Alteration of enzymes in ageing human fibroblasts in culture. I. Conditions for the appearance of an alteration in glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase

Identification of 30 protein species involved in replicative senescence and stress-induced premature senescence

Exposure of human proliferative cells to subcytotoxic stress triggers stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS) which is characterized by many biomarkers of replicative senescence. Proteomic comparison of replicative senescence and stress-induced premature senescence indicates that, at the level of protein expression, stress-induced premature senescence and replicative senescence are different phenotypes sharing however similarities. In this study, we identified 30 proteins showing changes of expression level specific or common to replicative senescence and/or stress-induced premature senescence. These changes affect different cell functions, including energy metabolism, defense systems, maintenance of the redox potential, cell morphology and transduction pathways.

Stress-induced premature senescence and replicative senescence are different phenotypes, proteomic evidence

In this paper, we illustrate how a proteomic analysis can be useful to approach complex biological problems, in this case the concept of stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS). According to the stochastic theories of ageing, damage that accumulate with time in the cellular components are responsible for cellular ageing. As a corollary, some sort of premature senescence should appear if the damage level is artificially increased due to the presence of stressing agents at subcytotoxic level. It has been shown, in several different models, that at a long-term after subcytotoxic stresses of many different natures, human diploid fibroblasts (HDFs) display biomarkers of replicative senescence (RS), which led to the concept of SIPS as compared to telomere-dependent RS. We compared RS and SIPS of HDFs by proteome analysis. SIPS was induced by two very different stressors: tert-butyhydroperoxide or ethanol. First, only a part of the protein expression changes observed in RS were also observed in SIPS. Second, HDFs in SIPS show changes specific either to the long-term effects of t-BHP or ethanol or independent of the nature of the stress. These changes have been termed "molecular scars" of subcytotoxic stresses. This work is also an excellent opportunity to discuss on important methodological issue in proteomics: the absolute requirement to start from reliable and reproducible models, which was the case in this study. We also focus on the data handling and statistical analysis allowing to use two-dimensional gel electrophoresis patterns in a semi-quantitative analysis.

Effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on proliferation in senescent IMR-90 human fibroblasts

The response of IMR-90 human fetal lung fibroblasts at high population doubling level (PDL > 42) to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3[1,25(OH)2D3] was investigated to clarify whether some metabolic and molecular parameters of senescent cells are affected by the hormone treatment. Pyruvate kinase, lactate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity significantly increased after treatment of confluent-phase cells with 10 nM 1,25(OH)2D3 for 24 h. Steroid specificity was established by the failure of 10 nM levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 to affect the enzyme activities, while estradiol-17 beta and progesterone produced a slight increase in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase levels, respectively. 1,25(OH)2D3 also affected fibroblast proliferation, protein content/cell and DNA synthesis. The cell number significantly decreased after a 48 h incubation with 1,25(OH)2D3 at various concentrations (0.01-1 nM) when compared with control fibroblasts, while an increase in the protein content/cell was demonstrated. The same experiment, carried out by protracting the incubation with the hormone for 72 h, showed a similar trend, but 10 nM 1,25(OH)2D3 was also able to inhibit cell proliferation and to stimulate protein synthesis. The incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA increased after the treatment of high PDL fibroblasts with 0.01-1 nM of hormone for 48 h in comparison with controls.

Alteration of enzymes in ageing human fibroblasts in culture. IV. Effect of glutathione on the alteration of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase

Alteration and inactivation of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) can be induced in human fibroblasts by incubation of a cell supernatant at 4 degrees C and pH 7.4. When added in such conditions, glutathione (GSH) had a stabilizing effect on the enzyme. On the other hand, substances which are known to deplete the cells of their GSH content, dramatically increase the inactivation rate. When analysed by gel filtration after 24 h of incubation at 4 degrees C, the inactive G6PD appears as a dimeric protein when GSH is present, while as a monomer in the control experiment. Reactivation of the monomers was stimulated with GSH. The heat inactivation of the dimeric fraction first started with a sharp activity increase of 20%. This increase vanished when the enzyme was first reactivated before the thermolability experiment. We propose that what is called altered G6PD is the expression of a quick reactivation of an inactive, labile dimer. Finally, a schematic view of the G6PD alteration is proposed.