Macrophage mediated protein hydroperoxide formation and lipid oxidation in low density lipoprotein are inhibited by the inflammation marker 7,8-dihydroneopterin

Neopterin derivatives - a novel therapeutic target rather than biomarker for atherosclerosis and related diseases

This review provides an updated overview of the emerging roles of neopterin derivatives in atherosclerosis. Neopterin, a metabolite of guanosine triphosphate, is produced by interferon-γ-activated macrophages and is expressed at high levels in atheromatous plaques within the human carotid and coronary arteries as well as in the aorta. Plasma concentrations of neopterin are higher in patients with carotid, cerebral, and coronary artery diseases as well as aortic aneurysm. The concentration of neopterin is positively correlated with the severity of coronary artery disease. However, a prospective cohort study showed that neopterin contributes to protection against plaque formation in carotid arteries in patients with atherosclerosis. Moreover, using both in vitro and in vivo experiments, a recent study has shown the atheroprotective effects of neopterin. Neopterin suppresses the expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in endothelial cells, and thereby suppresses the adhesion of monocytes to endothelial cells. It also suppresses the inflammatory phenotype of monocyte-derived macrophages. In addition, neopterin suppresses oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced foam cell formation in macrophages and the migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. Neopterin injection into apolipoprotein E-deficient (Apoe^-/-) mice suppresses the development of atherosclerotic lesions. A neopterin derivative tetrahydroneopterin (BH4), also known as a cofactor for nitric oxide (NO) synthases, suppresses atherosclerosis and vascular injury-induced neointimal hyperplasia in Apoe^-/- mice. BH4 administration improves endothelial dysfunction in patients with coronary artery disease. These findings suggest that neopterin production may increase to counteract the progression of atherosclerosis, as neopterin contributes to atheroprotection. Otherwise, the increased neopterin levels in atherosclerosis may reflect a compensatory mechanism associated with inducible NO synthase upregulation in macrophages to supply BH4 for high output NO production caused by decreased endothelial NO synthase in atherosclerosis. Therefore, neopterin derivatives are a novel therapeutic target for atherosclerosis and related diseases.

ERCC1-deficient cells and mice are hypersensitive to lipid peroxidation

Lipid peroxidation (LPO) products are relatively stable and abundant metabolites, which accumulate in tissues of mammals with aging, being able to modify all cellular nucleophiles, creating protein and DNA adducts including crosslinks. Here, we used cells and mice deficient in the ERCC1-XPF endonuclease required for nucleotide excision repair and the repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks to ask if specifically LPO-induced DNA damage contributes to loss of cell and tissue homeostasis. Ercc1^-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts were more sensitive than wild-type (WT) cells to the LPO products: 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), crotonaldehyde and malondialdehyde. ERCC1-XPF hypomorphic mice were hypersensitive to CCl₄ and a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, two potent inducers of endogenous LPO. To gain insight into the mechanism of how LPO influences DNA repair-deficient cells, we measured the impact of the major endogenous LPO product, HNE, on WT and Ercc1^-/- cells. HNE inhibited proliferation, stimulated ROS and LPO formation, induced DNA base damage, strand breaks, error-prone translesion DNA synthesis and cellular senescence much more potently in Ercc1^-/- cells than in DNA repair-competent control cells. HNE also deregulated base excision repair and energy production pathways. Our observations that ERCC1-deficient cells and mice are hypersensitive to LPO implicates LPO-induced DNA damage in contributing to cellular demise and tissue degeneration, notably even when the source of LPO is dietary polyunsaturated fats.

Protein oxidation and peroxidation

Proteins are major targets for radicals and two-electron oxidants in biological systems due to their abundance and high rate constants for reaction. With highly reactive radicals damage occurs at multiple side-chain and backbone sites. Less reactive species show greater selectivity with regard to the residues targeted and their spatial location. Modification can result in increased side-chain hydrophilicity, side-chain and backbone fragmentation, aggregation via covalent cross-linking or hydrophobic interactions, protein unfolding and altered conformation, altered interactions with biological partners and modified turnover. In the presence of O2, high yields of peroxyl radicals and peroxides (protein peroxidation) are formed; the latter account for up to 70% of the initial oxidant flux. Protein peroxides can oxidize both proteins and other targets. One-electron reduction results in additional radicals and chain reactions with alcohols and carbonyls as major products; the latter are commonly used markers of protein damage. Direct oxidation of cysteine (and less commonly) methionine residues is a major reaction; this is typically faster than with H2O2, and results in altered protein activity and function. Unlike H2O2, which is rapidly removed by protective enzymes, protein peroxides are only slowly removed, and catabolism is a major fate. Although turnover of modified proteins by proteasomal and lysosomal enzymes, and other proteases (e.g. mitochondrial Lon), can be efficient, protein hydroperoxides inhibit these pathways and this may contribute to the accumulation of modified proteins in cells. Available evidence supports an association between protein oxidation and multiple human pathologies, but whether this link is causal remains to be established.

