1,2-Diacylglycerol hydroperoxides induce the generation and release of superoxide anion from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Lipid Metabolism and Signaling in Platelet Function

Modern society has changed its diet composition, transitioning to a higher intake of saturated fat with a 50% increase of cardiovascular risk (CVD). Within the context of increased CVD, there is an induction of a prothrombotic phenotype mainly due to increased platelet reactivity as well as decreased platelet response to inhibitors. Platelets maintain haemostasis through both blood components and endothelial cells that secrete inhibitory or stimulatory molecules to regulate thrombus formation. There exist a correlation between platelets' polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and the increase in platelet reactivity. The aim of this chapter is to review the metabolism of the main PUFAs involved in platelet function associated with the role that their enzyme-derived oxidized metabolites exert in platelet function and fate. Finally, how lipid metabolism in the organism affect platelet aggregation and activation and the pharmacological modulation of these processes will also be discussed.

Carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic injury through formation of oxidized diacylglycerol and activation of the PKC/NF-κB pathway

Protein kinase C (PKC) participates in signal transduction, and its overactivation is involved in various types of cell injury. PKC depends on diacylglycerol (DAG) for its activation in vivo We have previously reported that DAG peroxides (DAG-O(O)H) activate PKC in vitro more strongly than unoxidized DAG, suggesting that DAG-O(O)H, if generated in vivo under oxidative stress, would act as an aberrant signal transducer. The present study examined whether DAG-O(O)H are formed in carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))-induced acute rat liver injury in association with activation of the PKC/nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway. A single subcutaneous injection of CCl(4) resulted in a marked increase in hepatic DAG-O(O)H content. At the molecular level, immunohistochemistry and subcellular fractionation combined with immunoblotting localized PKCα, βI, βII and δ isoforms to cell membranes, while immunoblotting showed phosphorylation of the p65 subunit of NF-κB, and immunoprecipitation using isoform-specific anti-PKC antibodies revealed specific association of PKCα and p65. In addition, expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and neutrophil invasion increased in the CCl(4)-treated rats. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Vitamin E, one of the most important natural antioxidants that suppresses peroxidation of membrane lipids, significantly inhibited the CCl(4)-induced increase in hepatic DAG-O(O)H content and TNFα expression as well as phosphorylation of PKCα and p65. These data demonstrate for the first time that DAG-O(O)H are generated in the process of CCl(4)-induced liver injury, resulting in activation of the PKC/NF-κB pathway and TNFα-mediated aggravation of liver injury.

Various Molecular Species of Diacylglycerol Hydroperoxide Activate Human Neutrophils via PKC Activation

We have proposed that diacylglycerol hydroperoxide-induced unregulated signal transduction causes oxidative stress-related diseases. In this study, we investigated which molecular species of diacylglycerol hydroperoxide activated human peripheral neutrophils. All diacylglycerol hydroperoxides, diacylglycerol hydroxides, and diacyglycerols tested in the present study induced superoxide production by neutrophils. The ability to activate neutrophils among molecular species containing the same fatty acid composition was as follows; diacylglycerol hydroperoxide>diacylglycerol hydroxide>/=diacylglycerol. The diacylglycerol hydroperoxide composed of linoleate was a stronger activator for neutrophils than that composed of arachidonate. 1-Palmitoyl-2-linoleoylglycerol hydroperoxide (PLG-OOH) was the strongest stimulator for neutrophils. We reconfirmed that PLG-OOH activated protein kinase C (PKC) in neutrophils. PLG-OOH induced the phosphorylation of p47(phox), a substrate of PKC and a cytosolic component of NADPH oxidase, in neutrophils, as did N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine or 4beta-phorbol-12beta-myristate-13alpha-acetate. Moreover, the time course of p47(phox) phosphorylation was comparable to that of superoxide production. These results suggest that PLG-OOH activated intracellular protein kinase C. PLG-OOH, produced via an uncontrolled process, can act as a biological second messenger to cause inflammatory disease from oxidative stress.

Luminescence of imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-3(7H)-one compounds

In this review I will discuss chemical principles of the luminescence of imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-3(7H)-one compounds described to date. The review is composed of two main parts, the first dealing with the bioluminescence of coelenterate luciferin "coelenterazine" and Cypridina luciferin in marine organisms and the second with the chemiluminescence of these luciferins and their analogues. In the second section, possible applications of chemiluminescence and enhanced chemiluminescence in the area of bioassay are also discussed.

