catalytic domains of the two enzymes. The ASK1 activity was inhibited by the interaction with QRS as determined by in vitro kinase and transcription assays. Finally, we have shown that QRS inhibited the cell death induced by ASK1, and this antiapoptotic function of QRS was weakened by the deprivation of Gln. Thus, the antiapoptotic interaction of QRS with ASK1 is controlled positively by the cellular concentration of Gln and negatively by Fas ligation. The results of this work provide one possible explanation for the working mechanism of the antiapoptotic activity of Gln and suggest a novel function of mammalian ARSs.