Neopterin and 7,8-dihydroneopterin are generated within atherosclerotic plaques

Plasma neopterin correlates with the level of cardiovascular disease. Neopterin is the oxidation product of 7,8-dihydroneopterin, which is released by γ-interferon-stimulated macrophages. 7,8-Dihydroneopterin is a potent antioxidant, which inhibits lipid oxidation, macrophage cell death and scavenger receptor CD36 expression. The concentration of neopterin within atherosclerotic plaques was measured in tissue removed from carotid and femoral arteries. The excised plaques were cut into 3-mm-thick sections, and each section was analysed for neopterin, total neopterin, cholesterol, lipid peroxides, α-tocopherol and protein-bound 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine. Selected plaques were placed in tissue culture, and the media was analysed for 7,8-dihydroneopterin and neopterin release. Total neopterin levels ranged from 14 to 18.8 nmol/g of tissue. Large ranges of values were seen both within the same plaque and between plaques. No correlation between neopterin and any of the other analytes was observed, nor was there any significant trend in levels along the length of the plaques. γ-Interferon stimulation of cultured plaque generated total neopterin concentrations from 1 to 4 nmol/(g 24 h). The level of 7,8-dihydroneopterin generated within the plaque was within the range that inhibits lipid oxidation. The data show that atherosclerotic plaques are extremely dynamic in biochemistry and are the likely source of the plasma 7,8-dihydroneopterin and neopterin.

One substrate, five products: reactions catalyzed by the dihydroneopterin aldolase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tetrahydrofolate cofactors are required for one carbon transfer reaction involved in the synthesis of purines, amino acids, and thymidine. Inhibition of tetrahydrofolate biosynthesis is a powerful therapeutic strategy in the treatment of several diseases, and the possibility of using antifolates to inhibit enzymes from Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been explored. This work focuses on the study of the first enzyme in tetrahydrofolate biosynthesis that is unique to bacteria, dihydroneopterin aldolase (MtDHNA). This enzyme requires no metals or cofactors and does not form a protein-mediated Schiff base with the substrate, unlike most aldolases. Here, we were able to demonstrate that the reaction catalyzed by MtDHNA generates three different pterin products, one of which is not produced by other wild-type DHNAs. The enzyme-substrate complex partitions 51% in the first turnover to form the aldolase products, 24% to the epimerase product and 25% to the oxygenase products. The aldolase reaction is strongly pH dependent, and apparent pK(a) values were obtained for the first time for this class of enzyme. Furthermore, chemistry is rate limiting for the aldolase reaction, and the analysis of solvent kinetic isotope effects in steady-state and pre-steady-state conditions, combined with proton inventory studies, revealed that two protons and a likely solvent contribution are involved in formation and breakage of a common intermediate. This study provides information about the plasticity required from a catalyst that possesses high substrate specificity while being capable of utilizing two distinct epimers with the same efficiency to generate five distinct products.

Oxidant production, oxLDL uptake, and CD36 levels in human monocyte–derived macrophages are downregulated by the macrophage-generated antioxidant 7,8-dihydroneopterin

The severity of atheroma burden in patients strongly correlates to increasing levels of plasma neopterin, the oxidation product of 7,8-dihydroneopterin. Interferon-γ stimulation of macrophages causes the synthesis of 7,8-dihydroneopterin, a potent antioxidant that inhibits oxidative damage to cells, and the cytotoxicity of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) to monocyte-like U937 cells but not THP-1 cells. With human monocyte-derived macrophages (HMDMs), oxLDL triggered a large oxidative stress, causing the rapid loss of cellular glutathione, glyceradehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) inhibition, and eventual loss of viability without caspase-3 activation. Inhibition of oxLDL cytotoxicity to HMDMs occurred at 7,8-dihydroneopterin concentrations >100 μM. The oxLDL-mediated glutathione loss and GAPDH inactivation was inhibited by 7,8-dihydroneopterin. 7,8-Dihydroneopterin rapidly entered the HMDMs, suggesting that much of the protective effect was scavenging of intracellular oxidants generated in response to oxLDL. OxLDL uptake by HMDMs was reduced by 30% by 7,8-dihydroneopterin. Immunoblot analysis suggests that this decrease in oxLDL uptake was due to a significant downregulation in the levels of CD36. These results imply that 7,8-dihydroneopterin protects human macrophages both by scavenging oxidants generated in response to oxLDL and by decreasing CD36-mediated uptake of oxLDL.