Feasibility of using fluoresceinyl Cypridina luciferin analog in a novel chemiluminescence method for real-time photodynamic therapy dosimetry

Singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) is the most important cytotoxic agent in photodynamic therapy (PDT). The feasibility of using a chemiluminescence (CL) probe, 3,7-dihydro-6-[4-(2-(N'-(5-fluoresceinyl)thioureido)ethoxy)phenyl]-2-methylimidazo{1,2-a}pyrazin-3-one sodium salt (fluoresceinyl Cypridina luciferin analog, FCLA), to monitor (1)O(2) production during PDT is evaluated in vitro. Lymphoma cells were treated with various protocols of PDT. The results show that the FCLA-CL production during PDT is linearly related to the corresponding cytotoxicity, regardless of the treatment protocol. With minimum cytotoxicity and interference to the PDT treatment outcome, the FCLA-CL system is an effective means to quantify PDT (1)O(2) production and may provide an alternative real-time dosimeter.

Role of mitochondrial phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) as an antiapoptotic factor

Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) is a unique antioxidant enzyme that markedly reduces lipid hydroperoxide generated in biomembranes. Overexpression of mitochondrial PHGPx potentially suppresses the release of cytochrome c (cyt. c) from mitochondria and apoptosis. The hydroperoxide level in mitochondria was elevated in 2-deoxyglucose (2DG)-induced apoptosis, but not in apoptosis-resistant cells in which mitochondrial PHGPx was overexpressed. From studies of the overexpression of PHGPx, the generation of hydrogen peroxide and lipid hydroperoxide in mitochondria might be important triggers of apoptosis. In particular lipid hydroperoxide could be involved in the initiation of cyt. c liberation from mitochondria in 2DG-induced apoptosis since lipid hydroperoxide is a primary substrate for PHGPx. The release of cyt. c from mitochondria is an important proapoptotic signal in the mitochondrial death pathway. Several reports demonstrated the reactive oxgen species could be involved in cyt. c liberation, although its mechanism is still unknown. Cardiolipin (CL), which exclusively locates in the innermembrane of mitochondria, shows strong affinity for cyt. c is required for the adenine nucleotide translocator (ANT) that controls the opening and closing of the permeability transition pore. Association of cyt. c with CL is lost upon peroxidation. CL hydroperoxide (CLOOH), in contrast to CL, does not bind to cyt. c. Furthermore, CLOOH can open the permeability transion pore by the inactivation of ANT. These previous results suggest that mitochondrial PHGPx inhibits the release of cyt. c from mitochondria by the scavenging CLOOH and could prevent apoptosis.

Biological significance of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx, GPx4) in mammalian cells

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known mediators of intracellular signal cascades. Excessive production of ROS may lead to oxidative stress, loss of cell function, and cell death by apoptosis or necrosis. Lipid hydroperoxides are one type of ROS whose biological function has not yet been clarified. Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx, GPx4) is a unique antioxidant enzyme that can directly reduce phospholipid hydroperoxide in mammalian cells. This contrasts with most antioxidant enzymes, which cannot reduce intracellular phospholipid hydroperoxides directly. In this review, we focus on the structure and biological functions of PHGPx in mammalian cells. Recently, molecular techniques have allowed overexpression of PHGPx in mammalian cell lines, from which it has become clear that lipid hydroperoxides also have an important function as activators of lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase, participate in inflammation, and act as signal molecules for apoptotic cell death and receptor-mediated signal transduction at the cellular level.

Phospholipase C-dependent hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxides to diacylglycerol hydroperoxides and its reduction by phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase

We have shown that 1,2-diacylglycerol hydroperoxides activate protein kinase C (PKC) as efficiently as does phorbol ester [Takekoshi S, Kambayashi Y, Nagata H, Takagi T, Yamamoto Y, Watanabe K. Activation of protein kinase C by oxidized diacylglycerol. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1995; 217: 654-660]. 1,2-Diacylglycerol hydroperoxides also stimulate human neutrophils to release superoxide whereas their hydroxides do not [Yamamoto Y, Kambayashi Y, Ito T, Watanabe K, Nakano M. 1,2-Diacylglycerol hydroperoxides induce the generation and release of superoxide anion from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. FEBS Lett 1997; 412: 461-464]. One of the proposed mechanisms for the formation of 1,2-diacylglycerol hydroperoxides is the hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxides by phospholipase C (PLC). To confirm this hypothesis, we incubated 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (PLPC) liposomes containing PLPC hydroperoxides (PLPC-OOH) with Bacillus cereus PLC and found 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoylglycerol (PLG) and its hydroperoxide (PLG-OOH) were produced. PLC hydrolyzed the two substrates without preference, as the yields of PLG and PLG-OOH were the same even though cholesterol was incorporated into liposomes to increase bilayer integrity. Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPX) reduced PLG-OOH to its hydroxide in the presence of glutathione while the conventional cytosolic glutathione peroxidase did not. These data suggest that PLC hydrolyzes oxidized biomembranes to give 1,2-diacylglycerol hydroperoxides for PKC stimulation but PHGPX may prevent neutrophil stimulation by reducing 1,2-diacylglycerol hydroperoxides to their hydroxides.

Perturbation of lipid metabolism by linoleic acid hydroperoxide in CaCo-2 cells

Dietary hydroperoxides are being discussed as potential health hazards contributing to oxidative stress-related diseases. However, how food-born hydroperoxides could exert systemic effects remains elusive in view of the limited chances to be absorbed. Therefore, the metabolic fate of 13-HPODE (13-hydroperoxy octadecadienoic acid), 13-HODE (13-hydroxy octadecadienoic acid) and linoleic acid (LA) was investigated in a CaCo-2 cell monolayer as a model of the intestinal epithelium. [1-14C]-13-HPODE, up to a non-cytotoxic concentration of 100 microM, did not cross the CaCo-2 cell monolayer unreduced if applied to the luminal side. The [1 -14C]-HPODE-derived radioactivity was preferentially recovered from intracellular and released diacylglycerols (DG), phospholipids (PL) and cholesterol esterified with oxidized fatty acids (oxCE). A similar distribution pattern was obtained with 13-HODE. In contrast, LA is preferentially incorporated into triacylglycerols (TG), cholesteryl esters (CE) and PL (but mainly released as TG). 13-HPODE dose-dependently decreased the incorporation of LA into released TG, while LA accumulated in cellular and released DGs, effects similarily exerted by 13-HODE. We concluded that food-born hydroperoxy fatty acids are instantly reduced by the gastrointestinal glutathione peroxidase, which was previously shown to persist in selenium deficiency. Accordingly, modulation of the glutathione peroxidases by selenium deprivation/repletion did not modify the disturbance of the lipid metabolism by 13-HPODE. Thus, hydroperoxy fatty acids disturb intestinal lipid metabolism by being esterified as hydroxy fatty acids into complex lipids, and may render lipoproteins synthesized thereof susceptible to further oxidative modifications.

Novel nitric oxide and superoxide generation inhibitors, persenone A and B, from avocado fruit

One known, (2R)-(12Z,15Z)-2-hydroxy-4-oxoheneicosa-12,15-dien+ ++-1-yl acetate (1), and two novel compounds, persenone A (2) and B (3), have been isolated from avocado fruit (Persea americana P. Mill), as inhibitors of superoxide (O(2)(-)) and nitric oxide (NO) generation in cell culture systems. They showed marked inhibitory activities toward NO generation induced by lipopolysaccharide in combination with interferon-gamma in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. Their inhibitory potencies of NO generation (1, IC(50) = 3.6; 2, IC(50) = 1.2; and 3, IC(50) = 3.5 microM) were comparable to or higher than that of a natural NO generation inhibitor, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; IC(50) = 4.3 microM). Furthermore, compounds 1-3 and DHA markedly suppressed tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced O(2)(-) generation in differentiated human promyelocytic HL-60 cells (1, IC(50) = 33.7; 2, IC(50) = 1.4; 3, IC(50) = 1.8; and DHA, IC(50) = 10.3 microM). It is notable that they were found to be suppressors of both NO- and O(2)(-)-generating biochemical pathways but not to be radical scavengers. The results indicate that these compounds are unique antioxidants, preferentially suppressing radical generation, and thus may be promising as effective chemopreventive agent candidates in inflammation-associated carcinogenesis.

Alkylperoxyl radical-scavenging activity of various flavonoids and other phenolic compounds: implications for the anti-tumor-promoter effect of vegetables

We recently reported that alkylperoxyl radical (ROO(*)) enhanced carcinogenesis in rats treated with carcinogen (Sawa et al. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 1998, 7, 1007-1012), and the tumor promoting action of ROO(*) could be reduced by addition of hot-water extracts of vegetables (Maeda et al. Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 1992, 83, 923-928). Here we described the ROO(*)-scavenging activity of flavonoids and nonflavonoid phenolics and their role in anti-tumor-promoter effects. A model molecular species, ROO(*), was generated from tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BuOOH) and heme iron, and the scavenging of t-BuOO(*) was determined by (a) bioassay based on the bactericidal action of ROO(*), (b) luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence, and (c) electron spin resonance. Of 17 authentic plant phenolics tested, 9 compounds (including rutin, chlorogenic acid, vanillin, vanillic acid, neohesperidin, gallic acid, shikimic acid, rhamnetin, and kaempferol) showed remarkably high ROO(*)-scavenging activity. Some of them were detected and quantified in hot-water extracts of mung bean sprouts, used as the model vegetable, and their contents increased after germination, which paralleled very well to the ROO(*)-scavenging capacity of the vegetable extracts. Thus, a diet rich in these radical scavengers would reduce the cancer-promoting action of ROO(*). Consequently, the carcinogenic potentials of oxygen-related radicals may be suppressed.

Plasma ubiquinone to ubiquinol ratio in patients with hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatoma, and in patients treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary reperfusion

To assess the degree of oxidative stress, we measured plasma ubiquinone-10 percentage (%CoQ-10) in total amounts of ubiquinone-10 in patients with chronic active hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and in age-matched control subjects, %CoQ-10 values were 12.9 +/- 10.3 (n = 28), 10.6 +/- 6.8 (n = 28), 18.9 +/- 11.1 (n = 20), and 6.4 +/- 3.3 (n = 16), respectively, showing a significant increase in oxidative stress in patient groups as compared to control subjects. There were no differences in total amounts of ubiquinone-10 and ubiquinol-10 among the four groups. We next measured %CoQ-10 in plasmas obtained from nine patients treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Plasmas were collected when hospitalized, and at the time (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 hr, and 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 days) after the PTCA. %CoQ-10 values before and right after PTCA were 9.9 +/- 2.8 and 11.4 +/- 2.0, respectively, reached a maximum (20-45) at 1 or 2 days later, and decreased to 7.9 +/- 2.7 at 7 days after PTCA, indicating an increase in oxidative stress in patients during coronary reperfusion.

The antioxidant action of 2-methyl-6-(p-methoxyphenyl)-3,7-dihydroimidazo[1,2-alpha]pyra z in-3-one (MCLA), a chemiluminescence probe to detect superoxide anions

The antioxidant effect of 2-methyl-6-(p-methoxyphenyl)-3,7-dihydroimidazo[1,2-alpha]pyraz in-3-one (MCLA), a Cypridina luciferin analog that acts as a chemiluminescence probe to detect O2.-, was investigated. MCLA produced a lag in oxygen consumption induced by cumene hydroperoxide in microsomes or by 2,2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride in liposomes and disappeared during the duration of the lag. MCLA profoundly inhibited the propagation reaction in Fe2+-dependent lipid peroxidation in liposomes, and MCLA disappearance accompanied by suppression of oxygen consumption markedly occurred in liposomes susceptible to peroxidation. Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances in all systems used were also suppressed by MCLA dose dependently. These results indicate that MCLA has an antioxidant property through scavenging free radicals.

Oxidative stress in patients with hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatoma evaluated by plasma antioxidants

We have applied our method for the simultaneous detection of plasma ubiquinol-10 (reduced form) and ubiquinone-10 (oxidized form) (S. Yamashita and Y. Yamamoto, Anal. Biochem. 250, 66-73, 1997) to plasmas of normal subjects (n = 16) and patients with chronic active hepatitis (n = 28), liver cirrhosis (n = 16), and hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 20) to evaluate the pressure of oxidative stress in these patients. The average ubiquinone-10 percentages (+/- S.D.) in total ubiquinone-10 and ubiquinol-10 in the four groups were 6.4 +/- 3.3, 12.9 +/- 10.3, 10.6 +/- 6.8, and 18.9 +/- 11.1, respectively, indicating a significant increase in ubiquinone-10 percentage in patient groups in comparison to normal subjects. These results and a significant decrease in the plasma ascorbate level in patient groups indicate that oxidative stress is evident after the onset of hepatitis and the subsequent cirrhosis and liver cancer.